Breaking Beliefs

Ever wonder how stepping out of your comfort zone can completely transform your career and personal life? Join Amy Vetter for an inspiring conversation with Derek Distin, VP of Community at Rightworks, as he reflects on his unique journey from a childhood of frequent moves to building supportive professional networks in the accounting industry. Through stories about his career pivots—from computer science and Spanish to hospitality and sales—and his experiences as a coach, Derek explores the essential power of leadership, resilience, and maintaining healthy personal habits. This episode offers actionable wisdom on embracing being "uncomfortable" and learning to show up for others, making it a must-listen for anyone looking to navigate professional transitions and foster authentic, lasting community connections.

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Navigating organizational shifts and personal transitions requires a strategic approach to change management that balances business objectives with human-centric leadership. In this article, B2B sales expert and VP of Sales at BILL, Stephanie Valenti, joins Amy to explore her unique journey—spanning her upbringing in a creative family and life as a young parent to her path into successful sales leadership. Beyond her professional milestones, Stephanie discusses how she guides teams through transitions using the change curve model while addressing key industry challenges like the impact of technology on the accounting profession. She also gets candid about her own experience with burnout, sharing how she learned to prioritize joy, set boundaries, and focus on self-reflection to build resilience. From the value of due diligence in professional partnerships to realigning your career trajectory, this conversation offers a powerful roadmap for building a more sustainable, fulfilling future.

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Rising from humble beginnings in North Central Indiana to becoming a powerhouse partner at Kemper CPA Group, LLP, Michelle Smith demonstrates that resilience and dedication can transform your career trajectory. In this episode, Michelle shares her inspiring journey of overcoming early challenges, including balancing motherhood at sixteen while pursuing her dream of becoming a CPA. Discover how she achieved significant audit practice growth, scaling her practice from $350,000 to over $1 million through strategic networking, board involvement, and an unwavering commitment to her professional vision. Join us as Michelle discusses the importance of hard work, maintaining strong relationships, and finding the essential work-life balance necessary to thrive in the competitive world of auditing.

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Growing up as a pastor’s kid in Grand Junction, Colorado, Chris West learned early on that leadership is not about directing others, but about serving them. Today, as the CEO of DWC CPAs and Advisors, Chris credits his servant leadership philosophy for his ability to maintain a people-first culture and guide the firm through its impressive 80-year history. Join us as Chris details his unique path, from his initial aspirations of becoming an archaeologist to his 30-year tenure at DWC CPAs. We discuss how his father’s influence shaped his commitment to listening, extending trust, and allowing himself to be influenced by those he leads. Chris also reflects on bridging generational gaps in the workplace, finding personal purpose through Simon Sinek’s Find Your Why framework, and rediscovering his creative passions. This conversation offers a profound look at how personal values drive professional legacy and long-term career fulfillment.

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Career pivots and transitions are indeed challenging, but you can handle them with finesse if you just trust your intuition. Amy Vetter sits down with Anne Bonney, who grew up in multiple countries and took on several jobs before finding her biggest purpose as a keynote speaker and emcee. She reflects on her childhood experiences in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Greece, which instilled in her a strong sense of independence and trust in people. Anne also looks back on her various career paths, including teaching special education and working as an animal trainer at aquariums and wildlife museums. Learn how you can succeed in any endeavor you embrace in life if you do not ask permission to be authentically yourself and simply unleash your very own superpower.

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What is the best team approach to achieve your goals and secure success? Baxter Lanius, Founder and CEO of Alternative Payments, breaks down how leaders can make everyone feel empowered to do their best work, even if it means facing failures together. He joins Amy Vetter to share the importance of aligning a person’s strengths with their respective work roles, inspired by his experiences in playing lacrosse. Baxter also explains how they leverage AI to improve payment processes and client experiences, significantly speeding up payment times.

This episode is sponsored by Alternative Payments. Alternative Payments is a financial technology platform trusted by 1,000+ service businesses nationwide and the clients they support. They help service providers embed and monetize payments within their existing workflows, creating a new recurring revenue stream while simplifying billing and eliminating operational lift.

