Meet Dennis Duban

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dennis Duban a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dennis, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?
Thank you for asking a question that pertains to generosity. I believe that generosity is the result of gratitude, purely and simply. I have always felt very blessed and very abundant. And abundance means different things to different people. There are many people who could be described as abundant but who do not FEEL abundant. On the other hand there are people that feel quite abundant and blessed who by some standards would not be considered such. I think feeling so very abundant and as a result so very grateful for my life has made me (I hope) a generous person. I try to acknowledge my gratitude many times a day and I believe that impacts the ability to be generous and to appreciate all of life’s blessings, big and small.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
For me, professionally, my first love has always been my accounting firm. I founded my practice in 1979, when I formed Duban Accountancy, Inc., Certified Public Accountant. I couldn’t use the plural because there was only 1 CPA, and that was me.

Over the last decades I have never stopped enjoying helping people financially, saving them taxes, helping them plan their retirement and estate, invest their money and plan for their future. It has been a journey of helping people achieve their dreams.

After all these years, and now with dozens of professionals in our firm, I still feel that our ability to help our clients have a better life is one of our most important achievements. Over the years, we expanded from doing taxes to taking on accounting clients, and business management. Then we formed a capital management investment advisory services firm and now thanks to my son in law who is also a CPA with a Masters in Business Taxation, a Registered Investment Advisor and Real Estate License Partner and Agent, we have our accounting firm, a real estate brokerage, capital management and investment affiliate and a property management company. It is truly one stop shopping where you can obtain all these services at one location.

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?
First and foremost, our success was based on superior technical expertise. Without being a star, without being the best you can be, it will be difficult to achieve maximum success. After college, I received a gold medal for my score on that year’s national uniform CPA exam which validated I had mastered the concepts and that I would be giving my clients the best advice based on world class technical experience and my education. I committed to maintaining that same mindset all these years through non-stop continuing education and support of the staff to achieve the same.

The next most important skill in my opinion is what I call “delivery”. I have always maintained that a good CPA will prepare a good return and a client can count on that when he or she sees the initials CPA next to the name of the individual signing the return. BUT the DELIVERY of the message, the bedside manner, the way in which one delivers the news to the client is critical and crucial to the client and CPA relationship. I think this is true in any profession; the delivery, a limited way of saying the communication, can differentiate world class professionals.

Lastly, I would have to say compassion. Compassion seems to be a fading talent in our fast paced “get it done” society and yet when it is missing, pain and stress are rampant. I believe that if we are compassionate in our dealings with other people and if we have empathy for our fellow mankind, we will be acknowledged for this and strengthen all our relationships.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
This may sound self serving, but looking back, my hard work, really hard work, was the reason I overcame challenges, built essential skills, and mastered the necessary knowledge for success. I realize now that my commitment to my studies in high school and even more so in college was second to none. I studied as hard as one possibly could and I truly did not take my studies lightly. Getting to the top of the class was not about some amazing IQ, or things just coming easy, it truly was about studying as much as possible.

When I got into the real world, the hard work ethic kicked in even more and when I formed my own firm and was my own boss and my success depended upon no one but me, then the hard work and dedication was off the charts. I am sure by many standards it was obsessive. Getting up at 3:00 and 4:00  in the morning for decades took some drive, but I am grateful that I did it and that now I can enjoy all the benefits. However, I needed a foundation for this to happen. I have had a beyond supportive husband who has been there the entire time through everything that comes up when you are self-employed. I have had an incredible sister who was my partner from the day I formed the firm and who lived all the ups and downs one could possibly imagine with me, and I had amazing parents who were there for me at every turn my entire career— and life. These were just some of the people that got me to where I am today, and I am beyond grateful to them.

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Image Credits
Justin Michael Photography and Adam Bouska Photography

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