Healthy Wealthy & Wise Accountants

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Heidi: [00:00:00] This podcast is sponsored by Engineered Tax Services, a subsidiary of Engineered Advisory, whose goal is to support CPAs and their clients to achieve the highest and best use of time and resources. Ets offers specialty tax services and incentives which help expand your capabilities and ensure that your clients are paying only what is required in taxes and nothing more. To learn more about Engineered tax services, go to Engineered Tax services.com and mention the healthy, Wealthy and Wise podcast to receive project discounts and a free CPA partnership book. Hi, everyone. This is Heidi Henderson and you are listening to the Healthy, Wealthy and Wise podcast for accountants. I am really passionate about people and the industry, and I truly believe that the accounting industry can do better for both our clients and it's professionals. So I'm going to share insights from people who have found professional success and who have managed to balance that with their physical, mental and personal health. So I hope you enjoy and I hope you get inspired. Accountants can earn free CPA. From listening to this episode, just visit Earmark Cpcomm. Download the app, take a short quiz and get your CPA certificate. And now onto the episode. Hi everyone and welcome to today's podcast episode. I'm so excited because this is a little unique. We're actually recording live at the AICPA Engage Conference in Las Vegas, and I happen to be sitting here with someone that I consider to be a very, very dear friend. I think it's kind of a fun story, so maybe we'll share that. But I'm sitting here with Daryl Patrick, who is a partner with Bowman and Company in Stockton, California. And Darryl and I met probably 12 years ago, I think it was 12 years ago. That's right. Yep. And as I said, I consider him to be a dear friend and I'm excited to have him as a guest because I think he has a unique perspective. He is a partner in his own firm and has a perspective about people and about employees and is just a genuinely amazing human being. So Darryl, thank you so much for being here. I'm so excited.

Daryl: [00:02:26] Thank you. I'm so glad to be a part of this. This is this is fun. I've never done anything like this. So I've been coming to engage for all these many years. And it's it's fun to be able to share with you and and to be a part of something. Something different.

Heidi: [00:02:38] Yeah, absolutely. I know. I think when I asked you to be a guest, not only on the podcast, but here live, that was a little surprising, right? Yeah.

Daryl: [00:02:47] No, it's I know you've been doing this and I've been I've been an avid listener. And I said, Yeah, this is something I've always been wanting to do. So I'm glad it's a privilege to be a part of it. So thank you for, for the opportunity.

Heidi: [00:02:58] Yeah, I think this will be fun. So starting before we dive into you and your firm and what makes you tick, what about AICPA? So what do you think? I think it's unique. First off, I think sharing with the audience that not only are you here, you typically come every year, but you have a whole crew from your team. So how many people did you bring with you?

Daryl: [00:03:20] We have eight people here. And when I say here, I think there are a lot of them are standing here watching us right now. There's I think there's another eight people, I think, online watching the conference. So we have about 8 or 9 people. So we have we we really believe in this program. Aicpa engages really, you know, one of the premier programs in our industry. And we think it's important. We feel like we're plugging in to the entire profession when we're part of this. You know, I saw, you know, one of the top people in the IRS today, you know, the chair of the AICPA president and CEO, You know, so people like that are you know, we feel like we're actually, you know, connected. And that's and that's part of what we're going to talk about today is connection. So that's that's why I'm here. There's 3500 CPAs on site. And I think that's that's a cool thing to be a part of.

Heidi: [00:04:15] It really is. And you know what's funny? If someone said to me earlier this week, I said, well, I've got the CPA conference. I'll be out this week. And someone kind of laughed and said, Wow, that sounds really exciting to go down and hang out with 3500 CPAs, huh? And I had to sit back and think about that. And I said in a really bizarre way, it actually is really fun. I have come to look forward to this event every year because you do you build these connections and these friendships and you get to see people, you know, and build new connections not only with people that are exhibiting here, with people that have amazing services or products, but other CPAs, other people that you can collaborate with. And I mean, the speakers are amazing. So before we dive into you as an individual, what do you think is the number one thing that your team gleans from this event each year?

Daryl: [00:05:04] Well, we I think we're getting the the cream of the crop. As far as technical knowledge, that's super important. And I think in we're sitting in the exhibit hall right here and so we're getting the newest products, we're meeting with people who are selling things that we need in our practice. I have made, you know, numerous connections over the years from people who we've been able to bring things into our firm that have helped us, that have transformed our practice. So, you know, if you if you aren't here, you're missing out. So I think it's I think it's super important to be here.

