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Speaker 1: Ruby.

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Speaker 2: The views, information, and opinions expressed during this podcast are

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Speaker 2: solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent

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Speaker 2: those of Into It QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone

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Speaker 2: brands or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal,

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Speaker 2: or other professional advice or services. No assurance is given

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Speaker 2: that the information is comprehensive, accurate, or free of errors,

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Speaker 2: and the information presented is for information purposes only. Into

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Speaker 2: It QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or

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Speaker 2: revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying

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Speaker 2: on them. Hey, everyone, welcome back to another episode of

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Speaker 2: Mind the Business Small Business success Stories, a podcast brought

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Speaker 2: to you by Into It QuickBooks and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia.

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Speaker 2: I'm Janise Torres.

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Speaker 1: And I'm Austin Hankwitz and this episode, we're talking to

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Speaker 1: another awesome small business owner here in Tampa, Florida, and

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Speaker 1: I can't wait to dig in.

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Speaker 2: It has been so much fun getting to know my

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Speaker 2: local small businesses and this episod eisode is no exception.

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Speaker 2: We've got a very exciting topic to discuss today. We'll

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Speaker 2: be talking to an incredible small business owner about something

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Speaker 2: that Benjamin Franklin would call one of the only two

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Speaker 2: things we can be certain about in this world.

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Speaker 1: Well, Denis, if we were talking about death, that would

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Speaker 1: be a very different podcast. So I'm assuming we'll be

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Speaker 1: talking about taxes.

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Speaker 2: Correct taxes, but not your everyday taxes. We're talking about

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Speaker 2: how to manage and file your taxes as a small

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Speaker 2: business owner as part two of our small Business Starter

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Speaker 2: Kit miniseries. This episode, we're focusing on everything you need

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Speaker 2: to know about understanding your taxes as a newly formed

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Speaker 2: small business. It is not an easy subject to tackle,

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Speaker 2: but it is a necessary one. Every small business owner

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Speaker 2: has to be on top of it.

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Speaker 1: And that's what's so great about into it QuickBooks. You

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Speaker 1: have access to live tax experts on the platform who

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Speaker 1: can help you organize your filings, maximize your deductions, and

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Speaker 1: answer any questions you have about your taxes. But Denis,

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Speaker 1: I'm curious to hear about some of the biggest lessons

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Speaker 1: you've learned about filing taxes for your business.

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Speaker 2: I would say it's definitely don't bury your head in

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Speaker 2: the sand, Okay, your taxes are not going to magically

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Speaker 2: go away just because you decide not to acknowledge that

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Speaker 2: they are due, and it's something that you have to

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Speaker 2: be diligent with. A great example for me is like

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Speaker 2: I didn't even know about estimated taxes when I started

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Speaker 2: as a small business owner, so I would get a

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Speaker 2: nice big tax bill at the end of the year

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Speaker 2: until I realized, oh, I actually have to be proactive

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Speaker 2: about this and plan this out.

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Speaker 3: So it's been quite the learning lesson, Austin, I'm right

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Speaker 3: there with you.

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Speaker 1: I think one of my biggest lessons is there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of people out there that say you should have

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Speaker 1: a zero dollar tax bill at the end of the year, right,

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Speaker 1: And in my humble opinion, the only way that happens

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Speaker 1: as a small business owner is if one you're not

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Speaker 1: making any profit, which I don't know about, Eugenie, but

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Speaker 1: I'm in business to make some profit. And then two

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Speaker 1: if you are spending money and doing crazy deductions and

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Speaker 1: amateurization all these like crazy tax strategies. Don't get me wrong,

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Speaker 1: people do that in a very great way. But in

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Speaker 1: my experience, my biggest lesson throughout the last five years

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Speaker 1: of filing taxes as a small business owner is it's

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Speaker 1: okay to pay taxes because that means you made a profit. Right,

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Speaker 1: And the money that's in your bank account after you

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Speaker 1: pay those taxes is money you can do whatever you

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Speaker 1: want with. And in my situation, I like to invest it,

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Speaker 1: I like to spend it, and I like to enjoy it.

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Speaker 1: So that's why we're in business for ourselves, right, so

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Speaker 1: we can make money, pay some taxes on it, and

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Speaker 1: then enjoy the fruits of our labor.

