We recently connected with Rahbynn Phillips-Brown and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rahbynn, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Am I happier as a business owner, kinda, I can finally admit I’m a little insane. LOL. Do I ever think about getting a regular job, of course, health insurance is not cheap! I am never going to knock the hustle or anyone who is making money. To me a regular job is traveling once or twice a week to train employees hands on, creating job descriptions and leading orientations for new hires. Being a business owner is not always glamorous and I do think about my old regular job from time to time, but it helped shape me into who I am.

Becoming a business owner was not my first choice, it was actually good ol’ Corporate America and live thee American Dream, but life happens. I did not get my degree until December 2020 and my freshman year of college started in August 2009 and my ‘dream job offer’ was snatched away when COVID-19 hit and it affected several industries.
I realized that having a ‘regular job’ was not really the success that it claims to be. I had realized that I had to go into a business that was almost ‘fail proof’ and started looking up services that will always be needed.

Becoming a tax preparer was at the very top of that list, ‘People will always need someone to prepare their taxes. I make really great grades when I study and research and I am the best note taker there is. I can do taxes. I just need someone to teach me the proper and legal way.’ This idea stayed on my mind for a few months. I graduated in December 2020 and in August 2020, a good friend from highschool, stated that she was officially looking for tax partners and I thought boom, this is EXACTLY what I need. I had signed up ASAP and just never looked back. Was it hard, yes. Difficult, yes. I had so many late nights and it felt like nobody liked or shared my posts promoting my business that first year. I was begging people to let me give them a FREE quote and still would be told NO. LOL. But that day that I got my first client, it felt like Heaven and my prayers were finally answered.
My second year of preparing taxes, I was awarded the MVP Award. I came in first place overall for my entire team at the end of the tax season and I barely came in first place during the regular tax season. I knew at this very moment that I needed to bet on myself, invest in myself and count on myself. Like they say, it is not how you start, but how you finish.

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

So I am Rahbynn, pronounced Robin, my Mom is very creative as well. I am a virtual tax preparer for Tax Plug Pro Software and I am a small business coach for women and girls that are ready to take their business to the next level. Fellas, I can help you as well with your business, but heyyy girl, I got you and can you help with your small business goals.  So I got into the tax business because a good friend from highschool has her own tax software. She opened up the doors for training and partnerships and I signed on right away. It took me a while to really get my own ‘flow’ but I now have over 50 clients and I am preparing for my 3rd tax season.

I help solve my tax client problems by reducing their tax liability, while also helping them find refundable credits that they are eligible for. One thing that really sets me apart from the others is that I really help my clients and care about them. I help them legitimize their side hustles and establish their business so they are able to grow and build. We all can be successful if we just help each other out and raise each other up.

What makes me really proud is when someone calls and asks me for their help because I helped someone out that they know. It really makes me proud and  gets me excited knowing that I am helping everyday people. COVID impacted a lot of families, communities, and industries really hard so I am honored to be able to help out everyday people. I love being able to serve those that feel forgotten and really looking into tax credits that are available for them and their household. A lot of my clients are grandparents, college students, self employed, creatives and essential workers, just everyday people like our own friends and family members. My goal during tax season is to make sure all taxpayers are informed about tax laws, updates, refundable and nonrefundable credits.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

This past tax season I had a lot of health issues and January started off so tragic for me. I was in the hospital and on oxygen the first day of tax training, last November 2021. My health issues really turned my life upside down and almost made me want to give up on my business. It felt like tax season started off backwards, I was constantly in and out of the hospital, having to get labs done and often blood transfusions. It felt like I was letting my clients down and not just them, but letting myself down. I felt like a failure, I barely was making it in 4th place and the newbies were beating me every week. I wanted to quit so badly, but I had to remember my ‘WHY’; WHY I got started, WHY I chose this path, WHY I could not quit. I knew my health issues would not last forever, so I pushed myself daily, if I only had 56%, then I gave a full 56%, if I only had 10%, you can bet that I gave my full 10% with a smile. I just did not want tax season to go by thinking, ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda.’ I wanted to finish tax season saying, ‘I did that. I gave it my all. I did my very best’ and that is precisely what I did. I got in therapy, got back in the gym, I got back disciplined, I got back focused. I reached out to my team and leaned on them for support, and I pulled myself together. I worked on myself everyday, reading more books, exercising daily, connecting with my clients more, reading daily about IRS updates and even contacting the department of revenue for various states for my clients. I worked on my craft and even started making more content that was actually getting engagement and reshares. I even started going out to more networking events and even ended up working all the way to the October 17th, 2022 tax deadline. I’m so thankful that I did not give up and I often think what if I did, but it does not matter because I did not give up and I promised myself, I will never give up on myself again.

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

I had to pivot my online retail store to a coaching business. I know that seems so random but when I started my online retail store and I went to a lot of local pop ups in the Atlanta area. I noticed other vendors that needed some help with their business and setup and I often would give them free tips and advice. I would often explain to the other vendors how I would love to help them grow their business and help with marketing, customer service and so much more. Most of the vendors that I would connect with were women and I sold women products, so it was really easy for us to relate to each other. I had more people inquiring about helping them with their businesses than wanting to order products. I thought I had failed at my business but I realized, I just needed to pivot this business. I realized I have to stop giving away advice and tips for free and I can actually charge for my expertise. So that is how my small business coaching became my focal point and I was able to transform my business. I was nervous about this change because I did so much research about how to go ‘viral’ and working with influencers but I realized this was my calling. Now I have a handful of clients, from yoga instructors, landscapers, body contouring and a few micro influencers, just to name a few, I recently just secured a call center CEO as a recent client. Sometimes having to pivot your business can be heartbreaking but it is completely worth it in the end.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Rahbynn.com
• Instagram: taxplugprobyrahbynn
• Facebook: taxplugprobyrahbynn
• Other: @ EveryGirlStudios on Facebook and Instagram

Image Credits
Chris Triplett Sasha Germain- Moments By Sasha Lavel Marshall- Prolific Arts