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Cool Careers in Accounting Ep. 33 - Bananas and Balance Sheets: The Business of Making Baseball Fun with Dr. Tim Naddy
111 Plays6 hours ago
What does a Big 4-trained CPA have in common with stilt-walkers and viral baseball? Dr. Tim Naddy breaks down how he went from public accounting to academia, entrepreneurship, and ultimately CFO of the Savannah Bananas—where games are full-blown shows and every decision is filtered through a “does this make it better for the fan?” mindset. He also discusses trusted-advisor skills, why creatives need financial armor, and how to avoid burnout while building a career with purpose. If you think accounting is boring, this episode will change your mind.
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Transcript
Introduction to Dr. Tim Natty
00:00:09
Speaker
everyone. It's Mike Potenza from Becker Accounting Podcast. And do I have a guest for you today? His name is Dr. Tim, Dr. Tim Natty. And let me tell you something about Tim. This guy, he's got so much. He's got CPA, professor,
00:00:26
Speaker
podcaster, CFO, not just CFO, but CFO of one of the hottest sports franchises around, the Savannah Bananas. Like, I'm at a loss. I don't even know where to begin here. Let me just first start with, hey, Tim, thank you so much for being here, my friend.
00:00:42
Speaker
Absolutely, man. Anytime I can get in front of a bunch of of aspiring CPAs, this is the this is where these are my people, man.
Passion for Teaching Accounting
00:00:48
Speaker
Yeah, we got it. We got aspiring CPAs. We got CPAs that have been in the business for 10, 20, 30 years. We got it all. We got a whole bunch of accountants here. And you you and i we do love the accounting world, that's for sure.
00:01:00
Speaker
Yeah. So I've been teaching accounting for a long time. um Not as long as like the monks have been around, but, you know, double entry accounting has been around for for many, many years. And it's still as beautiful as it as it has been when these you guys were running around in know robes and in really cold abbeys. So um now it's a little bit different.
00:01:20
Speaker
and We got we got heaters, we have electricity, what have you. We have we have computers that do this kind of kind of stuff for us, but we still need to understand the underpinnings of what we're trying to do. And and that is just helping organizations, one, to get their books right, but also forecast in the future, like, how where where is this company going? How can I how can i p apply my trade to um not only make sure the books are correct, because that's the the part of this being a CPA is, right? But then also moving forward of um you are the trusted advisor, you are the person that has that expertise.
00:01:49
Speaker
And so how how can you take this, what you know, what you've learned all that and in your community and make your organizations ah flourish? Yeah, absolutely.
Early Life and Interests
00:01:58
Speaker
So before we even figure out how you became a CPA, the tell me a little bit about Tim Natty. Like, do you grow up in what area of the country? And, you know, when when did you even want to become an accountant of all things?
00:02:11
Speaker
don't think I ever wanted to be become an accountant. the So I grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida. um Actually, just south of there is called Satellite Beach. But nobody knows where Satellite Beach is. So I just say Cocoa Beach because that's where Kelly Slater is from, bro. And um I grew up surfing, skating. And I can't say I mastered either of those. i was But I was just good enough to stand up. And then I got into soccer and and started started playing soccer as a kid. and um And that was going to be what I was going to do, right? It's going to be a professional soccer player. That was before MLS, right? And sure ah so I was going to. head over to the head over to the cost the big pond and, and ah play for the English premier leagues and what have you. But yeah, God had a different plan. He shredded my knee and in my junior year of of high school.
00:02:48
Speaker
So my ACL, and this is when ACL is like, people were like, what's an ACL nowadays. It's like you shredded ACL. It's like, Oh yeah. Welcome to the team. So um ACL shredded. i decided I actually got to coach my my my soccer team my senior year, um which which was actually kind of cool because the warm ups that we had for the for the team versus the warm ups for the coaches, the coaches words were so much better. um So I got the cool warm up as my senior year. um But consolation prize. It did get me into um into show choir, though, which is kind of funny. My sister was trying to get me into doing as it was called 10 Tones.
00:03:22
Speaker
And each is ah a male and a female each together were considered a tone. You had 10 of them. And it was it was like pitch perfect. Right. The acapella groups. And we year we do cheesy dances. We'd we'd sing madrigals and things like that. But it it was my first foray into entertainment and thinking, OK, this is kind of cool. I kind of like this. But and that would not have happened if I didn't leave my my ACL on a soccer
Career Shift to Accounting
00:03:45
Speaker
pitch. so um I went to school at University of Florida.
00:03:49
Speaker
And um it was right around the time I've always been fascinated with like the video game culture and um computer graphics and um just just how CGI, in the very beginning, it was industrial lights and magic. right So I was really into Star Wars and LucasArts and things. And they were making giant models. They were flying things through you know this this giant model Death Star. model someone actually built that right and they took a little thing and like they they had cameras moving through these things i'm like my gosh i want to do that that's i want to do movie special effects that's cool so i went to school and at a time uh pixar had just come out with uh toy story and so it kind of kind of tells you where i am on the date on the date range right um and when that happened when i saw that little that tiny horse
00:04:31
Speaker
ah start licking the Cheeto ah cheddar cheese off of that guy, that sleeping guy's fingers. I was like, I was in, i got to do this. So um decided to go um into computer graphics and what ah had to learn I wanted to go basically work at Pixar.
00:04:50
Speaker
um So took my first coding class and realized that, yeah, not really built for that kind of work. I i don't think I can sit behind a yeah ah laptop all day and just code, um which is weird because I sit behind a laptop all day now, ah but I'm not coding yeah other things. But It just wasn't for me. So it decided, okay, listen, I'm going to take the other route. Um, if I'm, if I'm going to go in the entertainment industry, then I'd like to actually do it from the business perspective. And so I decided to go get a business degree, but if I was going to go into business, I was going to get the the cream of the crop, the creme d de la creme degree, which is the accounting degree. Right. Um, and so, and everybody's like, oh, it's going to be hard. You're going to spend all your nights studying. It's like, you know what? It's four or five years of my life. I think I can handle it. So, um,
00:05:33
Speaker
Got the accounting degree back then. actually took Becker. I know probably jumping ahead of you here, but I took Becker to take the CPA exam to get prepared.
Leaving Public Accounting
00:05:44
Speaker
Passed it the first sitting. This is old school when you used to take it a two-day test, right? Nosebleed and everything. I got a nosebleed in the middle of the test. um Like the... No, there was no there was no fix in this one. Right. So passed it on the first sitting, which was actually a big deal back then. Right. um And then it was off to the races. So worked at PwC.
00:06:04
Speaker
um Started off in the big four, um worked at PwC in Tampa, ended up moving over to Deloitte in Tampa, basically in investment management's financial markets. I worked at the big MetLife engagement for Deloitte, which is really, really cool. I got to learn a lot about insurance. um So after that, moved up to Tallahassee for a regional, worked with a local firm still in the insurance market. So I've been about eight years in financial markets, insurance markets for public accounting and decided to jump out of that.