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Speaker 2: That's a really good point, Austin. I recently bought a

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Speaker 2: home as a self employed person, and so just understanding

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Speaker 2: that those numbers matter. Right, If you're showing no profits

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Speaker 2: on your tax returns, good luck getting mortgage. So it's

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Speaker 2: not just about writing everything off and making sure you

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Speaker 2: don't have any liability. You want to make sure that

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Speaker 2: your numbers tell a story because that could directly affect

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Speaker 2: the goals that you're able to.

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Speaker 1: Hit one hundred percent, if it's getting a mortgage, getting

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Speaker 1: business funding, or anything in between. I'm right there with

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Speaker 1: you on that note. Let's introduce our small business guests

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Speaker 1: for this episode.

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Speaker 3: Let's do it.

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Speaker 2: Isabella Roussel is a proud Filipino American, a Navy veteran, spouse,

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Speaker 2: and a mother of two. She's been an entrepreneur her

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Speaker 2: whole life, selling candy off the back of her skateboard

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Speaker 2: as a kid and running an unofficial uniform patch sewing

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Speaker 2: business for members of the Armed Services while her husband

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Speaker 2: was stationed overseas. Shortly after her husband left the military,

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Speaker 2: they moved to Florida, where Isabella worked for a financial

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Speaker 2: services firm before branching out into another small business journey,

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Speaker 2: a teahouse and wholesale tea shop called Tea Bowls and Desserts.

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Speaker 2: The shop was a success, and she eventually sold it.

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Speaker 2: After selling her tea business, Isabella was on the lookout

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Speaker 2: for her next business venture. Her mother, a master distiller

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Speaker 2: in the Philippines, mentioned to her over the phone that

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Speaker 2: they were making a new brand of rum, and Isabella's

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Speaker 2: first thought was that she was going to be the

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Speaker 2: one to bring it to the United States. So she

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Speaker 2: filed the necessary paperwork for an alcohol importer business, and

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Speaker 2: Seventh Sky Ventures was born. The business is now boutique

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Speaker 2: licensed importer and exporter of beer, wine, and spirits. Isabella

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Speaker 2: champions the ideas of economic empowerment, civic responsibility, and sustainability

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Speaker 2: in business and life. In twenty twenty two, she became

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Speaker 2: the youngest woman in America to achieve the Certified Ramelier status.

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Speaker 2: Shortly after that, she became the first woman and the

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Speaker 2: first Filipina Master Ramelier, the highest professional designation in the

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Speaker 2: rum industry. Isabella, Welcome to the show. So excited to

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Speaker 2: be here in the offices of Seven Sky Ventures right

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Speaker 2: here in downtown Tampa. Thank you for coming and we're

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Speaker 2: glad to have you guys. So let's start off with

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Speaker 2: the name Seventh Sky. That's such a cool name. How

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Speaker 2: did you come up with that?

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Speaker 4: Well, seventh Sky came from my kids. So I got

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Speaker 4: two kids and both of them were July, so it's

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Speaker 4: like seven to seven, all right. But the deeper layer

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Speaker 4: to that is our second child. He has actually a twin,

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Speaker 4: but he didn't make it, so that where that's where

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Speaker 4: the sky came from. So it's July in the sky.

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Speaker 4: And in fact I named him Alfred Sky. So that

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Speaker 4: kind of like gives me a whole deeper meaning of like.

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Speaker 3: Listen, I can't give up on this. This is the baby.

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Speaker 2: It's a starting the legacy right from the beginning. Yes, yes,

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Speaker 2: that's incredible. So this whole venture into the alcohol industry

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Speaker 2: is not a fluke. I would say you have a

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Speaker 2: whole family connection to this, Can you tell us about that?

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Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am, And definitely not a whim that I can

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Speaker 4: tell you. I'm a sugar baby. I was born and

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Speaker 4: raised in a sugarcane farm in a distillery in the Philippines.

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Speaker 4: And I mean that distillery has been around four decades,

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Speaker 4: but my mom is still out there.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 4: She came out of retirement probably six seven times. And again,

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Speaker 4: if it's in your blood, it's in your blood. And

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Speaker 4: one day she told me they're finally going to create

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Speaker 4: a bottle, own bottle of the rum that distillery is making.

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Speaker 4: And in my head, I'm like, oh, man, you know

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Speaker 4: who's the best person to tell the story of this bottle? Like,

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Speaker 4: of course it's me. I was born and raised in

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Speaker 4: this form. This was my whole childhood, my whole life.

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Speaker 4: I don't have to bring out or hire a marketing

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Speaker 4: person to write my spiels.

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Speaker 3: I already know this is me. This is my childhood.

