S6E15: The Future of the Accounting Profession with David Peters

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“Our value as CPAs goes beyond giving out facts in any situation. They act as the voice of reason and turn ideas into reality.” David Peters

David R. Peters is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) with over fifteen years of experience in financial services. He was formerly the Chief Financial Officer of Compare.com and has been a financial advisor since 2015. He holds master’s degrees in accounting, business administration, and financial services and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Financial Planning & Retirement Income at The American College. He is currently a continuing education instructor for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Surgent, and Kaplan Professional, and the President and owner of David Peters Financial Group Inc, Peters Tax Preparation & Consulting PC, and Peters Professional Education LLC.

People dealing with complex financial jargon that they don’t understand need someone to simplify the information and give sound advice, and that is what David believes CPAs are. There is a level of trust that one needs in order to put your life in someone else’s hands.

As a person, you can learn the words of anything, but you need to go beyond the words and actually communicate in a way that makes sense to the people in the room with you, and it leads you as an accountant to go beyond your normal facts and learn something new.

He brings on board his experiences and what he believes is the future and progression of CPA as a whole. More and more, the accounting profession is coming off from just a room of accountants to meetings with different individuals who have different functions in an organization. The accountant needs to begin to evolve and adapt to be able to cater to the needs of all these people.

You can catch David on his socials:

https://www.davidpetersfinancial.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-peters-financial/

https://www.facebook.com/davidpetersfinancial

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBLKAMd0JeKpm6Y9rv4_oLQ

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1185392

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S6E14: Leading with Significance with Joey Havens

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“It’s not about how good your culture is, how good it needs to be to move forward.” Joey Havens

Joey Havens, CPA, is currently serving HORNE as the managing partner of strategic growth. Joey actively challenges the mainstays of business culture and strategic planning. He advocates for a faster approach to growing leaders using a holistic approach and intentional sponsorship. Joey is an active member of CPA Practice Advisor’s Top 30 Thought Leaders, where he works with other accounting professionals to help lead and shape the industry. Joey is a frequent presenter/teacher/facilitator on creating a culture of belonging, strategic planning, and leadership development and loves to teach young professionals the “ABCs to Outstanding.” He currently serves on the board of The Mustard Seed, a Christian community for adults with developmental disabilities, and Empower Mississippi. He is a past board member of HORNE LLP, Friends of Children’s Hospital, JDRF, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the AICPA Women’s Initiative Executive Committee.

Joey believes in working at an organization’s culture as the soul and core. Culture is the soul of the organization; it’s the people, their language, it’s the behaviors we allow over time and accept them.

He brings to the table more than 30 years as an influencer. He shares his experiences about organizational culture, what he has learned, and how culture influences the growth of an organization, whether positive or negative. How autonomy works in the organization and how to use it to increase the culture.

You can catch Joey on his socials:

https://joeyhavens.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeyhavens

https://www.instagram.com/joeydhavens/

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S6E12: The Spirit of Emotional Intelligence with Ruben Minor (previously released on 5/9/2022)

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“The beauty of good leadership is that you can have an excellent platform to impact someone that you may never know how so.” Ruben Minor

Our guest today is Ruben Minor, president of RAM Consulting Group. This organization focuses on speaking, training, and coaching individuals and groups regarding leadership, team dynamics, relationship building, diversity, equity and inclusion, fundamental business philosophies, and business and personal branding. Ruben has a rich and resourceful network of professionals across the business spectrum, ranging from influential political figures to educational leaders and entrepreneurs. 

Ruben leverages his network to make more meaningful connections for his clients and business partners, evolving into lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. Ruben also served this country for 15 years in the US Navy as a supply Corp officer, is a John Maxwell certified professional speaker, trainer, and coach, and is intimately engaged in the community, serving as president of the Council for the village of Galena. Reuben enjoys spending time with family, history movies, and hiking and, as a side note, is a professional speaker. 

Corporations have learned a lot post-COVID, as employees have realized that they do not have to face toxic work environments. Unfriendly cultures have existed for decades and are therefore not expected to change overnight. It will be a constant, intentional effort by those in leadership, and making sure that they’re keeping in step with the culture in the corporate community. 

The beauty of good leadership is that it can have an excellent platform to impact someone you may never know how to. 

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S6E11: Help Others Grow First with Lauren Schieffer

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“As a leader, you cannot respect others if you do not respect yourself.” Lauren Schieffer

Our guest today is Lauren Schieffer, whose passion is helping organizations that want to build their next generation of leaders. Whether it’s training, keynotes, or longer-term consulting partnerships, she uses her Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership to help transform the way managers think, makes decisions & act toward the people they lead. In her varied career, Lauren has navigated almost every aspect of corporate America – from trucking to achieving top-tier Sales Director status for a global cosmetics firm to managing a non-profit foundation.

Today she is here to speak about her Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership and her perspective on how a leader needs to be accommodative of each person’s differences. Lessons that the pandemic taught us and what we need to know from that.

In leadership, the difference between significance and success is that success is about inward accomplishments that you have done. It’s all about you. Significance is about outward focus, how many lives you touch, and how you change the community. Lauren is focused on growing others first.

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S6E10: Commencement: The Beginning of a New Era in Higher Education with Kate Colbert

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“The mistake that people in higher education make is operating from the Eras passed rather than the Era that we currently live in.” Kate Colbert

Our guest today is Kate Colbert, a former higher-education insider, and current world-renowned marketing expert who develops college-and-university brand stories that are meaningful to the prospective student and measurable on the institutional balance sheet. She has overseen brand and enrollment marketing, public relations, and alum relations at two Chicago-area graduate schools. Kate has additional expertise in corporate education, university crisis management, and faculty relations. She is a six-time recipient of CASE District V’s annual awards for excellence in marketing and communications.

Today she is here to speak about her new book: Commencement: The Beginning of a New Era in Higher Education. Higher education’s future and our role in making it happen. She gives her perspective on where we are going and the changes institutions must make to make them more competitive in the changing times.

Kate is keen on giving the best experience to learners and giving them skills not only just for the sake of getting a certificate but enhancing and giving them skills that are not found redundant with the world going into automation and more technology. The idea from her book is getting micro-credentials that give you valuable skills no matter the changes being seen.

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