We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Robert Whittley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Robert, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I came up with the name ‘Healthy Coin’ after I read a blog post from Naval. In it, he captures his life formula as “Happiness = Health + Wealth + Good Relationships”

Healthy Coin was born and our corporate tagline is “Health is Wealth”

At least weekly, prospective clients will ask me what that actually means when a CPA firm says it. Some have pondered whether we do push ups with our clients or count their calories. Both, actually. Kidding. When we say ‘health is wealth’ it is a specific reminder for us that when we’re working, we’re actually manufacturing happiness. We do that by holding our clients accountable, (Health) empowering them to increase their (Wealth) and being a conduit to network (Relationships).

But, to be honest. (Not that I’ve been lying before now) the secret sauce for Healthy Coin is less in the ‘what we do’, but more in the ‘how we do it’. Two parts.

First, we make it sexy. Most people view accounting and tax as a very dry and transactional industry. And it makes sense. I mean, there’s nothing really too sexy about tax law. I suppose refund checks are fun but tax law, debits, credits…not so much, right? So, when I started the firm, my first thing was making it sexy. (Alexa, play Sexy Back) We did this by investing a lot of money into our tech stack. We leverage a host of really cool technology that helps us collaborate with our clients in a way that most accounting firms haven’t yet.

Second. We divorced from time based billing. 95% of accounting firms bill based on time. And it makes sense. It’s logical, easy to reconcile and justify and there’s a clear trade off of time and money. We just felt like it felt a lot like Marxism. In Marx’s Capital (1867) he stated ‘the value of a commodity can be objectively measured by the average number of labor hours required to produce that commodity’. So…we got rid of time based billing. Now, we simply establish a set monthly retainer and we do everything we’re capable of for our clients. No scope, no fine print. If it’s legal, ethical and it leverages our professional licenses to do it (we will not pick up your dry cleaning) then consider it done. This type of concierge model is a game changer and clients appreciate the subscription model because of it’s ongoing support and the nonexistence of a 15 minute phone call invoice.

Bringing it home.

Let’s get you wealthy. Let’s keep you healthy. Let’s build beautiful relationships. Happiness is on the other side.

Post script:
Wealth, health and happiness. We pursue them in that order, but the importance is reverse. – Naval

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

About me: Husband, father, CPA, business owner, landlord, investor, board member, ally, survivor. And I like golf & basketball

How you got into your industry:
At 15, I worked in a dry cleaners. A patron who drove a Porsche dropped off suits and dress shirts every week and he was a CPA. He said if you wanted to be successful, find ways to make other people rich. Then, I met Steve Weissenstein and he taught me my first lesson in accounting. I was hooked. I knew what I wanted to be before I could even drive.

Services:
We offer services to individuals and businesses. For individuals we provide tax preparation & planning services, financial coaching & consulting, financial therapy (new one) // For businesses, we provide accounting, tax, consulting, bookkeeping, training, process improvement, planning & analysis

What problems you solve for your clients:
I’ll give three. The #1 reason most small businesses fail is lack of accountability (not sales, cash, debt, market…) Lack of accountability. We provide accountability to our clients first. The #2 problem is tax. We leverage the tax code (and it’s loopholes) to legally and ethically reduce the tax burden. The #3 problem I see is access to capital. My founders are brilliant and talented and have amazing ideas but it takes money to make a business come alive. I tap into my network to uncover funding opportunities as well.

What you think sets you apart from others:
I’m a unicorn in my industry. Black CPA from Chicago that went to school in Kentucky, won a national championship on the Speech Team, writes poetry and rides horses in Charlotte. Beyond that, I love what I do. I don’t think I ever really have to work anymore. This stuff is so fun I should be paying to do it. I also really try to build relationships with my clients. And I think I’ve done a good job of being a true friend and trusted advisor to many, which is evidenced by being invited to weddings, funerals, graduations, quinceaneras, bat mitzvahs and Superbowls (humble brag)

What are you most proud of?
I didn’t take on every client. When we weren’t a good fit or there wasn’t a mutual understanding of the engagement, I did not pursue the work. In some cases, I fired myself because I only wanted to work with clients that we could help. Otherwise, what am I even doing? I am most proud of this. Standing firm, not being an arcade game (coin operated) and doing what’s best for the growth of our firm.

Your brand/your work/ etc.
When I was growing up, people asked me what I wanted to be. I didn’t like that question because it suggested I had to choose. I believe specialization is for insects and strive to be multivariate. Becoming a CPA has helped me do that. Getting licensed as an accountant opened doors for me to become a business owner, landlord, investor, board member. And I like golf and basketball. And that’s just by 33. I’m sure there will be new ventures by 40.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The pandy wandy almost crushed every single business client of mine. I do consulting for a manufacturing company in the Midwest. During the pandemic, demand fell 80%. Their PPP funds were running out fast. I met with my clients at their factory and brought a bottle of 1792. We all poured a glass. I had been rehearsing my speech to tell them they should start to wind up the company as the cash flow projection had them going bust in less than 6 months. I felt sick. While walking around it dawned on me that they had so much equipment. I mean, I knew they had millions of dollars in equipment since I saw it on the balance sheet (fixed assets) but had never really looked at how much was in the plant. A few minutes later, I had this ridiculous idea that maybe they could just start making face masks. At the time, those were incredibly difficult to find and most vendors would sell out in hours. But, I asked anyway. “Hey. Is there a world where you could pivot and manufacture face masks…or…any other stuff the world needs now?” My clients all looked around. Silent. In the group were 2 engineers, 3 shop guys and the 2 owners. No one said anything. And then they all just started walking really fast in different directions. They turned the plant upside down, hired all the recently laid off staff and ended the year at 80% of the previous year revenue. This, is one of my favorite stories.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The tyranny of soft expectations.

For a long time, people looked down on me. They gave me passes. Let me off the hook. Once, I had a teacher give me an A when my paper had 16 typos (intentional, of course). When I got older, I learned that this was not a good thing. This wasn’t helping me. It was actually hurting me. So, I had to unlearn that settling for anything suboptimal is an option.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.healthycoin.net
• Instagram: @healthy.coin
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/healthy-coin-llc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5BriEgnZ4YXdOsX5lLA8Fg

Image Credits
https://www.mgphotography.me/