Heidi: [00:05:43] Perfect. Well, you know, I really think I might have to pitch AICPA to now sponsor my podcast since we just did like a, you know, four minute commercial for them.

Daryl: [00:05:51] They're not sponsoring your podcast. I'm so sorry to hear that.

Heidi: [00:05:56] Right. We just gave them like the ultimate commercial for for driving. Additional attendees may have to send this to them and see what we get. Yeah I know. So shifting gears, you have been with your firm since 1987, shortly after you and I met, I came out and I think we did some CPE and I was able to be in your firm and meet some of your staff. One thing that I was amazed by and touched me was that your founder, Herb Bowman, Right, right. Who founded the firm in 19. 49. 1949 was still coming into the office every day. Right. How long did he come into the office before he.

Daryl: [00:06:37] He he came into the office until his mid 90s. He was there. You know, he was practicing. He was working until his early 90s. And then he came in after that. Even when he couldn't work, we even when he couldn't drive, he sent someone. We sent someone to his house to pick him up and bring him in because he loved it so much. His own children were grown and were away from his house. And so we were his family. And so we brought him down to the office every day to sit in his office. He read his paper. Maybe he took a little nap. I'm not exactly sure what he did in there all day long, but it was where he felt at home. He would go, he would be there and we loved him being there. It was like a touchstone for us. His presence there was, you know, imparting a lot to our team. Some of the, you know, some of the people who are still there now, You know, we still talk about some of the truths that he taught to us, you know, some of his things that he said, you know, there's no right way to do the wrong thing, things like that. Some of those principles, you know, he he passed on. And, you know, we're building off of those legacy concepts. So, you know, he he only lived for a few short months after he wasn't able to come to the office anymore. And it was it was on one such day when he didn't come to the office that he fell at his house. And that was the last reason. That was the last day he couldn't make it. It was because he couldn't come into the office that day. So it was all related.

Heidi: [00:08:25] Wow, that's incredible. I bring that up because you've been at the firm since 1987 now. Right. Which is amazing. And you're building a legacy, but that has to drive a culture. The fact that he had so much passion and that it meant that much to him for so long, how did that trickle down to you, to the partners, to the firm? How has that impacted even today, your firm, your firm culture and how you guys view?

Daryl: [00:08:54] Bowman I'm I'm so glad you asked because, you know, right now in our profession, there is a real push, you know, to merge, to consolidate. You know, we've been approached, you know, to sell. There are there are firms right now, there's a big shakeup in the industry. There are there are opportunities for us to to to get out and to have other firms come in and you know, merge up. And and we we view we've rejected those notions because we we view our independence as something that's important. The term that we use is stewards. We view that we are stewards of what has been given to us. So we are taking that which has been given to us. You know, I think, you know, right now we have nine partners and I think we've we've had over our time about 25 partners, and we are planning on handing this firm on to future partners in that we are grooming right now. We are we are bringing up partners. We are building partners right now. And so we are trying to make the firm a better place to bring in partners, to make these people, business people in our community and to grow the firm so that they can all assume a level of ownership someday and make the firm a place where they can, you know, make a living and build it to a bigger platform than it is right now.

Heidi: [00:10:25] Wow. I think it's amazing because it's a it's a it's about legacy and I feel like we've lost that with many firms who haven't set up the business structure and the succession planning in a way where they can do that. And it sounds like you guys have begun to begun to build that, but you've also built that with your teams. Tell me about how you've cultivated that with your staff. How are you You mentioned you're you're working on training your staff as a business people. I think that I kind of honed in to that comment because that's one thing really lacking in the CPA space is we have this technical knowledge. I've talked about this before in the podcast. We have staff who come out of school. They are very technically savvy. They have a great education. They maybe pass the CPA exam or they do within a year or two. How do you shift focus from Yes, the technical aspect is important. Again, coming to events like this is tremendous, but building them then on the other side there. Personal skills, their communication, their personalities, being able to drive all of that as a whole person into your business, to your clients and see the future that's coming up. How do you build and cultivate that? I know that's a loaded that's a lot, but tell me a little bit about your vision for how you build that with your staff.

