What's Your "And"?

Holly DeVito and her husband started remodeling houses several years ago on a whim as they wanted to update the house they were living in. A few houses later, they are now finishing up a farmhouse project — made even more challenging since they did it while they were also living there. She really enjoys having a vision and seeing it come together. Holly said there are many skills that have transla...

Rachel Fisch really enjoys singing. And she happens to be really good at it as well. So much so that she was the director of a choir and sang a duet for her church's Christmas service. If you're lucky, she might also break out the chorus of a song mid-conversation if you happen to say a word that triggers it. In this episode, we talk about her transition from bookkeeping business to owner to Senio...

Brad Moore served in the Canadian Special Forces and has used this experience every day in his corporate career, especially as a CEO. His military training taught him to move toward activity and face challenges head on, letting specialists do what they do best to accomplish the mission. In this episode, we talk about how he teaches parts of his military training, breaking things down into a series...

Dawn Brolin is all about having fun, especially in the office. Whether it's nerf guns or shooting hoops outside, she is right there in the center of it all, which is pretty unique considering she's the CEO. In her words, "If money is what drives you then you've got it all wrong." In this episode, we talk about how having fun at work has led to increased productivity, better morale and stronger con...

Bailey Smith's is best summed up by her twitter byline which reads, " Accounting is her trade, music is her passion." Going to a Vertical Horizon concert in 2000 reignited her passion for live music, causing her to set a goal to attend more live concerts and to learn to play the bass guitar. Years later, she is now friends with the band, regularly attends live concerts (tracked in an Excel spreads...

Several years ago, Jen Gardner saw a flyer for learning roller derby basic skills. She thought she might enjoy it because she grew up figure skating and tried her hand at hockey in college but couldn't quite master the puck handling. After a few roller derby lessons, it was clear she was a natural and now she's a regular player on Mob Squad in the Providence Roller Derby League. In this episode, w...

Ingrid Edstrom is definitely not your stereotypical bookkeeper. She breathes fire, plays Irish music in a band and makes videos with her sidekick, Penny, who was created as a prop for a Business Networking International (BNI) meeting. When the attendees commented on Penny, she realized that this was something that made her stand out, so Ingrid brings her along on all her business trips as well as...

After a friend came back from a South African trip with some bottles of wine, Deja Sconiers knew she wanted to learn more. Now she's got her own blog and is educating others about wine. In this episode, we talk about how studying wines has helped Deja be more patient at work and take time to understand and respect the process. While her office isn't super conducive to sharing, she has managed to d...

We did it! I can't believe it's been a year already since we started this journey of turning the definition of "stereotypical" professional upside down. Thank you so much to everyone for listening. Thank you so much to everyone for sharing this podcast with their friends. And thank you so much to everyone who has done the anonymous research survey that's helping support the theory in my book. In t...

Seth David started hiking to the top of Griffith Park as a way to exercise because it was much more interesting than going to a gym. Then he realized that talking with clients and other small business owners while hiking was much more fun than just meeting in a restaurant, so every Saturday morning he would invite others to join him using the #AccountingHike hashtag. In this episode, we talk about...

Eric Johnson didn't get his first set of golf clubs until he was in college. He never really took golf seriously until several years later when some coworkers invited him to play a round at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, OR. "Now this is fantastic… I want to do more of this!" was his immediate thought. In this episode, we talk about how amazing golf has been for Eric's relationship building,...

Henry Lawson has always been fascinated with cars and anything with an engine, really. He's built 3 cars and restored countless others, including a 1902 MMC and a 1969 Dodge Charger. In this episode, we talk about how work can easily become all-consuming if we let it. Henry reminds us all that it is acually a marathon and not a sprint, so managers can't expect everyone to run at sprinting speed al...

Julie (Jules) Carman has always been a runner, like good enough to earn a Track & Field scholarship to Cal for running 200's kind of runner. There are things she learned running that carry over directly to her career, things that she feels you can't get anywhere else: resilience, mental strength, proper mindset and discipline. Running also made Jules comfortable being uncomfortable, allowing her t...

Shortly after starting at Hodges-Mace, one of the salespeople told Ron Shah that he's "not the typical CFO" simply because he brought his personality to work with him. In the same way that he does in the office, Ron brings his personality to being the play-by-play announcer at his son's high school football games. So much so, by his third game, people were noticing how much fun he was having in th...

A t the age of 22, Vinh Giang decided not fulfill the Asian prophecy and become an accountant, so he took a slightly different path and pursued a career as a magician. Since then he's won multiple awards for magic shows, he's a successful international keynote speaker and runs a video production company in Australia called Luminary. Being a magician, speaker, and a director all have one thing in c...

If someone were to ask where Joseph Rugger was right now, you're best guess would be one of our glorious National Parks. He's been to almost all of them, from Acadia in Maine to the White Sands in New Mexico –driving his Prius all over the country. He created a bucket list of places he'd like to visit all over the world and is quickly checking them off as he does his CFO work virtually. In this ep...

Greg Papineau takes service to a whole new level, especially now that he's a Deacon in the Catholic Church. He was first called to this in 2000 as a chaperone on his son's World Youth Day visit to the Vatican. Since then, he's been ordained and in his words, can "marry, bury and baptize". And, oh yeah, he also happens to be the 1989 Colorado State Champion Cyclist. In this episode, we talk about h...

Amy Cooper loves Auburn football. And she loves teaching accounting at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Combining the two has let her give the most important lesson — professionals can be successful while also sharing their passions at work. There isn't a student in her Fall Semester classes that doesn't know who Auburn is playing the next weekend. In this episode, we talk about the public perc...

Scott Gehman grew up camping in New Jersey but college and starting his career caused him to put that passion on hold for many years. He's also always been obsessed with loud, fast cars. Now that his son is a Boy Scout, he's able to combine the two as he loads up his Mustang GT to spend a weekend camping. In this episode, we talk about how important it is to be willing to share, no matter how smal...

Maya really likes chocolate. No, I mean really likes it. It all started when she was in college and a chocolate fudge brownie a la mode sundae made her lose track of time and space as she was in total flow with that moment in time. And now she uses chocolate to start client meetings, which brings everyone together and also puts them in a great mood. She also actively participates in chocolate fest...

Mike says that he isn't good at it but he really enjoys playing the guitar. He finds that concentrating on something other than work allows him to disconnect and gives him a release to come back to the office refreshed. He also likes to be outdoors hiking, which he says is also a fun way to have a business meeting, creating a "remember when" experience with clients or coworkers that creates strong...

Andrew Tarvin is a funny guy and is well-known nationally within the ComedySportz improv world. He also does stand-up comedy -- his first paid gig was opening for Pauly Shore. A few years ago, he left his Project Manager position with Procter & Gamble to start Humor That Works to show corporations across the world how humor can enhance their bottom line. In this episode, we talk about how he reali...

Belicia Cespedes loves tennis. She also happens to be the youngest person to ever pass the CPA Exam (at age 17). Professionalism would tell her that the latter is most important for her career but she has found a great deal of success creating coworker connections through tennis, even teaching some of her PwC co-workers how to play. And her competitive side comes out during the table tennis tourna...

Joe Fleenor is crazy about triathlons. He only started participating in them seven years ago but all of his coworkers and clients know this is one of his passions. Running was boring, so he needed three sports rolled up into one so it could help keep his attention. In this episode, we talk about how if he didn't bring his personal life to the workspace, he'd be miserable. He's seen too many people...