The Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast

164 ⎸ [SPOTLIGHT] Build confidence to leave corporate with Rebekah Poirier

• Serena Shoup, CPA • Episode 164

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In this spotlight episode, Rebekah Poirier, founder of Serenity CFO Solutions, shares her journey from the corporate world to entrepreneurship. We're getting into how she's using social media to get clients, the perks of running your own business, and how the Bookkeeping Business Accelerator (BBA) program has been a game-changer!

In this episode you’ll hear:

  • Rebekah's transition from corporate to starting a business
  • social media marketing
  • benefits of running your own business
  • the intrinsic value of the BBA program in shaping mindset
  • community support within the BBA program and how it compares to other groups & programs

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Meet Rebekah
Rebekah Poirier is owner and founder of Serenity CFO Solutions LLC, providing virtual bookkeeping and accounting services to restaurants, retailers, and wholesale distributors all over the U.S.

Connect with Rebekah
💼 Linkedin
👤 FB: Serenity CFO Solutions
📱 IG: @Serenitycfo
👩‍💻 Website Blog
☎️ FREE discovery calls for those actively seeking bookkeeping support or fractional CFO services.

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Serena:

Welcome. Welcome back to the Ambitious Bookkeeper podcast. Today we have another, a wonderful guest of ours, and she is actually a student of the Bookkeeping Business Accelerator. She's been through the workshops and her name is Rebecca. Hi, Rebecca. How are you?

Rebekah:

Hi, good to

Serena:

Yeah, good to see you too. And thank you so much for coming on and, being willing to share your story. I think it's really valuable for others to listen to real life people and their real life experiences in doing what they are wanting to do, or, you know, something that they're also doing and they just want to know that like, they're not alone. So thank you so much for doing that. I think they, these episodes have a really big impact on other bookkeepers and accountants trying to build businesses. So, what I want to start off with is kind of like, give us a background of where you're at currently in your business. And then we'll kind of like hit rewind and talk about like how you got there.

Rebekah:

Yeah, absolutely. So I have a business called Serenity CFO Solutions., I started that business back in 2021. I kind of stepped away from my corporate job, and life, and decided to kind of go out there on my own. So today, I don't know the exact number of accounts that I have, but it's probably in like the 20 ish to 25 ish range, of client accounts. Some of those are owners that have multiple businesses. and I primarily serve I've kind of changed my niche a few times, but I primarily serve Retailers, wholesalers as well as some restaurant, food and beverage clients. But I also have a not for profit kind of arm of my business as well. So those are the primary clients I serve. And then I have a staff right now of four people plus myself. So there's five of us trying to do all of this,

Serena:

Awesome. Is it a mix of like part time full time or what's that look like?

Rebekah:

Right now they're all part time 1099 contractors. had a full time person. But that scenario really wasn't working out. And so I recently hired a couple more part time people to kind of fill that role. So that's, that's currently what I'm doing.

Serena:

I like to get perspective on that because I think a lot of business owners in general hear like, oh, I, you have five employees and everyone automatically thinks that all those five people work full time and they're like, oh my gosh, that's so much payroll. But in reality, like, especially with the way that the structure of, and the cycles of bookkeeping, you don't need someone full time all month. and it's almost easier to spread the work out with a few part time people because the workload is heavier at the beginning of the month. So I like to sprinkle that kind of stuff in so people can see like what's possible and it's, there's not just one way to do it. And yeah. So thank you for sharing that.

Rebekah:

Absolutely.

Serena:

you said that you, cool. You left corporate to start your business. What was that transition like? And what was the catalyst for wanting to leave corporate?