Daryl: [00:11:50] It's a it's an undertaking. It's not easy. And it's it's it's hard. And, you know, it's it's something that you have to be you have to be patient because, you know, it's something that has to evolve in people. I have a great story for you about that very subject because we have one of our top people who has been a very gifted technical person for many years. And we have asked him to step out and become to to work on his soft skills a little bit. And we we set up a we're part of the Allied Global Alliance. That's one of the the platforms that we have joined. And they last a couple of weeks ago they held a training program in Lisbon, Portugal. We sent two of our people to Lisbon for just a few days and he was one of them. And he had never gone to any training missions like this before. And so I wasn't sure what to expect. So he was supposed to be coming back the first day after the class and he didn't come to work that day. I'm thinking, Oh, crap, what happened? Where is he? And I thought maybe he quit, Didn't know what happened, but his plane was delayed.

Daryl: [00:13:19] He comes back in the next day and he's in my office at 830 in the morning with a gift from Portugal on my desk. And he was telling me, he says, Darryl, you'll never it's it was revolutionizing my thinking about what you have to do. It's not just about technical don't you know, It's about you have to you have to relate to people. You have to. You have to. It's not it's not about, you know, how much you know, it's about how much you can relate to them and tell them about, you know, your your passion for them and their understanding. And you have to bring up people in the profession. You have to train the employees and you have to you have to relate to the to the clients and you have to explain to them how much you understand their business and that. Okay, that's good. I'm glad. Thank you for sharing that with me. I thought, okay, it's working. It's working. He gets it. He gets it. Yeah. So he's he's on his way. And I'm. I love that. That's what I that was like, that was like the best day of the month for me.

Heidi: [00:14:18] That's amazing. And have you seen that change his perception in terms of of the buy in he has being part of your firm?

Daryl: [00:14:26] Yeah, well, that just happens. So, you know, this is just this is brand new stuff. Yeah. So, you know, now I'm here, so I'm. I'm expecting it going forward. That's, that's my that's my vision. I'm seeing that in other people. I've seen I've had conversations like that down, down the line with so many people, you know, like, you know, they have like these epiphany moments like, wow, now I see you know, it's it's so many, so many little things like that that happen. And people can evolve and transform and pivot in their own way of thinking and they can become something that they never thought they could be before. And that's the story that I've that's what happened to me. And that's that's that's the part that that that makes me so happy. Yep.

Heidi: [00:15:07] And that's where we're going to go. So I shared a book with you that we're both reading right now called The Song of Significance, by Seth Godin, a very new book, but he's written many books. And the premise of the book is about the importance of people feeling that they have significance in what they're doing, in their job, in their career, in their life. And it doesn't mean they have to be doing the most profound thing in the world, but that they feel like they're making a difference and they feel like they're respected in their workplace. And I think that story that you share about him directly correlates to to that that you showing the trust in him to first off, send him all halfway around the world to go to Portugal, to invest in him, to grow and to expand his horizons, to learn that side of it will help teach him something that maybe he's been afraid of, but that he's learning and having this light bulb moment that, oh my gosh, wait a second, this is what it's about. I get it. And and that will also then lead into him being able to begin to build relationships, which is going to help him feel significant and meaningful. Right. And so it's I love these conversations because I always feel like everything comes full circle, all the dots connect.

Heidi: [00:16:28] And so to our story starting at the beginning, I guess, because we'll start at the beginning of you, but we'll start right in the middle first with how you and I met Daryl and I met and it this is a little bit of a story about me, I guess, too. When I had transitioned from accounting to consulting or the dreaded word sales. Business development. It sounds better, doesn't it? I was in business development. I was kind of mortified. I was mortified that I was going to even try to do something like that because there's this negative connotation with doing sales or being in that type of environment. And I would never want somebody to think that I was inauthentic or that I was doing something for an end game. And it was very insecure position for me. And I also have always been very analytical and quite introverted. My personality mapping very, very, very introverted. So when I started doing what I do, working with Engineered Tech Services, I went to my very, very first event, didn't know a single person. I was scared. I was very I was so uncomfortable in my own skin and just felt very awkward and just unsure. And I come to this event, we go to the first dinner and I sat next to Daryl and the first thing that I loved was that Daryl was very relaxed and was wearing shorts and a shirt and kind of a cool like it was some sort of like a bead bracelet or something.