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Speaker 4: So that's part the whole idea of the import and

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Speaker 4: export thinking that I can actually bring that bottle over

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Speaker 4: here and expand them in the US market.

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Speaker 2: That's amazing. I love the fact that you have a

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Speaker 2: connection to the rum industry being from the Philippines. My

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Speaker 2: family's from Puerto Rico. We're famous for that too, So

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Speaker 2: it's like, even though we're from different parts of the world,

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Speaker 2: there's so much commonality, which is really cool.

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Speaker 1: You are certainly no stranger to entrepreneurship. Can you tell

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Speaker 1: us more about the first time you went into business

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Speaker 1: for yourself and how those businesses have evolved over time.

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Speaker 4: My first self project in the US was when we

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Speaker 4: were deployed in Italy.

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Speaker 3: We were living there for three years.

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Speaker 4: We lived on base and there's definitely not many Americans

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Speaker 4: speaking vendors or services.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 4: I told my husband, I was bored out of my mind.

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Speaker 4: I can't find the work over here. It's just not

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Speaker 4: working out. What am I gonna do? And he's like, well,

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Speaker 4: you do what you do, I'll support you. I started thinking,

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Speaker 4: I'm like, in the military, you get ranking up almost

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Speaker 4: every quarter, if not every quarter, and they got to

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Speaker 4: change all these patches in their uniforms. We're talking about

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Speaker 4: at least five patches in each of your uniform okay,

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Speaker 4: from all the arrows and the hats. I'm like, you

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Speaker 4: know what, let me do that five dollars per patch

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Speaker 4: is apparently the going rate over there. So this one

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Speaker 4: was like I just posted it in the military spouse community,

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Speaker 4: you know, and in that group, and I'm like, hey,

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Speaker 4: I'm doing patch changing and They're like, oh, okay, let

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Speaker 4: me go with you, lo and behold man, I was

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Speaker 4: making cash, like just imagine, one uniform is twenty bucks,

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Speaker 4: to the point where my husband's like, yo, it's seven o'clock,

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Speaker 4: why are they still ringing the door? But I was like,

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Speaker 4: you gotta forgive them. They just got out of work,

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Speaker 4: like there's no way for them to bring their uniforms.

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Speaker 4: And that service expanded to the wives because of the

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Speaker 4: Chief Ball the Gallas, and they would have dresses delivered

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Speaker 4: from the US. The moment it went to Italy, it's

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Speaker 4: two weeks after they gained a little weight or they

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Speaker 4: lost more weight, like.

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Speaker 3: Can you let this in? Can you take it out?

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Speaker 3: Can you put a button over here?

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Speaker 4: Can you sue this little And I was registered on

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Speaker 4: base with the legal office and it was called Mississpia

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Speaker 4: by Isabella.

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Speaker 3: That's so cool.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you have it in your blood, that's what it

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Speaker 2: sounds like. You have entrepreneurship in your blood. This was

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Speaker 2: your destiny, yep, I can't run away from it.

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Speaker 1: And then after that, you of course opened Drone t shop.

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Speaker 1: Here in the States, we.

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Speaker 3: Came up with a tea shop.

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Speaker 4: It's called Teebows and Desserts, right after my husband got

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Speaker 4: out of the military, and at that time, this was

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Speaker 4: around twenty sixteen twenty seventeen, and we love.

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Speaker 3: Milt Teese and Bobas. Nobody in the.

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Speaker 4: Area was doing you brew as you order, no using

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Speaker 4: of powders. We're actually using real milk. We're making bulbus

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Speaker 4: on the spot. So that kind of like sparked the

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Speaker 4: whole idea, and then it came to the transition point

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Speaker 4: of me. You know, man, I don't think really corporate

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Speaker 4: world is not for me, and that timing just came

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Speaker 4: together and we actually want best tea with best of

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Speaker 4: Tampa Bay and we beat our biggest competitor at that

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Speaker 4: point in our first year.

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Speaker 3: Wow.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's amazing. Entrepreneurship is such a fun discovery process

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Speaker 2: of just figuring out, like, what are those things I'm

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Speaker 2: curious about, and then how do I make money?

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Speaker 3: Join us? And we sold right before COVID. That's probably

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Speaker 3: a good move.

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Speaker 4: I can imagine crazily enough. From that experience is when

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Speaker 4: I learned that whenever you start a business, you also

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Speaker 4: want to start your exit strategy, even if you're not

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Speaker 4: trying to exit. I'm like, this is how you sell

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Speaker 4: a business. You sell it like a handbook. Here's what

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Speaker 4: you're buying from me, here's your color scheme. It's franchise ready.