Rebekah:

my background, I spent. I want to say 13 years in the federal government doing accounting you know, walking through the audit process, all of that kind of stuff. I left the federal government, went to mostly the banking industry. I spent a a little bit of time in private equity but very similar banking industry type experience. And I just got to the point where number one, I was at a time in my life where we were moving around a lot. So every time we had to move, I had to find another job. Sometimes I had to take like a pay cut or like kind of a demotion. so I wanted that little bit of extra flexibility. And the other thing is so the job that I was in at that time, I was also kind of just having just some struggles. And it was just a different management style, a different work environment. I was used to just like, give me my assignment. I'll get it done by the deadline. I don't, need to see you every day. But like, that was just a different management style I was experiencing there. And of course, this was in the middle of COVID. so we all kind of had to pack up and get sent home. And then we were back in the office and then we were sent home again. So it's just like, I'm like, I can't, I don't want to do this anymore. And I don't want to go find another job either. I just want to, like, breathe for a minute and have some extra flexibility in my life. The main thing was the flexibility. Like, I couldn't just, I'm very involved in my church. I'm very involved in my community. My husband is as well. So, like, I wanted to have the flexibility to do the things that I want to do. So the transition involved just basically me quitting my job, like, with, Zero notice. And of course, during COVID, it was over email, so it was weird and awkward, but maybe that was better than, you know, having to walk in and quit and like, get all my stuff out, you know, so maybe I lucked out there a little bit. I didn't have much of a backup plan. I had had A couple of part time contract gigs lined up that was going to pay the bills. I had always done kind of bookkeeping on the side. I was always had somebody's books I was working on or involved with. Either I was a treasurer of something or, you know, helping one of the nonprofit organizations I work in, you know. So I knew I could do it. I knew I had that skill set. So I, I took these kind of part time contract jobs just to kind of get, get started. And then I slowly just started building my profile. I went out on, um, two primary sources Upwork and Fiverr. I think I got more clients on Upwork. And that could have just been because it, for me, was easier to use and apply for various different jobs and things like that. So landed my first couple of clients about a month after I quit my job. And then it just kind of grew from there. And I started Very quickly got to the point where I'm like, well, you know, I don't really want to do the day to day bookkeeping. I feel like I need to hire some help with that. So I, I hired one person and then very quickly after that hired a second person. And I've had lots of hiring and even firing and coming and going since then. So I range anywhere between, you know, three to maybe six part time people, like I said just doing the regular day to day bookkeeping. so yeah, that's kind of how I got started. And then I found BBA and that was, Very good timing for me. A friend of mine had tripped across you. She didn't even do bookkeeping. She does like marketing and other things, but somehow in her social media, she tripped across you. And after taking BBA, I was like, okay, this is, I can do this. Like, I can adopt this. Some or all of these principles the templates you had were great. You know, I could, get things set up with engagement letters and things like that. And I, working in the industry understood the need for that. So it was very helpful just to kind of have that as a resource and not feel like I was starting, you know, from scratch, which I was, but I didn't, it made it feel less painful.

Serena:

So that's really cool. I always like to hear how people originally found me, especially since you've been in my world for so long. It's like, I don't know if it was the podcast cause it was pretty new at that point or what. So it sounds like probably just social media.

Rebekah:

yeah. I think she tripped across you and then I started listening to your podcast, and then I was like, okay, I kind of want to do this BBA thing just to, to see if it will help me. So it was kind of all of the

Serena:

Yeah. So cool. So at that point, What was like the big problem that you were trying to solve or were you kind of like, Oh, I didn't know I needed this, but I'm glad it's here.

Rebekah:

Yeah, I think just overall structure, figuring out the tech stack was really hard for me because I just didn't know, like, I knew QuickBooks online. not exceptionally well, but you know, I, that was a product that I knew. So, you know, I, I made the decision kind of early on. I'm going to be a QuickBooks bookkeeper, not to say that that's like the best software in the world, but it's like what I knew. And, um, You know, one of the more used popular software. So I knew that, but like just figuring out, especially in a remote environment, like what tools to use. you know, figuring out how to do a client engagement, how to like engage my team, since I did hire pretty early, like at the start of my business. You know, how do I, Manage projects. How do I manage their work? How do I manage my calendar? How do I figure out how much to bill my customers? Because now I've got like four or five other people's time to track and try to figure out like, Okay. Are they spending too much or too less time, you know, with this particular client? So a lot of it was just getting the, the tech stack together to do that. Cause it is a lot like you know, to get started with, and then you've got to figure out which ones you feel comfortable using and are easy to use. So I think that was probably the biggest hurdle. And then of course, hiring people is always a hurdle for me. Like I'm, I'm very naive. So when someone like says, I'm a great. Employee, I go, yeah, of course you are, you know, so like, I don't, you know, just, I, I'd never, I had done a lot of project management, not a lot of employee management in my career, which is odd because I did get pretty high up in my career, but never really managed a lot of people. So. You know, doing the hiring and, getting the right people has been a little bit of a challenge, too.