Heidi: [00:17:57] And I'm like, Hey, this guy is just a normal guy, you know, he's not one of these stuffy accountants. And we ended up striking up a conversation. And from there we, because of Aleut Global, this global CPA Association, which, by the way, you know, shameless plug for Aleut global wonderful worldwide CPA and attorney association they do these conferences a couple of times a year. And so we would see each other a couple times a year. And whenever I travel, I always try to get outside and do something because these events, you know, breakfast sessions, lunch sessions, dinner group, things you don't really see much. So my goal was I need to force myself to get out a little bit and at least see something. And so Daryl and I had the opportunity to sort of find little windows of opportunity on these trips to go for a walk. And we had the most wonderful conversations and come to find out that Daryl was going through a little bit of a similar rebirth, if you want to call it that, or evolution, let's call it, of of who he was as well.

Heidi: [00:19:06] And he blessed me very much with giving me really honest feedback on, you know, career and life in general. And it just was something that, again, the connections, it's the connections we make in this life that are so profound and bless us so deeply. And so again, you're someone I consider to be a dear friend and I appreciate. So that's the story of how Daryl and I met. And now we see each other multiple times at different events all over the place and and stay in touch and share books because we we have some authors we both love. Right. So talk about Daryl from the beginning. Tell us a little bit about who Daryl was and and kind of coming up even from when you were young into your profession. And then we'll talk a little bit about sort of when this evolution started where we are today, because I think it is evident of the profession of being in the CPA profession itself. And I think it's very representative of a lot of people and our staff too. So that's a lot. Now I open the floor, it's all yours. Okay.

Daryl: [00:20:20] Um. I was a son of a an electrician and a teacher. Humble beginnings. I was born in Chicago, and because my mom was a teacher, she taught me a lot. When I was home with her and she taught me how to read and that was that. And so one of the very first big events in my life occurred when I was five. And it was it was a little bit I didn't think that it was that big of a deal. But being able to read in Chicago public schools when you're five years old is apparently a pretty big deal. And so I was there was this day, it was show and tell. I will never forget it. And it's been it's it's been seared into my memory many, many, many years subsequent. But when I was five years old, we were going around the circle with our show and tell. And I had brought in this little card game and they asked me how you play it. And so I flipped the box over and I read the directions to the teacher as to how you play this card game. And the teacher's eyes got big as saucers. And she said, Did you just read that? And I said, Well, yeah, as if you know. So at that point she grabbed my hand and marched me up to the principal's office and made me, you know, read the card game. And then they handed me a reader, you know, one of the Dick and Jane books out of the cabinet. And I was terrified. I was crying. It was it was horrible. It was a horrible experience. And I didn't know what was going on. They called my parents, you know, like, what is this little boy doing? He's reading this is this is completely out of sorts.

Daryl: [00:22:09] And the long and the short of it was that they decided on the spot that I didn't belong in kindergarten anymore. And they took me out of that classroom and they put me in first grade, you know, the next week. So my parents signed off on that and they moved me into first grade. So because something good had happened in their world, something bad had happened to me because I was terrified. It was the scariest day of my life, probably in my entire life. Wow. And so at that point, I was in, you know, three quarters of my through my kindergarten year, I was put into first grade, then after first grade into second. And in second grade, they they found that, you know, a bunch of us were ahead of our our schedule there as well. And so they put a bunch of us through third grade accelerated program, and then they took about 12 of us and they moved us into fourth grade at the end of that school year. So I wound up skipping first and third grades. And so for the entire rest of my school career, I was two years ahead. So I wound up graduating high school when I was 15, which was, you know, great from an academic standpoint, but terrible from a social and emotional standpoint. Really. Friends, Not very many. You know, I was kind of like not really with it from a friendship standpoint, sports. I was really good in baseball and sports from an athletic standpoint and city league. But in high school sports, I was terrible. You know, I was cut from my high school freshman baseball team. So it was, you know, sports were, you know, not not possible after that.

Heidi: [00:23:49] Well, yeah, that makes it a little difficult when you're two years, but especially at that age where you see such a crazy difference in in puberty. Exactly. When kids go through that.

Daryl: [00:23:59] So so I was so so I was I was kind of like then at that point, I became like in my own mind, I became kind of a non-person. I became a kind of a person who, you know, was kind of just kind of not not do so much socially in life. And I was just kind of hug the wall and be kind of a wallflower. And so I graduated kind of in a wallflower kind of capacity to the point where, you know, I was just at my high school reunion this past weekend and I and I brought my name badge. I'll show it to the camera here. I don't know if I'm on screen right now. And for Zach here. So, you know, I.

