Veterans Day Interview at Gusto in San Francisco, CA

Gusto COO Lexi Reese interviews ProAdvisor CPA Founders Erik (Army Special Forces Green Beret Veteran) & Rebecca Casarez (Military Spouse Veteran) during Veterans Week 2019.

Introduction

Liz Lee, Customer Experience @ Gusto:

“November is Veterans and Military Family Month. We’re super excited to have some ProAdvisor CPA here to kick things off…

A quick background about Erik and Rebecca.

I believe that they both served, Rebecca as a military spouse, and Erik who actively served in the Army for 10 years, several of which were in the Special Forces.

To put that into a little bit of perspective, the army is the biggest branch of the military. There’s also the Air Force, the Marines, the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Army’s huge, we call it the big army.

It’s about 500,000 people, and less than 1% of Army soldiers serve in the Special Forces, which is what Erik did.

I’m really excited to hear them share a little bit about how that shared experience of service has positioned them really well for their business, and how successful it is today.”

About ProAdvisor CPA

Lexi Reese, COO @ Gusto:

“Thank you both so much for being here… why don’t you guys tell us a little bit about your firm, the name, and… what you guys do?”

Erik Casarez, CEO @ ProAdvisor CPA:

“For us at ProAdvisor CPA, the vision is to help entrepreneurs Attain Their Financial Goals and Enjoy Their Journey running their business.

That applies to our target market, but it’s also something that we hold as very important for our people…

We want our firm to be an accounting firm that accountants and business professionals want to work at.

One of the reasons we started it was because of my partners experience in the industry, and the fact that the accounting industry itself has the highest turnover rate in the country.

One of our goals is to be an accounting firm that doesn’t have a high turnover rate. That is why it is important for us to create an environment where these… professionals really enjoy working.

We want to provide our customers services the way they deserve from a firm like ours.

View our Condensed “About Us” portion of the interview.

Lexi Reese, COO @ Gusto:

“How long were your deployments? Tell us a little bit about that your time there.”

Erik Casarez, CEO @ ProAdvisor CPA:

“So I get to my unit and they say we’re deploying to Iraq for 13 months…

After the deployment, I attended the physically and mentally demanding Army Special Forces 30-day selection and was selected… I deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout the Americas.

In 2015, after my Afghanistan deployment, I decided that I was ready to move on from the military. “I’ve done my service, I’ve given what I could, I accomplished a lot of the things that I felt I should accomplish… I’m going to focus on my wife and my kids. I want to be home for my kids before they go to college.”

Lexi Reese, COO @ Gusto:

“What does ProAdvisor CPA do? Who does it serve? and, what do you serve them with?”

Rebecca A. Casarez, CPA – President @ ProAdvisor CPA:

There are typical “two reasons” people start businesses, “financial freedom, and freedom in terms of their time…

For us, it’s how can we get them to that point where they’re not working 80 hours a week, and still not understanding why they’re burning through so much cash”.

Our mission is to make our client’s life’s easier! We do everything we can to help them achieve their financial goals and enjoy their journey of running and growing their businesses.

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Liz Lee, Customer Experience @ Gusto (Host, Introduction):

Liz is an Air Force veteran and is passionate about solving problems, establishing processes, learning stories, and connecting people.

“Trying to do my small part to make the world a little bit better by getting to know people and fixing stuff”.

Lexi Reese, COO @ Gusto (Moderator):

As Chief Operating Officer, she empowers Gusto’s business teams.

Their mission is to create a world where work empowers a better life.

Gusto was recently voted the #1 place to work in San Francisco.

Erik Casarez, Owner, Co-Founder @ ProAdvisor CPA (Interviewee):

Erik is the co-owner and co-founder of ProAdvisor CPA.

He holds a Masters’s in Organizational Leadership, a Master’s in Finance, and a Bachelor’s in Business Management.

Erik is a Military Veteran where he was a U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret Operator.

Erik has deployed to multiple countries across the America’s and Middle East regions, training and advising foreign militaries and governments.

He is adept at providing flexible leadership in high-stress environments with minimal resources and oversight.

Rebecca A. Casarez, CPA – CEO, President @ ProAdvisor CPA (Interviewee):

Rebecca is the President and Co-Founder of ProAdvisor CPA.

Rebecca Casarez is a Licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with a Bachelors and Masters in Accounting and over (10) years of experience and expertise working in business accounting, taxation, and business app implementation.

Rebecca is a Military Spouse veteran where she earned her education, worked a full-time job, and raised three children during the time her spouse served in the military.