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Speaker 1: So you actually have a lot of experience with taxes

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Speaker 1: before you got into your entrepreneurial journey. So can you

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Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about your career in the

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Speaker 1: financial sector.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Sure.

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Speaker 4: Right after I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in

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Speaker 4: a trial science in the Philippines, I started working with

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Speaker 4: JP Morgan Chase and the Philippines servicing the US, and

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Speaker 4: then I married my husband military you know how that's

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Speaker 4: going to go.

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Speaker 3: You get to move around and whatnot.

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Speaker 4: And then at the end of the tour where we

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Speaker 4: were like, okay, where are we going to move, we

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Speaker 4: moved to Tampa and luckily, lo and behold, I started

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Speaker 4: working for PWUC here in Tampa.

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Speaker 3: Pricewaterhouse Cooper's first.

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Speaker 4: Project was handling employee tax credits, and then I got

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Speaker 4: moved to a different project and ended my career there handling.

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Speaker 2: Stayed in local taxes and corporate taxes. You know, one

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Speaker 2: of the funny things that I've heard from a lot

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Speaker 2: of folks who've gone from finance to entrepreneurship is how

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Speaker 2: unprepared they felt when it comes to managing their finances,

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Speaker 2: because when you're doing corporate taxes, you're not necessarily having

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Speaker 2: the same experience you can translate, especially from a personal

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Speaker 2: finance perspective to your business. So can you tell me

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Speaker 2: where you identified some gaps in your financial knowledge once

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Speaker 2: you decided to go your own way?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, so you start thinking about your longer term of

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Speaker 4: now you're personal, Right, what's your household income? How do

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Speaker 4: you take advantage of your household income? And truly, they

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Speaker 4: don't really teach you that much, even in school and

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Speaker 4: in the office. Right, even if I was preparing, I

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Speaker 4: don't know hundreds of tax documents every year. It doesn't

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Speaker 4: dawn on me to lie, Okay, this is how I

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Speaker 4: should do it in my own until I was actually

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Speaker 4: the one in the business figuring out, Okay, how should

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Speaker 4: I file it? What kind of corporation should I do it?

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Speaker 4: What kind of entity should I do it?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, most of the time we kind of have to

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Speaker 2: learn by the school of hard knocks, right. I can

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Speaker 2: imagine that in a very highly regulated industry like the

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Speaker 2: alcohol industry, it's even more important for you to have

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Speaker 2: your paperwork together. What tools are you using to make

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Speaker 2: sure that your books are clean and that you have

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Speaker 2: all the information that you need?

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Speaker 4: Yes, for sure, and definitely I've been using into it

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Speaker 4: for quite some time for my other ventures as well.

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Speaker 4: I've been using it and maintaining the books, not just

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Speaker 4: for financing books, but we had a lot of books

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Speaker 4: to maintain from inventory, the movement of in and out

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Speaker 4: of your stocks. I mean, that's what the state looks for.

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Speaker 4: In fact, I just had two inspections last week and

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Speaker 4: one was yesterday. They inspect every single license that we

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Speaker 4: have on the alcohol industry. Every alcohol beverage percentage you

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Speaker 4: see in that bottle is equal to a different tax value.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 3: Yes, Oh my gosh.

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Speaker 2: That sounds such a daunting thing to be able to

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Speaker 2: maintain track of, you know, I can imagine that takes

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Speaker 2: a big burden off of you, just knowing that all

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Speaker 2: those systems are kind of working in the background and

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Speaker 2: you don't have to be manually tracking this stuff.

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Speaker 1: Yes, ma'am, you have had white the journey going from

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Speaker 1: industry to industry. How does tax season look different today

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Speaker 1: than it did when you worked back then?

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Speaker 4: No overtimes, that's one. I don't have to be going

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Speaker 4: crazy for work for overtime. We had established, at least

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Speaker 4: in my household a timeline. We already started figuring out

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Speaker 4: all the books, so apart from Seven Sky Ventures, I

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Speaker 4: also have a different entity from there, separate least, so

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Speaker 4: I should be able to manage all of these things

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Speaker 4: in come January. Second week of January, you know when

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Speaker 4: paperwork from a third party comes through. I'm ready for

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Speaker 4: my accountant before February first. And I've never had to

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Speaker 4: filate ever. Almost ten years that we've been in here,

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Speaker 4: doing business or without business, we've never had to filate.