Serena:

Yeah. that's definitely like one of the things that I, I think a lot of people come into BBA just thinking it's like to help just set up the initial structure of your business. But because you get to stay in the community forever, like inevitably you're going to encounter these conversations, whether it's you or someone else in the group. And it is really helpful to be aware of that. And like you, I hired really early on too. So I think it's good to have those conversations, sprinkled in. at the beginning of people's business and start thinking about that because you really don't know how quickly you're going to grow or how quickly you're going to need to hire people. And I'm of the mindset of like, instead of just adding more to your plate and trying to increase your own capacity, like just hire. so yeah, I feel like for anyone listening, if you're wondering, is it like a beginner's program? It's not really a beginner's program. It's like all encompassing.

Rebekah:

Yeah, yeah, and you haven't kicked me out

Serena:

No, and I won't. And, and that's the thing too, is like I, at the beginning when I made that decision to like, Have everyone stay in perpetually for the life of the program. I was like, am I going to regret this? Am I going to end up with like thousands and thousands of people to support? but no, because people, get to a point in their business where Maybe don't need that extra support anymore, but they, they know they have it if they want to return to a call or whatever. But our, our calls are still very small and intimate and, I try to answer everybody's question in the group if other people don't answer first, but we have a really great community. So yeah.

Rebekah:

do. Yeah.

Serena:

what do you think your business would have looked like like a year after you started? if you hadn't found BBA.

Rebekah:

that's a good question. I think the biggest help for me, Was just the encouragement and to put away the imposter syndrome, kind of, I probably would not have, made some of the decisions I did so early on or like taken on, the clients or the number of clients that I did without that kind of just like push. I think it would have taken me longer to grow. I think it would have taken me longer to make decisions. Certainly would have taken me longer to like figure out a lot of the stuff that you have kind of pre packaged in templates and things like that. I think, and I made a lot of mistakes in my first year. Like, I don't want to be like, this was a magical bullet that, like, got me to where I, you know, like, I, made some oopsies and had to adjust and things like that. But I just felt like I had the freedom to do that and the capability to do that, through the BBA program. I think my first year, I probably still would have run into the same challenges, but I don't think I would have navigated them as well, if that makes sense. And it probably would have like stifled my growth at least a bit like the first couple of years.

Serena:

Yeah, I can probably confirm that because that happened with me, you know, like building something and not having that safety net of other people to kind of like bounce ideas off of and like to help talk you through difficult situations and things like that. It really is a game changer. And I love that it. Gave you the confidence to maybe hire a little bit earlier or get rid of that bad client or whatever. There's a lot of that talk in the group of like, this client sucks my energy, and everyone's like, get rid of 'em.. But it's, it's really nice to have those cheerleaders, you know?

Rebekah:

and I did fire one of my first clients like within the first like six months just because it wasn't a good fit for me. Like they needed somebody more hands on. So I had to. Kind of sheepishly let that relationship go and it, it was weird because like, you feel like, oh, no, this is income I'm not going to have ever again. And then it's like, no, you're just replacing it with different income, you know, and, and less stress if that's the circumstance that you're in. So yeah, having that level of encouragement. Is really

Serena:

yeah. That's one thing that I, I even have to tell myself when I'm like wanting to get rid of a client. I'm like, I know that when I do this, more clients are going to come in the door, like immediately. And you just have to put your faith in that. And it's like, It frees you up, like, energetically to accept new clients when you let go of a, client that's not such a great fit for you, but it is hard to remember that, even when you've had evidence of that happening in the past. So, yeah. Were you apprehensive about joining BBA? Cause I know you took, you enrolled in the workshops in like 2021. And at that point we had been doing the workshops for a couple of years almost. so you enrolled in the workshops in 2021 and then a little while after, or maybe during that launch, you joined BBA. So was there any like hangups where you were like, I don't know if this program's right for me.

