CPA, CEO + Founder | LedgerGurus, American Fork
Brittany Brown never could have accounted for the way her journey would unfold. In 2005, she went through a divorce, had three young children at home, and was faced with the challenge of pivoting from being a stay-at-home mom to buckling into a career. She worked unbelievably hard at BYU and accepted a position at Squire until she realized … accounting could be done at home. On top of this, Brittany had a strong desire to help other moms balance meaningful work while also taking care of their families. Nervous to jump from employee to entrepreneur, she took the leap. LedgerGurus is now celebrating 10 years in the balance sheet business.
SHOULDERING THE LOAD
“As the face of the company, I attend and speak at a lot of conferences, and then internally I meet with team members and clients. I try to protect time each week for ‘creating’ time — uninterrupted time to build out something new. I have tried much harder in recent years to spend time on my business instead of in my business, and it’s made a big difference.
“I have five children and one daughter-in-law. I am also active in our church group and help with the youth within that community. Starting in January, I will also be teaching an accounting class at UVU as part of an initiative to create a CAS education track at UVU, the first of its kind.”
A STEP AT A TIME
“All along the way, I have been a reluctant entrepreneur. I really just wanted to go back to my life of being a mom and wife, and not worry about these kinds of things. Every time I have tried to step back (like trying to bring in a partner to take over my role several years ago), something has happened to remind me that I’m the right person for the job and I’m in the right place. I have had to level up from not having any job experience to fall back on, to leading an organization that grows more and more every day. It continues to be overwhelming but pushes me to level up and grow as a professional.”
BRAINSTORM
“In 2011, I had remarried, had a baby and was hoping to return to the life of a full-time mom. But I felt this compelling desire to build for others what had never been there for me — the ability to work remotely while meeting the needs of my family and
my profession.
“I stewed on the idea for months. My husband encouraged me to pursue it, but I was nervous to make the jump from employee to entrepreneur. Then, someone reached out and asked if I would do some freelance accounting, and a friend approached me and asked if I knew of any remote accounting jobs. I suddenly had a first employee and a client. I felt like I had found my calling in life, and I knew I needed to start my own firm.”
GIVE HER A HAND
“I am most proud of the leaders we have created within our organization. I heard a quote once that said, ‘You aren’t a leader until you have produced a leader who can produce another leader.’ I am most proud of the impact we have had on the careers of people who work for us and the leaders who have created leaders.”