Meet Blake Venable

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Blake Venable. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Blake below.

Blake, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I would say I get my resilience from being in long-term recovery. I recently celebrated 12 years clean and sober, so that definitely helps me practice resilience in all aspects of life. Additionally, I would say having a loving support network of friends, family, and employees has also definitely helped me remain steadfast.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Blake’s Bookkeeping & Business Branding was started in January of 2019 in Knoxville, TN. We are a team of young professionals who have a passion for helping small businesses grow and prosper in the most effective and inexpensive ways whether that be logo design or accounting. We stand by our mission to undercharge and over deliver! Our services include bookkeeping, branding, consulting, web design, social media management, SEO, payroll tax filings, and business entity creations.

I started the business with one client in 2019 and no employees. Today, we serve over 80 clients on a regular basis, and I have 6 employees. I believe what sets us a part from other companies like ours is our commitment to go above and beyond. We like to blow expectations out of the water from the beginning. We also take pride in charging low rates for services. Our goal is allow our clients more time to do what they love (being the face of their business) and less time worrying about those tasks that they do not enjoy.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I would say for me it was having the courage to take a risk. I did not have much prior knowledge of taxes and bookkeeping originally, but I will be soon graduating with a BS in Accounting and will begin studying for the CPA exam. In the beginning, it was all about being confident and engaging in relationships with clients to ensure them that we would take care of them whatever their needs were. Another important lesson for me has been that I can not do it all on my own! Having staff has been a very rewarding experience. It has taught me to delegate, emphasize teamwork, and to not feel like everything rests on my shoulders.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
I would say the love and support of family, friends, and staff. I could not manage my crazy life without their help! Having two golden retrievers also helps! I am also in a committed relationship with my partner of 3 years, and he is extremely supportive.

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