No regrets: Reflections on a family-owned CPA firm’s ‘great run’

For Kevin Martin, CPA, the many happy memories of his father — also a CPA named Kevin Martin — outweigh the grief that accompanied the elder Martin’s death in 2019. 

An otherwise healthy 78-year-old, the grandfather to Kevin and Lisa Martin’s four children was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a debilitating disease that has no cure. He died about a month later.  

Kevin Martin, the son, didn’t want those memories to fade away, and so, in the middle of the pandemic, he decided to write. He kept writing, and eventually his grief journal became a book, All Is Well: Life Lessons from a Preacher’s Father.

In this episode of the JofA podcast, Martin discusses the “preacher” part of the book’s title, how the family-owned CPA firm has moved forward, and advice for dealing with life-altering events.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

·         The upheaval in accounting and other industries that affected Martin’s firm at the onset of the pandemic.

·         Why Martin decided to write a book about his father.

·         The last words of Martin’s father in the hospital.

·         Why Martin says “grief has no rules.”

·         Martin’s advice for how to assist grieving coworkers, including “bringing down the boundaries.”

·         The book’s role in fundraising for ALS charities and research.