Heidi: [00:24:38] Told him I was like, Darryl, Yeah, this doesn't even look like I don't even know who that is. Yeah.

Daryl: [00:24:43] See? So it's like it's really, you know, I was going for most improved. That was I don't know if they, if they have competitions at your high school reunion but really I was going for most improved but you know there was there was just I just didn't feel like I fit in the entire high school. But come to find out, nobody feels like they fit in in high school. You know, I feel like everybody in life, if I was to go to any high school in any city in the United States, the place is filled with people not fitting in. And I know, Heidi, you know, you've had your own conversations with me about how you felt. Your height was a dissatisfaction. And my wife, you know, the same way she felt, you know, unsatisfied with the way that she was short and you were tall and I was too smart. And I was made fun of because I was so smart and things like this. And it's like, well, since when is being too smart? You know, such a bad thing? But but but it made me feel, you know, like I was like I was weird. And so for so many years, I was I felt anti, you know, I felt like I was kind of an antisocial type person. And I did not have the mental perspective necessary to, you know, capitalize on the on the gifts that I was given. So it took a long time for me to get past that thing. So. Right.

Heidi: [00:26:07] Because even in college, like, I mean, so you're in college starting at 15, 16. No, no, totally not 15.

Daryl: [00:26:14] That would have been ridiculous. I did get my driver's license at 16 over the summer, so I was able to drive to college, thank goodness. Oh, that's amazing. Yes. Yes, I know. That was that was super important that I was able to get my license over the summer. So.

Heidi: [00:26:27] But then you were saying you graduated college before you were even 21.

Daryl: [00:26:31] I was, yes, that's correct.

Heidi: [00:26:32] Yeah. So you were graduating college ready to start your career and you still couldn't drink? Correct? That is true. That's fun, right? Good, fun. College years, huh?

Daryl: [00:26:42] Yeah, College. Yeah. It was like I lived at home. Yeah, I did not have a college experience, you know, so to speak. So there wasn't anything like that. So it was like I went away to school, you know, and. Okay, so. So what did I do? So then, you know, I started dating and I met my wife, and I got married when I was 19 while I was still in college. Wow. So, yeah, so Tammy and I got married when I was 19, so that was so so I was, you know, I was a responsible teenager.

Heidi: [00:27:16] Yeah, absolutely.

Daryl: [00:27:17] Yeah. So no children. We did not. We were forced. It was just a thing we decided to do. So, you know, we were in college getting married and, you know, we went on with our lives and just young. And now I'm looking at that and thinking, wow, that was really bold. But, you know, it worked out. It was a it was a great learning experience. So we shaped our futures together. And so, you know, we had one son, you know, along the way. We were 25. And, you know, and so it's been a wonderful life along that way. But socially, it was it was very difficult for us, you know, for me, because she was very popular. She was like, you know, one of the people that was very popular person on on campus, So.

Heidi: [00:28:05] Well, yeah. And I met Tammy. She is the life of the party. She's very extroverted and she's just very outgoing and jovial and wonderful. Right. So, yeah, that that may have compounded.

Daryl: [00:28:14] If she was to be here, she would take over the podcast right now. So.

Heidi: [00:28:18] So when did all of that change? When do you when do you feel like or what age do you feel like something flipped?

Daryl: [00:28:26] I was taking a a management training class and there was a course that we were taking and there was a subject that came up and they were talking about it and they said on this subject and they said, Up until now, my life was X, but starting today, my life is Y, and you can just decide these things. And I thought, you can, you know, you are not you're not limited by what what you've been all your life. That's, that's crazy. That's, that's just like I've never heard of such a thing. You, you can, you can do it. So. So with that information I went to my first Alliott Global Alliance conference and I had the checklist of registrants. I had gone all by myself. I went to Boston and and I had the list of about, you know, 75 or 100 people that were on that list. And I decided that I was going to find every single one of them and meet them all. And it was with that list and with a check mark pencil. And I was playing like blackout bingo with all these names.

Heidi: [00:29:40] Oh, so that's what happened. I was a bingo check.