00:06:33
Speaker
um got an opportunity to go work with a buddy for an internet platform, which back in, you know, the early 2000s, internet was all the rage. So, um so yeah, this is kind of cool. I get hate to leave public accounting, go into some really cool, ah cool tech pro environment.
00:06:47
Speaker
m Yeah. that Let me just ask you this question though. So, I mean, it's really like a whole kind of rollercoaster whirlwind from sports to acapella being the original pitch perfect perfect before you realize, all right,
00:07:01
Speaker
I want to go into this accounting business. So yeah the the whole Pixar, the whole coding, not your cup of tea. But how did you then settle on the accounting? Like, is it just that you said, well, I like business? Or was it a particular class you have,
Exploring Diverse Accounting Opportunities
00:07:16
Speaker
a mentor? Like, how do you even really know that that's the road that you then want to go down?
00:07:20
Speaker
Well, it was the it was the one discipline that everybody was saying it was hard. and um And so I'm not afraid of hard. um So I decided to do the accounting degree. um Also at the time, so MBA was a really big deal um back in the early 2000s, late 90s, early 2000s, because everybody was going back to school to get their and MBA. And there was no executive program at the time. People were actually going back to school.
00:07:41
Speaker
and um and But the MBA was always something that I always thought that um If you were going to stick around for a master's in business, you'd have to know something about business before you go get a degree about having a master's in business.
00:07:53
Speaker
and And so at that point, I was like, I don't think that's the route I want to go. i don't want to go and just, I don't want to just own a business. I want to know like how a business operates underneath, like what's what's under the hood.
00:08:04
Speaker
And um that's where accounting is. um So everything, everything stems, everything in business stems from accounting. i mean, you can have marketing, creative vision. It doesn't matter. Everybody all has to filter through the accounting function. And so I was like, well, i'll shoot, if you're going to learn something about business, why not go learn how to run a business?
00:08:22
Speaker
um And then from there, everything kind of stems from that. Right. Sure, absolutely. so So then you do that. You're like, all right, this is the way I want to go. I want to know what's under the hood of the business. I want to be able to be the guy that can figure things out in respect to running the business. And you go out, you get that CPA, and now you get that big job. You land the PWC and you're working in that you know big public accounting environment. What made you decide that, hey, I don't want to stay in public accounting. I don't want to go to partner track. I'm going to go out and do some things outside of this world. What was the thought process there?
00:08:56
Speaker
Well, there are several things happening there. And um this is something that I think, you know, you and I, when we we actually met, um we were talking about this particular nuance of public accounting. And that is that um if public accounting is a great place to start a career, it's also a great career if that's if that's really what you want to do. But there's so many other things to do in accounting than just go it make financial reports and do taxes. And I think that that gets lost.
00:09:21
Speaker
inside the inside the university setting because, um ah let let's be let's be frank, a lot of the money that comes in from big four, they want to they want to say, hey, look, these are the two options you have, either tax or audit. um And that's not the case. there's like There's a whole world of private and not-for-profit and governmental, all these different types of accounting that you can do um that that do and do not require CPA licenses. But now you would ask me, well, should you get the CPA? 100%.
00:09:46
Speaker
it's the It's the crown jewel of our of our industry. um And it and only leads to more credibility for you as an individual and as a professional. So get it. But you but you don't have to stay in these giant buildings of of Big Four in order to ply your trade.
Transition to Internet Platform Finance
00:10:01
Speaker
um So going into Big Four was because that's what everybody was doing. you You go to big four. And what we were told at the time is you just spent two or three years there. If you can make manager, that's five years in. Right. um Then you you're basically you're set. um But right around that time, Sarbanes Oxley came out and you couldn't jump to a client anymore.
00:10:20
Speaker
Right. It's like that. That was that was a no, no. So. um Yeah, a lot lot of things changed in the early 2000s that made going to public accounting right out of school a little bit more challenging. um But it really came down, it wasn't but it wasn't about the work. I actually really enjoyed the pace. I enjoyed being around its super intelligent people that were all the same. At that time, everybody that was there had a master's degree and a CPA license.
00:10:42
Speaker
Very different landscape now. so but what But what I was seeing there was not so much the work piece of it. It was more so of the behavior of Public accounting. it was the the People call it a meat grinder. It is. If you don't know if you don't know how to play the politics game of of public accounting, you have to be very careful with public accounting because at the time, you you were just a number. Now, nowadays, it's like 25 years later, right?
00:11:10
Speaker
um It's more about the person. At least they tell you that. so um and And by the way, when I say Big Four, it this could be any accounting place, but usually people, just they like to beat up on Big Four because of the the giants. um But yeah, there's there's a behavior issue there that I think um was not really endearing to me personally.
00:11:28
Speaker
um I enjoyed the work. I enjoyed the clients. I enjoyed being around really smart people. i enjoyed the pace. ah What I didn't enjoy was looking around and seeing that this is all anybody was doing was just grinding, grindy grinding, grinding. I was like, there's got to be more.
00:11:43
Speaker
so um So my foray out of public accounting was to just try try to find, okay, what is that Shangri-La that everybody says is out there? um So i got I was just fortunate enough to leave public accounting to go into something that was really exciting, which was Internet platforms.
Teaching at SCAD
00:11:59
Speaker
So that was your first foray outside of public accounting. You know, internet now is just starting to grow and boom. And what exactly did you do? Did you do the accounting and the finance for an internet company?
00:12:10
Speaker
Yeah. So it a it was ah a payment propp i'm sorry it was a payment processor. And at the time, there was a credit crunch going on and nobody could get credit cards, um which is kind of funny. You go to any go to any university campus, you can sign up for a credit card and they give you a t-shirt. And get two two weeks, you have the credit card in the mail and you're just spending money, right?
00:12:29
Speaker
But in the mid 2000s, you know, that's things were really getting little hairy and nobody could get credit because credit scores, this, that, and the other. So this one happened to be an alternative payment platform.
00:12:42
Speaker
I thought this this is kind of cool. they're They're actually solving this problem, this credit crisis problem. um And so that that so what they needed, they needed a CFO to come in. And basically, um they had three years, about two and a half years of and of investors that were coming in and putting money in.
00:12:57
Speaker
um And these investors were clamoring for ah actual like real financial statements. And I was able to deliver those types of, I would say, SEC caliber statements without being an SEC company. Does that make sense?
00:13:12
Speaker
Sure, absolutely. Well, you're doing this now. How long do you wind up in internet before you move out of that industry, go to another industry? And where do you parlay the whole teaching into this?
00:13:24
Speaker
Well, okay, so um so in 2008, I actually had four W-2s because the internet thing found out that they they were having a ah serious cash crunch.
00:13:35
Speaker
um And i I was one of the only guys there that actually had had a family, like had children, right? And so i was like, hey, guys, love you to death, but the cash flow is not here. um I can see where it's headed. I'm talking to the investors.