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Speaker 1: That's amazing. So it seems like there's a lot more

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Speaker 1: predictability with what you're doing now, and there's a lot

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Speaker 1: more structure in the processes that you've put in place.

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Speaker 1: You've gone from running sort of this tea shop and

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Speaker 1: now you're doing the Seven Sky Ventures. What are some

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Speaker 1: of the biggest surprises that you've experienced today that maybe

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Speaker 1: just we're not happening back then.

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Speaker 4: The biggest surprise is to me, I'm like, how am

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Speaker 4: I able to generate this much with not having fifteen

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Speaker 4: people in the payroll?

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Speaker 3: That's one because you know how it is with the storefront.

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Speaker 4: If you have five full time people, you got to

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Speaker 4: have seven more in the back end for a part

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Speaker 4: time if you don't want to be working yourself at

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Speaker 4: the front.

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Speaker 3: That's just how it's going to go.

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Speaker 4: But in my industry, I started as an importer, an exporter,

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Speaker 4: not even with a distribution. That service alone is not

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Speaker 4: forcing me to have fifteen ten five people on a

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Speaker 4: full time basis and we still get the same amount

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Speaker 4: of revenue at the same time. Again, it just depends

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Speaker 4: on how many clients you got, but the effort, there's

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Speaker 4: more juice that's coming out versus me being in a

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Speaker 4: store working sixty hour weeks.

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Speaker 3: So that's definitely a big difference.

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Speaker 1: And what about the biggest similarities.

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Speaker 3: If a client.

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Speaker 4: Loves you or a customer loves you is always the

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Speaker 4: five star. But if they will hate you, they will

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Speaker 4: just hate you everywhere Google, I don't know, yell you

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Speaker 4: know how those feedback will go right and it will

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Speaker 4: sting you. So to me, it's like a small client

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Speaker 4: or big client, small business, big business, small brand, big brands.

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Speaker 4: Every business problem is always the same. That's definitely a

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Speaker 4: similar problem, and that's one of the biggest reasons why

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Speaker 4: I added a distribution channel.

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Speaker 3: I thought, I'm not, you know, going to see.

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Speaker 4: This problem anymore, But it's it's the same problem, different version.

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Speaker 2: Coming up on Mine the business small business success stories.

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Speaker 4: If that worksheet folder has been organized from the beginning,

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Speaker 4: there should be no reason for you to.

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Speaker 3: Worry about if you get audited. The best preparation really

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Speaker 3: is to be able to.

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Speaker 4: File your current tax years properly, so you don't have

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Speaker 4: to worry about what's coming or what has been passed.

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Speaker 2: We'll be right back. Welcome back to Mind the Business.

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Speaker 1: There seems to be so many more layers to what

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Speaker 1: you're doing today is from a tax perspective than what

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Speaker 1: you were doing before. Who taught you those layers? Were

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Speaker 1: you sitting down with accountants and CPAs and learning from them?

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Speaker 1: How did you become so articulate in this industry's tax landscape.

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Speaker 4: It just stemmed out from what I had learned in general,

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Speaker 4: lots of studying, self thought, and a combination of me

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Speaker 4: asking the right people like going straight to the state,

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Speaker 4: you know, going straight to the source of truth.

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Speaker 3: How is this done? Is this the right way to

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Speaker 3: do it? Can I do this? Can I do that?

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Speaker 4: I'm not risking, you know, the question to a third

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Speaker 4: party that may or may not tell me the right

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Speaker 4: thing based on their experience.

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Speaker 3: You'll never know that.

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Speaker 4: So I just go straight to the source, and if

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Speaker 4: they tell me this is how you're going to do it,

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Speaker 4: they give me links on what I should be reading

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Speaker 4: on a Florida statutes.

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Speaker 3: It's crazy. You can become a lawyer overnight.

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Speaker 1: I love that answer.

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Speaker 2: I love that you mentioned reaching out to the source

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Speaker 2: of truth right of like not being afraid of the

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Speaker 2: government entities because they are literally there to help you

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Speaker 2: be successful as an entrepreneur. I had to do that too.

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Speaker 2: When I was starting my business here in Florida. I

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Speaker 2: got to notice that I had to file sales tax

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Speaker 2: and I was like what. So I called them up

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Speaker 2: and they're like, wait a minute, what do you do?

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Speaker 2: And I was like, I sell online education programs. And

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Speaker 2: then they were like, you don't need to file sales tax.

