Meet Christina Nowacki | Bookkeeper

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christina Nowacki and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christina, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Real talk – I needed to be putting away a lot more into my retirement account AND my mom had reached out to let me know my dad’s memory was failing and they were running out of money. Oof – that was a brutal beginning to 2015 right as I was turning 50. I’d been in financial accounting in the corporate space for 30 years so that is what I know. I had also been a volunteer bookkeeper for every sports league my youngest son had been in, so…why not get paid to do that? I knew there was a need after having talked to many entrepreneurs particularly in the online coaching space. Seemed like a natural fit and it sure has been!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My greatest challenge I had to overcome was the overwhelm of trying to do it all on my own as the business grew more rapidly than I had anticipated. Once I took my son’s advise and hired his friend, that inspired me to add a VA and then to really structure things so that I only took on new clients AFTER I had the team in place to manage the workload. Magic! That opened me up to being able to interact with clients more regularly and to expand my own expertise. I am super proud of how I’ve been able to grow into the service industry and coaching niche and create a firm that provides the services that meet their unique needs. Since they are without the complication of things like inventory or manufacturing, I can instead offer bill pay and invoicing/payment processing services which is huge for coaches. I also love being able to show creatives that money and reports are nothing to be scared of – I want them to become familiar and comfortable around seeing how the numbers tell the story of THEIR success. This coming year I am excited to offer more cash management and advisory services. My favorite part of every month is meeting with my clients to share their results and then to hear what their visions are. It provides me the information I need to set up the processes and reporting that will support those visions. My company was born out of a very basic need and then has grown organically into something so much more than I ever thought was possible. I want my clients to experience that wonder and sense of accomplishment too. To see their impact grow in their spaces.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I always start with a visit to the Torrey Pines Reserve hiking trails. Ideally we would hike in the morning and then drop down onto Carmel Valley road and have burritos and rolled tacos at Roberto’s. Perfect combination of our gorgeous beach views and authentic Mexican food. If it’s baseball season, then I also think a trip into the Gaslamp Quarter for a Padres game is another must. There are so many amazing restaurants there I cannot begin to pick one! The food in the ballpark itself is pretty special too. I’d also spend a day at Mission Beach/Bay/Belmont Park walking the boardwalk and bay trails and riding the old wooden roller coaster. Actually, rollerblading those sidewalks is even more fun! Depending again on the time of year I love to take people out on a hike to Potato Chip Rock. Those views are not to be missed! Concerts at Humphreys are also a favorite outing. There is just so much!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I give a huge amount of gratitude to my OG – the Original Client who was also my coach at the time: Kellee Rutley. Her encouragement when I came up with the idea to launch the business and then her trust in me when my certification was complete to jump in as my first client was a huge confidence booster. On top of that, she opened the doors of referrals within her coaching community that continue to roll in to this day. My family also didn’t blink an eye when I said “Hey, in addition to working full time, I think I’m going to start a business!” Instead they have all chipped in over the years in some capacity to fill in spaces so I could focus on the company and continually cheer me on. My youngest son even got me started on building a team when he suggested that I hire his former college roommate to help out. Now I have a team of 4 and I’m looking for a 5th and just like my clients, everyone on the team came in through a referral or is someone I already knew.

Website: https://clnbookkeepingservices.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinanowacki/