Today I want to talk about why I would never want to be a partner at an accounting firm, and hopefully I never eat my words over this, but I want to share an experience with you that may enlighten some of you because I left Ernst & Young. I worked for one of the world's largest public accounting firms back in the day, and I remember when I was leaving, one of my managers came to me and he's like, Steve, we need to talk. He's like, what are you doing? And I said, I'm leaving. I'm going to start my own firm. It's called Coltivar, and I'm going to help companies combine strategy and finance to increase value, right? Because I feel like a lot of businesses out there, they either facilitate strategy sessions and they talk about mission, vision, and values and SWOT analysis and all this stuff. It's not really strategy, but it's aspirational.

And then you have the financial people building these models like nerds, plugging in numbers, whatever the management says they want to see, like 20% growth, 10% bottom line, and there's no connection between the two. So I said, I'm going to start a company that focuses on strategy and finance, combines these principles together to drive value. And I'm going to turn around, I'm going to grow and I'm going to invest in businesses. And he's like, Steve, terrible idea. He's like, Denver is such a small place and you're going to burn so many bridges and you're just better off staying at Ernst & Young. He's like, what about health insurance? And I was thinking, what do you mean? What about health insurance? Like I go buy health insurance for me and my family.

And he's like, we've invested so much money into you as a firm and you're just going to leave us? He's like, that's just messed up. He tried to guilt me. And I was like, well, I'm staying true to what I've already decided. And I'm leaving. And he just like shook his head in disgust. And then they like ghosted me for my last two weeks, whatever. That's no reflection on the firm. That's just the reflection on the smaller team. Okay.

So that's what I want to say. I'm not trying to bad mouth Ernst & Young. I think they're a really good company, but that was just my experience with public accounting when I was exiting. Okay. So recently I reached out to some accounting professionals, partners, the partner level, because I wanted to share some ideas that I have about the software that I developed for turning around and growing companies. So at Coltivar, we have our own platform where we have KPIs, where we have strategy management all built in.

So we can look at core KPIs for a company. We can look at their financials, their forecast. We can tie that back to their initiatives, action results, and it's all in one place. I think it's pretty cool. We're adopting AI into it and I'm excited to see where it's going. So nonetheless, I know a few partners in the top firms, right? And in one of the biggest regional firms here in Colorado.

And I just sent a quick message. I said, Hey, I would love for you to get eyes on what I'm working on because I think it's relevant to the accounting industry and for CFOs and other people in the space. And since you have experience as an accounting partner at these prestigious firms, I would love to just pick your brain and hear your thoughts.

Now, keep in mind, these are friends that I have. This isn't like cold outreach to people that don't know me. That's another story. And keep in mind that I understand that sometimes we just get in crank mode and people will reach out to me and I'm like, not right now. I'm like writing a book. I'm building a business. I'm developing the software. And it's just not the season in my life. I get that. Okay. But here's a common trend that I've seen over my career, especially since leaving public accounting is that sometimes these partners and I'm speaking generally, there's always exceptions. And I'm going to share an exception with you here before we get to the end.

More times than not, these partners are so overwhelmed with accounting. They're so deep in their work. Their work-life balance is terrible that it's really a cautionary tale. So when I was reaching out to get advice about my software, and I've been thinking about maybe buying an accounting firm, I got my answer in a very unexpected way. So I'm a man of faith. I pray about things in my life and I always seek for guidance. 

And I'm always trying to align my life with God's will for my life, because I've tried to do things the other way where I try to force my plans and guess what? They don't work out because God has something way bigger for me in store that I just don't see at the time. So recently I'm like, okay, I got to align my life better with God. So I'm going to pray, seek for guidance, but then I'm also going to go out there and reach out, connect with people and see where things go.

So I was debating a certain path in my life. And I reached out to these partners. I sent them text messages and crickets didn't hear anything back. And I was like, what the heck? That's weird. I have a text chain going on with them. So I know they got my message. I see that it shows delivered. So I know they got the text. Like, why didn't they respond? And I'm like, okay, maybe they're just busy. So I give it time. I give it time. I give it a few days. I even run into one of the partners out in public and he's like, ah, yeah, you know, I need to get back to you about that request. He's like, sorry, you know, it's just been a little crazy. I'm like, Hey, no problem. He's like, I'll get back to you. So time goes on.

And then I reach out to another partner for another request. And this request was more personal related to family. And they're like, yeah, things are just way too busy. I just, I can't attend right now. And I'm like, that just answered my question that answered it for me, because the way I see it success in life is having the freedom to do whatever the heck you want. So even if I went the partner path, cause I considered it back in the day and let's just say I was making all this money. If I didn't have time to help other people, if I didn't have time to attend family events that are important, if I didn't have time for myself, for my health, for my wellbeing, that's not success. That's failure. And so sometimes God works in mysterious ways. And he answered my prayer by showing me what I don't want.

Now, I don't want to dissuade you. If you're going the accounting route and you want to become a partner, good for you, right? But I've come across a lot of people that have gone the partner route in accounting, in these public accounting firms, or even consulting firms. And they've had a rude awakening later on down the road. And then they get into a trap because they don't know anything else. And they're so far along in their career. They just keep going.

So in fact, when I first started Coltivar, I hired a senior manager in an accounting firm and she was on her path to be in partner. She was amazing, very smart woman. She had everything required to become a partner and she was on the track to become a partner. But then out of nowhere, she quit and she had this like life crisis where she's trying to figure out what she really wanted. And she ended up coming and work for me. And it's great. It's a great experience.