Rebekah:

not hang up so much. It was more, I kind of want to check you out first. You know, like, I listened to your podcast, so I knew that you had knowledge and things like that. Good things to say. I wanted to make sure this was something that I could do on my own, that I felt comfortable with it, you know, that it wasn't just another rah, rah, let's go. That it was actually like structured in a way. And so that's why I kind of wanted to take like, and I may have even had. A coupon or something for the first couple of workshops. So I wanted to kind of start there. And then, yeah, like it didn't take me long to be like, I should probably just join BBA and get like the full access and benefits of this program. So I don't remember the exact timeline, but yeah, that was kind of my thought process. Like I was very like skeptical at first, but then, it turned out to be a good move for

Serena:

Yeah, as you should be and as everyone should be. And that's part of like, that's why I also like take calls when people are thinking about enrolling. Anyone can book like a 15 minute call with me just to pick my brain or, you know, make sure I'm real. I'm like, please

Rebekah:

yeah, you're not a robot.

Serena:

and the other thing too, is like, I just did one of these calls the other day and I think I don't know if anyone's listening and they've booked, you know, like a free call with someone, whatever to like, that you're kind of thinking about joining their program or whatever it is. And it just ends up like a whole sales pitch. Like I have actually told people don't buy right now. It's not a good time for you. Like, based on what's going on in your life, there's too many, like, ups and downs. You've had, like, a death in the family. Don't make any decisions for, like, the next year on big money moves. Like, BBA will be here for you when you're ready. Like, I've done that so many times. and I just did that the other day too. it's really not a sales pitch. I do want people to be skeptical because there is a lot Junk out there online. And yeah, I mean, maybe you kind of answered this, but what was kind of the one big reason or maybe a couple of big reasons why you decided to just join and give it a try?

Rebekah:

I mean, at some point, you don't have anything to lose. Like, maybe it's a little bit of an investment, but, you know, honestly, price wise, it wasn't a huge lift for me to be like, well, this is a reasonable enough price I can, like, take a chance if it doesn't end up working out. So I, it didn't feel like I had much to lose. I had already kind of taken the plunge into the deep end by like making the decision to go out on my own and like never return to the corporate world.

Serena:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Rebekah:

yeah, it was just, it was just more like I need help. I know I need help. You know, I felt like that I would get out of it would be more than any, you know, cost or, or effort that I put into it, if that made sense. just kind of basic analysis like that. That's how I live my life, I guess.

Serena:

So do I is like, okay, well, like what is the upside of making this investment? Like, oh, the programs, like. Whatever, 500, something like that, depending on what you're looking at. And it's like, well, the upside is this program helps me get a client that pays that over the course of a few months. And then it's paid for itself, but sometimes you can get trapped in that mindset too. of like doing that with like multiple things at once. It's like, well, I just have to one land one client and then it's paid for itself, but you've already kind of like done that with a different purchase. So don't get wrapped up in that trap. But

Rebekah:

Yeah. But I mean, it's more so like intrinsic value, I think too. Like, you know, am I going to walk away from this learning one thing that's useful, yes or no, you know, and I felt confident that. I would get at least something of value out of it.

Serena:

yeah, I agree with that too. And that's one of the things that. I like to talk about too. It's like, if you come to the workshops or you enroll in BBA and you adopt a certain mindset that then just helps you in your future, whether you stay working for yourself or you go back to corporate, like it's been worth it. Right? Like the things that I've learned as an entrepreneur, if I were to ever go back to corporate, I would approach things so differently than I did when I was in corporate. And just that. learning experience alone of being my own boss and learning how to manage things as an entrepreneur would help me so much in corporate.

Rebekah:

Yeah, absolutely.

Serena:

if you could sum up quickly what specifically you were able to, like, take and run with from BBA, like, one of your, like, quick wins that you got. What would it be?