Daryl: [00:29:42] No, no, that was the second one. The first one was you weren't there. You were at the second one. So once I so, yeah, once that was that was I was on bonus time. Now these were so then I knew people when I was, when I met you, it was like, it was like, amazing. I was like, like I was totally in a comfort zone at that point. So that's awesome. Yeah. So then I met you and it was like it was like all things were, well, at that point, so and so.

Heidi: [00:30:09] How has that translated then into because what we're talking probably 12, 13 years ago and so talk about now how because I think it's huge for us to realize I'm a. Major advocate in believing that people are incredibly malleable and that we do have the ability to reinvent ourselves. And I think especially with younger generations and with longevity and age being what it is, and reading these books and these podcasts about how we're in a different era where people can reinvent themselves as many times as they want. It doesn't even have to be that you graduate as an accountant and you're going to be an accountant forever. You may have four careers in your lifetime and you may evolve and change and adapt and grow, whether it's in the same place or whether it's in different places. So talk about then, how that's now evolved in your career, because this is not only affecting you, this affects the people who work for you. And that's really where it starts to. It's like, you know, that's where the meat is and where we really see impact.

Daryl: [00:31:13] I don't I don't the people that I work with are my best friends. And when when I'm interviewing when I'm interviewing you to be become part of my best friends. So that's that's the the screen that I'm putting you through. Can I can I bring you into a circle of friendship? That is somebody that I want to hang out with all the time basis because I want to be able to enjoy life together. And that's what I think. You know, we I when I was listening to podcasts, one of the things that they talked about was, you know, relational workplaces versus transactional workplaces. Yeah. You know, and if you're if your job is just, you know, whatever, if you're working at home and you're just plugged into whatever website it is, that's where you work. And, you know, if you if you quit a job and you you take a new one on, you know, between Friday and Monday and it's just a matter of where you log in and you can't tell that you've changed careers or changed jobs. Just you just changed a log in an IP address. That is just so sad, you know, because I want to know who you are. I want you to be a part of what I'm building because that's what I think this is all about.

Daryl: [00:32:33] You know, when I'm at Bowman, I'm building something. When I'm working with you, Heidi, I'm. I'm building something in you and you're building something in me. And that's the that's the relationship that you and I are building together. And, you know, with this podcast, you know, we're building people out there because, you know, we're we're asking them to reinvent themselves. We're asking them to help build something, you know, where they are because there's so many things that people can do, you know, because it's not just it's not just an accounting. It's not just in in finance. It's not just in business. It's in their home life. And, you know, and we all make we all make choices and we all make mistakes. And, you know, there are things that I should have done differently. And along the way, there's there's hundreds of those. My life is littered with errors and things like that happen. But in relationships, you know, you, you forgive you, you move on and you know you do better. And that's what we that's what we do in relationships. And that's and that's how you build and that's how you that's how you move forward.

Heidi: [00:33:40] That's awesome. I mean, it's been so interesting doing this podcast because this is totally a passion project. You know, this was super vulnerable. This was being really open and transparent and just the raw, this is who I am. But it's interesting because, yeah, I hope that people listen and are a little inspired to hear something that just makes it a little light bulb go off. But I get more from this than anybody and it's these conversations and like, what you just said is you're building me and I'm building you by just sitting here and having a conversation. And I don't know if there's a value placed on that. Sometimes in our life, with as fast paced as we're going and we're moving that investment in other people, the investment in time and conversation, your investment in your staff to send him halfway around the country or the world excuse me, to invest in them, it comes back tenfold. And it I mean, it makes me smile. It makes me happy and it makes it warms my heart because I think if we can remember that that's the big picture. That's the big vision, then we can do better. It is about people, clients, staff, teams, relationships across the board, and it helps us all do better and it helps us all find balance because, you know, we talk on the podcast too, about balance in life, you know, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and professionally.

Heidi: [00:35:06] And it's one thing that I love about you is talking about is that what I see with you is I, I know you well. I know Tammy. I know your family. I know you know your partners. And there isn't there isn't the professional Daryl and the. Personal, Daryl. There isn't who you are at work and who you are in your real life. It is all you. And it's like you are in it 100% with everything that you have. And I think that's I think it's inspiring because too often we we find that separation and feel like, well, we need to be very professional. And if we can continue to teach staff that and employees as well, that it's okay to be who you are and be authentic to that role in totality, not just sort of this professional side. So I think that's really cool. But. Question Tell me about a challenge you've had in your career. That was something you would have viewed as a failure, but that helped you to fail forward.

