Cindy Lin is on the podcast today. She is a home staging educator, podcaster and the founder of Staged4more School of Home Staging.  Her podcast, The Home Staging Show,  is the longest-running and the #1 podcast on iTunes dedicated to home staging.  Her goal is to provide modern, practical and quality home staging education to help home stagers excel and build profitable and sustainable businesses.  

In our time together today, we focused on what staging is, how Cindy got started and some of the pivots she has had in entrepreneurship. Cindy is always learning and trying to stretch herself. Listen in as she shares where she thinks she got that drive. 

Wow, I cannot believe that we are a year into this podcast journey of Profit is a choice. I am not sure if you all heard my beginnings in podcasting – but I started investigating a podcast in 2016. At that time, I determined the amount of time it would take was time I did not have available – so I shelved it. Then in 2018, I was able to create sustainable time in my calendar to create and produce the podcast. And now – here we are. On this episode we are going to do a year of review and highlights – so much goodness has happened this year and I was reminded of the value this podcast has brought into the world as I looked back. 

On the podcast today is Emily Moore. She owns and operates the Bean Countery which is a Certified Profit First full-service accounting and advising firm.

What started as a side hustle to save her soul from Corporate Finance has grown over the past decade.  It is now a full-time passion of hers to meet entrepreneurs where they are and improve their business finances and overwhelm so they can live the life they crave. 

Joining me on the podcast today is Kristin Mathis.  She is the owner of Distinctive Windows in upstate NY, a custom drapery workroom. She began sewing as a young woman, and when Kristin purchased her first home, she found a severe lack of quality ready-made window treatments available. Using her natural talent to sew her own window treatments, she fell in love with interior design industry.

Charles Sedaker is with us for another of the Profit First Success Stories. Cheryl started sewing at age 5 and, by her teenage years, she was already making clothes for other people. She graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology, Cornell University and has a Master's from the University of Connecticut - specializing in clothing and textiles.

SeaCheryl Designs began after Cheryl left corporate in 2005, so that she could return to her love of fabric and soft home furnishings. Cheryl has a thirst for continuing education and she uses that to stay up to date on the latest methods and trends in the industry. She's completed courses through WCAA, the Custom Home Furnishings Academy, Workroom Tech and at Custom Workroom Conferences.

Debbie DiFrancesco is joining us today for the Profit First Success Stories episode. Debbie has been sewing since the age of seven and founded Creative Hands in 1990 to supplement the family income. Initially, Debbie provided general sewing and bridle alteration services, while working a second job as an assistant manager at House of Fabrics/ So-Fro Fabrics until 1991.  Two years later, Creative Hands transitioned from alterations to exclusively fabricating window treatments and selling hard treatments. Soon after, in 1997, Debbie attended courses at the professional drapery workroom school - later known as the custom home furnishings Academy and Swannanoa, North Carolina under Cheryl Strickland.  Since then, she has participated in the Custom Home Furnishings Conference and International Window Coverings Expos - as both an attendee and window treatment fabrication instructor.

Marie Kurmin is the owner of Kurmin Kreations. Marie graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing. She opened Kurmin Kreations to allow her to be home with her kids and pursue her passion. Marie offers design, fabrication and installation of custom window treatments to interior designers and retail clients in the New England area.

Tracie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Apparel Engineering and a Master’s degree in Quality Assurance Technology from Southern Polytechnic State University. She worked in the apparel and the consumer products industries for 12 years.  Tracie opened  Custom Creations in 1996, fabricating custom window treatments and accessories .

Tracie will share her journey to good money management using Profit First and the Master Your Profit course.

Annette Faber is the owner of Kaylees Creations in Greenville, SC. She is a to-the-trade workroom focused on high end fabrication and dress maker details. Annette strives to add value to her design teams by working hard, being trustworthy, collaborating and living the core values of her business - integrity, transparency, excellence, dependability, and leaving a positive fingerprint on each person she interacts with.

Annette shares with us her financial journey before, during and after the implementation of Profit First.

Peter Lang, CPA, is an accountant who specializes in the unique accounting challenges faced by artistic professionals. Designers and other artistic professionals may find that ordinary CPAs are simply unequipped for their needs, but with 16 years of tax and accounting experience under his belt, Peter is a proven expert in helping interior designers do their taxes and all the other financial duties that art school didn’t teach them.

Valerie Leonard is an award winning Financial Advisor receiving awards from Forbes, Investment News, Birmingham Business Journal and many more. Valerie’s mission is to help people be the best they can be by making the most of their financial resources and time. She is the co-founder of Grinkmeyer Leonard Financial in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Tracie Taylor  is a Certified Interior Decorator, wife to her husband of 18 years, and mom to two beautiful kiddos. They live on a small ranch in the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Her family loves spending time in the outdoors hunting, camping, and fishing.  

In 2003 she opened an Interior Decorating company that she ran for 4 years. After spending some time raising her children who are now teens, and running an apron design company, she launched Tracie Grace Designs in July of 2017. She asked for backwards financials - and so we are doing a live coaching call on the podcast to help her work through this exercise.

Kristy Lott is an entrepreneur and CPA specializing in working with creatives. She initially went to college for psychology and has always enjoyed helping people. However, after beginning her studies she learned psychology wasn’t for her but wanted to continue her passion for helping people and realized she could do that as an accountant. Watching clients grow and helping them understand the basics of their financials is what makes her tick. Kristy has over 10 years of public accounting experience with a goal to make taxes as simple as possible for her clients.

Welcome to the first episode with business owner and coach, Michele Williams. Through this podcast it is our hope to share opportunities and ideas to increase your profits, regain ownership of your company and to have fun in your business.