We were lucky to catch up with Christina Martin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Christina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

As an entrepreneur, it is very difficult to take a break and unplug from the business but sometimes that is exactly what is needed. When I can’t find a solution to a seemingly easy client issue that needs a quick resolution, my best option is to wait overnight and it will come when I am walking my dog or taking a shower. Why is it that those creative solutions come when you are not actually in the work? Giving your brain a break to have white space whether that be just in the shower, taking a walk in nature, or baking your favorite recipe is usually just what you need to allow the creativity to take over. Just like these simple daily brain breaks, it is so important to take a longer vacation and mental break to give your mind and body a chance to recharge. I love to travel and take vacations with my family but I find that the most stressful ones are the ones when I am still trying to clear out my inbox, forward client needs, while also trying to “relax” and spend quality time with my kids. It turns out that we cannot do both. This is a recipe for a stressful vacation. I have found that if you can eliminate the internet from a vacation, this has worked best for me. Yes, seriously, these places exist! Over the last couple of years, as a family we have started vacationing at my childhood YMCA Family Camp and there is only internet if you seek it out. It turns out that those “important” client emails and issues are not as urgent if you can’t just easily respond with a click of a button. I have found that I sleep the best at this locations and I feel most refreshed when I actually give myself the grace to fully detach from the business and enjoy the people I am with and the activities that I love.
Being able to do this comes with a few supports; first, continuously communicate to your team, vendors, clients, etc. that you will be taking vacations and will be unavailable (even if you actually have the internet!). If you say you are on vacation and then respond to them, you are training your team that you actually don’t value your vacation AND you set the tone that anyone who works with you should respond when they are on vacation too. Let’s support each other by honoring this time. Secondly, if you have employees/contractors that work with you, see this as an opportunity for them to step and shine. These moments where they can’t just ask you a question or resolve their problem because you are accessible will give them the confidence and knowledge to solve their own problems without you. You will see true leadership while also building their confidence in their skills. Win, win! Lastly, be graceful with yourself. It is hard to fully disengage, but know that this is an opportunity to allow creativity to flow and give yourself a much needed brain break.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

SourceUP was started in early 2019, but I have been doing this type of work for more than 10 years in this capacity. I worked solo for some time embedding myself into small business organizations to help them with everything behind the scenes focused heavily on financial strategy, accounting, and better businesses processes. Originally, plugging away when I had very little kids at home, I would work when they were sleeping, but my clients grew in size and more people wanted to work with me. I’ve added to my team over the years but we are still small and mighty.
SourceUP provides financial strategy, accounting (aka bookkeeping) and strong business process management while meeting clients where they are in their business. We focus on service related businesses (hello to all of my creatives out there!) and work closely with owners to educate them to understand the key indicators in their business while also ensuring they know the ins and outs of financial statements. We empower our owners to make decisions, to help them elevate their technology game, and assist them in avoiding business mistakes we have seen before.
We dig in deep to the analytics of our businesses looking at key business components such as pricing strategies, compensation and benefit strategy for employee engagement and retention, vendor negotiations with data to drive conversations, developing new products and services or reducing them depending on our strategy. We value building a strong annual financial budget to be the guide for the freedom to make decisions, rather than constricting.
We value the owner and the season they are in right now. We believe growth doesn’t just come from an increase in revenue but also professional and personal growth, giving time back to the owner on what they enjoy most (hobbies to time with family), and how they can create a culture of abundance for their teams and vendors.
I am most proud that I have created a business that elevates working parents to challenge themselves professionally, but also celebrate their roles at home and in the community. We, collectively, impact the areas we touch on a daily basis.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Our growing business has all come from word of mouth. I admittedly do not like social media and have a hard time imagining a social media strategy where people want to see excel spreadsheets and me talking. Even though I feel pressure at times for building a brand presence online, I have found that my best growth strategies are building a network of advocates for my business. We focus on service related businesses and as a service business myself, I start with building a strong relationship with our clients. Those clients usually were connected to us from someone else or they know someone on our team. All of our strategic partners are advocates for us as well. Fundamentally, every business needs some level of accounting and financial strategy work, and that provides an easy common denominator for us. Building a network of partners is critical for us. I have also joined a peer leadership group that has expanded my network and advocates.
Since I do not spend money on marketing for pipeline growth, I use my time and talent to meet and work with potential clients until they are ready to work with us. While it may seem like free advice, it usually is a great way for me to build rapport and trust with that client. You never know who you may meet that will make that next connection for you.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

As we continue to grow in our local market and make new relationships, I continue to tell our story about the business. We are very different in the market as we provide a high level of customer service and touch point for our clients but at the end of the day we get the work done for our clients. This relational aspect drives our point of differentiation. I believe we provide a warm and fuzzy that other financial focused firms do not with their clients. For each of our businesses, it is very personal as it is their own business. This people first approach is different. We spend a lot of time building relationships — I try to be as gracious and appreciative with all of our clients and partners, but still maintain a backbone as some of our dealings require firmness. Our team treats clients and their clients with a strong individual approach but at the end of the day, we get things across the finish line!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sourceupindy.com
• Instagram: @sourceup_indy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-martin-dinunzio-3963852/

Image Credits

Kelli White Photography