Listen to this: "Five Things: Dawn Howard On Ireland, Grief, And Political Transformation."

Hey, wait -- I know Dawn Howard. Now, go listen to the program, where she somehow made it through the entire 42 minutes without mentioning craft beer.

Five Things: Dawn Howard On Ireland, Grief, And Political Transformation, by Tara Anderson (WFPL)

(podcast) Episode 42: Dawn Howard on Political Transformations and Facing Fears

This week’s guest on Five Things is an accountant who’s finally figured out how to use her skills to support the things she believes in.

Let me explain — Dawn Howard has experienced a political transformation over the past few years. She describes herself as a former Republican who is now “super-left,” as she says, and she says that change started when she broke her ankle while living in Ireland. (Listen to the episode to learn how that makes sense together.)

She recently quit her job as a corporate tax professional to open her own consulting firm, and that led her to becoming a paid staffer for a political campaign: she’s now the finance director for Dan Canon’s Congressional run in Indiana’s 9th District.

Dawn is a friend of mine, and that’s why I knew she’d be great in this context — she’s unusually open about her challenges in life, and she talks about serious things in a really smart, funny way. I’m so glad to share her story here. Listen in the player above.

On why she chose accounting as a profession:
“I noticed that for some reason, accounting came to me way easier than it seemed to anybody else in the class. It still does — all the debits and the credits and all that stuff, it just clicks immediately, and it’s the easiest, most logical thing in the world to me. And so at that point, I was very much like, it’s not about what you want to do, it’s not about passion, I’m not going to be an astronaut, I’m not going to be an actress, I’m not going to save the world. This is a thing that’s going to get me a job, so I’m going to be an accounting major.”

On moving to Ireland by herself to work:
“I learned a ton about myself there. I was by myself for the first time there. I did a lot of walking on the beach by myself there, thinking about lots of stuff, most notably it’s where I became the liberal that I am today.”

On speaking about her own struggles with mental illness without stigma:
“I’d been for a very long time a person that was all talk and very little action in this area. Telling people that, you know, there’s no shame in getting therapy, go get therapy. There’s no shame in taking meds, go take meds. Mental illness is like any other illness, and we should treat it that way — all the while not going to therapy, not taking any meds, thinking that if I was less lazy, if I would exercise, if I would have my life together a little more, that everything would be better. But eventually, I finally stuck in with a therapist for a while, got a diagnosis, went through all the processes of the trial-and-error of the meds. And there is no one answer, but it is an answer."

Meet JDawn Consulting and read this refreshing take: "Reach out if you’re ready to be a Reformed Screw-up Client."

In our frequent blog (and barroom) discussions about the considerable merits of economic localism -- of small, independently owned local businesses -- the focus tends to be on taverns, restaurants and retail.

There's nothing wrong with that, but when we point to those excellent charts documenting the local multiplier effect, this being the abundant evidence that local businesses keep more money in the community where they operate than chains and big boxes, it's easy to neglect the implications of the wider "ecosystem."

In short, to keep money in the community there must be other local businesses performing needed functions and services. These come in a variety of packages, and we're always looking for the best fit.

This is why I'm delighted to introduce you to Dawn Howard, a CPA with whom I became acquainted during my previous tenure in the local beer cosmos. Dawn has started her own business, JDawn Consulting:

"Tax preparation, bookkeeping services (via Xero or your existing system), consulting and coaching on the establishment of financial processes and controls."

I appreciate Dawn's open and honest approach, as outlined in this blog post. Speaking as someone whose (tax and finance) shit seldom has been held together for any sustained length of time, she's ready and eager to help you get yours organized -- something small business persons among others often desperately need.

IN PRAISE OF THE SCREW-UP CLIENT, by Dawn Howard (JDawn Consulting)

[Note: I’ve not yet found a gender-neutral pronoun that sounds elegant to my ears so please forgive the antiquated “he” throughout.]

I’ll tell you a little secret about what I do. Tax work when the client comes in with his records in pristine condition and just needs me to translate that to a return isn’t that fun. Bookkeeping work when the client does everything right and just needs me to take a look and bless it isn’t that fun.

Now that I read that, it probably isn’t all that much of a secret, huh? Don’t get me wrong, I still like that work because the CLIENTS are fun. But what I want to talk about today is what is to me a very underappreciated part of CPA life: The Screw-up Client.

For richer background, Dawn explains why she jettisoned the corporate life.

In early 2017, I said goodbye to that life for many reasons. I had a great career, but wasn't inspired by what I was doing. The political landscape was such that I longed to be publicly active in a way my employers might not appreciate. Heck, I just wanted to do some non-corporate things like color my hair purple and pierce my nose. I couldn't be my authentic self in day-to-day life and that was no longer acceptable to me.

So this is JDawn Consulting. Yes, it's quite a pay cut. But every day I get to talk to interesting people. Better still, I get to help those people out of common (and uncommon) tax, accounting, and other financial problems.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm not a client of Dawn's. It's just that I know her skills are considerable, and I'm equally certain there are more than a few readers who might benefit from having a conversation with her.

Because: That occasional laugh is very, very important.