CPA Exam Success

🎙️ All In or All Out? The Moment You Stop Debating and Start Deciding There comes a point in every CPA Exam candidate’s journey when you realize you can’t stay halfway in anymore. You want to pass—but part of you still doubts it’s possible. That quiet tug-of-war drains your focus, your energy, and your motivation. Half commitment creates full exhaustion. It’s not that you can’t pass the CPA Exam—i...

🎙  CPA Exam Success for All Candidates: Finding the Right Level of Support Episode Summary In this episode, Dawn walks through the different ways CPA candidates can get support — and how to decide what makes sense for  you  right now. Many candidates know they need support, but feel unsure about what kind, where to find it, or whether they’re “ready” to ask for help. Dawn explains t...

Episode 13: How to Pass the CPA Exam with Confidence and Ease — Without Stress, Struggle, or Sacrifice Do you ever feel like you’re “behind” in your CPA Exam prep? That thought alone can keep you stuck in frustration instead of moving forward with clarity. In this episode, I’ll show you how to let go of the urgency, simplify your approach, and study in a way that’s both effective and sustainable....

🎙️ Episode 12: Your CPA Exam Passing System — A Real Plan for Real Life Do you ever feel like your study effort isn’t matching your results? You’ve committed. You’ve planned. You’ve even taken action. But somehow, the progress just doesn’t add up. You’re not doing anything wrong. You’re simply ready for something more refined: 👉 Not just a schedule. 👉 Not just another plan. 👉 But a  system...

🎧 Episode 11 – Self-Trust: The Hidden Ingredient to Reaching the CPA Exam Finish Line ⛓️‍💥 Broken Promises = 💔Broken Progress on the CPA Exam Episode Summary: If you’ve ever said “I’ll study tonight” and then didn’t—this episode is for you. Most CPA Exam candidates assume the struggle is about time, material, or motivation. But what quietly stalls progress is the erosion of self-trust —the subt...

🎧 Episode 10 – Five Signs You’re Truly Ready to Study for the CPA Exam CPA Exam Success Podcast with Dawn Edelstein CPA Episode Summary: If studying for the CPA Exam feels like pushing a boulder uphill—you're not alone. And you're not broken. More often than not, the frustration and lack of progress aren’t about intelligence, effort, or even your study plan. In this episode, Dawn unpacks five cle...

🎙️ Episode 9: Trying to Finish Everything Is Exactly Why You’re Not Finishing the CPA Exam—Here’s What to Do Instead Are you stuck chasing a never-ending to-do list—and still not making real progress on the CPA Exam? In this episode, we unpack the hidden trap of  completion goals  and why they’re keeping you from the finish line. If you’re constantly telling yourself,  “I just need...

From ‘I Can’t’ to ‘I Can’: The Identity Shift Every CPA Exam Candidate Needs You’re not just stuck in your study plan. You might be stuck in an identity that’s quietly keeping you from making real progress. In this episode, we go deeper than strategies and schedules to uncover the mindset patterns that shape how you study, how you recover from setbacks—and whether you keep going at all. This is ab...

Episode 7 – You Don’t Have to Sacrifice Your Life to Pass the CPA Exam: Margaryta’s CPA Exam Success Journey In this inspiring episode, I sit down with Margaryta, who shares how she went from self-doubt and burnout to passing all four CPA exam sections—without putting her life on hold. She failed FAR multiple times and believed she wasn’t smart enough to pass. But instead of giving up, she learned...

🎙️ Episode 6: The 5 Mistakes That Make the CPA Exam Harder Than It Has to Be If you’ve ever wondered why the CPA Exam feels so overwhelming—even when you’re “doing all the right things”—this episode is for you. I’m sharing the five mistakes I see CPA Exam candidates make again and again (because I made them too). These aren’t just study missteps—they’re mindset and strategy errors that can quietly...

Break Through Self-Doubt and Build Belief in Your CPA Exam Success Episode Summary: Welcome to Episode 5 of the CPA Exam Success Podcast! Today, we’re talking about something every Future CPA experiences at some point: Self-Doubt. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering if you’re really cut out for this, or felt the weight of past failures creeping into your thoughts, this episode is for you. You’...

Welcome to Episode #4 of the CPA Exam Success Podcast! Today, we’re diving into one of the biggest challenges CPA candidates face: staying productive  without  burning out. If you’ve ever felt like you’re juggling work, family, life, and CPA Exam prep—and you’re constantly running on empty—this episode is for you. I’m sharing the exact strategies that helped me and my coaching clients st...

Welcome to Episode #3 of the CPA Exam Success Podcast! Today, we’re diving into the third pillar of the CPA Exam Success Formula:  Action —the piece that transforms your plan into real, measurable progress. If you’ve ever felt stuck in planning mode, overwhelmed by where to start, or frustrated that you’re not making the progress you want, this episode is for you. I’m breaking down why taking...

Episode 2: How Smart Planning Leads to CPA Exam Success Welcome back to the  CPA Exam Success Podcast!  In today's episode, we’re diving into  why planning—not motivation, not luck, and not endless hours of study—is the real key to CPA Exam success. Many CPA candidates believe they need to work harder, push through exhaustion, and sacrifice everything to pass the exam. But success d...

Welcome to Episode #1 of the CPA Exam Success Podcast! Today, I’m sharing my personal CPA Exam journey—the struggles, the mindset shifts, and the formula that changed everything. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, doubted your ability to pass, or struggled to commit, this episode is for you. I’ll walk you through how I went from an overwhelmed high school French teacher with no accounting background...