We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Josie Harris-Walton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Josie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Please tell us about starting your own firm and if you’d do anything different knowing what you know now.

Tell us the story of the early days from when you decided to start your own firm to establishing the firm I was working for a law firm in the tax division. The firm did not have any black partners. I knew I was going to be the first black partner in the firm. When I realized, they were not going to give me a seat at the table. I decided to start my own table and that is when the Walton Firm was formed. I started my firm in the middle of the pandemic. I knew I did not want to stay at a firm where I was not valued.

What were the main steps you had to take, what were some of the key challenges in setting up your own office/practice and would you have done anything differently knowing what you know now?
The main step was taking the leap. I knew I would always own a law firm, but I never wanted to do it by myself. I always wanted to open a firm with other partners. The key challenges I had was learning the operations and financial side of the business. I was an attorney, not a business owner. I had to learn how to be a business owner. I would have hired a support team sooner. I wasted so much of my time learning different systems and processes. My saying now is let the professional handle what they do best.

Any advice for a young professional who might be considering starting their own firm?
My advice would be to learn to be a business owner and not just practice law. Also, hire a good coach who understand the how to help your law firm grow. Finally, find a mentor. Someone who has their own firm and manages it very well. We don’t know what we don’t know.

Josie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have always wanted to be an attorney, but I was not sure what type of attorney. I thought I was going to be a corporate attorney working for a big company like Coca-Cola. My mom is a tax professional, so I have been around numbers my whole life. I never knew what a tax attorney did until in law school. I took an income tax class and fell in love with taxes. After law school, I decided to pursue an LLM in taxation to learn more about taxes. My main tax area is representing tax professionals. I represent tax professionals who have received due diligence penalties from the IRS. I also represent tax professionals who the IRS or state has filed a fraud criminal case against. I am most proud of me being an African American woman in a male dominated industry, but I am killing it. The main things I want people to know about me is that I worked very hard to become the tax attorney I am today. I am a fighter. I fight for the rights of my client. I tell my tax professionals all the time, you have rights. Around the tax professional world, I am called the attorney with the gold shoes. The gold shoe’s theme stuck and every time I speak on stage to tax professionals, I always have on gold shoes. It is my signature look. I see my clients as my family. I value that motto.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I am still a tax attorney litigator by heart. I am pivoting now in my business. I saw a need where tax professionals need tax attorneys to make sure they stay in compliance with the IRS and their due diligence. Therefore, I started a company called TaxPros Concierge. It is a subscription-based service where tax professionals pay a small monthly fee and this service provides them access to a tax or corporate attorney. I started the business because tax professionals were not in compliance with their due diligence because they did not know or understand the tax law. The tax professional had no guidance. This is where TaxPros Concierge comes into play. They can call a tax attorney in their state and that tax attorney can research the tax law and provide them with an answer. The tax attorney can also represent them on any tax matters. I pivoted in my business because I saw a need that needed to be filled.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

I always knew I would be on someone’s stage talking about taxes. I did not know how or when. In July 2022, I agreed to be on the panel for the National Association of Black Tax Professionals’ first annual tax conference. I decided I would take a risk and ask them to not just be on the panel, but to also speak on a topic. They agreed. I spoke on Tax Preparer’s Tax Fraud. My husband brought me some gold pumps and I decided to wear them. I decided to be Josie and not the typical ordinary attorney (black or grey suit), because there was nothing ordinary about me. That is how I got the name “tax attorney with the gold shoes”. I decided to just be Josie and it paid off. Since, July, I have been on so many stages and so many computers speaking, teaching, and training tax professionals on due diligence, compliance, and tax fraud. Just being myself paid off huge foe me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thewaltonfirm.com
• Instagram: thewaltonfirm
• Facebook: thewaltonfirm2
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-walton-firm
• Twitter: thewaltonfirm2
• Youtube: thewaltonfirm

Image Credits
Kauwuane Burton Photogrpahy