When Life Gives You a Bookkeeping Business: A Conversation with Mary Ellen Mansfield

Mary Ellen’s Story

Katie: Tell us your story, Mary! Where did you start out?

Mary Ellen: Well, funnily enough, I originally graduated with a business degree. I've always loved numbers, as many of us who end up in accounting do.

As you mentioned, I spent most of my career—twenty years, in fact—working in finance and accounting positions at a state university. The last ten years I spent there were in a position that really was my dream job: I ran the business office in the athletic department.

I loved that. I loved the people, I loved working in sports…but I got to the point where I just didn't want the next rung on the ladder for that career.

At that point, I started thinking about what it would be like to work for myself. In fact, in 2019, I actually took a QuickBooks course, learned how to do some QuickBooks, and stumbled upon my first client well before I ever found LIBBY.

So I had this plan that I was going to grow this side hustle and gain some clients and keep working at the university until I had enough clients to go out on my own…but as we know, even the best-laid plans can take a detour.

My second client that I found actually presented me with an amazing opportunity to work

for them as a W2  employee, so I did that for about four years. It was absolutely the right thing at the right time for the right people, and it was good for me for a while.

Then, in 2023, I again started thinking about a bookkeeping business again…and that’s when I found your podcast!

Once I circled back to the idea of having my own bookkeeping business and getting to work for myself, I ended up investing in LIBBY. And by March of 2024, I left my position and dove running a bookkeeping business full-time!

I’m certainly not your typical audience—you mainly speak to young mothers about the merits of running a bookkeeping business, and I understand why. Having the ability to spend time with your children and stay at home with them is incredible and rare, and I applaud all of that. I think all you moms are amazing.

However, I'm not a young mother—I'm actually an aging grandmother now! So I want to make sure I say that working from home and running your own bookkeeping business is a great opportunity for anybody that wants to do something different or have more control over how they spend their time.

It can be the person who's getting closer to retirement and just wants a little more time freedom, as well as the young mom who wants to be at home with her children.

Why LIBBY?

Katie: As you were researching programs, what led you to LIBBY?

Mary Ellen: Well, I found a number of bookkeeping podcasts—yours and three or four others—and some of them did have programs attached to them.

I think I ended up researching three programs pretty hard during that time frame. In fact, with one of them, I went through their whole sales funnel and had a discovery call with them.

But as I really started getting serious about choosing one, I started thinking about what I needed in order to commit. I knew I was going to be spending a lot of time listening to whoever I chose, so I started considering what their “voice” sounded like and whether it aligned with what I was looking for—not their literal voice, but their branding, their marketing, and their messaging.

In the end, I realized that out of the programs I looked into, I liked what you had to say the most. You were very direct and professional. Your website's very professional compared to some others.

So even though I went pretty far down a different program’s sales funnel—and they would have been cheaper, just to be upfront—in the end, I felt like choosing that program would have been like buying a used car. And I wanted a new car; I wanted something I believed in, something shiny, and something that felt professional.

If I want to have a professional business, I want to learn from somebody professional. That was a big thing that really made my mind up in the end.

LIBBY Takes You From Thought to Action

Katie: Is there anything that stands out to you from your time in LIBBY?

Mary Ellen: I remember something specific from one of our LIBBY calls that I still think about; it was deeply transformational for me.

As I was going through the program, I obviously was thinking a lot about having a bookkeeping business one day. But I remember there was one call where you specifically tasked us with going out and telling people, “I’m a bookkeeper.”

You wanted us to go out and tell people that we had a bookkeeping business. And that was huge for me, because I needed someone to help me make that switch in my head between bookkeeping being “something that I'm going to do” and bookkeeping being “something that I'm doing.”

That mindset shift was such a simple thing, but that made a huge difference. 

I also really enjoyed the community aspect. I am a big believer in community, so I did find that piece very useful, especially because the others in the program are going through some of the same struggles and changes that you are. It was nice to be in it together.

Listen to Profits + Prosecco to Hear More!

Mary Ellen’s whole journey and her experience in LIBBY can’t all fit in one post…and trust me, you want to hear the whole of it.

To get the rest of the story, tune in to Episode 201 of Profits + Prosecco now on your favorite podcast platform!

WORK WITH MARY ELLEN:

Website: bookswithmem.com

CONNECT WITH MARY ELLEN:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bookswithmem

WORK WITH KATIE:

Need to boost your bookkeeping basics—and want to get in on the goodness before the price goes up? Join BABs now…before the price goes up!: https://www.katieferro.com/become

Want a peek behind the curtain into LIBBY, my program all about what it really takes to have a simple and scalable (and successful) bookkeeping business? Get access to my free, on-demand four-part series, 6 Secrets to a Simple, Scalable Bookkeeping Business: www.katieferro.com/6-secrets

Learn how to take your bookkeeping skills and turn them into a business that allows you to replace (or surpass) your corporate salary, be present for your life, and profoundly impact your clients without selling your life in the process by joining Life by the Books (LIBBY). 

CONNECT WITH KATIE:

Website: https://www.katieferro.com/

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