To learn more: https://go.alternativepayments.io/see-it-in-action-2

AI has evolved tremendously in just a few years, and it is not going anywhere. We have to learn to live with it and use it to our advantage. Amy Vetter chats with Jessica McKellar, co-founder and CTO of Pilot, a provider of AI-powered bookkeeping and advisory solutions for small-to-midsized businesses and startups. She shares how they leverage AI to automate bookkeeping and help small businesses achieve huge success. They also discuss the future of accounting and finance, the role of automation in transforming the industry, and why professionals need to adapt to these inevitable changes while maintaining their role as trusted financial advisors.

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The Simple Firm is more than a book; it's a revolutionary blueprint for accounting professionals seeking true professional freedom. Join author Darren Root, a veteran CPA, firm owner, and Founder of Better Everyday, as he breaks down the structured approach from his new book. Root, also the author of bestsellers like The Intentional Accountant and The E-Myth Accountant, details the four essential components of this freedom: time, money, relationships, and purpose. Learn his personal and practical insights on creating a clear business model that supports your ideal lifestyle and how to develop proactive roadmaps for advisory services. He emphasizes that moving away from a generalist mindset to choosing the right clients is the critical step to creating a lifestyle business that aligns with your desired work-life balance and future goals.

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Major career and life transformations are a necessary, messy process that teaches us how to emerge from the goo to become a butterfly. Optimistic futurist and serial entrepreneur Josh Allan Dykstra transparently shares his life story and career journey, detailing his path from his South Dakota upbringing and rockstar music aspirations to his eventual pivot into consulting and launching his technology company, #lovework. He discusses how a deep fascination with leadership, first observed in his family, guided his evolution when the music industry was not the right fit, offering valuable lessons on how to lead yourself through significant change. Josh reflects on the importance of timing, embodiment, and listening to his gut, key leadership principles that inform his career, all of which now guide his current focus on his family and future business endeavors as a keynote speaker and author.

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Entrepreneurial poverty continues to challenge business owners who work tirelessly yet struggle to find true financial stability and fulfillment. Mike Michalowicz, a business author known for Profit First, opens up about his personal and professional journey from growing up in New Jersey to becoming an entrepreneur and writer dedicated to improving the financial well-being of business owners. He shares lessons from building and selling multiple companies, his current work as a business investor, and his mission to help entrepreneurs overcome financial stress through his Profit First methodology and lifelong commitment to eradicating entrepreneurial poverty. His story reminds us that success isn’t just about revenue, but about creating a sustainable, purpose-driven path that frees entrepreneurs from the very struggles they set out to escape.

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Chris Gallo, Partner and Director of Business Accounting Services at Creative Planning, offers valuable career and leadership lessons that could help you find your own success. He shares his journey from political science to establishing a successful state and local tax consulting practice, including his experiences with various companies and the development of his business from the ground up. Chris talks about his company's growth strategies, leadership dynamics, and his approach to using technology and AI in their operations. We also explored the broader implications of AI on work and the economy, while also discussing his views on money, professional relationships, and the importance of mentoring the next generation.

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Culture built on joy, trust, and innovation can transform teams and drive lasting impact. Bob Doyle, President and CEO of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), shares his personal and professional journey, including his experience with family loss and his career transition from environmental engineering to association leadership. He discusses how these three pillars shape his organization’s approach to advocacy, collaboration, and education. Drawing on personal experiences of loss, career pivots, and leadership lessons, Bob explains how gratitude, intentional routines, and work-life integration strengthen both leaders and the communities they serve.

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Your job should make your life more fulfilling and purposeful, not more miserable and depressing. Finding genuine joy in your professional life is never impossible, and it should be one of your top career priorities. Joining Amy Vetter is author, leadership coach, and keynote speaker Lisa Even, who provides strategies for creating joy in daily life as takeaways to remember in your own life. She looks back on her background growing up in a small farming community, her transformative college experiences, and her career journey from healthcare to leadership training and speaking. Lisa also talks about the power of active listening, the gift of being present, and the right way to address historical baggage to unlock a new personal transformation.