00:13:47
Speaker
This is a horrible um environment from a financial step perspective. oh Oh, by the way, it's 2008. Right. So what else happened in 2008? Yeah. The housing market fell out.
00:13:58
Speaker
Well, as the housing market was dropping, um investor dollars were were drying up. Now, 2005, 2006, everybody and anybody was putting money into Internet. Right. But in 2008, the pipeline started started of getting a little, you know, start shut off.
00:14:11
Speaker
So. um So writing on the wall, I said, hey, I need to need to go um find something. I said, i ah you know I'll continue to do your books because I know you guys can't afford it, um but I need to go get something to actually pay me. So I ended up going to an organization, a not-for-profit.
00:14:25
Speaker
Got to learn about a lot about not-for-profits. And then from there, um I ended up in a um an organization um called Homes and Land, which at the time was being flirted with like private equity was, private equity is like a new thing in the early 2000s.
00:14:39
Speaker
Even though it had been around for a while, it's like people started, it started to be coming like on the tick tip of everybody's tongue, yeah right? It's growing. um And so private equity is kind of flirting with this um because again, housing market going down, I decide um to leave my safe and secure job in in public accounting to go to an internet platform, which is now coming down because there's no investment and but not a lot of revenue. And then i I decide by the end of the year, I'm working for a company that their main revenue stream is real estate advertisements. and it's like, what in the world are you doing? How do you went from safe, safe, safe to like, yeah just like Wild West, right? Great decisions, great decisions. Yeah, but so but we were able to, and yeah we're paring down the paranontic organization, um getting a little bit more efficient. um That was when I got to learn that the 15-person accounting, because I came in as the VP of finance and accounting, 15 people in the accounting department is way too many. And I don't care how big you get, you don't need 15 people doing, you three people doing the same job. And that was before AI, right? Before AI. Oh, 100%. Yeah. So chat GPT, right? So yeah, so pared down the the accounting function and we got a heck of a lot more efficient with eight people. We were doing twice the work and everybody was still going home at five o'clock, right?
00:15:52
Speaker
um Just kind of proofs of model that if you have the right processes, you can still accomplish the same um same amount of things without without just you know bloating your budget. so But from there, um i was I was there for about three years. And all the while, um i had been working on my doctorate.
00:16:08
Speaker
And in 2012, I finished my doctorate um and took a job at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia um as the as the chair of their accounting department um and taught bachelor's level counting master' master's level accounting, accounting, taught fraud examination. and I also have a fraud designation.
00:16:26
Speaker
So, um yeah, it was just I just got introduced to the world of of academia and and never
Creative Strategies in Education
00:16:32
Speaker
looked back. It's it's amazing. So one of the places I believe where you are now is SCAD, the right? The Savannah College of art and Design. And when I hear SCAD and I think art and design, I'm like, what why didn't we teach in accounting at the art and design school? So how how do you get from where you are to SCAD? And talk to me about teaching accounting in a school of art and design.
00:16:53
Speaker
Yeah. So when I first um started looking around um at, I wanted to leave Rome, Georgia, it was, it was a time um my sophomore or my, my, my freshman in high school was about to go into his sophomore year. And, you know, really in Georgia, there's not, there's not a lot of four year high schools. that He was in a middle school and then he had to go to a high school. So it was like the perfect time to move.
00:17:13
Speaker
um So ended up, it was either Charleston, um Charleston, Savannah, or Tampa, right? Go back to Tampa. We're both Floridians, my wife and I. So, um, So ended up that cookie baseball team needed a finance guy. So I was like, hey, I fit that mold. So got the job.
00:17:28
Speaker
Immediately when I got the nod to do that, um I had seen that um SCAD had just started the Desole School of Business Innovation. And I'm like, oh, what is this? This is really interesting.
00:17:39
Speaker
um SCAD had come out and and said, hey, listen, we have a lot of creativity here, a lot of intellectual property that is sitting, that's resting in the minds of our students that is being like put out onto these portfolios, whether it's sculpture, painting, video game design, industrial design, ah fashion, whatever it is, right?
00:17:56
Speaker
um The creative arts are are chock full of intellectual property. And what's and what's happening is that these these students are going off into industry and they're being paid sometimes not great salaries, sometimes great salaries, but they're working for an entity that's actually taking that intellectual property and making millions of dollars off it and only giving them, you know, a salary, which, okay, if that's what you want to do, if you want to work for somebody else, that's, you can do that. But I think with the, with SCAD internally was looking at, it's like, hey, you know, we should probably teach these, these kids, sorry, students, um,
00:18:26
Speaker
how to make their own businesses, right? And I was like, that is a mission I can get behind because I understand this um as as a creative and wanting to wanting to do this kind of stuff. um the The missing piece that you that we have here is that while I was in Rome, I built a data company from the ground ground up, like and some friends of family,
00:18:47
Speaker
you know, get get it up to where raising, actually gets getting investors in, working with the US government, working with the Coast Guard, working with healthcare facilities, what have you. um So i had just I had started a company, i founded a company, and i was like I learned what it was like to actually run a business.
00:19:03
Speaker
the pangs of of just in your stomach when you can't make, ah how am i going to make payroll? Like, am I going to be able to take a check this week or do I have to pay the other people? That stuff's horrible, but I learned it. Now I have the skill set.
00:19:15
Speaker
SCAD wants to teach the teach the students how to build businesses. and like, I have life experience here. I can absolutely do this. And so um so, yeah, I plugged into SCAD and um theyve they asked me to go ahead and design a course.
00:19:29
Speaker
um It's called Strategic Financial Management. and i've been teaching it ever since um ever since I've gotten here. I've taught a handful of other courses too. but the um But this one in particular um is basically how I define it, how not to get screwed in business. And so ended up writing the textbook for it, which is coming out in March. um And like I'm in the publishing things right now.
00:19:51
Speaker
But the point is is that there are people out there with with great ideas, but they don't know how to protect them. And I saw that mission that SCAD was doing. I said, I've got to
Savannah Bananas' Entertainment Approach
00:20:02
Speaker
be a part of that.
00:20:02
Speaker
And so I adjunct over there and teach a class once a quarter. um And it's, I mean, I taught this morning and it was, I mean, I just absolutely love the conversations that come out of that. got to say, um you know, when you and I spoke last time, i never even told you. I so i taught for 10 years in New York City as an adjunct at the Fashion Institute of Technology, one of the city universities. So very similar population and, you know, very creative designers, but really don't understand a lot about business. Forget about accounting. So it is definitely a good skill set that they need. But what I was most impressed with when you and i got together down in Florida and we were teaching a bunch of students at that FICPA, you came up with this great exercise about, you know, having a business and just a simple thing, make a dress.
00:20:49
Speaker
And you went through everything about generating the revenue, what all the expenses are. And their eyes were like wide open, like, oh, my God, I never thought of it this way. So how do you come up with your ideas on how to really communicate this information at an understandable level for them?
