Mission Driven Business

Brian chats with Nicole "Nici" Kersey, the founder of Kersey Immigration Compliance, a law firm specializing in employment-based immigration issues. Nici discusses how she created her firm out of necessity, then grew it into a company that provides opportunities for veterans and military families. She also opens up about how she uses expertise to her advantage and how becoming a baseball fan helped her let go of perfectionism. Episode Highlights It can take time to get comfortable being a business owner. Running her own business was not something that Nici planned to do. But when the military assigned her spouse to a new location out of state, the big law firm she worked for let her go. "I got the greatest push out the door of the airplane," Nici said. "It's scary to start your own business, but I was told we can't employ you anymore." While Nici could no longer work full-time for her former law firm, the company still wanted to hire her as a contractor because of her expertise in immigration law. So she set up her own business, and in the ensuing years, grew her client roster to include more law firms and other businesses. Still, it took her years to feel confident in her new role as a business owner. "It took seven years probably before I stopped thinking that I was being fired by my clients," she said. "It took seven years for me to feel confident that it's not failing." Mission-driven businesses use profit to serve a purpose. At first, Nici didn't believe her law firm was a mission-driven business. But conversations with Brian and listening to this podcast changed her definition of what a mission-driven business can be. "I would say that a mission-driven business is a business that makes a profit, but the profit serves a purpose," she said. "So it's not a business that's only driven by profit." Like other entrepreneurs on the podcast, Nici's business purpose has evolved over time. Right now, her purpose is two-fold: (1) Making sure people get quality immigration advice and services and (2) providing opportunities for military spouses or people in similar situations. "When my business started, my mission was to not be unemployed. To pay my student loans and my mortgage," she said. "It shifted in that I was able to help both military spouses and really focus on some smaller law firms." Use expertise to your advantage. One of the things Nici has learned in her career is the benefit of expertise. While she didn't set out to focus on a specific type of immigration law, her niche has allowed her to connect with clients and thrive as a business owner. That expertise comes with other perks, too. For instance, in 10 years, she went from attending a conference on immigration law to leading the event. "I still remember the first time I trained a client on I-9 stuff and how terrified I was," Nici said. "Now I could do that in my sleep." Want to let go of perfectionism? Watch baseball. When Nici moved to Florida, she moved into a house just three miles from the stadium where the Tampa Bay Rays play. Living so close to a Major League Baseball team has turned her into a fan -- and taught her important lessons about perfectionism. "Watching baseball made me really focus more on the fact that you don't have to be perfect," she said. "These players are the best in the world at being a baseball player, and they mess up all the time, right?" Nici takes those lessons from the baseball diamond to her work as a business owner. For instance, she strives for excellence rather than perfection. She also tries to accept mistakes and move forward. "When you make a mistake, you can learn from it if it's something that you can learn from, but a lot of times, all you learn is don't do that again," she said. "Also, be graceful about your mistakes. Admit them, apologize for them, and fix them to the extent that you can." Resources + Links Kersey Immigration Compliance Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.

