The (long) version of why I started my own firm

It’s funny - someone asked recently what the catalyst was that resulted in my starting my own practice. As you’d expect, there were (and continue to be) many reasons.

But one stands out. It’s when my face literally stopped working.

What started as one of the worst things to ever happen to me, ended up being one of the best.

***

It’s exactly three years to the day my excruciating sore throat, turned into half of my face simply forgetting how to work.

Ironically, a friend of a friend made a joke days beforehand, about how I smiled way too much. Then half the movement in my face literally disappeared overnight. For those Bieber fans, it’s the same thing as he has.

I barely remember the first month, thanks to the painkillers and various other drugs. All I vaguely recall, was being warned that “it’s NOT Bell’s palsy, your facial movement may never come back”.

“It’s a game of two halves” - every football commentator, ever

All I could think about was how my then 1 year old would have the weird looking Dad at the playground, and it absolutely crushed me. As my specialist sympathetically said, your face is your identity and when you lose it, no one really ever knows how to cope.

The next 3-4 months didn’t help - not a single improvement to get excited about. I resigned myself to the worst and it was easily the darkest period of my life.

Then a flicker. A tiny mouth crease movement and a tiny eyebrow raise led to a genuine celebration. Slowly but surely things started coming back, even if it wasn’t wiring exactly how it used to.

Literally overnight, the pain subsided and the meds kicked in. Big time. I couldn’t sleep more than 2-3 hours a night, and I was running around like a mad man. Sources have said “you were talking a lot, but not actually saying a lot”. So, not much difference to always.

During one of those sleepless nights, I looked into getting my own registration with the Tax Practitioners Board. I knew there was a gap in the market between what clients wanted, and what I could potentially offer. The seed had been planted. I floated the idea of going solo with a few mentors and close friends. One comment stands out - “you’ll quit your job within months and give this a proper crack - you’ll be kicking yourself if you don’t”.

And so I did. And in doing so, AKL Tax was born. After the hell of the previous few months, I now had the opportunity to do the work I wanted, with the people I wanted to work with, with the ability to control my own future (and stress levels).

Celebrating an early win - probably explains Callum’s continuing obsession with bubbles

A few years on, with a great staff member (and a Manager starting soon), great partnerships (SBO Financial in particular) along with countless great clients, I think I can finally say I’ve gotten there.

There’s still the permanent reminder of what went wrong three years ago: my eye closes when I’m laughing, one eyebrow doesn’t lift properly, some random tossers still occasionally make smart ass comments, and half my lower lip goes nowhere. I’ll have to use eye drops for the rest of my life, avoid group photos like the plague, and have regular Botox appointments so my rewired muscles don’t cramp while doing simple stuff (like using a straw).

But without it, there’s no way I’d be where I am now.

Golf on your birthday - highly recommended

My family, friends, work colleagues and army of specialists got me through those first few months. And I’ll forever be thankful - it made me realise that my circle of influence was extremely positive, and they didn’t give a crap about how I looked (even if they joked about whether the facial recognition software on my phone still worked).

And as I’ve since found out (which was a huge fear three years ago) - clients don’t care either.

You know what they say - make lemonade etc etc.

AKL

PS - tax planning for FY23 is well underway (both with AKL and SBO). Reach out to book in a time to chat!