But during our conversation, she conveyed this very personal story. And I'm going to summarize here and hopefully I don't mess up too much of the details, but I also want to protect her identity. But she essentially told me that one time she went home to visit her family in the whole time she was home. She's sitting on the couch with her laptop. She's sitting at the kitchen counter with her laptop. She was in conversation with other people with her laptop open on her lap. And she's doing work work that was deemed to be so important because she had this deadline.

She had these client expectations to hit. She had a partner that was breathing down her neck and guess what? She's working on her laptop. She's doing all this accounting stuff, all this client work. And she thinks, Oh, I'm so important and my path is so clear and I'm so valuable to the company. And during that time, like her mom would talk to her and she'd be like, wait, what did you say? She wasn't there. She's totally disconnected. You know how it is when you're kind of paying attention, but you're not. That was for the entire trip.

She goes home and not too long after that, her mom dies. Terrible. Heartbreaking. I mean, she broke down in tears when she's telling me this, I'm breaking down in tears. Cause I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm relating it to my life. And I'm thinking what would happen if this was my mom, it'd be crushing. And it was an eye opener to me, an eye opener for her, but it’s after—it’s too late. She couldn't go back and bring her mom back. Those moments were gone. And she resented her work.

And so going back to like my recent experience with these partners, the answer came because I figured if I ever get to a point in my career and I am so busy, especially at a partner level, a super senior level, and I'm too busy to help other people, if I'm too busy for myself and for my family, that is failure. That's me. That's Steve Coughran talking right now. Okay. I'm not trying to put my beliefs on you. I just, I want to share this because a lot of people reach out and they're like, what do you think about working in public accounting? Should I get my degree in this? Should I pursue this path? They're always asking for career advice. So maybe this will resonate with one person and that's a success to me. But that's my thought.

I don't want to go down this path and look, even if I grew Coltivar to the point one day and I'm making millions and millions and millions of dollars, but I'm working 90 hours a week, that's not success. That's terrible. My idea of success is working five to ten hours cause I want to, but I don't have to. My idea of success is setting my own priorities. And I'm thinking to these partners, if you're so busy, if you're so overwhelmed, if you're so short staffed, go back to your clients and say, Hey, effective this day, we're raising our prices by 50% or we're doubling our prices. Sorry. And if you lose your clients, who cares? You're going to lose half your clients. You're still going to make more money. You're not going to lose all your clients.

So I'm like, go raise your prices and then take some time off and take care of yourself. Because I know a lot of partners too that struggle with mental health issues because they're just working. They have no identity outside of work and God forbid something happens to their firms or their careers. Like their whole identity is gone.

So I promised that I’d share another story and give you a positive spin. I know of another partner in California and he runs an accounting firm and he has 90 employees and we were talking the other week and he was sharing his experience with me. And he's like, I built my firm intentionally with design and I put in place boundaries. And I said, I'm going to structure it this way and I'm going to charge a premium. So I am not a slave to the business. And that's how he did it. And he's like, Steve, throughout my career—sure, at the beginning, I did a little bit more grinding—but he's like, I don't work more than 40 hours a week. And I work 40 hours a week because I choose to. I enjoy it.

So anyways, that's my little rant. Just wanted to share it with you, wherever you are in life, whether you're going to go down the partner path, whether you're going to be an entrepreneur, just be mindful of that. I know so many people who don't make it home for the holidays or for certain family occasions, or they neglect their family. And then one day it's gone. It's gone.

The last thing I'll say is I was talking to my mom the other day and we were talking about just family members and participation and family events and whatnot. And my brother lives back East and he has a startup and he works a lot of hours and that's good. You know, it's good for him. And I'm, I'm glad he's a hard worker and he supports his family and is ambitious. And we were talking about how he makes it out to see her like once a year, twice a year. And it's because he has a lot of kids and he has family and it's expensive. I get all that. So it's, it's nothing about him or his life choices. It's just the reality that set in from this conversation because I said, look, mom, let's say you have 20 more years to live and your son, my brother, comes home one time a year. It's not about having 20 more years with your son. It's about having 20 more visits. That's it.

Now, sure. My brother can move back to Colorado and he can see my mom every day. A lot of things can change. It's putting things in that perspective, which helps frame our mindset. Maybe a little bit better. It's 20 visits. It's not 20 years.

And one of the biggest regrets that I have is my grandma was so sweet and so influential in my life. And she lived on a street that was parallel to my path home. So when I owned my landscape company, I was grinding. I was getting into work sometimes like five, six in the morning, staying at work until six, seven, eight o'clock at night. And I would drive down this road and my grandma lived like five minutes away. If I took a detour and guess how many times I stopped to visit? Zero. I think I went over to her place one time for dinner. And she lived there for several years. Then she moved away out of state, got remarried. And then she was killed tragically in a car accident. Gone. Those memories are gone.

And I think back, I'm like, why didn't I just stop by? Even if I just stopped by and said, hi grandma, I'm on my way home from work. I'm tired. I just wanted to give you a hug and kiss. I love you. Why didn’t I do that? And I don't want to make the same mistake in my life.

And that's why I'm sharing this in the podcast, but I'm really talking to myself. I'm really holding up a mirror right now and saying, Steve, this is you talking to your future self. Don't go down this path. And maybe it resonates with you. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Connect with me on LinkedIn. DM me. I'd love to hear from you through direct messages. So DM me through LinkedIn. You can also leave comments down below. You can shoot me an email, whatever you want to do. I love hearing from you.

So thanks everybody for reaching out. But how does this resonate with you? Does this strike a chord with you? Is this relevant? Is this helpful? Anyways, I'd love for you to reach out.

All right. Until next time, take care of yourself and I'll catch you on the next episode. Cheers.