Rebekah:

I think probably the engagement letter and various different templates, just the, how do you get started with a client templates and things like that was definitely something I could just like take and run with it. and then some of, The technology like Asana, I immediately started using because I'm like, I have to have something where I can like, feel like I'm managing all of these different tasks. I definitely say, yeah, like the templates and the tech stack, you know, alone are probably. You know, some of the easiest things to just like, go and run with. And then, I mean, just the, I think you did. As part of BBA, one of the workshops is on specifically Upwork and like those first few clients. That was, Extremely useful to me because I, I had heard about Upwork. I kind of set up a profile, but I wasn't sure how to use it. And if I was doing it, right. you know, I think some of the things that you may have said in that workshop, like, really resonated. I was like, okay, this is very useful. And out of that, you know, I probably landed my first two, maybe even three clients just from, you know, going out on Upwork, kind of structuring my proposals the way you had mentioned versus what I was doing before, which was just kind of like, okay, click,

Serena:

Cross my fingers.

Rebekah:

cross my fingers, hope this works, you know, you know, understanding that somebody is probably looking at hundreds of applications, you know? That was you know, a lot of things I could just immediately go and run with and start using right away.

Serena:

Awesome. Are you still gaining clients on Upwork or what are you, how are you getting clients these days?

Rebekah:

still have my Upwork profile. I've kind of not used it much lately. For a while I was actually paying for the subscription because I found it useful. For a period of time, but I don't even pay for the subscription anymore. I'm back down on the free plan. Yes, somebody could go out there and find my profile, but I'm not actively going in there daily. Most of the clients I've received recently have either been word of mouth. There was one client recently that posted a job on LinkedIn and I replied to it and was like, do you want to, uh, an employee or do you want to try like fractional CFO or, you know, fractional services? So, you know, that was just kind of a, a random encounter, but I am trying to use social media more to like, just. Remind people that I'm out here, you know, I have valuable, skills and that sort of thing. So like just recently, somebody that I've known for a while contacted me saying, You know, he knew of a company that needed some help with their accounting. Didn't really think of me at first, except that he saw my post on social media recently, and he was like, ah, yes, Rebecca can do this. And so like he reached out to me directly, you know, so some of it's just, I think. Word of mouth, but then also like marketing myself to people I already know, if that makes sense. Yeah.

Serena:

such a good a good piece of advice because I think a lot of bookkeepers are like, the social media doesn't really matter. It's not bringing in clients. And you may not realize that it might not be directly bringing in clients, but it's keeping you top of mind for people so that when they hear of someone that needs a bookkeeper. They remember you. And so that's a really great example that you actually had that data too. Because a lot of times we don't know that that's what's happening because no one mentions it really,

Rebekah:

Yeah. And they might be somebody from your past that doesn't think of you as bookkeeper, Rebecca. They think of you as, you know, so and so's wife or, you know, such and such coordinator in the community or whatever. And then, you know, when you're posting things about your business on social media. They go, all right, that person does that, you know, I should remember that for when I need somebody, you know, so, yeah,

Serena:

now how is your life different running your own business and successfully having 20 some odd clients than it was like when you were in corporate?

Rebekah:

yeah, so definitely I have more time with my family. You know, I went from, commuting to a job where obviously I'm not commuting now. so that's hours back in my day, but I also only work like 25 to 30 hours a week. My goal is to get that. 20 or below.

Serena:

Mm hmm.

Rebekah:

And, you know, I'm not saying that because I'm a lazy person. I just, you know, I have a different value system, I think now than I did like five or 10 years ago, because once you've tasted like, Oh, I can actually have a business and live my life, that's

Serena:

Mm hmm.

