Jan Haugo just happens to be one of my 'favorite people.' She can be both witty and yet deeply thoughtful at times, she is exuberant but with enough moderation as to not wear everyone out around her. She is like the 'Energizer Bunny' that's been hooked up to drag some big trailer of responsibility, and the reason is she has never seen a challenge she wouldn't take on, with one exception. Getting her to write for Insightful Accountant on a 'regular basis' has been an arm twisting wrestling match almost every time I have seen over the last few years.
Now I'm not saying that Jan has never written for us. In fact, while she was with the ICBUSA she wrote 3 or 4 articles on 'Professional Bookkeeping' related topics, so when Women in Accounting Wednesday started to become a reality, born out of a concept that Jan and I spoke about almost 2 years ago, I really wanted her to be my very first feature of this new series. Well, it took a little more 'arm twisting', but she finally agreed to share her story of profession, family, home and self with us. And am I glad, because I'm getting to old to wrestle with writers.
In describing her professional practice Jan told Insightful Accountant, "When I started my business over 20 years ago, the model for bookkeeping was to drive from client to client and hand enter all the information into the computer to eventually come out with a set of financials at the end of the month. I would average 2-5 hours a day in the car depending on the clients I serviced. That means I could only really have 3-6 hours a day of true billings to the client. The time with the client was spent with my face in a computer and the client spent the time running their business.
I have since switched my model to having priceless discussions with my client on their business and opportunities for improvement. Setting goals, understanding the drive behind each of my clients helps me to become part of their team. I am no longer an expense that focuses on data entry. I am a valuable team member that is vested in their well being and the health of my clients and their companies. Tools that make my life easier and relevant to my family and my clients are now what helps to drive my business focus."
After taking a break from her bookkeeping practice to get ICB started in the USA (as ICBUSA) Jan has since returned to her love for working with clients. She told us, "In my current position with MarksNelson CPA based in Kansas, I’m even more virtual that ever, it's a beautiful thing because I get to help develop their Entrepreneurial Services division. It makes for fantastic customer and family forward thinking via cloud based solutions from the heart of the CPA firm."
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I personally think one of the major focal points of our Women in Accounting Wednesday series is our 'two word key' question, you know, those two words that best describe life in relationship to family and home. Jan told me, "Loyalty and loved are the two words that describe my home life with my family. I start out celebrating the day with a quick phone call and words of encouragement via texts on a family group chat. My daughters are grown with fantastic careers and starting on their own journeys through life.
As I work from home, I get to enjoy the day with my husband who just retired and is enjoying the life of being less hectic. As blissful as this sounds, we love animals and have rescued five (yes I know, five) dogs! .. So if you have ever called me or been on a webinar with me you will hear them. Thankfully, my clients and my co workers understand and love animals as well!"
Jan's motivation for all she does is clearly centered in her family, she told me, "There are a lot of things in life that make people motivated, but my motivation has and always will be my family. The goal has always been to care for my family and at the end of the day come home to the people that love and support me."
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Most of our other participants in this series have given us some tips as to what helps them in their daily practice, so when I asked Jan about this she replied, "I love apps and tech. For me, looking at an app I really enjoy and finding something that simplifies my life, either in work or personal. For me the biggest functionality of an app has to be seamless integration! I don’t want to have to work on importing or data entry. I really want peace and harmony when I choose an app. Is that too much to ask? LOL"
Looking to those things that give our professional women more time to devote to daily demands of work and home, I ask Jan about some of her life-hacks and short-cuts. Jan told me, "I love to cook, it is very satisfying, but over time I have found that adjusting and learning to cook for four down to two people is difficult. So one of my favorite short-cuts is to use the subscription service Home Chef. I order our food the week prior and cook up delicious healthy meals for two. The service has taken off the stress of grocery shopping and wondering what I have to cook for the day. It's really satisfying and a huge time-saver!"
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But just as important as short-cuts to help out around work and home, is what you do for yourself to relax or even pamper yourself just because you know you are special. Jan told me about her relaxation motif, "I love being outdoors, and the two activities that I am most fond of are golfing and baseball. I’m pretty competitive and enjoy a great round of golf, the mental focus and toughness it takes to complete a game really challenges me.
But as far as I am concerned, baseball is a historic game and when you combine that with statistics then I’m hooked. Watch for me at the Arizona Diamondbacks games rooting for my team!"
Not everyone who occupies a professional role steps forward to work for and enhance the professional community in which they are involved. It takes a special kind of person to set goals beyond personal expectations and mentor an entire profession. Even though she is back in private practice now Jan still believes, "Knowledge and sharing are universal in my world. I enjoy my community of accounting professionals sharing as much in a collaborative community to prosper together."
Clearly, Jan is as dedicated and motivated toward the bookkeeping community as she is toward her own family. She summed it up pretty well this way, "I’m very blessed to know some incredible women in accounting. Their resilience and determination make me proud to be in this industry.
The key I see with a lot of my women counterparts is empathy. Being that most of the businesses that we work on are small and grassroots that empathy comes into play. I believe that we provide a better service and tough love when needed because of the ability to place ourselves in our clients shoes."
I think now you can understand why I have been asking Jan to open up to us for the last two years. How about you, wouldn't you like to tell your story to our readers as well?
It takes a lot of dedicated women to meet the challenge of a 1-year series published each week, that's why we are looking for women in the accounting, bookkeeping and consulting professions, like you. If you would be willing to share your own story just simply post 'Count me in' within the comments section of this, or any other, Women in Accounting Wednesday article. Your email will go unpublished, but I will reach out to you with more about your participation.
I certainly want to thank Jan Haugo for taking the time to share her story with our readership. No more arm-twisting Jan, I promise.