00:21:05
Speaker
Well, okay. So I think I've always been, um and this is this is not a ah haughty statement. I've always been, i think, very good at communicating technical things to make them tangible.
00:21:17
Speaker
um And so accounting is nothing more than just a bunch of really big words um to describe a very simple process that um that we all know innately how to do just by living every day.
00:21:28
Speaker
But because it's in a business context, people people get scared of it. And so um so it's kind of you if you just kind of baseline and say, look, you got you already know this stuff, but I'm going to teach you some words like that, that MBA over there and that that lawyer over there, they like to throw big words out. This is what this what they mean.
00:21:43
Speaker
it's It's not that this should be scary. um So that's kind of my approach with teaching creatives is is that. specifically on the creative side creatives they wear their passion on their sleeve they love what they do you can't you can't knock them off anything because um that's that's the reason why they exist is that is to put their art out there and um in in whatever form that manifests in right um and so my job is not to steal that passion my job is to to basically to tell them hey listen if you're going to be doing this um and you have this passion
00:22:16
Speaker
emphasize it, but don't allow somebody else to come in and steal your passion because in business, people do this all the time. And so and so how do we protect it? Well, i'm going to teach you all those buzzwords. i'm going to teach you all those those things on the foundational level so that at least if you're in the room, you can have ah when the conversation starts getting to a point where you start feeling a little overwhelmed, you can stop. you can You can identify that this is going in a direction that you do not understand and that you need to back out and find somebody who can help you.
00:22:45
Speaker
So, so ah no, no, no, not only the the answer to the first question, but no, no how to redirect the second question that that's, it's, it's huge. So what I've done is, um and and you say, how do you, how do you teach this stuff?
00:22:57
Speaker
My personal thing is, it's just using my own personal story. um Having built a business and having, having, having, having to look at, the cost environment of building a business first, because when you first get into business, nobody knows who you are. Nobody nobody believes in your product. Nobody believes in your service. They may they may know like you you eat at that eatery every other Friday, but they don't they don't care about you.
00:23:20
Speaker
And so you have to prove yourself. Like day in and day out, you have to prove yourself. And then finally, um the best probably the best um way to describe it is that when when you go to a bank at the very beginning, they don't give you money.
00:23:33
Speaker
When they come knock on your door because you're now a success story and they want to be your your your banking institution, you you now you have the ability to say, oh, now it's flipped.
00:23:44
Speaker
Rabbit's got the gun. ah it's ah that's um So I want creatives and really everybody, but i specifically creatives, I would like them to have that day um where of retribution where they look at and go, hey, remember when you guys didn't believe in me?
00:23:59
Speaker
Well, now I proved it. And now all you guys want to do is latch on. um So with grace, you you allow them into your into your circle. um there's there's no There's no need to be haughty or anything like that. But don't forget, because that kind of gives you the edge, right?
00:24:15
Speaker
So um no idea if I even answered your question, but I thought that was a good rabbit trail to run down. Yeah, no, for sure, for sure. And it's really appreciated because it's it's such good, important work that you're doing. And and not to say, you know, your full-time job is not good and important work, but the fact that you can give back and really change lives of some of these students and these, you know, young professionals, it's just absolutely amazing.
Global Appeal of Savannah Bananas
00:24:38
Speaker
I'm sure very rewarding.
00:24:40
Speaker
But I want to now move into the big thing, right? right I just want to lay the foundation for this. Before we jump into the Savannah Bananas, this is...
00:24:51
Speaker
a show like no show that we see today. It's high energy. It's still walking. It's choreographed dances. It's fan involvement. It's rule twists. And this is all at a baseball game. So it's not even like a baseball game. And and the the population is just eating it up. Social media. is over 10 or 12 million on TikTok, and you are filling stadiums, Yankee Stadium, Bank of America Stadium. you know, it's the hottest ticket in town. So first tell me, how do you get from your job into Savannah Bananas, and then walk me through the process of this team just exploding?
00:25:28
Speaker
Well, from the how to get the job, um everybody says, oh, who did you know there? um And I just kind of laugh because I've always told we've always been told in business school, you have to build out your network, build out your network. You know, it's the the bigger a network gets, the more opportunities you have.
00:25:42
Speaker
um I actually got this job over the Internet. And I applied over the internet, had to put a video just like everybody else, you know? um So um when people like, what? That's how you did it? and Yeah, that's, I think I beat out like three or four other candidates, um but I don't even know who they are. i'm sure I'm sure today that they're wishing they had the job, but it was...
00:26:02
Speaker
Yeah, it is what it is. You're you're basically ah you're auditioning for a job, right? Because everything around here is very Disney-esque, right? Like the cast members and things like that. So we don't call our games games. We call them shows because they are, in fact, shows. And our stage is the baseball diamond.
00:26:16
Speaker
um It's also the the tops of the dugouts. It's also inside the stands. It's pretty much anywhere in around that venue is our is our stage. um But yeah. the the The fever pitch that it's ah that it's that it's accelerated to, it's due to this flywheel that we have. um It's basically, you harken back to Amazon where Jeff Bezos um decided he was going to, hey, this is this is where i want I'm going to,
00:26:40
Speaker
put all my money is in this flywheel. And this, this has to, um, get to, if we get this right, this, then this gets right. And this is right. And this is right. And this whole thing just starts moving. Right. So our flywheel starts with live events.
00:26:53
Speaker
And, um, even though we have the YouTube and the social media presences, what have you live events are what people want to experience. And and it really is the way you should experience the Savannah bananas. And, um, So from a live events, we we move that to, okay, well, what does that give us? That gives us that gives us traffic. What does it gives us give us traffic for? To the socials, right?
00:27:11
Speaker
Social media has been fantastic in the sense that we don't have to be, um I'll use a Northeast one, so i got like a Pittsburgh fan, right? um if Pittsburgh Steeler fan. You are a Pittsburgh Steeler fan. um if If you live in Pittsburgh, you have to be a Steeler fan, right? If you if you are not a Steeler fan, you get ostracized everywhere you go, right? and um But it's usually sports.
00:27:33
Speaker
specifically in sports, um it's been regional. And um so if you live in a certain region, you should just support that team, right? So because that's just what people talk about. You you you have the colors, you have you have all, you know, the players, all those things.
00:27:45
Speaker
And so what social media did is social media basically broke all of the traditional mores of of who you can and can't support. um And by virtue of it's It's not about the location. It's about who you resonate with, right? So social media gives you kind of that vibe. um And what the bananas have done specifically that made them, in my opinion, um much bigger than if they if they were If it was only in Savannah, right, um then what they've done is they've they've taken the social media, the breaking down of those barriers, and they've turned it into the bananas, like it's the all-American team.
00:28:22
Speaker
And you have the party animals, who's like the bananas after dark, kind of the more edgy, the rock band, right? um Then you have the firefighters who are like the all-American heroes, right? um that Definitely leveraging the law enforcement, um the the emergency responders, the military, that kind of, right? So certainly firefighters.
