We were lucky to catch up with Vanessa Correa recently and have shared our conversation below.
Vanessa, appreciate you joining us today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)
When I first decided to start my own business it was the scariest thing I’d ever done. I was barely making ends meet at my full time job (making $13/hr as a Chief Financial Officer fresh out of college). I took a $1,000 per month pay cut when I went out on my own at the ripe young age of 27. In addition to taking a paycut, I decided to (for the very first time) invest in a program called Next Level Firms which proposed to help me get to making $250,000 per year without having a CPA license. It sounded INSANE, I FELT INSANE! I thought “What have I done now?” every day, mutiple times per day. I was so grateful that my spouse was kind enough to humor my aspirations (even assuming I was going to fall flat on my face). It definitely sounded too good to be true – how could I go from making 3,500/month as an employee to making 2,500/month as an entrepreneur with NO experience running a business, oh and while I was at it decided to commit to a $1,000/month expense for the Next Level Firms program. I had followed the guy promising these big dreams for about a year (daydreaming about how cool that would be if it were real, or weren’t a scam. etc etc). I consumed all the free content I could from the guy who WAS a CPA and seemed to really know his stuff – but what was more important was he knew how to build relationships. Emotional intelligence was a term I didn’t even know back then, but I recognized in this new mentor parts of myself in relationship building context. So, in one fail swoop I took 2,000 from our household to chase a pie-crust-dream that sounded way too good to be true.
That first year within the first 4 months of starting my business I hit six-figures in total revenue! I was FLOORED. How was this happeing? Was I halucinating? Had I finally lost it? My wife probably was asking the same questions (prior to the six-figure earnings). However, starting with just one client paying 2,500/m and my first business expense of 1,000/m (which by the way was over 33% of my total earnings) I started following the advice from the program I invested in. I started taking action, doing the exercises, attending Q&A coaching calls, and implemented the advice and guidance I received. By month 9 I was at 180,000 in total revenue!!! It was exhilarating to say the least, we went from making less than 50k combined per year to more than trippling that in less than a year – my pie-crust-dream started turning into a reality. Fast forward to year 7 – I am financially free, I buy whatever I want, when I want it. I never have to worry about money, I have more than 3 years of operating expenses in liquid cash reserves earning me compound interest while I sleep. My money works for me and I’ve built a 7 figure firm that is driven with purpose and passion. I have helped my clients change their lives, get out of debt, grow their businesses, go on vacations, purchase their first homes, etc. etc.
To say that my life is a dream now is an understatement. I never knew that this level of happiness and prosperity was possible for someone like me with a background in poverty and scarcity. This was a whole new world I never knew existed. NONE of this would have been possible had I not taken that crazy leap so many years ago and invested in myself. I purchased something that I thought I couldn’t afford because I HOPED it would work out and I would receive the benefits that the program so proudly boasted were possible. It wasn’t only possible, it became probable and now -the foundations I learned in those early years of my business still shape the vision and mission that drive our organization forward. The BEST investment you could ever make is in YOURSELF. Invest in your education, your skills and abilities, your knowledge – these are things that can never be taken from you and that will pay dividends for a life time. My life will never be the same because of it (THANK GOD!).
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am Vanessa Correa, a fractional CFO, business growth expert, and tax strategist. My passion is in empowering and protecting business owners. It’s HARD to go out on your own, especially for the first time! In recognition of this (as I was there once too), I wanted to create a firm in which IMPACT was our central focus (not billable hours or reporting on what’s already happened). I wanted to actually make a difference in the lives of my clients so that they could DO BETTER than they were doing before they met me. I want to protect other entrepreneurs out there like my dad who didn’t know what he didn’t know and he wound up working harder, longer and more than he would have had to had he known someone like me back when he was building his own business. My dad is a general contractor who built his business from the ground up with a 9th grade education, english was his second language (which he learned from a deaf student in his class), and he came to America for medical treatment thanks to the Shriners intervening in his case. My dad had a rough go in life, but he never complained, he never felt sorry for himself, he just went out and hustled. Thankfully he instilled that quality in me early on in my life. I’ve always been very driven and head strong, many refer to me as “a force of nature” because of it.
Now that I’ve learned the ‘keys to the kingdom’ of finances and taxes I feel it is my duty to share my knowledge with as many entrepreneurs as I can. Ultimately I hope to help other little boys and girls out there who just want to spend more time with their parents. When you’re not paying more tax than you should, when your business is growing and your financial habits are healthy ones, there is more time and freedom to share with your loved ones. That’s what really inspires me – seeing families break free from the chains of poverty and the bondage of scarcity. Seeing families be able to spend quality time together enjoying each other’s company (be it on vacation, in a new home, as they send their kids to college, etc).
I am so grateful every single day for all of the blessings bestowed upon me, I truly live a life of abundance and joy and wish nothing more than to share that same experience with as many tax payers and entrepreneurs as I possibly can in my lifetime. Although I may not be able to reach ALL tax payers, I believe that even the smallest pebble can make ripples that span through time and space to affect change in our world.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
The best source of new clients for me is from referrals and word of mouth. These leads are always warmed up well in advance of me ever speaking to them and my clients and loved ones that refer them have already done much of the work for me in informing them about me and what I do. Furthermore, having clients be wildly excited about the results they’ve achieved in working with me and wanting to share that information with their loved ones get the prospective client excited and eager to work with me before they ever even meet me.
This positions me to be in a place where I can pick and choose who I WANT to work with (who knew that was a possibility?!?!?). The quality of my clientelle is impecable and they are all grateful, raving fans.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
I speak with every single client (personally) at least once a quarter, most I speak to monthy or weekly though. My focus is always on the client, their business, and their personal lives.
How can I help initiate change and impact for the better in each area? How can I make their lives easier? How can I advise them to take smarter business actions that foster the success they are searching for?
I also take a very authentic, down-to-earth approach to avoid confusion and overwhelm where possible. I like to speak to my clients as if they were my friends and family, because in the grand scheme of things – they truly become my friends and extended family. I think it’s too hard these days to find other authentic people who just want to help others. That’s what I try to do every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.correapearsonandassociates.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanessacorreapearson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanessacorreapearson
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessacorrea1/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vanessacorreap1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyLkg8y9DWqcQg60YIcWFTA