Rebekah:

at some point. So, yeah, if I need to structure my day or structure my week, a specific way, I can do that. I also try to give that same flexibility to people working for me. That's why I don't say, you have to work, you know, 40 hours a week for me during these business hours. You know, I have people who log in at midnight. And that's fine. I'm not going to be awake for them to ask me questions, but, you know, if they're just getting the work done, then that's fine. So like, just having that flexibility is definitely a big change. It was a challenge for a while financially, just because I went from having, a good, like steady paycheck to like having to make sure that I have enough in my bank account, like to pay all of my bills. and things get tighter at different times of year because I charge flat rates to my customers. But, like, in January, when I'm closing their books and doing, payroll 1099s, and, you know, getting their tax packages prepared January, February, March, you know, I'm. I'm making less money because I'm working more hours and my employees are working more hours. But then like this time of year in June, July, you know, it's a little bit more lax. I'm actually going to go on vacation in a couple of weeks, you know. So, you know, that's kind of the negative side of that, of like, running your own business. You've got to get the work done regardless of whether funds are in the bank account right this minute, you know but, you know, it's just a learning experience of being an entrepreneur. And, you know, I think it's definitely worth doing because. All of the decisions in my life are like now mostly in my control. You know, I don't have a boss to go and ask every time, like, something happens in my life, if I can take care of that

Serena:

Yeah. that's the biggest for me too. It's like, I kind of take it for granted now, but it's just like, Oh, someone wants to go get coffee in the middle of the day. Cool. I don't have any meetings. I'll meet you. Or like, like I told you, like we rescheduled this little podcast. Cause I was like, I had an impromptu trip come up. So, um, and I'm not going to have great internet. So yeah, like the, just having the control of that and. Like, old me would have felt, like, really bad about it. And I still, like, I'm so grateful that you rescheduled. But, like, old me would have been like, no, I made this commitment to, like, do it on this day. And, like, I can't ask somebody to change it. But, like, It's my business. And it's just a podcast interview. Like it's just a conversation. We're cool. but yeah, I agree. Like not having to ask for time off to go watch my kids recitals at. Preschool and like not having to ask for time off to go like volunteer. I will say like my later on in my corporate career, like since I held a higher position and my, you know, my bosses really trusted me. I did, I came in and I was like, I'm going to be volunteering every week on this day in my kid's class. So I'm coming in late. But I also would like take work home with me and work like 60 hours a week. So it's like, and I was on salary. So there's that, but it's like, it's nice to not have to even worry about that anymore of even having to have that conversation. It's just like, Oh, my calendar's blocked off on Mondays and Fridays because Mondays I volunteer and Fridays are for me. So, yeah. So what would you say to anyone who is thinking about joining the workshops or joining BBA? whether they've already started their business or not, what would you say to somebody who's on the fence?

Rebekah:

if you're on the fence, first of all, it's okay to be on the fence. You're making big, major life decisions. I would say that. BBA is a good one to join because it's not dependent on where you are in that process, where you are in that stuff. Yes, it's geared towards, a certain type of people who are, you know, kind of going into business for themselves. But if you still have your regular full time job and you're just like considering this, BBA is still for you because you're going to be able to interact with people who have or are in the process of making that decision. and then you can make the decision of whether that's right for you or not. But it really kind of pulls away the veil to see how a machine like that can run. and to me, that's worth it. That's the value that you're getting out of it. whereas, you know, I've, Done other, not programs, but like workshops and things like that, where it just seemed like you said, like a sales pitch, you're not going to get a sales pitch in BBA. That's not what it's for. It's to like help you through that journey. And if you're on the fence, figure out like, which side of the fence you want to be on, you know, and there's no like wrong decisions

Serena:

Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I really appreciate it. And. if you're listening to this and you're thinking about joining the workshops, please do. It's a very low investment for the workshops. And then you could get a taste of what it's like to be in my programs. And if you do decide to join BBA, you'll get to interact with Rebecca in the group. We all pitch in to answer questions and I, I don't want to, I'm biased, but also we have a lot of, Very brilliant people in our community, ex corporate accountants, CPAs, people who answer questions with care. And like, no one has ever made to feel stupid in our group for asking a question. And I have high confidence in everyone who does answer questions. It's not like some groups you'll go into and be like, everyone's answering this question completely differently. I don't know what's right. It's not like that in our group. So thank you so much for being a big contributor in our community. And thank you again for sharing your story.

Rebekah:

Yes. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Serena:

We'll talk to you soon.

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