It's hard to believe that 2021 is halfway over. Things have changed so much since the beginning of the year, and it's the perfect time to take a step back and reflect. In this special episode, Brian provides insight and advice for conducting a midyear review for your business. You'll learn steps to gain awareness, evaluate your business purpose, and take corrective action while there's still time to change things. Episode Highlights: How to Conduct A MidYear Business Review 1. Have a personal check-in Paradoxically, the first action item is to take a break from the action, as Brian says in the episode. The midyear review is the perfect time to take a pause and check-in with yourself about your feelings, successes, challenges, and goals. Here are just a few questions to get you started: Are you living up to the company's purpose and vision? Are you accomplishing your goals? Are you working the number of hours you want to work? Are you feeling overwhelmed or anxious about the future of your business? Do you feel satisfied and fulfilled in the work that you're doing? "I've seen so many entrepreneurs use their passion and energy to accomplish things they never thought they could," Brian said. "So don't fight your emotions, let them drive you." 2. Assess your cash flow Cash flow is the lifeblood of your business, and proper cash flow management requires systems. Brian advocates for putting your money into buckets like with the Profit First system, which he covered in Episode 6 and Episode 7. 3. Review your tax payments Halfway through the year is a good time to think about taxes. By this point in time, you should have made two tax payments on April 15 and June 15. "Mid-year is an excellent point to check in with your accountant and see if you're on track with your projections," Brian said. An account or tax professionals can make sure you're on track and help you correct your estimated tax payments if you're behind. You can also review your payments with an online program, like Quickbooks, Brian said. 4. Conduct an expense analysis Now is also an excellent opportunity to review your expenses. To conduct an expense analysis, you need two things: Expenses for the past six months Recurring expenses (e.g. rent, subscriptions, training, classes, etc.) Brian recommends adding up the costs of your expenses and multiplying that number by 10%. Then, cut your costs by that number. One place to start is with items you've justified as a business expense for tax purposes. "Just because you get a tax deduction for an expense, you're still losing money if you still purchase something you don't use," Brian said. 5. Write down 2 - 3 action steps for the second half of the year Now that you've reflected and reviewed, it's essential to write down two or three action steps to get you started for the second half of the year, Brian said. Here are some questions to help you do that: What is it that I can do about the obstacle that I'm facing? How am I going to do it? When am I going to do it? Who can keep me accountable? How do I feel about it? After you've set action steps, give yourself some downtime to relax, so you can go into the second half of the year full of passion and energy. And remember: you don't have to accomplish everything right at the start. "You're more likely to find success taking several steps each day rather than trying to run several miles at once," Brian said. Resources + Links Episode 6: Eradicating Entrepreneurial Poverty with Ron Saharyan Episode 7: Being Profit First with Mike Michalowicz Contact Brian: hello@btfinancial.com Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.

Brian chats with Lauren Klafke, a small business owner all about supporting other business owners. Lauren's firm, Willow Creek Financial Services, provides a space for business owners to ask questions and learn more about their financials. On the episode, Lauren shares how Instagram Reels helps her build her business and conduct market research. She also opens up about how she implemented boundaries to grow her business on her own terms all while raising a newborn and overseeing a house renovation. Episode Highlights Your mission and your business's mission don't have to match. Lauren defines a mission-driven business as a business that exists for a specific purpose. But the purpose of your business doesn't have to be the same as your personal reason for running a company. "What is your mission as the business owner? Is it to retire early? Is it to have more time with your family? Is it to serve everyone? Or is it all three?" Lauren said. "I just think about that." That definition is especially true for Lauren, who started her business as a way to spend more time with her husband and son. Before she took the entrepreneurial leap, she worked in the corporate world and realized her career path was incompatible with her ideal lifestyle. "What powers me to continue to build my business is all the time I am going to have with my family," Lauren said. Adjust until your business works for you. 2020 was a rollercoaster year for Lauren. The pandemic kickstarted a year of full-speed business growth -- at the same time she had a newborn and a house remodel. Suddenly, Lauren had to find ways to schedule calls around construction and newborn sleep times "Something was always happening at the same time," Lauren said. "First world problems, but it was really a struggle." In some ways, running a business would have been easier if she hadn't been building her business from home. So Lauren made an adjustment -- hiring a nanny -- to give her the time and space to focus on her business. She then set work hours, so that she stops working with clients after the nanny leaves. "It came to this point where I had to realize you have to set boundaries with your clients," Lauren said. "You can't always be available, or you're gonna drive yourself crazy." Customer service is important. Lauren describes herself as a straightforward, type-A person. But her straight-to-the-point answers don't always go over smoothly with clients and prospective clients. Over time, she realized she had to work on her customer service skills. "Customer service is such a huge, huge deal," she said. "You could have the exact same services as somebody else and customer service would change anybody's mind." Good customer service doesn't mean saying yes to everything, Lauren said. Instead, it means optimizing how she talks to people on calls and consultations, how she sends emails, and how she engages with clients who text her at inopportune times. "People want the coddling, and they want the hand holding," Lauren said. "So I've had to develop that in a way that doesn't seem condescending." Resources + Links Willow Creek Financial Services: website, LinkedIn Lauren's Social Media: Instagram Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.

