Meet Bri Smith, CPA

We were lucky to catch up with Bri Smith, CPA recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bri, 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’ve never been a quitter. I’ve had a life full of tragedy and trauma. But my faith in God has truly been what has kept me through all the dark times in my life. I think that we all have a choice, let the things that happened to us break us or build us. I heard a pastor say that it’s not your fault but it is your responsibility. It means that it’s not your fault what happened to you. What happened was wrong and you didn’t have any choice in the matter but it is your responsibility to deal with it. We can choose to remain a victim crying over what happened to us or we can choose to do the work necessary to rebuild our lives.

When it gets too hard and I’m ready to just give up I remember the vision that God has shown me for my life. I refuse to stay stuck in a place of struggle and lack. My past decisions and tragedies do not define me. I realize that God has a great purpose for me to fulfill which gets me excited for the future! I have too many great things ahead of me to stop in the face of adversity. I’ve seen what failure looks like and the truth is that you always get another chance to try again. Even if you hit rock bottom you can climb back to even greater heights than before.

I started adulthood out as a single mom during my senior year of high school. As the oldest of 5, I was excited to go off to college far away so that I didn’t have to play bonus parent to my siblings anymore. I was devastated when I found out I was pregnant. It meant that I wouldn’t have the freedom I’d been dreaming of and that I would be responsible for an entire human being. However, my daughter is one of the greatest blessings that ever happened to me. I was determined to give her the best life possible and make sure that she never remembered struggling.

I went to school full-time while also working full-time. Right before my daughter turned 2 I got our first apartment. My daughter started private school at 2 years old and I went on to buy our first home when my daughter was 3. To this day my daughter only remembers living in homes that her mommy owns. Giving her and her siblings a great life is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. I don’t love anything more than being their mommy. To go from being a teenage mom to a homeowner for my 21st birthday was amazing to me!

Since then, I’ve gotten married to the love of my life and we have 4 children all together. We sold my first home for a 6 figure profit and bought a bigger home for our growing family. All 3 of our big kids attend the best private school in the area and we’re on track to be able to retire early in our 30s if we choose to. Life hasn’t been perfect but every time I push through the rough times there has been greater on the other side. As long as you’re alive you have the opportunity to try again. I choose to keep trying until God calls me home. I would hate to give up and leave this Earth without reaching my full potential.

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?
I’m a CPA and Wealth Strategist. I love helping parents to reach their dream goals through custom financial plans, tax planning & tax preparation services. My heart jumps for joy every time I see one of my clients push through a hurdle that they thought was impossible before working with me. Even just seeing the light bulbs go off about what they’re capable of is awesome to me. I think it is my God-given calling to help others walk in their purpose! I just do it through their finances.

It’s important to me that my clients know that I always have their best interest at heart which is why I don’t sell them any insurance or investment products. This way my clients know my recommendations are based on the goals that they have shared with me instead of a commission.

I’m very excited to be offering my signature program The Financial Freedom Plan this summer to help a small group of parents to push toward their dream goals. In the meantime, I’m focused on having an amazing tax season helping small business owners reduce their tax bills right now, and helping my 1 on 1 clients conquer their big legacy goals! I honestly just enjoy being of service to the people who trust me to help them get to their next milestone and walking beside them on their journey.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Good money management skills have made a big impact on my career and my life. By living out what I teach I’ve been able to understand finances on a much higher level. This has helped me be able to help others that are really challenged and overwhelmed when it comes to their finances. It has also helped me to weather the storms life has thrown at me such as multiple car repairs, garnishments from my husband’s old collection accounts, paying off several cars, attempting entrepreneurship full-time for 9 months, etc. I’ve been able to keep all my bills paid on time and my kids in private school. We’ve even managed to take a few family vacations while those same storms could’ve left us homeless as a family of 6 if we didn’t have proper money management skills.

2. Resilience has allowed me to grow stronger every day. I refuse to quit and give up on my dreams. This has allowed me to be more creative in my approach to solving problems and has built my confidence to know that nothing is impossible,

3. My faith in God has truly been my saving grace, Knowing that I’m never alone on my journey has allowed me to keep pushing even when I want to give up. I also think it’s what makes me so optimistic. I always see and think the best about every situation. I believe that if it doesn’t look like a happy ending then it’s not the end.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
My biggest challenge has been marketing! I have paid well over 5 figures to solve this problem. I’ve paid coaches, mentors, programs, bartered and hired people to do the work for me. I’ve lacked consistency on my part which is why I hired others to do it but it seems like nothing has worked. My goal now is to pace myself. So, I’m overcoming my mental obstacles that make me feel like marketing is sleezy or annoying. I’m working on getting good accountability from people that I trust so that I can do better with this.

Contact Info:

 

Image Credits
Tsunami Digital Media, Smartshot Photography, and B.D. Smith Financial Services

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