00:28:39
Speaker
Um, so um like local heroes and then you get to the tailgaters, tailgaters are all, they're about country, right? You got NASCAR, you got, yeah, whiskey, you got culture music, you got everything there. Right. So, um, so it's like Americana.
00:28:51
Speaker
And then you, you start looking at the the next two teams, um, the, the local beach coconuts, I mean, they're they're what the beachy vibe, right? And it's like that anybody like all the Jimmy Buffett Parrotheads, they can immediately resonate with the local beach coconuts because that's kind of the vibe we give off. Right. So um and then the last team is the Indianapolis Clowns, which, by the way, is a resurrection of the original team back in the back in the 60s, 50s, 60s, that actually had um they were one of the original show baseball teams. And um and as the MLB and civil rights and all this stuff happened, um that that that that story died, died down um and became part of the um the Negro baseball. um ah
00:29:36
Speaker
of Is it Negro Baseball Museum? Right. Part of the part of the history of Negro baseball. But um but it just kind of. ah it vanished And so what we did is working with the the museum is basically resurrected that team to where now it still pays homage to the original intent of what the team was attempting to do. um and um and then um now bringing it into all of the quirkiness of the bananas. And and so that's it's it's back.
00:30:08
Speaker
But again, it's not about being from an Indianapolis. It's about it's about what does that team inspire in you? what What is it? What what is the what is the affinity I have for the for the local beach coconuts for the firefighters? i I could be a fan of the firefighters because I because I love my local um fire firemen. Right. But I can also be the beachy guy.
00:30:27
Speaker
Right. um Also, I can I can be a fan of the bananas. So it's not like there's it's not there's not territorial. It's just kind of like, hey, today I feel kind of edgy. I want to be a party animal fan. Right. um So you you're able to cross all of those boundaries um and it's not locked to regions
Dual Role with Savannah Bananas
00:30:43
Speaker
anymore.
00:30:43
Speaker
um And I think that's that's what the bananas did. They unlocked that piece um so that now people can just, hey, it's the way I feel you these days. be seen, be heard. It's how I emote, right?
00:30:56
Speaker
I love it. I love it. So, well, then let me ask you this question now. You are the CFO for the Savannah Bananas. So traditional CFO role, you're dealing with the finances and the accounting and everything financially related. But at the same time, the Savannah Bananas and the whole league, it's all about creativity. So Are you working in that traditional cf CFO role or do you have hands in the creativity part of it as well? Like what's your real assignments and your everyday tasks? So i I like to think that I'm a creative. um I don't know. I might be. it
00:31:32
Speaker
Sometimes. I mean, I i'm i'm in i love live theater. i love I love everything about just the entertainment industry. And I mean, obviously, there's a seedy underbelly to every industry and entertainment is no is no different. um but the But just the showmanship, i like i like the I like seeing the instant reaction of people when when you do something live on stage as opposed to like in a movie theater. um and And this is just this is exactly what it is. so Someone does something something crazy, does a backflip, catches a ball. People go crazy for that. That an instant feedback is really, really fun. um
00:32:03
Speaker
Where I get to be a little bit more creative is that i so've I've created a persona here. It's actually one of the things that I asked for when I first started. It's like, would you mind if I created a character? And they're like, okay, well, you know where are you going with this? um I said, I want to do like ah a cowboy, a sheriff of banana land, right? And i' I'm going to call them Timmy Two Guns. They're like, yeah, go for it. So um so yeah, on certain Saturdays, if if the bananas, it's only when the bananas are playing because it's more of a banana character.
00:32:27
Speaker
But I'll have, I've got a holster. I've got chaps. I've got big old hat, right? And I've got a bolo. In fact, a fan gave me a bolo, which is great. How great is that? It has a little banana on it. Oh, yeah. And it's made by a fan. That's official. Yeah, it's really cool. And I carry banana.
00:32:45
Speaker
like an actual banana in the holster. And of course, you know, people get a kick out of that. um But the point is is that even as a CFO, I can still i can still be part of that part of the show, right? Now, I'm not going to get on the on the field. i'm not ah I'm not a recognized character on the field, which is fine. But I still get to walk around and, you know, um take pictures and and say hello to fans and things like that. And um it's always kind of fun when, but because ah we all wear name tags at the games and mine says finance And like, oh, you're the finance guy? Like, what are you, like what's weird, right?
00:33:15
Speaker
But, you know, it's this it's just, it's part of what we do around here. It's so part of the ethos is to just be fan-facing, fan-friendly, fans first. and um And if I can do that, if I can be a CFO and also kind of the fun side of it, then i win both sides, right? um So yeah, I really enjoy it.
00:33:34
Speaker
Yeah, I'm sure a lot of people out there are a bit jealous of Timmy Two Guns for sure. I mean, it sounds like something that's really fun. So I can only imagine youre sitting in that seat and doing what you do. Like you said, these are not games. These are shows. And and they're not even just shows. They're more like Taylor Swift concerts because you car can't get a ticket. Is is this something like, is you are you like this every day? You're like, but oh, you need tickets too. Oh, you need ticket ah you need tickets. Like how crazy does it get?
00:34:05
Speaker
Well, um we've over the past few years, we've actually refined that process so there's less frustration. But I do understand that with a lottery list that's over millions of people long, um it's um I understand where the frustration can be because like, oh, I missed it last year. I missed it this year. um It's like, I'm never going to get a ticket. I'm just going to give up, right? And and um that's also why the reason why we put all of our stuff for free on YouTube.
00:34:28
Speaker
um People don't know people don't um know this story. the The story of us leaving money on the table with the with these big um cable ah cable sports programs, they want exclusivity.
00:34:40
Speaker
and um And we tell them every single time, even though they're going to pay us for the exclusivity, we tell them, no, we we aren't giving you exclusivity because why would we ever... take um take what we do again fans first trying to plus the experience entertain always i mean i could list off all of the all the principles the point is that we're here for the fans we're not here to make a cable company rich and so um why would we put this behind a paywall to where now we can't even access the fans who, who we really want to entertain. And now that's, that's, that's another thing too. It's like, is the game the same on YouTube? No, it's not. Okay. But do you at least get to experience something.
00:35:19
Speaker
Right. And so, and and you don't have to pay for it. So, Um, it's a, it's really important for us to be able to have access to our fans. And the only way we're going to build that billion fan brand is to, is to ah come one, come all enjoy it. Right. If we can get tickets to the, to the shows, fantastic. If you can't guess what, there's an outlet that you can, you can enjoy it over here. Right.
00:35:39
Speaker
Um, so I think that when we, when we start having these, these conversations of, of, And it always comes down to, well you could be making more money. Yes, you're right. we could we We don't have to be giving away all you can eat food at our local games. um You're right. We could make money off that.
00:35:56
Speaker
But why? but what what's What's the goal at the end of the day? Are we trying to serve the fans or are we trying to make our bank accounts fatter? I think you can do, I actually think you could do both at the same time in that, go back to the go back to the thing we were talking about with the creatives.
00:36:12
Speaker
If a creative lives their passion and people understand that that individual, like you are, this is who you are. you You exude everything everything out of your pores is all about fans, fans, fans.
00:36:23
Speaker
Then the fans are going to feel appreciated to where um they're they're going to want to come and see what is this thing? What is this thing all about? Right? It's an, when you're doing it on a passion, it's not about money, but if you're really good at it, if you, if your passion is really putting on a great show, then the by-product is you will make money, right?
00:36:43
Speaker
But you don't focus on the cash. You focus on the fans and just, and and the cash, it's just, it's a It's how you conduct business, right It's how you get the semi trucks from Savannah all the way over to Anaheim with with merchandise and show stuff and all the players getting on planes to go everywhere. You have to pay for that, right? So there's the you have to operate the business.
00:37:02
Speaker
um But our focus isn't on making money. We just make money while we focus on our fans.
Fan-First Philosophy of Savannah Bananas
00:37:09
Speaker
that's That's amazing because it's counterintuitive to what we learn about capitalism. right Capitalism is, hey, we need to grow. We need to make more. We need our profits to increase X percentage every year. And now your organization is saying, yeah, of course, we don't want to go bankrupt. We have bills to pay.
00:37:25
Speaker
we We need to generate revenue, but we're going to keep our fans first. So that's really noble and incredible. It's very rare in the business world, especially in this entertainment world where you are. So, you know, hats off to you and to the organization for that.
00:37:40
Speaker
Yeah, let me throw something out there because i i don't think it's ah i don't think it's ah an issue about capitalism right or wrong. the um I think what ends up happening is that when you find someone who's just, when you find an organization that really knows who they are, um something resonates much much more deeply um in the consumers, in the in the in the communities and what have you, because you actually truly believe in that vision. You truly believe in the ideals behind it.
00:38:07
Speaker
and um And this one is kind of hard to get away from, like treat treat everybody as you would want to treat yourself. right it it's it's It's golden rule. i take From the get go. And so the um i people, if when people on the outside look at it and they go, they go, oh, they're just, they're just saying that like, no, that is not the case. If you were in the inside of these meetings, you would see that literally every big decision that comes through and some of the smaller decisions, um it has to be passed through a filter that says, is this good for the fan?
00:38:36
Speaker
Does this plus the experience? If it does not, if it's no to be either one of those questions, we don't do it. Now, doesn't mean we won't test something to see if fans enjoy it. And if they do, it's like, OK, let's try it again. Let's try it. OK, people really enjoy this. Let's start doing that. Right. But um but and it and if it doesn't, then OK, get rid of it. Right. But the thought is, is that.
00:38:55
Speaker
If we are constantly thinking about what the fan, like how to remove friction from the fan experience. And if that's the case, all that's going to do is ingratiate fans to the brand and want to be part of the story.
00:39:08
Speaker
And again, that's why um if you really are passionate, if if there's businesses out that are super passionate about what they're doing, the capitalism part's easy. because people Because you're not a you're not a hypocrite.
00:39:18
Speaker
yeah ah you're You're actually living your truth. and And if that's the case, then people are going to see that and they're going to be drawn to because there's something unique about that. Whereas before, like ah when a lot of people think of like the American dream and things like that, it's like, I'm going to make my my money and I'm just going to sit on top of this. It's like,
00:39:35
Speaker
I mean, you can, but where's the joy in that? you You hear, you see rich people all the time who are depressed. They're taking, they're they're on medications. They're trying to figure out what's where's the, where's the hole of my life. The hole in your life is that you've just spent your life working for yourself and trying to em better yourself. Like, what about, what about all the people that you, that were, went as you were going up the ladder, there they are. And you're coming down the ladder.
00:39:58
Speaker
There they are. I love it. I
Balancing Creativity and Safety
00:40:01
Speaker
love it. I feel like if you pour if you take it outside of yourself and actually go after a mission, then there's you can make money, um but you also can b can have a purpose.
00:40:12
Speaker
So I got to just ask one more Savannah Banana question because I'm trying to imagine this situation. Like, you know, there's certain so shows that there's a degree of risk in it. Like take out like a Circus au lait and all the, you know, crazy acrobatics that they do. But I just want to be sitting at that room where someone says, all right, we're gonna have a guy running around on stilts or we're going to hit a one hundred mile an hour line driving someone and let them do a backflip and do this. Like, where does the risk come in and how do you kind of work through the dangers of some of the stuff you do?
00:40:43
Speaker
it's all It's all because these guys are incredible athletes. They sure are. By the way um no one's doing a backflip off a 100-mile-hour flying drive. They're just catching that ball. yeah um But they might catch it and swing it under their legs as they throw it to first base or second base, right?
00:40:56
Speaker
um No, those backflips are usually coming when there's a nice high fly ball into the outfield, and you have time to get under it and actually do it, right? The guy on stilts, the story there is that he actually came in, and um and he his distilled the stilts were in the car.
00:41:11
Speaker
And Jesse's like, what else you got? He's like, well, i i've I've got stilts in the car. He's like, what? Go get them. It was one of those, like, if I could bring you back to the show, The Greatest Showman, it's when he's sitting there and he's like auditioning all of these people. And you see him like trying to like the guy's like, how much do you weigh? He's like, I think weigh like 200 pounds. He 2000 pounds, right? It's like, how can I get this bigger? Yeah. But but yeah. So so from that perspective, these guys are just amazing athletes and what they're doing on the field. Do we encourage it? One hundred percent. Is it dangerous?
00:41:43
Speaker
I mean, is backflip dangerous? Yeah, we had we had a guy um last year do a backflip in practice and he shredded his tibia. um So it's like, yeah, he broke his leg. Okay, yeah, that's the danger of doing a backflip. um But um he's he's healed up. He's back on. the he's back on um In fact, what he did is he resumed he took over a role as entertainer and became yeah one of the fan favorites and just walking around and meeting fans. I mean, sure, was he in a boot?
00:42:07
Speaker
Yeah. But so that didn't mean, he just because he couldn't play, it didn't mean that he wasn't part of the organization. He just shifted from being on the diamond and got into the got into the into the dugouts and yeah got into the the fans and into the stands and played, right?
00:42:22
Speaker
So, um yeah, I think that the the degree of difficulty and the things that the guys bring to the table, it's it's up to them. um we and We encourage the showmanship, but not anything that would be um considered dangerous. Sure, you
Podcast: Business Biceps and BS
00:42:35
Speaker
manage your risk. I totally get it. And listen, what you do and the product you put out there is second to none. It's just absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, I have not been able to see myself get the lottery yet, but i watch them on YouTube all the time. And I'm always like, did I just see that happen? Yeah. It's just absolutely amazing. So, all right. So let me ask you this now. um You're going through every the whole career gamut that we went through.