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Speaker 2: So I could have just been going through the motions

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Speaker 2: of being anxious or preparing for stuff that wasn't even

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Speaker 2: necessary just by not asking the question. So I think

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Speaker 2: it's a good reminder when in doubt reach out. Okay,

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Speaker 2: so navigating state level taxes is one thing, but you

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Speaker 2: also have to deal with the lovely folks the federal government.

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Speaker 2: So what are your strategies for making sure that you're

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Speaker 2: handling both and that you have the information that you

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Speaker 2: need to make sure you're on time for both of those?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so definitely one.

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Speaker 4: Making sure that timeline is pasted anywhere that you know

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Speaker 4: it's going to stick to you, whether it's in your

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Speaker 4: fridge or in your phone. I don't care as long

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Speaker 4: as we know these are the go dates, like and

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Speaker 4: go dates meaning we're not just talking about the actual

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Speaker 4: deadline right, go dates meaning I need this part of

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Speaker 4: the thing today, I need this part of the thing

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Speaker 4: in two weeks, and we got to stick to it.

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Speaker 4: A dan Forday, A lot of people do processes, but

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Speaker 4: the problem becomes how do you implement, do you follow?

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Speaker 3: Do you stick to it?

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Speaker 4: So far, if that system is not broken, it's been

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Speaker 4: working for me and for my family for the past

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Speaker 4: I don't know ten years. It will stay that way.

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Speaker 4: But following the process is key for me.

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Speaker 1: Is there anything that you do proactively as a business

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Speaker 1: owner to just be prepared for a federal audit in

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Speaker 1: the event that one does happen, Yes, for sure.

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Speaker 4: And it's about the similar way that you know organizing

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Speaker 4: a folders right because at the end of the day,

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Speaker 4: if you had submitted your annual tax for example, twenty

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Speaker 4: twenty taxes, if that worksheet folder has been organized from

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Speaker 4: the beginning, there should be no reason for you to

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Speaker 4: worry about if you get audited. Right, maybe if it's

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Speaker 4: already a couple of years back. All you need to

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Speaker 4: prepare for is make sure you know.

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Speaker 3: Where you kept it.

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Speaker 4: That's the biggest problem I have with my husband, like

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Speaker 4: where's my twenty twenty two taxes? Like yo, I gave

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Speaker 4: you copies of everything, links to everything. So the best

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Speaker 4: preparation really is to be able to file your current

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Speaker 4: tax years properly so you don't have to worry about

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Speaker 4: what's coming or what has been passed.

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Speaker 2: So taxes can obviously vary in complexity based on the

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Speaker 2: industry you're in, the state that you're operating in, but

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Speaker 2: there are also benefits taxes, like tax breaks. So what

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Speaker 2: have you discovered as far as tax breaks that you've

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Speaker 2: been able to take advantage of in your business?

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Speaker 4: So what are the biggest tax breaks that not many

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Speaker 4: are utilizing, at least in my industry? Is the trade treaties,

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Speaker 4: for example, is the US Mexico Canada treaty? Right, there

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Speaker 4: is an existing agreement out there about what you ship,

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Speaker 4: what do you cross in the border, what are the

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Speaker 4: taxes and whatnots that you benefit from, And it usually

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Speaker 4: comes out on those kinds of transactions like a country

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Speaker 4: to country based tax breaks. We also now have a

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Speaker 4: rental and that also like adds another layer to your

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00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:33,359
Speaker 4: personal taxes as a whole. So definitely read up on

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Speaker 4: even the weirdest places like who knew about US Mexico

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Speaker 4: and Canada trade agreement?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know, I think it's important to take

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Speaker 2: advantage of these systems because they exist, right, So I

440
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,880
Speaker 2: think a lot of people are probably intimidated. They don't

441
00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:48,879
Speaker 2: want to quote unquote do their taxes wrong. And this

442
00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,439
Speaker 2: is why it's important not only to work with a

443
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:55,200
Speaker 2: great system like into a quick books, but also tax professionals.

444
00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:56,879
Speaker 2: The tax code in this country is one of the

445
00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:59,040
Speaker 2: most complicated in the world. So like, why would you

446
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,680
Speaker 2: want a DIY this when you could potentially be losing

447
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,240
Speaker 2: out on thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars

448
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 2: of tax breaks just because you don't know what is

449
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,280
Speaker 2: actually allowed. I remember having a mind blowing conversation with

450
00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:12,760
Speaker 2: my CPA where I work from home, so I get

451
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,800
Speaker 2: a home office deduction. But then they introduced me to

452
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,159
Speaker 2: the benefits of ANES Corp. And the fact that I

453
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,359
Speaker 2: could write off a part of my landscaping and my

454
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,719
Speaker 2: home maintenance and my bills. I'm like, what, you know,

455
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 2: if more people knew this, more people would probably be

456
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,240
Speaker 2: incentivized to maybe not even start a full time business.

