We were lucky to catch up with Rebecca Driscoll recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rebecca, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
Conscious is defined as, “aware of and responding to one’s surroundings; awake.”
When I started my business, the feedback I was getting from clients was that their current accountants were not communicative and were very hands-off. One day, one of my clients said to me, “You’re not like most accountants. This feels like CONSCIOUS accounting.” Then she said, “Hey, that should be your business name!”
People liked our proactive, friendly approach and felt like our communication style really stood out as unique. When I think of “one’s surroundings” in the context of tax and accounting, I think of a client’s tax situation, or the health of a business. We make it our mission to be aware of our client’s tax and business surroundings so that we can always be looking ahead to plan and strategize. We are very much “awake” and ready to find ways to save our clients money on taxes and help them understand their business’s finances.
I actually wanted to name the business, “Woke Accounting,” but that was a little too bold for me!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a former middle school math teacher, CPA and firm owner, wife, and new mom! I got into accounting after taking a break from teaching and discovering that I really enjoyed helping my friends with bookkeeping for their small businesses. Our firm provides tax and bookkeeping services, consulting, and a few products as well. We have an online course that teaches the ins and outs of starting a business and a DIY bookkeeping spreadsheet as well.
We work with business owners who have no clue how their business is doing, how to pay themselves, how to pay less taxes, how to know if they can afford to invest more into their business, etc. and we help them reach all of their business and personal financial goals! I love watching our clients’ businesses grow. Entrepreneurs are risktakers! they put it all on the line and hope that their idea takes off. They put their entire heart and soul into what they do. They work HARD. When I see that I have had an impact in helping a business owner turn their passion into profit, it makes me feel so alive!
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I funded my business with a full-time job! Of course I would have loved to dive in, head first, but I knew that I needed to be financially stable so that I didn’t have to put too much pressure on the business to be profitable at first. I wanted it to grow organically and have a strong, low-stress foundation. I didn’t want to feel desperate to find clients in order to pay my rent!
So, I kept my full-time job, even though I wanted to be a full-time business owner, and I used my salary as initial capital for my business. Once I could see that I was actually LOSING money by staying at my full-time job, I took the leap to being a full-time business owner.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I invested in a social media manager (shout out to sunny-social.com)! With their help, I got clear on my mission, my goals, and my audience. They have given me confidence and a voice! I highly recommend outsourcing your social media management to a professional. We tried to do it in-house a few times and it’s just not the same as having a pro take you to the next level. The return on our investment has been huge.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.conscious-accounting.cpa
- Instagram: @consciousaccounting
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConsciousAccountingCPA
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rebecca-driscoll-cpa
- Twitter: @consciouscpa
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1tjA8B-X_TZ3flSTZlUPbg/featured