Brian chats with Emlen Miles-Mattingly, the founder and CEO of Gen Next Wealth, a financial planning firm focused on helping minorities grow and retain generational wealth. In the episode, Emlen talks about his 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including the challenges he overcame to pivot from banking to starting his own company. He also shares why small habits and daily systems help him to thrive in his business and personal life. Episode Highlights Clients can define your mission. Before starting his firm, Emlen worked for an insurance company. Despite helping people grow wealth, the job didn't quite feel right, which was how he knew it wasn't mission-driven. "It just didn't sit right because I couldn't do it the way I wanted to do it until I started my own business," he said. Even after Emlen started Next Gen Wealth, it was the clients who ultimately defined his company's mission. That's because Emlen kept encountering similar clients and answering the same questions about fundamental financial topics. "People just kept coming to talk to me, and they were all the same," Emlen said. "So that's how I got my mission/vision/purpose based on the people who were coming to me." Systems can give you freedom. There's at least one thing that Emlen has in common with Tom Brady: They both love schedules. That's because schedules allow them to block time in their day for the activities that are most important to them, Emlen said. "When I look at the time, at any given time, I know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing," Emlen said. Emlen credits the systems and processes he deliberately created with providing him free time for his personal life and wellbeing. In fact, the freedom to be an active part of his children's lives is one of the things he says he most enjoys about running his own business. "I'm the drop off, pick up guy," Emlen said. "The reason I can do that is because we have a tight process." Self-care isn't selfish. Part of Emlen's tight scheduling includes time for self-care — an act that he stresses is not selfish. In fact, when Emlen first started scheduling time for self-care, he found that blocking out time for exercise, meditation, and reading helped him to ultimately have a more productive day. "I could look through my planner, and I could see I was way more productive in terms of revenue," he said. Since noticing that productivity uptick, Emlen has continued to track his daily self-care habits and tweak his routine using a Full Focus Planner. The result is a better business and home life. "It was the aspect of tracking over time that made me realize, when I do this, I was a better husband, I was a better dad, I was more patient with the kids," he said. "It did all these other things, and it freed up a ton of time." Resources + Links Gen Next Wealth Minority Money podcast Atomic Habits by James Clear Full Focus Planner Emlen's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.

Brian interviews entrepreneurial couple Chantel Valentene and Brian Mackin. Chantel made a name for herself building brands in the fashion industry and is now the managing director of a socially conscious design studio, while Brian founded an artist residency and a creative agency. Now, they've joined forces to launch Start Today OmniMedia. On the podcast, Chantel and Brian discuss how building their business has created choice and freedom in their lives. They also share how they use their family values to pick the right opportunities and clients. Episode Highlights The definition of mission-driven can be broad. For Brian, a mission-driven business is one where you commit to actualizing a vision without profit being the central motivator. He likes that definition because it's a little broader, allowing entrepreneurs to define their mission beyond just social or environmental justice causes. "It's really important to allow people to define what mission driven means for them individually," he said. Chantel agreed with that definition, cautioning that some businesses may abuse the idea of being socially responsible without following through. She also said it can be helpful to think of a mission-driven business as a values-driven one -- something that she and Brian aspire to do with their own company. "As a family-run business, the mission that we have is maybe more internal," she said. "Does this business serve who we are as a family? Does it serve our intentions? Does it serve our values in our life as we're looking to move forward?" Not solely focusing on profit can give you freedom. Both Brian and Chantel describe some of their early entrepreneurial efforts as self-serving. But as their careers have grown, they've found passion and purpose in using their jobs to also make an impact. As a result, they have naturally evolved towards running mission-driven businesses that serve them and the greater good. "The purpose drives what the company is doing and what I'm doing," Chantel said. "The profit is there to serve us, not for us to be enveloped in making money for no reason." Brian expanded on that idea, saying that focusing on a mission has provided him and Chantel the freedom to bring to life the vision and ideas of other business owners they believe in. "If everything that we were focusing on was the bottom line, it would have been much harder to migrate and evolve into those spaces," he said. You don't always have to know the destination. Brian and Chantel didn't intentionally set out to start Start Today OmniMedia. But when the pandemic hit, they saw an opportunity to use their complementary talents to meet interesting people and do interesting things. "It was a level of self awareness that we both have and open mindedness to what's in front of you," Brian said. Chantel agreed, adding, "You don't always have to know the end of where you're going." That mindset ultimately led to the creation of the Start Today podcast, which in turn led to the joint business venture. It also contributed to the podcast's tagline: The best things in life are on the other side of fear. "I think it's obvious that we took that to heart," Brian said. "How do we not live this? Because this opportunity is right in front of us, and we don't know when it's going to turn out to be." Resources + Links Start Today OmniMedia Farewell.NYC Firebelly Connect with Chantel Valentene: Twitter, Instagram Connect with Brian Mackin: Instagram Brian Thompson's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianFinancial About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.