Daryl: [00:36:08] Hmm. Well. Well, you podcasted about me one time, a few months ago.

Heidi: [00:36:15] I don't think I used your name.

Daryl: [00:36:17] You did not use my name. Thank you for not using my name. But friends of the podcast will recall. What was her name? It was the woman with the dogs.

Heidi: [00:36:29] Oh, yeah. Chris Heater. Chris Heater?

Daryl: [00:36:31] Yeah. If you and I play that and I. And I refer to that podcast, if you, if you, if you want to, if you want to learn a little bit about me, you'll find me referenced indirectly.

Heidi: [00:36:43] Daryl how do you know I was talking about you? Because.

Daryl: [00:36:45] Because I know you. Because you're making me better. You made me better because you made me better in the in the Chris Heater podcast. So a year and a half ago, my wife had a very serious thing happened to her. She had she she went underwent back surgery and she had very, very debilitating back pain. And right around December 2021, I guess it was decided to do a major reconstructive back surgery. And she wound up with about, I don't know, a ten inches of metal in her back as far as steel rods and things like that titanium that they put in to get her back straightened up. But that was as bad as that is what happened as a result of that surgery was she got an infection that nearly cost her her life. And the reason it did was because this was right at the peak of Covid and the hospital, you know, was full. They couldn't get her back in to clear out the the infection. And the the long and the short of it was that she wound up having, I think, 8 or 9 surgeries to take care of all of the infection. She was in the hospital for four months. We were driving, you know, probably it was probably 100 miles round trip every day to manage that. This is right during tax season. And she was coming home. We had a young lady who was a caregiver in our home who was there that time.

Daryl: [00:38:33] We were changing caregivers. But in all all of this, it was just a very turbulent time period when which was our peak work time. And what happened to me was I had always been, you know, very dedicated to my profession, obviously, you know, But what I had to do was figure out how I was going to work. I was going to fold this new thing in being a full time caregiver into somebody who was now paralyzed and needed to live at home and have a lot of medical care. And so what we needed to do was manage that situation in addition to everything else that was going on in our lives. And so she's gotten a lot better. She's walking, she's developed a lot of strength, and she's strengthened me phenomenally as a result of all this process. So it was an amazing growth opportunity for me. People say, Well, you should be so mad. You should. You could sue. These are things that, you know, you could you could fight the system and you battle through all those thoughts. But it's just an area where you can grow and and you have to figure out how to how to contend with all of that. But what I had to learn to manage and this is where where you came in and where my partner Jeannie came in was learning to tell clients and be professional and be sensitive as to how to manage all the parts of me with all the parts of professionalism and how do I blend all of this new me in with all of that.

Daryl: [00:40:27] Daryl He's so cool. He's so he can he he works on my stuff at 11:00 at night. He's an awesome CPA, but now he can't. So now what? So how did I do that? I was bad at that. And what what I learned from you and from Jeannie and from Chris on the podcast was, you know, people want to know what you were you elevated me was our clients want to know what's going on in my life that they actually do want to know about the the whole Darryl that that's important to them that they don't just care about. You know, my guy is the guy that fills out my forms. They don't care about the 1040 necessarily. They want to know about me because, you know, the the person who is my guy is they want me to be their guy for the next 20 years. And if if I have something major that's preventing me from being their guy, then that's going to be a problem for them for a long time. So, you know, we have to be communicative of that to them all along. So I'm not sure if I deviated from the question there.

Heidi: [00:41:49] But no, I mean, that's that's exactly because not only I mean, you became a caregiver and for the first time in your entire career, you went through all of COVID not working remotely, still going to the office. The office is always been, I think, a place of peace and reprieve. Like you love to be at the office, you love to be in that space. So all of a sudden you couldn't be for a time and you began to work remote for the first time in your whole career. And this was after having gone through Covid when everybody else did. And you're like, not me. And so that changed everything. So it was this this weird shift of having to reinvent ourselves and evolve, but then finding that sometimes when we feel like maybe clients will look at that negatively or be, Oh my gosh, well, what's going to happen now if Daryl is not going to be, you know, working 11 p.m. For me, on the flip side, most people are so incredibly grateful when they truly see the other side. Gracious, gracious. Oh, yeah, that's the perfect word. Yeah. And so I think if we allow other people to be gracious, but it takes a vulnerability, right? And I think that's one of the hardest things in the world. I it's been the hardest thing for me to be vulnerable.

