Question of the Week
Finding Your Calling In Business
Happy Friday, all! I hope you had a good week.
On the Mission Driven Business podcast this week, I chatted with Adam Markowitz, the owner and operator of people-centric tax firm Luminary Tax Advisors. In the episode, Adam opens up about how he decided to lean into his calling to take over his father’s tax advisory firm and the hurdles he faced to buy the business. He also shares a treasure trove of tips to prepare for the upcoming tax season.
Episode Highlights
Mission-driven businesses have pillars to support the mission.
When Adam took over his father’s company, he rebooted the business, which included coming up with a new name, Luminary Tax Advisors, and a new mission statement, navigating the tax code to shed light on your personal, professional, and financial goals. Equally important to the mission statement are the three pillars that Adam created to support how the business operates internally and outwardly: humanity, accessibility, and humility.
“It’s not just about what you stand for outwardly, but what you stand for inwardly that’s really important,” Adam said.
Overcome imposter syndrome with confidence.
Though accounting runs in the family, Adam did his best to avoid the family business, from skipping business and finance classes in college to pursue a career as a sports writer after graduation. However, even when he eventually did join his father’s company, Adam experienced imposter syndrome. Only after an expert came to Adam for his opinion on a tax law did he realize that he was better at his job than he had first imagined.
“Don’t have imposter syndrome,” Adam told the business owners listening to the podcast. “Own it. Be it. That’s not to say there’s not somebody out there better than you. But, my God, if somebody’s paying you for what you’re doing, you must be pretty darn good at it.”
Keep learning and ask questions.
Adam encourages entrepreneurs to pay attention to the world around them to learn and gain inspiration for their business — and that learning-oriented mindset can also come in handy at tax time. He recommends that his business owner clients ask or write down their money questions as soon as they think about them (or else they’ll forget to ask at tax time).
“There is not a good tax preparer on the planet that does not want you to ask questions of them because that’s how we do our jobs better,” Adam said.” We need to learn, we need to listen, and we need to better ourselves on a daily basis.”
Quote of the Week
“Own it. Be it. That’s not to say there’s not somebody out there better than you. But, my God, if somebody’s paying you for what you’re doing, you must be pretty darn good at it.” – Adam Markowitz
Task of the Week
If you haven’t already, take some time to Listen to Adam’s episode this weekend. It has fantastic tips and tactics for making the most of tax season and your business.
You can also find more about Adam and his business in the links below.
- “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action,” Simon Sinek
- Luminary Tax Advisors: Website, LinkedIn
- Adam’s Social Media: Twitter, LinkedIn