In this very special episode, host Brian Thompson opens up like never before. He shares why he started his own mission-driven business, and some of his highs and lows he encountered in the process. You'll also learn the difference between strategy and tactics, and why entrepreneurship isn't necessarily more risky than being a W-2 employee. If you've wanted to know more about Brian and his own story, this episode, hosted by Latarsha Stewart, is for you. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses serve. For Brian, mission-driven businesses have both a purpose motive and a profit motive. Brian wants clients and listeners to know that you don't have to run a non-profit in order to run a business that does good and makes an impact. "The underlying current of all this is that mission-driven businesses serve. And you can make money and make a good living by serving," he said. "That's been my focus and why I try to meld these two together. Because you don't have to do one or the other. You can do both." Things happen at the right time. Brian had been working at a tax law firm when everything in his personal and professional life shifted. The partners of the law firm split up; his long-term relationship ended; and marriage equality was making huge strides. Brian ended up using the uncertainty to forge the future he wanted. "So you have this moment in time to say — What do you actually want to do? What do you want to do with your life?" he said. "Having the support of my friends and my ex-husband and all that just came together at the right time." Find your niche. During this time of uncertainty, Brian decided to start a financial planning firm focusing on LGBTQ couples. But he soon learned that his core audience was a target market and not a niche. When looking at his client base, Brian realized his roster included a lot of business owners who were coming to him because of his background in tax law — and he enjoyed the complexity of meeting their needs. So he redefined his business focus as helping LGBT business owners who run mission-driven businesses. At the same time, Brian is passionate about closing the racial wealth gap, which is 3:1 for people of color who are entrepreneurs versus 11:1 for non-business owners. He sees his niche and business as an opportunity to fulfill that motivation as well. "You have to serve a specific amount of people, so you should make sure that those people are the people that you want to serve and the people that you want to hang out with and the people that you want to talk to," Brian said. "It's a very significant mind shift that really freed me up and allowed me to really enjoy the process." Let go of perfectionism. One of the hardest lessons Brian had to learn on his entrepreneurial journey was to let go of his perfectionism and live in the moment. "I had to do it out of necessity because nothing was perfect. And nothing was exactly the way that I wanted," Brian said. "I learned how to adjust and pivot and navigate. I had to be okay and get okay with things not being perfect, and things needing to just go." Now, Brian is used to constantly trying things out and learning from them. He resonates with the metaphor that running a business is like building an airplane while trying to fly it. "You just don't either have enough time or energy or space to try to do everything perfectly," he said. "Which is actually a huge relief for me to realize it actually doesn't need to be perfect, and things still happen, and things still go." Resources + Links BT Financial The Lean Startup Profit First Mission Driven Business episodes with Mike Michalowicz and Ron Saharyan of Profit First Professionals Brian's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianFinancial About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.