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Sometimes it’s the smallest acts of compassion that create the strongest connections and shape entire communities. In this conversation, Alicia Gelinas, President and CEO of the Colorado Society of CPAs, shares her remarkable journey from a determined nine-year-old aspiring CPA to a respected leader guiding her profession today. Along the way, she reflects on the influence of her parents and mentors, the lessons of resilience from personal loss, and how fostering children with her husband deepened her commitment to empathy and patience in leadership. Alicia also offers valuable insights on money management, the role of professional organizations in personal and professional growth, and why embracing compassion can transform the way we connect and lead.

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AI in healthcare is transforming the way medicine is practiced, and few understand both its potential and its limits like Dr. Traci Granston. From the precision of competitive figure skating to the demanding world of orthopedic surgery, Dr. Granston has built her career on discipline, resilience, and reinvention. A trailblazer in a field once dominated almost entirely by men, she spent over two decades in private orthopedic practice before making a bold pivot into the world of medical technology. Now serving as SVP of Strategy at a high-growth startup, she leverages AI to streamline processes like prior authorizations—cutting delays and boosting efficiency—while championing the irreplaceable human touch in patient care. In this conversation, she shares her inspiring career journey, the realities female surgeons face, and how patients can take an active role in shaping their own health outcomes.

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What if true success isn’t about climbing higher—but about letting go? In this episode, Ariege Misherghi, SVP and GM of the AR, AP, and Account Channel at BILL, reflects on how humility, curiosity, and a willingness to quiet the ego have shaped her leadership journey. Raised by immigrant parents who instilled deep values around education and gratitude, Ariege shares how those early lessons continue to guide her today. We explore her career path through product management roles at PayCycle and Intuit, her leadership principles, her passion for gaming and technology, and her bold vision for transforming financial operations through agentic experiences. This conversation is a compelling reminder that success is as much about mindset as it is about metrics.

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Manifest what you love—and then build the path to get there. In this inspiring episode, Emma-Louise Parkes shares how she manifested a career she truly loves by working backward from her vision. From her early days as a flight attendant to the high-stakes world of air traffic control, Emma-Louise boldly transitioned into entrepreneurship with The Ambitious Introvert. She opens up about embracing career pivots, the importance of continuous feedback and professional growth, empowering strategies for introverts in high-energy environments, and the secret to building lasting confidence through consistent, aligned action. If you're ready to design a life and career on your own terms, this conversation is your blueprint.

No matter what happens in life, change will always be a part of it. But since it is a never-ending cycle, you just need to know where you currently are to get through it. Amy Vetter sits down with Janine McClintock, CEO of J9 Leading Solutions, who shares her life experiences and the many lessons she has learned about living with and navigating change. She talks about her career journey, from working in her family's bakery to establishing her own consulting practice. Janine highlights key experiences that shaped her entrepreneurial path and approach to work-life balance. She also discusses her approach to maintaining work-life boundaries while pursuing her professional goals, drawing on lessons learned from her entrepreneurial family

What if your biggest setbacks were actually the foundation for your greatest success? Barb Betts, a dynamic professional speaker based in Southern California, opens up about her remarkable journey from teenage motherhood to thriving careers in accounting and real estate. In this inspiring conversation, she shares how knowing her “why” helped her navigate life’s toughest challenges while staying grounded in both family and purpose. Barb offers powerful insights on turning setbacks into opportunities for growth, reminding us that self-discovery often begins where comfort ends.

Hunger is not always about eating food. At certain times, you will also experience spiritual, emotional, and mental hunger. How can you satiate these things, especially when they happen all at once? Amy Vetter explores the connection between hunger and harmony with Dr. Adrienne Youdim. She presents the right way to address your physical cravings and beyond by chemically impacting the centers of your brain connected with hunger. Dr. Adrienne also talks about the societal biases surrounding obesity and how people can be more compassionate when addressing such conditions.

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