Daryl: [00:43:03] I have learned that that's something that I have I have adopted. You know, it's okay to be gracious. It's allow people allow people to be gracious. I love being gracious, but it's it's hard for me to accept it. Yeah, sure.

Heidi: [00:43:19] Oh, yeah. It's I love being in a place where I can support someone else and, you know, be there for them. And that's a great feeling. It's not fun when you're on the other side. You're like, Oh, but it's been amazing, you know? And I mean, I've been in positions like that with my kids and you've offered some beautiful support as a friend. And, you know, and I knew you were going through that, and my heart was breaking as well. And again, I think it's the relationships, it's connections. And it's so bizarre where we find a randomly find connections, where we meet people in our lives that can change us. And sometimes it's one time, sometimes it could be one random conversation and we never see someone again and can change, change a life. So before we close up, one final question, just to lighten things a little bit. You love to travel and you've traveled a lot. I love hearing about your adventures and where you've been around the world. I know this is a hard question. People ask me this sometimes and I don't like it because it's impossible to quantify. But where's your favorite place that you've been that just was the most impactful for you?

Daryl: [00:44:27] Well, we have a Tammy and I have our son Ben. He has a friend, Josh, who he was a student at Stanford. And he came back to our house and he said, you know, you've got to you've got to if you're interested in going to Africa, ever, you've got to go with this friend of mine, Dr. Phil Rasori. He's got an amazing safari that he runs. And so you should do that. And so we did that. We went on safari and I think it was like 2011 or something like that in Kenya. And and I love going on. You know, it's it's great to go to travel and to to travel and to see things and to just and to and to be in in unique places. And and when I when I share about this is not just that that we went and we saw Kenya and we saw animals and we saw the people there. But we we went there because Dr. Rasori had a program there that he was operating. It was called Village Hope Core International, which was a nonprofit that was in a little remote village in north eastern Kenya, where they were doing a microfinance program where they were giving $5,000 to people to the you'd basically you'd get like a cow or something like that. And you would then the people would they would elevate a family for an entire for years on end just by the fact that you would you would help them.

Daryl: [00:46:18] They would buy a cow and they would they would borrow the money. They would buy the cow. They would pay off their loan and they would pay it forward with this microfinance program. And I thought that that was just so profound that we were able to watch this. And so I said, I want to I want to be a part of that. And so we donated to the organization. They found out that I was, you know, financially savvy. And they said, Well, we want you to help us with the organization. I became the chairman of the organization. And now, you know, it's it's thriving. They've got a public health program where they're involved with hundreds of schools and and mothers and children. And so we're actually making a big imprint on people in rural Kenya all over all over Eastern Africa. Our program is expanding now into remote parts of of Kenya where we're helping with malaria. We're helping with vision issues, not to mention microfinance. But it's just through one interaction where we thought we were going on safari, but we wound up touching people around the world and it's just like, Oh my gosh, It's like, this is this is the power of connection. So I'm connected to people on the other side of the world in a way that I wasn't expecting. When I went to Africa to see the animals and I came back talking about the people.

Heidi: [00:47:43] That's awesome. That's amazing. Well, we'll share a link to that organization because I know you've shared some things with me, and I think it's the coolest model that they have. And and they're making a difference. And I think that's ultimately in the end, that's what matters, right? Is the mark that we leave. So with that, we'll wrap. But as always, I hope the podcast, sometimes we get a little deep. This has been interesting with Darrell and I because, you know, we're friends and we're sort of sharing our story. But if nothing else, if it just inspires one person to think about things a little bit differently or have a little light bulb moment and realize that, you know, we're all traveling a very similar path. We're all kind of headed the same direction, evolving and learning and growing and and it's about the connections. And so thank you so much. I appreciate you taking the time out of this conference. I know you're missing a session or two, so thank you very much. And it's been a pleasure.

Daryl: [00:48:41] Do I get CPE for being on the program or.

Heidi: [00:48:45] Oh, yes.

Heidi: [00:48:46] He actually gets three hours for being a guest. Woo! See, there was something in it for you.

Daryl: [00:48:51] Loving it.

Heidi: [00:48:53] All right. Thank you so much for listening, Darrell. Thank you again so much.

Daryl: [00:48:57] Thank you, Heidi. I love being on it.