Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Tipton.
Whitney, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m currently an owner and operator of Affinity Accounting Services, located in Alpharetta, GA. I’m originally from Milwaukee, WI, but relocated to Atlanta in 2016 to further my career in accounting. I’ve always been attracted to living in a larger city and I figured Atlanta would be the place to go. It’s really interesting how I got into the accounting field to begin with. My father started a transportation company back in 2001 when I was just 12 years old. He taught me how to reconcile his cash and credit card accounts and process payroll when I was around 14 years old. Within a couple of years and completely unbeknownst to me, I had become a full charge bookkeeper for my family’s company. I continued with the business’ billing remotely throughout the years as I studied and worked in different avenues within the finance world simultaneously.
In 2012, I gave birth to my daughter. With now having a family, my parents encouraged me to seek a job that could offer full employer-paid benefits. I updated my resume and posted it to several job boards. For a few months, I had been interviewing with an insurance company for a bookkeeping position that they had open. By the third interview, I was feeling defeated and figured that this company had no intention of hiring me by this point. As I was leaving my final interview, I got a phone call from a recruiter who had been calling me every day for a week. He said that he had an opportunity that I’d be perfect for. Considering that I was in full interview mode, I asked if I could meet him in his office right away.
I’ll never forget it. It was late Thursday afternoon and I was just shy of my 24th birthday when I met the guy for the interview. He said to me, “I couldn’t tell you over the phone, but the opportunity that I have is for an accountant position with the Milwaukee Bucks.” I remember laughing and telling him that if he had said that over the phone, I might’ve answered him right away.
He sent my resume over to the hiring managers and they agreed to meet with me the following morning. I have never been more relaxed walking into an interview before. I thought there would be no way the Milwaukee Bucks would hire me, so I just showed up as myself and even told a few jokes. By the time I had gotten home after the interview, the recruiter had called me back to ask how I think it had gone and I told him exactly what I thought and that was that I doubted that they’d give me a chance. He said, “Well, you must have said something right because they canceled the remaining interviews that we had scheduled and they want to offer you the position.”
What? Not only is this my first “real job,” but it was with the NBA team in my hometown. Unbelievable. I went on to work with the Milwaukee Bucks for about four years before relocating to Atlanta, GA. I applied for a position to work with the Atlanta Falcons who later hired me to work as an accountant for Atlanta United to help kick start their accounting processes. About a year later, my resume fell into the hands of Live Nation for a Senior Accountant position.
Here I am now with a resume full of accounting within the entertainment industry. You would think that would be enough to stay put, but I have always had a burning desire for more. Working for those companies was fun, but I didn’t feel as though I was fulfilling my purpose. That is when Affinity Accounting Services was born.
I quit my job working in Corporate America in 2017 to pursue my dream of helping small business owners achieve financial freedom through financial literacy. My favorite thing to say is that ‘behind every successful business is a great accountant.’ It’s 100% true. The health of a company’s financial statements is critical to sustaining and scaling the business.
Now I focus on helping women small business owners do just what I did. That is to take their dreams, help them establish realistic and achievable goals, and build out the roadmap to achieving and surpassing them.
Affinity Accounting Services is not just an accounting firm and I am not just an accountant. I consider myself to be a business advisor and profitability expert, focused on helping small business owners increase profitability through strategic planning. We are 100% women-owned and have two locations in Alpharetta and Sandy Springs, GA.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There were too many struggles to count. I had NO idea of how to operate an accounting firm. I’ve never worked in one! I learned from the school of hard knocks and really through trial and error. I re-invested every spare dollar into my business to acquire paid knowledge on how to build my business. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing that I did. Would I suggest to any of my clients that they quit their corporate jobs without a plan and dive head-first into entrepreneurship? Probably not. There was a lot of uncertainty and late nights that went into building this business. There were nights when I considered breaking down and re-entering Corporate America. Still, every time that thought crossed my mind, I toughed it out for another month or two until the next opportunity presented itself.
My mantra was, “It’s not that I want it to work. It’s that it HAS to work.” That’s what kept me going. I’ve helped so many people along the way and I’m grateful for that experience. I hoped that someone would see me and say that because of me, they didn’t give up on themselves.
Tell us more about the business.
Affinity Accounting Services is a 100% woman-owned accounting firm located in Alpharetta, GA. We’re not just like most accountants doing accounting and bookkeeping. We look at the business as a whole to make sure we’ve kicked every tire, and turned over every rock. If you’re not as financially successful as you want to be, we’ll help you get there. From entity structure, tax planning, accounting, budgeting, and profit analysis, we’ll help you extract the maximum amount of value of your business.
What sets us apart from other accounting firms is that we handle our clients with care. We understand that it takes much more than just accounting to grow a company successfully and we want to establish the kind of relationship with our clients that will allow them to start with us with any business related questions. If we don’t know the answer, we certainly have someone within our network of professionals who are ready and willing to help.
I am most proud of those moments when our clients say to us, “I trust you.” Hearing those words when it relates to the core of entrepreneurs’ businesses, their money means a lot to us. Knowing that I’ve changed the lives of so many business owners by helping them achieve their financial goals is a feeling that goes beyond words.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Ha. Luck? I don’t know if luck is the right word. I’d use fate or destiny because that’s really what happened. It’s cliche, but I honestly didn’t choose this life! Looking back at all the pieces that fell into place is sometimes astounding. My father turning me into a bookkeeper, that led to me becoming a corporate accounting for multiple entertainment companies and ultimately becoming a successful, black woman entrepreneur. I’d say destiny or fate had a lot to do with it.
Contact Info:
- Address: Affinity Accounting Services
11720 Amber Park Drive
Suite 160 Alpharetta, GA - Website: affinityaccountingservice.com
- Phone: 404-720-9026
- Email: whitneytipton@affinityaccountingservice.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/affinityaccountingservices
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