Brian chats with Mike Michalowicz, the mastermind behind Profit First Professionals and author of books for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Mike shares his experience growing several multi-million dollar companies only to lose almost everything. He then details how hitting rock bottom became the foundation upon which he built the Profit First method, which has yielded him 14 years of profitable quarters and is now used by more than 500,000 small businesses. Episode Highlights Make profit a priority. The Profit First method developed by Mike rewrites the classic accounting formula from Sales - Expenses = Profit to Sales - Profit = Expenses. Why? Because when something is a priority, it doesn't come last, Mike noted. "It's human nature that when something comes first, it's the priority. When something comes last, it's the mañana syndrome," he said. "That's when I said, 'I think the formula is flipped.'" Profitability brings stability. One of the problems with the original profitability formula is that increasing sales isn't always the driver of sustainable growth, Mike said. More sales can translate to more stress, more dysfunction, and less organization. "It starts actually causing a business to crumble because it doesn't have runway," Mike said. Profit, on the other hand, can bring stability to an organization by buying a small business owner time. When small businesses have one to two months in cash reserves, they don't have to take on stressful panic sales. "When a business takes its profit first, they actually grow faster, profit-wise, than their contemporaries," Mike said. "They are much more calculated in their growth." Don't change yourself. Channel yourself. Since flipping the formula, Mike has achieved 48 profitable quarters in a row. That's because the revised formula is designed to manage human behavior. Or as Mike said in the episode, "We can't change ourselves. We channel ourselves." Mike learned this lesson first for exercise. He put his gym shoes on top of the toilet seat as an intervention, so he would have to pick them up first thing in the morning. For business owners, the Profit First method sets up a similar intervention in the owner's bank account. "By pre-allocating business to these different accounts, or envelopes, now you know what money is intended for what purpose, and you behave within the confines of what's available," Mike said. Resources + Links Mike's books: Profit First, Clockwork, The Pumpkin Plan, Fix This Next, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, Surge, Get Different: Marketing That Can't Be Ignored! Profit First Professionals https://mikemichalowicz.com Mike's Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeMichalowicz Brian's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianFinancial About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.

Brian chats with Ron Saharyan, co-founder and managing partner of Profit First Professionals, an exclusive community of accounts, bookkeepers, and business coaches who help their clients build profitable businesses. Ron discusses the merits of using an envelope-based budget system for business. He also preaches the strengths of running a profitable business and breaking the entrepreneurial doctrine of sacrifice in the process. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses solve problems. Mission-driven businesses look to solve or eliminate societal problems and inconsistencies, Ron said in the episode. All the business decisions then fall in line with that mission moving forward. But Ron also emphasized that running a mission-driven company is not incompatible with making a profit. In fact, he argued that having a profitable company is the best way to ensure a mission stays strong through difficulties. "If you don't have the proper foundation and charitable contributions go, you can't succeed on that mission," Ron said. Sometimes finding your calling takes time. While some people know their life's mission early on, it took Ron years to find his calling. He was initially only focused on making money and chose a career as a suit-wearing, profit-making New York City businessman. When Ron chose to step away from that lifestyle and become the co-founder of Profit First Professionals, he had a huge adjustment. And even after leaving the suit-and-tie world, he still hadn't found his calling. That changed when he attended a keynote speech by Oprah at a Quickbooks conference. Ron said he felt like Oprah was talking just to him. "I had an epiphany where it really hit me that, 'Oh my gosh. This is it. This is my calling,'" Ron said. "I am on this mission to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty.'" You don't have to live in poverty to be an entrepreneur. The entrepreneurial narrative is often one of sacrifice -- living in poverty as a sacrifice at the altar of creating a successful business. But Ron said that narrative is a lie. That's why the mission of Profit First Professionals is to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty. "We started off by breaking the doctrine of sacrifice," Ron said. "There's a lot of BS out there, and that's all it is." As part of the Profit First Professionals mindset, Ron advocates for ensuring the entrepreneur's needs can be taken care of by implementing an envelope-based budgeting system for businesses. By using this model, an entrepreneur is encouraged to use sales to meet their needs first, then adjust the remaining expenses of a business accordingly. "It's not profit that is bad. It's the dirtbags with a lot of money that do bad things that are bad," Ron said. "With profit, you can really do more good than without it." Resources + Links Profit First the book Profit First Professionals Ron's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RonSaharyan Brian's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianFinancial About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.

Brian talks with Pamela Capalad, a CFP, Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC), and the founder of Brunch & Budget. Through Brunch & Budget, Pam helps people who feel ashamed or embarrassed about money have a safe and friendly place to talk about it and make real financial progress. Pam shares why it's important to tackle both the technical and emotional sides of money and why running a business mostly sucks.

Brain talks with Phuong Luong, CFP, an educator, financial planner, and investment strategist focused on economic justice. In the episode, Phuong shares her winding path to founding Just Wealth, a financial planning firm for individuals and families. You'll also learn the best piece of advice she received when starting her business and why she believes education about structural barriers to wealth can be empowering.