457
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:32,960
Speaker 2: But you can take advantage of these things as a

458
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,120
Speaker 2: side hustler too. You know, something interesting that I found

459
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,560
Speaker 2: out from the IRS recently is because of all of

460
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,080
Speaker 2: the small businesses that were affected because of the recent

461
00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:46,120
Speaker 2: hurricanes here in Florida, they've actually extended the filing date

462
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,480
Speaker 2: by two weeks. So if you've been directly impacted by

463
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,080
Speaker 2: Hurricane Milton Helene, make sure that you are staying updated

464
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,600
Speaker 2: on any kind of accommodations that the IRS is making,

465
00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,520
Speaker 2: because any little bit helps, especially when you're trying to navigate,

466
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 2: restart your business, and then to think of like, oh

467
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 2: my god, I sound to find like taxes so that

468
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:05,840
Speaker 2: two weeks can make a big difference too.

469
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,600
Speaker 1: I have a funny feeling that you are a lifelong entrepreneur,

470
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 1: So what is next for you beyond as we continue

471
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,320
Speaker 1: to scale your company.

472
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:19,000
Speaker 4: Company wise, I know we're on the growth phase. You know,

473
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,359
Speaker 4: I call it the exodus plan right now, Like we

474
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,040
Speaker 4: have a lot of our brands exiting their current places

475
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 4: to actually move to us.

476
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:27,400
Speaker 3: It's the exodus project.

477
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,520
Speaker 4: But truly, for me on a deeper level as a person,

478
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:32,879
Speaker 4: like my next level is to make sure now that

479
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,200
Speaker 4: I have a nine year old, she has more sense

480
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,080
Speaker 4: to what's happening. I just want her to understand, like

481
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,840
Speaker 4: why sometimes I have to be home late, or why

482
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,640
Speaker 4: do I have to be staying up late at some night?

483
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,960
Speaker 4: Why am I talking in a different language sometimes? You know,

484
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,200
Speaker 4: why do I have to travel? If my kids would.

485
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,040
Speaker 3: Understand why I'm doing what I'm doing.

486
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,200
Speaker 4: That to me is the biggest thing that's so important. Yeah,

487
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,120
Speaker 4: because at the end of the day, we just got

488
00:23:57,160 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 4: to be real about it. Right. Sometimes you can be

489
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,679
Speaker 4: very successful at business, but there's always a part of

490
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:03,960
Speaker 4: your life that's suffering, and for the most part is

491
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,360
Speaker 4: your family or your personal life. And I'm just very

492
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 4: fortunate that I have a husband, you know, who's like

493
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,160
Speaker 4: five hundred percent supportive about what we're doing and he accepts.

494
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 4: I guess this whole personality that this is may I'm

495
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,600
Speaker 4: made for this. We've tried something else it didn't work,

496
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,639
Speaker 4: so that to me is my next step making sure

497
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,119
Speaker 4: the family, the kids are out there.

498
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:29,240
Speaker 1: So you're also a master romolier, which is a huge accomplishment.

499
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,520
Speaker 1: Your family is in the run business. It is in

500
00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 1: your blood, just like you said. So I have to

501
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,200
Speaker 1: ask you what may be the most important question of

502
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,280
Speaker 1: the interview, what's your favorite style of rum and what's

503
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,160
Speaker 1: your favorite rum cocktail to enjoy? And you can't say

504
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:44,080
Speaker 1: Rob and Coke.

505
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:46,200
Speaker 3: Definitely not rom and coke.

506
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,879
Speaker 4: When I got into this industry, going through that course

507
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,639
Speaker 4: of being a master romia, we're supposed to taste and

508
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:55,719
Speaker 4: grade like hundreds, you know, we're talking about hundreds and

509
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 4: distillery visits.

510
00:24:57,359 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 3: So I just started to learn how.

511
00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 4: To enjoy my just like how it is neat, like

512
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,879
Speaker 4: sometimes with ice, sometimes without ice, but I just like

513
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 4: it that way. And if you ask me for a cocktail. Definitely,

514
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,880
Speaker 4: an old fashioned is proper. But I mean you can't

515
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,200
Speaker 4: put it, you know, in your tea or anywhere else.

