3 Beliefs That Didn't Serve Me As I Grew My Bookkeeping Biz

Don’t Let “Professionalism” Rob You Of Authenticity

The second mindset you need to release while starting a bookkeeping business is that everything has to be professional. These might feel like the same thing, but they're not.

Professionalism was something that I really had to shake.

I don't know why I've always shown up that way. I had to shake it off in order to show up as who I really wanted to be, as well as allow my potential clients and my team to be who they are.

For example, one of the symbolic and significant things that I did to drop the need for professionalism was to go by the name Katie.

My legal name is Katelyn, but that name just does not feel like me. I’ve always gone by Katie with my family and close friends, but when I got my first corporate job, I just thought Katelyn sounded more professional. I felt like “Katie” made me sound young, and I wanted to be taken seriously in my field.

I don't know why I thought there was some significant difference between Katelyn and Katie, but to me, there was. So I went by Katelyn in the corporate world. And when I started my first LLC and did my CPA certification, I also went by Katelyn.

But then, when I entered the Instagram world, I started experiencing platforms where people used personal branding, and they were just…themselves.

They weren’t always professional or polished. They were quirky and silly and fun and honest, and I thought, “That's how I want to do this. As I'm starting a bookkeeping business, as I'm doing something for myself, as I'm rebelling against corporate and rebelling against the idea that I have to go back to that life, I'm going to embrace who I am. I'm going to go by Katie.”

I reclaimed the part of me that felt most like me, and I let that be okay, both in social circles and in my work. I didn't have to hide behind a name that didn’t even sound much different.

I am sure that there wasn’t a person on earth that took me more seriously because I called myself Katelyn instead of Katie. That was all internal dialogue rooted in fear and insecurities.

So I let go of the idea of external professionalism. I can be who I am, and I can do that because I make the rules, and if I'm going to make the rules, I want to be me.

For instance, back in 2020, I still had babies at home. I took some sales calls with kids who didn't nap. You've heard me run series with kids who didn't nap. I've held Life By The Books coaching calls with babies walking in and interrupting us.

It's not ideal. I work hard to put the right parameters in place so that doesn't happen. But when it does happen, it is okay. Because the people that I'm talking to are also running a life and running a business, and when I give myself permission to live that way, it gives them permission to do the same. It relaxes them, because they don't have to show up in a persona to match my persona. I get to be me, and they get to be them.

When I'm me, I attract people who find that comforting, and I repel the people who would want me to show up differently.

So will it repel some people? Yes. Are they people that I would want to work with? No. Would I work with them if they were okay with me being me? Sure. But if you want me to change who I am, then the answer is no.