00:42:58
Speaker
And on top of it now, you're podcasting, right? we You have a really interesting podcast called Business Biceps and BS. Walk me through, you know, how did you start that? Why just started? What's it all about? Where can we listen to it?
00:43:12
Speaker
Okay, so I've always wanted to do a podcast, but it's like one of those things where if you're not one of the early entrants, it's like you just become another voice in the miasma that is everybody doing podcasts, right? And so, and and and let's be honest, there's a lot of podcasts out there that are just mediocre. It's just somebody out there just kind of talking.
00:43:29
Speaker
And I get that. um I appreciate what they're doing, you know, just just because they have they have that they're bold enough to actually step out and put themselves out there. Because when you do that, there you know, people some people praise. There's a lot of criticism, too. So, you know, like could you got to have a little bit thicker skin. Good and bad. um Yeah. So so um but this one, I've always wanted to do this, and but it wasn't until the Georgia Society of CPAs I was doing. I was I just done a session um at their a mid mid year conference up in Atlanta.
00:43:59
Speaker
And they had come up to me and said, hey, we have an idea. We'd like to um we'd like to try a different format for a CPE. ah would Would you be interested in in doing? And like the word didn't even get out of their mouth.
00:44:09
Speaker
like they they go per And I go, you say podcast? i was like, yes, I'm totally in whatever you need. right um And so so this is actually done in conjunction with the Georgia georgia Society of CPAs. And um we we actually we actually record and film everything there at their new studios in Alpharetta.
00:44:26
Speaker
um And they, in particular, it just gives them a different feel for what the CPA world is. And what I mean by that is that there's a lot of, look, there's stereotypes exist for a reason.
00:44:39
Speaker
And the stereotype of the CPA, if i if I asked you to to give me the stereotype of a CPA right now, what would it be? Oh, it's the guy with the calculator in the glasses, sitting in a cubicle, working on the spreadsheet and doesn't get doesn't know how to talk to people. Right. That's what that's what we see on TV. And and and if you ask anybody um that like any student, they would say ah a grouchy mid mid midlife white guy.
00:45:05
Speaker
That's what they would say. Right. And they're not raw. um But it's not like that. That's the thing is that the the the that that mold needs to be shattered, crushed into dust and just blown into the wind because the CPA industry or the accounting industry, specifically CPAs,
00:45:24
Speaker
We are not the old grouchy white guys. um We are diverse. We have different backgrounds. we have We have cultures. We have all these different things that are coming and feeding into the CPA world, which I think makes the CPA world better because now you can you you you have all of these different places to pull from to make to make our our imp profession that much greater.
00:45:45
Speaker
um The professional, the fundamental math doesn't change. The fundamental language doesn't change, but the way we deliver it needs to be um in a way that people understand it. And so um in this case, that what we've done with this but this podcast, so there's three three segments. It's like the business, biceps, and BS. The business piece, obviously, When you're in the CPA world, you're talking about business, right? People want to know about growing businesses. They want to know, what do you do in this case? Always, know, once a CPA, you're always a tax, tax official, right? I'd be always asking tax questions. I don't do taxes, but hey, you know what? um
00:46:17
Speaker
Apparently I had those three letters. So I do taxes. um The bicep side is because um I really am into, um and into fitness and just making sure that people around in, in the,
00:46:29
Speaker
in the accounting world, accounting and finance world, that a lot of times we spend a lot of time on our spreadsheets, but we forget kind of what, ah like our own internal spreadsheets, right? um So we we will bust our butts to get this project done, but then we'll kind of forget about, but but but as we're doing that, we're eating like the the sticky bun because, oh, it's what tastes good. It makes me feel oh feel good at the time. But then over time you look at, yeah, you just, you just ah your your body just kind of succumbs to what what you're doing. And so the bicep side is like, hey,
00:46:59
Speaker
we can be We can be CPAs on the business side, but you also have to be mentally fit. I would prefer physically fit, right? Just because it it lowers stress levels. it makes You sleep better um you're better. You're better at your job when when you feel better, right? um So and it like the the spiritual aspects of it, I mean, what is it what is it you, like you as a person, when what are you made up of?
00:47:22
Speaker
And how can you take care of that individual so you can be the best CPA on the planet, right? um And um on the on the BS side, that's just, I started thinking about it.
00:47:32
Speaker
A lot of times things come up and you're looking at it going, that just doesn't pass a sniff test. um We're going to talk about that just to kind of unpack this thing. So um I think we get to we get to hit all these different areas um all on one podcast that allows us to um just, one,
00:47:48
Speaker
From a student perspective, um it shows them, hey, the CPAs. And by the way, I don't just put CPAs on on the show. is is There's people from all over all walks of life. um Usually they're um further along in their careers so they could talk about their business and how they got there. But also because students want to know, how do I become that executive? How do I become that manager? how they like What were the steps that to get there? um and And then you have someone that's on the show that say, hey, would you be interested if someone were to need want to have a question about this?
00:48:17
Speaker
Would you answer their email? Oh, yeah. Yeah. but I'd love to love to talk to students. Awesome. Secondly, the we have an issue inside the CPA world.
00:48:29
Speaker
And a lot of people don't like to talk about it, but um because it's like the mental the mental health thing, the um it's about it's it's straight up just it's burnout. All right. Yeah. I think CPAs are probably the most susceptible to burnout.
00:48:44
Speaker
um And they don't, they they just basically, they pour themselves into their work and they they don't worry about everything else that's happening because their work becomes their identity. And when that when that becomes the thing that moves you forward, um if that work were to disappear, all of a sudden you're like, what do I do? I don't i don't know if know what to do do with the next step.
00:49:04
Speaker
And so over over time, we get we get this reinforcement by other people who are working really hard. It's like, oh, that person's grinding. That person, I should be grinding. And so I don't go home at five o'clock anymore. I go home at seven o'clock because they're going home at seven o'clock. and But they're probably looking at you the same way. It's like, oh gosh, they haven't left yet. um but it's it's this It's like this this giant snake eating its own tail. and um And so I really want CPAs, CPA specifically, but really accounting and finance people who are in this kind of death spiral um to understand like, hey, we got into this profession for a reason.
00:49:39
Speaker
Can we just go find like the joy of why we got here in the first place? Passion. And then then then just just reignite that because I can tell you something, the people, the younger professionals that are around that are watching you,
00:49:54
Speaker
It's like, you don't think you're teaching them anything. um as a like You may not be purposely mentoring them in ah in a certain way, but you are absolutely mentoring them in a way that you don't want to.
00:50:06
Speaker
and And they're going to look up the chain and go, I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be that girl. They work too hard. they they don't know that They're twice divorced. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. guys, we got to get back. We got to touch grass.
