Hello Reader, On average, I travel eight weeks every year. Some of it is work, some of it is for fun and honestly, most of it is both. I’ve even been known to fly across the country to attend an event simply because a client was going to be there, and there’s nothing like meeting face-to-face when you can. Beyond the connections, the hugs, the breakthroughs… there’s another big benefit: tax deductions. Airfare, hotels, rental cars, meals: when you travel for business, a lot of your expenses...
11 days ago • 4 min read
Hello Reader, The number one mistake I see self-employed parents making? Gifting your kids money. Now you can do this without triggering gift taxes. The gift tax exclusion is up to $19,000 in 2026. But, what if I told you there was a way that you could pay your kids up to $16,100 a year AND get a tax deduction on it? Plus, your kids won't pay taxes on it either? You can pull this off by putting your kids on payroll. If you own your business as a sole proprietor (or with your spouse), you can...
18 days ago • 4 min read
Hello Reader, What does it really mean to be in “the room where it happens?” This one's for you, fellow theatre kids. Leadership can be a lot of lonely work. You make decisions that carry consequences for your clients, your team, and your family. Very few people understand that kind of pressure unless they’ve lived it. Which is why last week I ditched the conference I was at to go on a Joshua Tree hike. I didn’t go alone. I created a whole Recess day for 9 other founders, and together we did...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, Everyone always laughs, but it really is easy to get rich. The secret is, getting rich is also boring. That’s what makes it hard to stick to. I got to dive deep into this on The Profitable Travel Blogger Podcast. In this case, Jessie, the podcast host, asked me back after a wildly successful tax workshop to support content creators with actual wealth creation, not just revenue generation for their blogs. It was a powerful conversation where I got to wear both my CFO hat and my...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Once upon a time, I was an artist who turned herself into an accountant. But I don’t know if I ever told you the full story… I thought if I could figure out how money worked, I could help a lot of people. Everyone's stressed about money, in every industry, at every income level. Naively, I thought some financial education would help, and I'd fix everything. So I taught myself corporate accounting, and I was pretty damn good at it. As my business grew, I could tell I was making a...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, Would you rather? Be a featured speaker before your industry peers Go hiking in a national park My industry peers gather at Fincon, a conference for financial content creators. I cried watching my first Fincon keynote about how financial education changes lives. In my own business, I put up with needlessly complicated rules, disorganized government agencies, and unrelenting tax deadlines, and it gives me migraines. Yet it gives me unmeasurable joy too because I'm helping small...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, Here's the thing: you need a tax estimate. I'm going to call this out directly: if your family makes more than $250,000 a year, you are in the top 10% of income earners in America. And if you reach $350,000 in household income, then you’re in the top 5%. For many readers of this newsletter, I just called you out as one of the richest people in the world. Please act like it. This does not imply things are suddenly easier for you (a third of Americans making more than $250,000...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, Earlier this year, I signed up to be a sponsor at the GROW 2026 Conference. (Shout out to Catherine Brown, who hosts. This event is amazing and 2027 tickets are out). GROW was to be the biggest marketing play of my year. I was taking time away from tax season and my family to be there. As a sponsor, I was completely booked solid. Fourteen back-to-back sessions over two days and there would be no breaks. I was excited, but I also knew I was going to be exhausted. (I’m actually a...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader! Do you even remember this newsletter? Happy to see my emails again? I’m offering you a gift just for being here. Don’t remember? That’s ok. I have taken a rather long break. Enjoy this update and then decide if you want a gift from me too. I honestly don’t know if I’m "back" to writing yet. Why did I pause in the first place? In 2025, I decided pursuing my goals was taking too much effort. I’d been pushing through some tough years: 9 emergency room visits, 2 new babies, a...
4 months ago • 4 min read