Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Freeman-Kirkland (The Profitisa).
Hi Nicole, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The Journey to becoming the Profit-ista was bumpy but lead to a rewarding destination. Before my transformation, my life was like a ball of yarn, constantly spinning. I followed what I thought was the checklist for success, but I was left feeling tired, overwhelmed, and frustrated due to my body constantly being in the state of ‘hustle mode’. In the midst of my second divorce, raising my 5-year-old daughter, and working full time all while running my practice, any outsider would assume l had it all together. I wasn’t seeing any personal or professional growth and was trying to make ends meet, I slowly started to resent everything I had worked hard for up until that point.
Existing in a constant state of stagnant water, I was dying inside and knew a change needed to be made; that was my breaking point. Once I realized that my life would not change until I did, I took some time to reflect and develop a game plan. It was soon clear that my mindset about myself, money, and future business had to change to succeed. I held all the tools needed, including years of working with many businesses, having connections to African American female CEOs and CFOs, and love, passion, and expertise in accounting and finance. Launching my business was not easy and would just require 3 areas of focus: Purpose, Protection, and Profits, which is now the name of my business program. Getting my name ‘The Profit-ista’ trademarked was a long journey in itself, but it left me with tools I can give other entrepreneurs.
As the years went on and my clientele grew, I could efficiently scale my business, hire a team of professionals, and launch many courses that spoke to my audience. I developed a plan that would allow me to position myself in a way that would feed my hunger to help others. My business today adds value, expertise, increases profits, and gives businesses the necessary accounting and financial knowledge to run a successful business. I’ve created a growing community of smart, savvy entrepreneurs who I’ve shown how to do business within today’s fast-paced economy. I have helped over 2,500 clients achieve a level of financial contentment they never thought possible while being a go-to resource, which is what truly matters to me. I have fallen in love with what I do and want to share it with others – there is no greater success than seeing and supporting others in their success!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The first obstacle was my mindset about finances and self-worth. I had to learn and implement habits that would change the direction I was headed.
The second obstacle was building my business not based on what others viewed as the right way but the way that worked best for me, I had to tap into what I truly enjoyed doing, which was helping business owners build their businesses for success focusing on the foundation which includes creating accounting systems, effective pricing to see profits, controlling costs, maintaining ownership and understanding financial statements. It was comfortable to stay with the day-to-day bookkeeping and tax services but I wanted to provide more value to my clients.
We’ve been impressed with The Profitista and By The Numberz CPA, PLLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a Certified Public Accountant, I work with business owners and individuals with accounting and tax needs, my services include accounting system development and implementation, business education, tax preparation, audit, reviews and compilations, business coaching, financial education courses and live classes.
I currently operate my Accounting practice “By The Numberz CPA” and Financial Coaching and Business Education under the moniker “The Profitista” in Michigan and Georgia with headquarters in Atlanta!
Credentials:
MBA – Eastern Michigan University
Certified Public Accountant
Obtaining a Certified Fraud Examiners license
Over 30 years of experience helping business owners make bankable profits
What matters most to you?
It’s important to me that when someone has a great idea and creates a business for the purpose of gaining financial and life freedoms, and building legacies for their families, that they know the fundamentals of making that business successful. The statistics show that 5 out of 8 businesses fail in the first five years. A high percentage of those failures are minority-owned businesses, this failure is not because of a lack of work ethic or drive. I have found working with business owners that this failure comes from not understanding how their businesses work financially, which includes setting up the business entity that is most beneficial, knowing how the business is performing in real-time, effective accounting systems to track income and expenses, implementing tax strategies to save money, controlling costs and understanding what the financial statements are telling them about their business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bythenumberzcpa.com and www.theprofit-ista.com
- Instagram: theprofitista
- Facebook: Theprofitista
Image Credits
Nick Nelson, Brandprenuer, Atlanta GA
