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

Alright, Mariel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

I can go on and on about this but it’s the idea that your “dumb” if you fail a test but why do we grade a student on a grade vs them actually doing work and understanding it. Kids get anxiety like myself and cannot handle a test but it doesn’t mean that we aren’t smart.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Mariel and I am the owner of FM Bookkeeping. My corporate background is in the finance/billing/hospitality space where I worked at travel agencies and major entertainment companies doing the back end work for years. Realizing that the work is always the same and there was never a way for me to grow or get promoted, I knew I wasn’t going to be truly happy long term. When I lost my job, it gave me the biggest opportunity to start my business. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur but I had to realize what my skills were vs. what I was good at vs. what I was passionate about to make this work. I’ve thought about bookkeeping for years and before I dove in, I spoke to a ton of bookkeepers to ask them about what challenged them, excited them, and why they chose this profession. I then met my mentor who didn’t tell me what to do, but how to do it, and that changed everything for me. I worked (and still work) for another bookkeeper part time, but that gave me the confidence to also bring on my own clients and I have been in business for a little over a year and I am so proud of myself for how much I accomplished thus far. The biggest thing between me and other bookkeepers is that I answer the phone. Sounds silly, but people want answers and not have to feel like they can’t ask me questions, or even reach out. I want my followers/fans/potential clients to know that I am here for them to empower them, inspire them, and that I want you to focus on your business and not have to focus as much on the backend as you normally would. Have it be one less task that you need to do in your business. Bookkeeping is never “fun” but I try to make it fun, and I want to ensure anyone who works with me that no question isn’t a dumb question, and even if I don’t know the answer to the question, I will certainly find the answer to the question.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Referral partners. Networking. Doing this has allowed me to build genuine connections for people to keep me top of mind. Likewise if I meet someone and network with them to learn more about what they do, I am more than happy to refer business to them too. What goes around truly comes around.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Losing my job. To many, that could be a devastating time in their life, but for me I knew deep down it was the best decision that ever happened to me. It allowed me to be “free” and to try different things. Grateful to have my husband take care of the bills while I hustled, figured it out, and made it happen.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fmbookkeeping.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fmbookkeeping
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fmbookkeeping
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marielfry

Image Credits
Jennifer Mary Photography