00:50:17
Speaker
So, um so I think this podcast does two things. It helps students see all the opportunities that are out there. But in addition, it also allows current people in the, in the community, inside the industry to just kind of say, look, you know, I get it. This stuff's important, but You know, why am I even doing
Passion-Driven Business Philosophy
00:50:35
Speaker
it in the first place? Like, am I am i following the dream?
00:50:38
Speaker
I don't know. So um I just want them to rekindle that um and yeah get people, like, just shatter the mold. I love it. And, you know, just from the conversations I've had with you, I know that's got to be a super interesting podcast. So I'm sure people in our audience would would love that. And listen, I've been keeping you so long already. But i just before we go, it'll it'll kill me if I don't ask it.
00:50:59
Speaker
What is that wig on your desk right there? Can you tell me what that Is that what you dress up in at night? Like, what is that thing? This is, um, if you can see, it's like blue man. Um, this is my Peruk.
00:51:12
Speaker
And, um, okay. So we have, what's called a quick question chair and people say, um, so people ask like, why do you spell finance with a pH? I was like, I work for the bananas. I can spell it however want to. I want to spell it chocolate. I would, um, right. That the, uh, it's because, um,
00:51:28
Speaker
in In our finance world, um we are, again, it it it has to do has to do with um taking the technical and making it tangible. um One of the things that I've found throughout my career is that um when someone needs to come to the finance department to ask a question, um they always feel woefully unprepared for it. Because um the thought is that when you go into accounting, you're about to enter a threshold of very smart people.
00:51:52
Speaker
who look down their nose at you because you don't know these things. That is not, that is not a finance the group. um In fact, I would beg to, I'd be um willing to say that anywhere you go in in any organization, yeah, you might find a couple people that act that way.
00:52:09
Speaker
But for the most part, it's like, that's not what finance and accounting people do. They're they're they're serving a function. They know the function. In fact, it's an unsung hero function. um where where it's it's I call it shadow ops.
00:52:21
Speaker
We do our stuff day in and day out, whether people give us pats on the back or not. We just do. and because And we're really good at it. um the The thought is, though, is that as people come and approach our finance department,
00:52:34
Speaker
I want them to not fear that, um one, that they're ever going to, that theyre that they feel stupid. I don't want them to feel feel stupid. I don't want them fear that they're going to come into some place and be judged um because they they're coming for a question. they they What advice? they they need They need to ask a question to get to move themselves along.
00:52:52
Speaker
um So I think we make it a little bit more, a little, with with changing the spelling, with changing the spelling um we just kind of take the sting off of it. It's like, oh, if if finance can kind of feel like goofy too, then, okay, then they don't take themselves too seriously and I can actually have a conversation and they're not, you know, we're going to be on on par with each other.
00:53:13
Speaker
um So when they come in, um there is a chair that is right over there um that um is called the quick question chair. And there's it to kind of give you an idea. There's a, there's a lamp over it has a red light and it's one chair and it has, it's basically, if they, if they chair, they know to, they have to come and sit in the chair.
00:53:33
Speaker
And then when I look at them, cause they, that's where the quick question is. Like I got a quick question. Okay. Sit in the chair. Part of it is because um it's a, it's a, it's a little bit of,
00:53:44
Speaker
You've come into our domain without an appointment, right? You can certainly say, hey, let's talk at one o'clock. But if you're coming in for a quick question, we all know the quick questions last. It's not just a two minute thing.
00:53:56
Speaker
Usually it it takes you about 20 minutes to kind of figure out um what's going on. Oh, yeah. Because once you tell an accountant something, it's like, okay, now I need to now i need to figure this out, right? I can't just give you an answer because the answer is always, it depends.
00:54:07
Speaker
so um So they sit in the chair and the question is, are you here for wisdom or judgment? And if they say wisdom, then then we have we have a conversation about whatever the question is. But if they say judgment, for whatever reason, I don't know why they would say judgment, but um then the peru gets thrown on the head and we start speaking in in British dialects and it makes it that much more fun. So that's, that's the again, that's the live theater in me um playing out in this small black box theater you would call the finance. department. Love it. I love it. its just is Again, it's just another way to say, look, we don't take ourselves too seriously. um If you have a question, come ask the question.
00:54:44
Speaker
but um But in the future, if you would like to not sit in that chair, let's just make an appointment. was like, because we're busy too, right? When they sit in the chair, you don't make them drink out of that Jameson bottle, do you? No, no, no, no, no. That would be hazing. that That's for me. No one else gets that. There you go. All right. Love it. Love it.
00:55:00
Speaker
Well, listen, Tim, I don't know how to thank you for all the time you spent with us today. i mean, your story from... going through school and whether it's a CPA or a professor or a podcaster or a CFO, just absolutely amazing. And, you know, congratulations to you and to the Savannah Banana organization, because you guys have figured out how to entertain people. And it's really just so fun to watch the journey and how the whole product you put out there. is developing over time and and we're just eating it up and social media is eating it up. So thank you again for coming with all of these insights. And, you know hopefully we could do this again in another time in the not too distant future.
00:55:42
Speaker
Yeah, Mike. So before you sign off, I think it's important to just because a lot of people ask, they say, well, you can get away with this stuff because you work for a cookie baseball team. And I said, that's a cop out.
00:55:53
Speaker
um I think that um that you too, in your firm, in your company, in your not-for-profit, even governmental um folks, You can choose how you want those daily interactions, how you're going to treat that person across the table, um how you're going to treat that person in traffic.
00:56:11
Speaker
um yeah That's your choice. and um And what we've done here at The Bananas, if we as we decided to say, it's not about money, it's not about prestige, it's about the fan. And if we focus on the fan in themselves, everything else would take care of themselves, right?
00:56:27
Speaker
And I think that in your own businesses, in your own schooling, in your own academic departments, what have you. if you If you truly understand who your client is and you focus specifically on them and are passionate about them, everything else takes care of itself.
00:56:43
Speaker
so um So don't use the cop out of, oh, it's just ah it's just a goofy baseball team. He can do these things. You can do them too. In fact, I would love to have quick question chairs all over the United States. right And and just kind just to take the sting out of it.
00:56:56
Speaker
um You can be passionate about your client, your customers, your employees, and um and people, will it'll resonate. it'll it'll change It'll change the landscape of American business.
00:57:08
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's that's so well put. You know, it's very eloquent. And it really is important. and you And you stressed it a few times, you know, find the passion, find why you wanted to get into this. And hey, it could still be fun. We got jobs to do, but figure out a way to make it fun for everybody. And that's that's really a way to kind of live life. So thank you for that great advice. I really appreciate it.
00:57:30
Speaker
Hey everyone, I just want to make sure you are aware you can get CPE credit just for listening to this podcast. All you need to do, visit the link in the show notes and you can get your credit.
00:57:42
Speaker
If you are already a Prime CPE subscriber, you can get the CPE credit at no extra cost. Just log in to finalize the credit. Thanks everyone. And we hope to see you in a future Becker Accounting Podcast.