516
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:18,119
Speaker 4: Rum is rum.

517
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,080
Speaker 3: I'm partial to pina coladas. Place give me a pina

518
00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:23,840
Speaker 3: colada or in your smoothies.

519
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:24,360
Speaker 1: You know.

520
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,879
Speaker 4: I've had a little r and D with one of

521
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,040
Speaker 4: the smoothie shops over here and we made a good

522
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 4: pina kolado with their pineapple coconut smoothie added white rum,

523
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 4: and there was like, if this could get me dried

524
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:38,000
Speaker 4: your summer drink.

525
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,880
Speaker 2: That's amazing, Isabella, this has been a fascinating conversation. I'm

526
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 2: so intrigued by the background story of Seven Sky Ventures.

527
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,840
Speaker 2: I love your family connection to the industry. I love

528
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,840
Speaker 2: that your family's involved, and I have a feeling this

529
00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,880
Speaker 2: is gonna be something that stands the test of time.

530
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,800
Speaker 3: So good luck to you and.

531
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 2: The team, and I'm really looking forward to trying to

532
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 2: cocktail once I'm not pregnant anymore.

533
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 1: What an awesome addition, Jennie's to our small business Startukit

534
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 1: miniseries that we're doing here on the show, Isabella was wonderful.

535
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,040
Speaker 1: What was some of your biggest takeaways from our conversation.

536
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,119
Speaker 2: You know, I really loved how she emphasized that you

537
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,919
Speaker 2: don't have to navigate this alone. It's a good reminder

538
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,360
Speaker 2: that into it QuickBooks has built in support, and it's

539
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,520
Speaker 2: also a good idea to take a look at your

540
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 2: local resources just to figure out what you need to

541
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,720
Speaker 2: be doing from a tax liability perspective. It does not

542
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,639
Speaker 2: need to be intimidating to be a business owner and

543
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,240
Speaker 2: to deal with your taxes. But knowledge is power, and

544
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,160
Speaker 2: having that extra support I think is also really powerful.

545
00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 3: How about you, Austin, I totally agree.

546
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 1: I think this idea of organization and processes everything that

547
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,880
Speaker 1: she had mentioned. As it relates to the timelines, right,

548
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,119
Speaker 1: she said that, hey, November December, we are expected to

549
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 1: do ABC XYZ. In January, we're sitting down for three

550
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 1: days and we're executing upon some of this organization. I mean,

551
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:10,679
Speaker 1: just having those timelines in place and those strategies I

552
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,320
Speaker 1: think is so important because as small business owners, we

553
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 1: have so many things to do, so many things on

554
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:17,840
Speaker 1: our mind. We want to grow, we want to maintain,

555
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,720
Speaker 1: we have to do taxes. It just gets very overwhelming,

556
00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,600
Speaker 1: and having that structure I think is really really important.

557
00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,680
Speaker 2: I know I needed this episode when I was first

558
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,119
Speaker 2: starting out as a business owner, so I hope that

559
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 2: y'all enjoyed this. You can find me on social media

560
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,600
Speaker 2: at Jociero Dineto podcast.

561
00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:36,720
Speaker 1: And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can

562
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 1: follow Into It QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks.

563
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,159
Speaker 1: To get the tools you need to start, run, and

564
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,920
Speaker 1: grow your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today. While

565
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,160
Speaker 1: you're there, check out the latest blog post to learn

566
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:50,200
Speaker 1: more insights about managing a business.

567
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:52,400
Speaker 2: And don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen

568
00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:54,359
Speaker 2: to podcasts so you can stay up to date on

569
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 2: future episodes.

570
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 1: We also want to hear from you, so be sure

571
00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:58,600
Speaker 1: to leave us a rating and a review.

572
00:27:59,040 --> 00:27:59,680
Speaker 3: See you later.

573
00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 2: Nothing in this episode constitutes tax advice. This podcast is

574
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:09,280
Speaker 2: a production of iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Into It QuickBooks.

575
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,840
Speaker 2: Our executive producer is Molly Sosha, Our supervising producer is

576
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,480
Speaker 2: Nikiyah Swinton, and our writer is Eric Leja.

577
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,000
Speaker 1: Our head of Push Production is James Foster, and our

578
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:23,720
Speaker 1: mixing engineer is Paul Vitrulen's of Audiography