Big changes rarely happen all at once. And when fear has been making our decisions for a long time, even the first small step can feel enormous. Nancy and Questian bring listeners two conversations from the Theater of Public Speaking “Curtain Call” retreat, recorded by Nancy with women whose stories start in different places and arrive at the same realization. Katie Helle spent seven years staring at the same spreadsheet before burnout finally pushed her to leave a stable CPA role and start her own firm; Mariana Alvarez spent years rebuilding her sense of self after heartbreaking domestic abuse, learning that forgiveness — of the people who hurt her and of herself — couldn't be rushed. Both chose to move forward while still scared, and discovered that you don’t need to see the whole path to begin walking it. ResourcesKatie Helle on LinkedIn - M Katie Helle, CPA | LinkedIn Source for Job Change stats cited - Resume Now. (2025). 2025 Career Gridlock ReportMariana Alvarez on LinkedIn - Mariana Alvarez | LinkedIn Theatre of Public Speaking - https://publicspeaking.mistymegia.com/?ref=857055 SPONSORS: [Bill, Relay, Karbon]  Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcast Subscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcast Follow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/ Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpa Connect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/

Nancy and Questian compare notes on their two very different sessions from Scaling New Heights that turned out to have more in common than expected, leading to insightful lessons about leadership. Nancy's panel on Vulnerability as a Strength started with a deliberately invasive survey she gives accomplished leaders, designed to surface what they never say out-loud; Questian's session on Change Management with Ashley Rhoden dug into leading clients and teams through change. Talking it through afterwards, they realized both sessions kept circling back to the same two ingredients that impact our ability to lead — self-awareness, and the ability to recognize what someone else is carrying. They close with the question Nancy asked her own audience: who actually knows what you're carrying, and whose load could you help lighten? ResourcesThe OG Vulnerability as a Strength Panel at Bridging the Gap 2024 - https://youtu.be/gY6b5RYSbrw?si=Mz0jyz4uWxRo1J_ZAnna Dynia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-dynia-cpa-483838/Al-Nesha Jones - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alneshajones/Nayo Carter-Gray - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nayocartergray/Hector Garcia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hectormgarciacpa/Dawn Brolin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbrolin/Randy Crabtree - https://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-crabtree-cpa-1945a67/Tony Proctor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyproctor/Brittany Brown - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-brown-b8324812/Ashley Rhoden - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyrhodenmba/Twyla Verhelst - https://www.linkedin.com/in/twylav/Shirley Koss - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirleykoss/Liz Farr - https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-farr-5165244a/Terrell Turner - https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrellturner/Nicole Davis - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoledaviscpa/The Disruptors Podcast - https://cpatrendlines.com/category/the-disruptors/NATP Taxposium - https://taxposium.natptax.com/homeScaling New Heights - https://www.woodard.com/scaling-new-heights-2027-aboutBridging the Gap - https://www.btgconference.com/REFRAME - https://reframeaccounting.com/ SPONSORS: [BIll, Relay, Karbon]  Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcast Subscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcast Follow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/ Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpa Connect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/

Live from Wave Seattle, Nancy and Questian are joined by conference founder Erin Pohan to put the audience's own definitions of success on trial. Nancy explains why she'd rather work in her business than scale it, even after a vendor once told her she was leaving money on the table; Questian describes firing almost every client to become a firm of one built entirely around nonprofit CFO work. It's a room full of women in accounting answering the same question out loud: what definition of success have you personally outgrown? ResourcesErin Pohan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinpohanNicole Davis - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoledaviscpaLynnette Oss-Connell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnette-oss-connell/Corry Jankowski - https://www.linkedin.com/in/corry-jankowski/Alicia Katz Pollock - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciakatzpollockJeanne Hardy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannehardy/Jennifer Dymond - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenndymond/Roman Villard - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rdvcpa/Melissa Miller Ferguson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissamillerfurgeson/Kim Kelleher - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimkelleher/Brittany Brown - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-brown-b8324812/Hope Brown - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hope-brown-msa-afsp-463a44239/Aneisha Velasquez - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aneisha-v/Madeleine Reeves - https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelinekreeves/Katie Helle - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkatiehelle/Andrea McDonald - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-macdonald-cpa-4704042b/Tori McKee - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tori-staub-mckee-b1872427/Sharrin Fuller - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharrinfuller/Nayo Carter-Gray - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nayocartergray/ WAVE-Seattle (Women in Accounting & Finance Visionaries and Entrepreneurs) - https://cec4-erin.systeme.io/0cc9badd Upkeeping (Erin Pohan's firm) - https://www.upkeeping.co/ Ask a CPA community discount code: ACS30 - https://aska.cpa/ Counter community - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/logangraf_in-case-you-didnt-know-i-run-a-community-activity-7475204470356766720-6g4A/ Bridging the Gap Conference discount code: BTGloyaltyattendees2026 - https://www.btgconference.com/ Accounting Cornerstone Foundation - https://accountingcornerstone.org/ Theater of Public Speaking - https://publicspeaking.mistymegia.com/?ref=857055 Scaling New Heights - https://www.woodard.com/scaling-new-heights-2027-about Advisory Amplified discount code: Nancy-roadie - https://www.advisoryamplified.com/ Jason on Firms - https://www.jasononfirms.com/ Unofficial QuickBooks Accountant Podcast - https://uqb.show/ SPONSORS: [Bill, Relay, Karbon]  Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcast Subscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcast Follow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/ Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpa Connect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/

We all have moments that ask more of us than we think we're capable of giving: the difficult client conversation, the boundary that needs to be set, the meeting where it's time to speak up. It happened to Cassie Divine, too. In two decades leading at Intuit, she discovered that authority isn't something you earn once you feel ready. It's something you access when the moment demands it. Most career advice tells women to become more confident, more assertive, or more strategic. But what if you don't need to become someone new at all? Cassie joins Nancy and Questian to explore the idea of an alter ego—not as a fake persona, but as a way to access the version of yourself that's already proven she can do hard things. From the sixth-grade story that gave birth to "Trashy Cassie" to the executive conversations that later demanded her, they unpack why authority is a behavior, not a personality, and how to stop waiting until you feel ready. ResourcesCassie Divine | LinkedInAbout — Cassie DivineCareer | Cassie Divine | Substack  SPONSORS: [Bill, Relay, Karbon]  Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcast Subscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcast Follow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/ Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpa Connect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/questian-telka-ea-78383666 Earn CPE for Listening to This Podcasthttps://www.earmark.app/ This podcast is a production of Earmark Media

The need for “executive presence” is the vague phrase that shows up in performance reviews as the reason women don't get the promotion – even though almost no one can define it. Lindsay Patterson, co-founder and CEO of CPA QualityPro, joins Nancy and Questian to strip it down to something simpler and more meaningful: instilling confidence in others that you're the right person for the job. They dig into the double-standard that turns an assertive woman into "aggressive"; what to do when office culture rewards the loudest jerk in the room; and why walking away from a toxic culture is never failure. Show notes: •   Guest on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/lindsaypatterson •   CPA QualityPro – cpaqualitypro.com •   The Accounting Podcast – “Solving for CPA Mobility with Lindsay Patterson” – accounting.show/472 •   Amy Cuddy TED Talk – “Your body language may shape who you are” – ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy •   Sylvia Ann Hewlett – Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success •   Earmark CPE – earmark.app  SPONSORS: [Bill, Relay, Karbon] Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcast Subscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcast Follow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/ Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpa Connect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/