We were lucky to catch up with Katie Cox recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

If I could go back in time, I would have started my business much sooner than I did. However, I also believe that God knew when I was ready and he made it so that I no longer had a choice. He held the door open long enough and decided to push me through!

In the back of my mind, I think I was always preparing, but just like everyone else, you have this safe cushy W2 job that keeps you comfortable, so why take the risk? It is like the old cartoons where the devil is on one side of your shoulder and the angel is on the other side. The devil says, “You are comfortable no need to grow ” but the angel says, “God created you for greatness and has an assignment on your life to complete.”

Katie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a federally licensed Enrolled Agent who empowers people to achieve their dreams, whether it is a personal or business dream, to eliminate all stresses of accounting and tax and so much more! With twenty-eight years of experience of preparing Corporate, Partnership, and Personal taxes along with Accounting and Advisory Services, I provide the shortcuts of what works and what doesn’t along with the most up-to-date ever-changing tax laws and tax advantages. Most firms are transactional firms, Katie Cox & Co does transactional items but specializes in advisory and planning for clients, so they are maximizing all deductions, they know what their tax is, they are set up as the correct entity, and clients are educated on how to run their best business practices, and of course so much more!

I started out wanting to become a Special Agent in the FBI. The FBI recruited accountants and lawyers. I graduated from The Ohio State University and Franklin University receiving two bachelor’s degrees. BA in Criminology and BS in Accounting. I started the process of becoming a Special Agent passing the first few tests but decided to stay in private practice. I worked at the same firm for twenty-five years and in 2020 decided to start my own firm, building a vision of excellence. “Running my own firm is truly the greatest joy and freedom. Once I figured out my “Why,” everything fell into place.”

My why: If you want more, become more! Success is something you attract by the person you become. You must have an endless thirst for knowledge if you want to rise above mediocrity and average. You must adopt a standard of excellence, and once you do that, you will never again be content with mediocrity. You will then separate yourself from being average and distinguish yourself with success. God gives you the desires of your heart and makes all your plans succeed. He has an assignment on your life, and it demands a new normal for you. You are not like everyone else. Once you step out in faith, there are people waiting on the other side, of you doing what you were meant to do,” and that is what Katie hopes to achieve with every client.

My firm donates tax, accounting, and advisory expertise within the community to many local charities and many different speaking engagements all over the United States, such as: The Ohio State University, Mount Carmel Hospital, Chamber Events, Financial Advisor Events, Thomson Reuter’s seminars on taking your practice forward by offering advisory services, and many others.

When my head is not in a book reading up on all the new many tax laws or riding around town on my motorcycle, my adventurous side while being with my husband Jerry and our two children, Coen & Kylie aka Baby, is paddle boarding, wakeboarding, boating, camping, turkey hunting, deer hunting, archery shooting, and target shooting.

Have you ever had to pivot?

October 2022 was the pivot point in my career. Either I continue to stay at my old firm (25 years) where I was not growing or take a leap of faith to build a business based on the highest standards of excellence and have faith that God will provide a way to fulfill the assignment he has on my life.

This of course was not easy to do. There were a lot of tears and unknowns but having faith, my family, friends, clients, and colleagues, all supporting me made it to be the best decision of my life.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Starting my own firm, I knew what was going to work and not going to work based on what I have learned from my prior experience. I built my firm on the premise that I wanted Katie Cox & Co to be ranked one of the best tax and accounting firms ever to work at. I have implemented many ways to do this and here are a few. First, our firm starts off thanking God together. Next, making our associates know that they are appreciated, and important. We offer flextime so that the associates have a chance to catch their breath with all the demands to run their personal life.

We also implement processes that keeps the firm running smoothly such as accounts receivables hardly exist, work is completed timely, and our clients are completely taken care of to have the most stress-free experience possible! Our firm thrives on helping our clients achieve their individual goals and dreams for their businesses.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://boutique-tax.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katie_cox_ea/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katiecoxco
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-cox-ea-5a91592/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSdUPVkLQzg