The Art of Succession

my name is Barett young and this is the

art of succession podcast welcome to the

end of season 1 I want to thank everyone

who's been along for the journey so far

I decided when I started the show that I

wanted to do this show in seasons and so

the first six months the first 11

episodes comprise season 1 and this is

going to be the end of season one clip

show this is going to be a chance for me

to just talk about the podcast so far

share some of my favorite moments from

this season and then give you a sneak

peek into season 2 right now my goal is

to launch season 2 in January but I'll

give you get more into that at the end

of the show I want to thank you for uh

just listening to the show watching the

show all the feedback that I've received

I want to thank my guests for being on

the show stalking season 1 with episodes

was a lot easier than I expected I'm not

new to podcasting used to have podcasts

about eight years ago I was running

three podcasts concurrently with three

different friends and I would call those

uh two buddies in a beer kind of podcast

where we would just talk about whatever

topics were on our mind those podcasts

were audio podcasts though and they were

not guest interview podcasts I was

always stuck on the concept of guest

interview podcasts because I didn't know

who I would interview I didn't know what

kind of value an audience would be

interested in uh getting from guests

back in last winter as I was

contemplating our YouTube channel and

what the work that we've been doing at

gwcp around succession planning and

Advising moving our focus more blatantly

into that based off of our expertise the

idea came to me that that I should

interview people who've bought

businesses that was the initial impetus

for this show and it clicked for me and

I knew my audience and I knew the guests

that I would have on and I immediately

knew the value that I wanted to bring to

those guests and so that was a big piece

that uh just fell into place for the

artist sucession that I didn't have on

any of those prior podcasts uh it was a

learning experience video podcasts are

new to me not having been in the game

for the past eight years they were just

kind of getting off the ground in 2013

14 15 when I was last podcasting so

there was a lot of learning experiences

and my guests have been great I guess

the world is ready for video podcasts

and I haven't had a guest turn me down

yet that being said I am interested in

hearing your thoughts as a regular

listener to the show do you watch us on

YouTube more often or are you listening

on Spotify or apple podcasts the show is

distributed audio if you were not aware

of that it is available via transistor

FM uh and sent to all the all the

platforms um and again as I talk about

season 2 there'll be a change in season

2 uh that you can look forward to at the

end of this episode personally I've been

watching more video podcasts I also

subscribe to YouTube premium and that

means that I can put my phone in my

pocket while I'm mowing the lawn or

doing dishes and continue to listen to

videos uh just the audio form I do like

the video format um because I feel like

I have a better connection with the host

of a podcast when I can see them um but

I'm interested in your thoughts on that

and I've been listening to podcast for

over 20 years it feels

maybe 20 years and so 10 15 years of

Audio Only definitely felt like I was

friends with everybody the podcast that

I'd listen to I I felt like I was

invited into their lives but hopefully

video gives you more of a connection to

the voice behind the microphone that's

really my desire for a video podcast

conducting interviews I need to see the

person that I'm talking to even 10 years

ago I used to run one of our podcasts

over go to meeting uh before Zoom came

along and blew up the scene and me and

my buddy would record our audio separate

tracks on devices in our own house and

then he would upload it to Dropbox and I

would put them together but it's

important to me to see uh eye to eye

with the person that I'm talking to and

so video is always going to be a part of

how I conduct the interviews and it just

makes sense I feel uh to invite the

audience into that experience as well

with video podcasts what I was not

prepared for is some of the issues that

I would have running a video podcast you

don't know it because my video editors

are so awesome but that first episode

that I recorded with Jason I had

something going on in my Chrome browser

and the video would stop every 4 and 1

half minutes my video would stop and

drop me from the call and I would log

back in I'm using Riverside uh this is

not a fault of Riverside this is a fault

of my Chrome browser and it's limited

virtual memory but I would log back into

Riverside and Jason just got used to

finish the thought that he was in the

middle of and then what would pick back

up after after I logged in I was not

expecting that that was my first um my

first video that I recorded and I wanted

to cry and give everything up I was so

frustrated that this is what I had

committed to um but again kudos to my

video editors they took my I think I

gave them 11 video files for my side of

that conversation and they were able to

put it together uh and it's one of our

most watched episodes of the show I was

not prepared uh and this is something

I'm still struggling with booking guests

how difficult it is to filter through

all of the noise there are a lot of

booking agents out there that will just

book their client for you without any

concern about the type of podcasts that

I'm running they don't understand the

concept of did they buy the business

from somebody else that seems to go over

their head so lots of Noise with booking

agents I think I've cancelled probably

almost as many podcasts as I've uh

scheduled and and run just because I

can't get an email address for the

actual person that I'm going to be

talking into so that I can communicate

with them directly leading up to the

recording and if I don't have an email

address and if I don't have contact

information for the person I'm uh

interviewing I refuse to interview them

because I want to do the preparation

before we press record uh so that I'm

going into the interview with a little

bit of knowledge about the person uh so

that I'm not just going to surprise you

guys with popup spammer uh trying to get

on the show that said I am active in a

couple Facebook groups and that is where

I found a number of the guests as you

can probably tell uh half the guests

that I've had on the show so far have

been peers or introductions through

peers within the CPA space um and those

have been great I've Loved digging into

the details on some of these uh other

accounting firms and how they came about

to acquire them that's been really

interesting uh Mike and Tatiana the

chiropractors from episode 4 they were

also intro introduced to me by a client

and friend of mine uh who works with

them through honey badger uh so that's

really been great but that leaves about

four or five of my guests five I think

five of my guests out of the past 11

that have been brand new uh

introductions and I've really just

enjoyed digging into those businesses

and getting to know more about those

guests I know in my heart that I have

this business because of my dad and my

grandpa and like I wouldn't have it if

it weren't for them I love that it's my

grandpa's Legacy U my grandpa was a

really special person and I love that I

get to do this here with his name again

the autonomy that he gave me um to allow

me to see my vision and start building

what I wanted uh even while I was in

here ready working with him as long as

his bills were getting

paid uh you know and and he and he

checked the social boxes like he had the

friends through the business he was

good uh I I didn't realize that that was

okay for him but it wasn't okay for me I

just love how an interview allows me to

get a guest to talk about themselves and

talk about what excites them about their

business and so some of these interviews

have gone really deep really quickly uh

thinking specifically about uh Lisa's

episode just sharing that heartbreaking

story of buying their dream job and then

watching it crumble around them uh just

due to a lot of issues um within the

acquisition and having to close that

down but the the resilience that Lisa

had and she was actually coaching me on

the call that's that episode is probably

the closest I've come to uh tearing up

on the show so far um that's just power

ful that she would be so willing to

share that with a stranger um a couple

others that were like that for me Alana

Thomas was um was a difficult and

interesting interview and then uh amber

Kendrick also just having to kick her

own dad out of the company because he

was no longer doing what was best for

Pete's Auto Parts those are powerful

interviews and I've really appreciated

those moments experiencing them as the

interviewer and then being able to share

them with you as the guests as well but

the show hasn't been all heartbreak

there have been some amazing just

amazing Stories too specifically Curtis

the opportunity to work with your

grandfather in the same profession I

can't just I cannot wrap my head around

how cool that would be my own

grandfather died when I was 18 years old

in boot camp and he had Parkin since

most of um the end of his life and so I

was a stupid teenager that didn't wasn't

comfortable around nursing homes for

about the last 10 years of his life and

so I didn't have a relationship with my

grandparents uh for various reasons um

but just to be able to work with your

grandfather for 15 years in the business

regardless of all the conflict that

comes up between two partners budding

heads with visions of a company just the

experience and I could hear it in

Curtis's voice just the appreciation

that he had for pops uh just being able

to learn from him in this profession

that they both love and gain an

understanding uh for why he's made the

decisions that he's made that that was

very powerful thinking of also Jim

marrow taking the business under his

wing while his dad's going through chemo

That's The Power of family business

especially um though I would say that a

number of us that are in Partnerships

not with family we would still jump

through hoops and pull more than our

fair share of the weight if necessary to

to alleviate our partner suffering in

any bit with in any bit that we could

but just to hear that story of Jim going

back and forth to chemo treatments and

taking care of his dad while also trying

to take care of customers it's there's

just something there that is powerful uh

and it's what I love about small

business another awesome story you know

we we heard Mike's story with his dad

Ross uh how he doesn't call him Dad at

work he calls him Ross but just how

rewarding that is to have that kind of

relationship where it's not a conflict

at the outset or it's not it's not a

conflict every single day of parent and

child Waring in different directions

parent and child pulling in different

directions in order to get what they

want out of the business it takes a

special kind of leader to recognize when

your Offspring or somebody that you've

mentored is coming up in the company and

has skills that you don't have and has

drive that you don't have a vision for

the future um that maybe you used to

have and no longer have um I really

admire that uh in some of the leaders

that I've talked to on this show just

the the relationships that they've had

in their businesses really envious of

that uh and just really want to model

that within GW CPA between me and my

partner Sam uh for the incoming next

level of leadership next next group of

leaders that come in in this company I

want to know what some of your best

moments have been I I do want to share

some clips and then just talk about them

briefly but I want to know who's been

your best your favorite interview what

moments stand out to you and also what

was your first exposure to the artist

succession podcast who was your first

interview and did you go back and listen

to any others certainly we early enough

in the podcast are you a Binger when I

find a new show and I find that I'm you

know maybe less than a 100 episodes uh

into the show I'll go back to season one

and I'll start listening to the whole

thing um I hope maybe by now I've gotten

one of those on the artistic session so

if that's you uh go ahead and leave me a

shout out and let me know and just know

that I appreciate every listen whether

it's every episode whether it's every

other episode it just it means a lot to

me that you find Value in this show and

you've subscribed and want to hear about

the stories that these these business

owners are sharing one of the changes I

made mid-season I don't know if you've

noticed it or not when I started the

show I was very clear that I wanted to

hear from people who've acquired their

business from somebody else um but as

you as you saw there towards the end of

season 1 I did start to introduce

starting with Lisa people who have

closed or sold their business so we've

heard from Lisa we heard from Alana

we've heard from Jerm who was not an

acquir of the business he was brought in

as a partner in order to rescue the

business and then most recently we've

heard from Jillian sedot Who Sold her

law firm and is now moved on from that

part uh from that business that she

built I added these with caution

certainly I want to make sure that I'm

bringing my audience the most value and

I think that a lot of that value is

found in the tales of the people who've

purchased those businesses and all of

the pitfalls and surprises and uh just

victories that they've had in that new

business but also I am interested in

giving us a perspective as as the

acquirers giving us a perspective into

the minds of the seller perhaps you are

in a family business right now or you

are in the succession Journey as I am

myself um and you have not taken over

100% yet and you're trying to to

understand what's going on in the mind

of the seller why are things not moving

faster why are they making some of the

decisions that they're making that's

kind of been my intention in

interviewing the sellers of businesses

opening that up to Future guests as well

but I want to know if that resonates

with you as a listener to the artist

succession is that something that you

are interested in I appreciate hearing

from Sellers as well because I will be a

seller someday as well you most likely

if your business continues so that's

that was an easy yes for me uh to bring

those in I will say I have had a lot of

other inquiries a lot through these

booking agents but then not just other

peers within the space that have been

interested in being interviewed that are

not acquirers of their business not

sellers of their business but they work

within the murders and Acquisitions they

work within the succession planning

space I have held off on bringing those

in as a professional in that space I

know there can be value to be heard from

somebody in that space but I also know

it's different if you're going through

it than if you work with people that are

going through it and that's not a bad

thing I think that they have a lot of

value that they can add but I don't want

this to become mostly just about

marketing their services to my audience

providing value certainly but I just

have figured out how to provide value in

a way without duding the core tenant of

the artist succession podcast which is

business owners who are purchasing their

business from somebody else um so let me

know your thoughts on that as well uh

that's not going to be in season 2 but

possibly in a future season I might

entertain that another thing that I've

considered is just doing those as bonus

episodes or just extra content on the

YouTube channel we certainly have an

attorney that we work with closely with

all of our clients and so I've talked to

her about doing interviews focused on

specifics around uh succession planning

so that is something that we are keeping

in mind um but I haven't decided yet if

I'm going to bring that into the artist

succession as formal guest interviews

yet so let me know your thoughts on that

another decision um I've made in

discussions with my partner and then

just viewing the YouTube landscape Out

There Our firm specializes in succession

planning for multigenerational

businesses and so does the art of

succession podcast once once you get

into this space you find out that

there's a lot of other tangential

content out there that's not directly

related to succession planning so the

easiest one is exit planning so those

are business owners that just are ready

to retire and they want to get out a lot

of exit planning is focused on

consolidations uh focused on selling to

an outside um entity an outside buyer

not directly succession uh within the

company an employee or a a descendant

within the company it is more about this

larger competitive of mine is swallowing

up a lot of our our types of businesses

so that's exit planning that's distinct

in our minds from succession planning um

obviously Jillian sedot that would have

fallen under exit planning one thing

I've avoided with the art of succession

um and if I can just be open for a

minute here as I talk to people who have

sold their businesses I'm going to be

very cautious about business owners that

have sold their businesses to somebody

other than another small business so

so-called mergers and acquisitions

Equity private Equity buyers there's a

lot of that in our space right now um

and I know that there's a lot of that

interest and it's easy to gain views if

you talk about that on YouTube the

reason this is called the art of

succession and not the science of

succession or the art of the deal or the

the mechanics of the deal or anything

like that is because as a small business

owner and as a small business owner that

works with small business owners our

businesses have soul our businesses have

a purpose that is closely tied to who we

are as owners the values that we bring

to our work every single day and the

values that uh Drive what we do for our

clients and soap box here private equity

in the accounting space I think is a

really bad idea it's easy exit for a

firm owner that has not done the work

necessary to make sure that there's a

business there of value that conveys to

another generation and I think that it's

debilitating for professionals who work

in those companies who maybe have worked

in those businesses for 5 to 7 10 years

just to find out that they're being

Acquired and rolled up into a regional

firm or uh that their founder that their

boss is taking private Equity money uh

and everything's about to become a lot

more corporate and focused on the bottom

line I would not have stayed at a firm

like that uh in my career uh I

specifically became a CPA and I've moved

CPA firms in the past because of the

path to ownership um and private Equity

mergers and Acquisitions rollups

completely destroy the path to ownership

in those companies and so that's not

what this show's about that's not the

kind of guest that I'm interested in

hearing from I certainly would want to

get into their minds about why they made

that decision um but that's not

something that I want to Champion with

this show and it's not something we

Champion with our YouTube channel

similarly in the YouTube space there's a

lot of emphasis or a lot of focus on

employees that go out and they get

private Equity money or they get search

funds behind them and they go out and

they buy these boring businesses and

they don't step into the role of

operator within those businesses there's

a lot of emphasis on you just install an

operator and you get to collect the

dividends as an owner that's fine a lot

of people are interested in that again

that goes against the ethos that we have

at gwcp and the artist succession as

well small business ownership is an art

it's not a science we're dealing with

real people we're dealing with real

employees and we're dealing with real

concerns that they have I mean certainly

there's nothing I think illegal about

what they're doing obviously and if your

goal is to buy a company and step away

from from it I understand that I was

there 15 years ago that's what I did

with my first uh company that I started

before I came here to work at gwcp I was

all about setting up the systems and

walking away making passive income

4-Hour Work Week all that and at 32

years old I was burned out and retired

and so I think a lot of those people I

don't wish them ill but I think a lot of

them will be will find out that it's not

everything that they've uh they've blown

it up to be in their heads I I find a

lot of satisfaction in the work that I

do uh both as a professional and as a

business owner so I love being a CPA I

love being a business owner of a CPA

firm even more um and I think that work

is satisfying I think that uh just

personal talk here I think that I was

made in the image of my Creator and my

Creator is a God who works and I am uh

made in that image and work is difficult

work is unbelievably difficult um but it

is satisfying and I think that it's one

of the ways we find a lot of just

fulfillment in life and it's not

something that we should walk away from

it's something that we should engage in

each and every day I've really

appreciated that about my guests and I

hope you hear that in the arst Su

session that the the toughest moments we

go through as business owners they rip

our hearts out they stomp on them but we

come out on the other end and we say I'm

a better person because of what I went

through I am a better business owner and

I can sympathize with my employees

because XYZ happened in my career I can

understand my customers and my customers

points of view their perspective because

I'm also in the fight on a daily basis

my focus that drives my questions on the

artist succession podcast has been to

want to get into the weeds sometimes on

that raw stuff that does make us to be

better business owners on the other side

it is gut-wrenching uh as you are going

through it I would not wish it on

anybody except that I do wish it on you

if you're a business owner because I

know that you're going to come out

better on the other end but it is going

going to be unbearable uh and to go

through that I would definitely

recommend starting off as an employee

and working your way up if we were to

ever bring a partner into our business

that's how I would do it I don't think I

would ever put someone in as a partner

right off the bat and I don't care where

they came from guess who else gets to

decide I get to decide and this is what

we're deciding and and and then when it

became like that clear like I don't owe

anybody anything

I owe I owe myself and my family

something and I owe my employees

something too but I don't owe them that

don't owe them all of me I I I really

want to work myself out of a job to the

extent that there's other stuff I should

be and can be focusing on and and kind

of moving the needle in in a different

way um so would have just been

impossible without me kind of delegating

all that work and looking for the the

most appropriate path to success

hopefully this has been beneficial to

you just to hear some of my thoughts

behind running the show in season 1 um I

have favorite episodes and I've listened

to a couple of my own episodes uh and

laughed even though I was there in the

moment um they still just bring uh bring

joy to me to hear us have those

conversations and so I've really enjoyed

recapping season 1 with you and letting

you know just a little bit more behind

the scenes about where the artist

succession came from uh now I want to

shift Focus to season 2 so like I said

my goal was to set up Seasons originally

my goal was if I couldn't book enough

guests for SE this season two uh which

would start during tax season um I would

take a break and I would resume in the

spring with season 2 as of right now I

think I'm going to have enough guests to

get me through ta season without having

to record I am looking for guests so if

you know someone who should be featured

on this show uh I would love to

interview them please go ahead and uh

just pass along the information I'm

going to put the booking link down in

the description below it's there every

episode but you can find that if you

have anybody that's going to be that

would make a great guest on the show I'd

love to get into their story but because

of that I'm going to continue season 2

is going to pick up right where we leave

off here with season 1 episode 12 season

2 will come out the first Tuesday of

January I'm really excited about season

2's first episode I've got a treat to

share with you I'm actually going to be

interviewing my partner Samantha bowling

she's the managing partner here at gwcp

she started in this firm 32 years ago

she became managing partner last year

she's got a great story that I can't

wait for you toar here she's um she's an

amazing CPA she's an amazing business

owner I am so happy to work with her uh

I was happy to work for her for a couple

years there before becoming partner here

as well um and I'm just excited to share

her story um when I shared my idea for

this podcast back last March with her

she said I want to be a guest on the

show and I said absolutely that will be

such a treat uh for the listeners so I

decided I started season 1 with one of

my very good friends and a mentor of

mine J blumber and I'm going to be

launching season 2 with a very good

friend of mine and a mentor uh Samantha

bowling so look forward to that next

that episode next month some of the

changes I'm going to make for season 2

so YouTube is different for podcasts You

Know audio podcast it's it's nothing to

listen to a 40 minute hourong podcast

audio uh YouTube is a little bit

different and so there's retention

graphs in YouTube there's a lot of

information in YouTube and I know that a

lot of our guests don't have time to sit

uh and watch a video for an hour

non-stop not everybody subscribes to

YouTube premium though you should one of

the best subscriptions I have Cuts cuts

out all the ads and allows you to listen

while the screen is off and in your

pocket not everyone does that and so I'm

going to be making a change for season 2

I'm talking with my video editors about

this we're actually going to split

season 2 into two episodes um we're

going to have a Part One release on

Tuesday and we're going to have part two

release on Thursday morning so every

guest is going to be split into two

episodes I am also cautious and wary of

the time uh that our episodes have been

getting up there over an hour and so my

editor is also going to be focusing on

bringing the time down and really just

trying to keep the most um the most

important information in those episodes

for you guys to make sure that you're

getting the best value for the for the

interviews audio podcast will still be

released 100% uh in full on Tuesday

mornings and so you can listen to that

on Spotify or apple podcast or any

wherever you get your podcasts but on

YouTube we're going to have part one

released on Tuesday mornings and we're

going to release part two on Thursdays

if you come to the episode afterwards

you'll just be able to find that in the

end screen of part one you'll be able to

get to part two of that episode so if

you're not somebody who listens on the

first day hopefully it won't U be that

big of a difference for you uh but I

think that that's going to help bring

new people into the the audience uh and

it's just it's something I'm

experimenting with there's a lot of

experimentation that happens in business

uh and a lot of it is based off

incomplete information incomplete

feedback but as I watch YouTube I know

that 20 minutes for an episode is a

pretty decent commitment I've certainly

listened to 45 minute episodes I have

listened to a couple 2-hour episodes but

I also have the ability to pause pick up

in my car listen on listen through my

car radio get home press play when I'm

doing the dishes press play when I'm

cooking uh and it's a little bit more

seamless there and I know that not

everybody is able to uh not everybody

has that workflow so that's one of the

changes we're making for season two

truly it was that that messy and I do

think that that has worked historically

in my favor that people very much see a

human element and it's not so methodical

and tailored and perfect in the way that

you come to Market just like hey like we

really want to do a good job there came

a point where I started to see people

who commit to things longterm and they

don't give up no matter what they're the

ones who end up being on top in 30 years

in 40 years like when I'm the books of

the people I'm reading it's like these

people have been doing it for 40 in 50

years I'm like that's that's the people

I'm looking up to um and so longevity

started to become for me um that's what

I want to do like I if I if I can help

people now I can really help them 20

years from now the success that we

experience as business owners or

entrepreneurs uh came with likely a lot

of scars and I think if somebody's

telling you that they don't have those

scars or they didn't have any you know

hard time or challenges um I going to be

bold enough to say they're lying and we

say that I I mean I I wholeheartedly

believe this from the bottom of my heart

everyone has a story to tell and

everyone should tell their story we

talked a lot about uh a lot of good

things but I will say Never Say Never

and pay attention to those little

details because you never know what's

going to happen um I had a plan and it

was in 24 hours so one of the other

things that I did uh is the lightning

round at the end of every episode I

enjoy the lightning round it does open

up some cans of worms that I probably

would want to explore a little more and

so I'm going to be playing around with

the the layout and the positioning of

the lightning round in the episodes and

future Seasons um but I appreciate

knowing this information about my guests

getting to see what kind of what drives

them and yeah I enjoy them and so in the

spirit of that I've Ed at this a couple

times on other episodes I'm going to be

doing the lightning round here so that

you know um what my own preferences are

and so here we go lightning round for

the host Barrett young of the artist

sucession podcast coffee or tea and how

do I like it uh I drink coffee I do like

creamer in my coffee usually uh three

little cups of creamer three pumps of

creamer from the coffee I do at home

freshly grind my beans about once a week

and put them into a in a jar here at the

office we drink curig I definitely

prefer the semi freshly ground coffee at

home and I have a stove top percolator

that I really like home as well pie or

cake um pie overall my favorite pie is

pican pie um but coconut cake is um what

I request at my birthday U me and my

father-in-law both eat coconut cake and

coconut cake and a tall glass of cold

milk he puts ice in his milk I do not uh

but that's my go-to and I really like

coconut cake and Con Pie for that matter

I really like coconut cake because I

don't have to share with my family uh

it's it's a unique cake that a lot of

people don't like and so I get more of

it for myself what is a common belief

among entrepreneurs that you would want

to challenge um I've been thinking about

this one for the past year this is

actually the impetus behind the art of

succession uh this is kind of what

drives me in the YouTube videos and this

is counter to who I was at 28 years old

when I started my first company the the

belief I would challenge among entrepr

rurs is that you have to start it in

order to be an entrepreneur you have to

start the business in order for it to be

your business I actually the the thesis

I'm working off of in the back of my

head is I actually feel that most people

will probably be better served buying an

existing business rather than starting

one from scratch now there's a lot of

caveats to that and I'll cover those in

YouTube videos but that's the belief

that I want to challenge in the minds of

entrepreneurs what is my favorite

holiday and why so Thanksgiving uh which

just passed I do love Thanksgiving I

love I love food I love uh smoking

turkeys uh this year we did chickens I

love being with family I love

Thanksgiving because it's the kickoff

for me of the Christmas season so I do

not separate Christmas and Thanksgiving

it's all part of the Christmas season

with Thanksgiving being the kickoff for

that and I love me a dog show uh goat

pugs they won this year at the at the

Philadelphia dog show so that's that's

my favorite holiday Thanksgiving am I a

morning person or a night person and do

I have a favorite routine I want to be a

night person but I cannot stay awake if

I sit down late at night um my kids

laugh at me I think 910 I was asleep by

9:10 last night couldn't even make it

through a 3 minute YouTube video um so

I'm a morning person I'm awake whether I

like it or not usually by about 5: try

to get out of bed right when I wake up I

fail more days than not I do like to

train in the mornings uh if I do if I am

training for anything I like to get it

out of the way uh if I train at night it

usually just revs up my heart rate and

I'm not able to sleep uh so I really

like training in the morning but I love

a cup of coffee and I love to read

that's kind of my morning routine what

is one thing that you want your

successor to remember you for I did not

have good examples I did not have

inspiring examples in this profession

when I first became an accountant my

first partners that I worked for I asked

one of them if I should become a CPA and

he said it doesn't really matter to us I

would want my success essor to remember

me for encouraging them with all the joy

that there is in this profession uh with

the the feeling of it being worth it I I

don't know how how to word that better

being a business owner is worth it it is

one of the most heart-wrenching things

you'll do the work that you put in is

what makes it worth it it's not in spite

of the work that you put in and so

that's what I'd want my successor to

remember me for they're in this

profession because I encouraged them in

this profession because I told them that

they could I showed them how they could

do it how they were imp EMP powered to

stick with this profession and to become

a business owner that's what I want them

to remember me for where are you finding

creativity right now uh YouTube I

probably watch YouTube more than any

other streaming service I'm always

looking for something else uh to learn

something to grow in YouTube about

YouTube has been my big Obsession for

the for 2024 I'm starting to finally

move away from that because it it does

just get overwhelming um and so I'm

starting I'm I'm watching a lot of

YouTubers right now on advisor services

and especially pricing and and different

things like that just trying to work on

knowledge knowledge building uh for that

uh so that's why I'd say I'm finding

creativity uh what do I have coming up

in the next year that's got me really

excited oh boy uh season two of the

podcast I'm excited to see how that

launches and see the reception just

making improvements in the podcast

hopefully they pay those improvements uh

are are noticed and received and

appreciated we've got a lot of changes

in The Firm coming this next year one of

the big ones is I've fully moved into

the role of tax partner here at the firm

and that means that every tax return is

coming through me rather than Sam uh and

that's a big responsibility and a big

change and I'm I'm excited to step into

that role uh it's also my 20th

anniversary next year uh so I'm hoping

to take my wife uh to Ireland that's the

goal uh and so I'm really excited about

that uh and where can people find me you

can find me right here on the artist

succession podcast thank you for

entertaining this uh season 1 finale I

had a lot of stuff to talk about and

share with you about what this podcast

has meant to me so far hopefully You'

found value from this uh you can also

check out the YouTube channel where I do

long form talking head videos mostly

about succession planning uh and

hopefully that is added benefit to you

along this journey I want to thank you

for watching thank you for listening to

season 1 of the artist succession

podcast we've had some great guests I

hope that you find a favorite and share

it with a friend uh and just bring them

into this audience and I hope that it

has grown you whether or not you're

buying a business or not it has grown

you in your profession in your

appreciation for small business and I

will see you in season two