We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shannon Weinstein. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shannon below.

Alright, Shannon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

When I started my company, I essentially examined the aspects of the public accounting profession I thought were ineffective and outdated and vowed to do the opposite of that in my company in an effort to prove there was not one way to accomplish something and build a successful practice. Examples include operating fully virtual, having unlimited PTO, not requiring timesheets, not billing by the hour, having only 12 clients, and rewarding employees with revenue share for spot projects and scope creep. I find policies like this show that we are not just a machine to deliver a work product for clients but a group of actual humans who enjoy what they do and just want to work in an environment that fosters this mission.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I became an accountant because I lost a bet with my dad in high school and had to take an accounting class to prove him wrong. He was a CPA and always wanted me to follow in his footsteps. Even though my favorite subject was Spanish, I took to accounting just as easily because I love learning new languages, and I see accounting as the language of business. I became a CPA and worked at several big firms and conglomerates before realizing in 2019 that I was unfulfilled feeling like all I did day to day was attend meetings and answer emails. So, I started building my business on the side and eventually quit my job in 2021. Since then we have grown Keep What You Earn Co. to a team of 8 and cultivated a client roster I could not be more proud of. We love to make business and money a topic that is inspiring and not intimidating. We get excited about seeing entrepreneurs succeed and we love being part of their growth.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One hard lesson to learn was that the value (and thus, price) of what I do is not based on the hours I spend doing the work but in the benefits it enables my clients to experience. This was difficult as I found it hard to charge a high price for my services when I didn’t work that many hours performing the work. This was a mindset I had to overcome from the billable hour culture of most firms. I needed to really discover the value of my services and be able to hone the messaging of that to succeed.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

What has most helped me build my brand is authenticity to my voice and perspective. I learned accounting and business when I was just a young teenager and I tend to teach these concepts in very simple relatable ways because this was how I had to learn them. By meeting my audience where they’re at and keeping my topics of marketing on client results and pain points, it helps me stand out as someone who will help you keep what you earn, not just keep you out of trouble.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@keepwhatyouearn