Graduation Speech 2023

Once again, I have not been asked to present a graduation speech, but here is what I would have said if asked.

When I was 12, I asked an uncle what he did. He said he was a corporate accountant, but what he really wanted to do was be a philanthropist. I asked why a philanthropist, and he replied that it would mean he would have so much money that he would be able to give a lot of it away.

Being a philanthropist then became a goal of mine, but it was vague, and all it would mean was that I needed to make a lot of money. I was no better off after speaking to him because I had no direction on how to make my fortune. When I was 12, I didn’t really know what having a lot of money meant, but I figured it would be pretty cool to have a lot of money. As I drifted older, my thoughts were on choosing a profession or future job, or maybe starting a business. I did start a business when I was 13, and since that point, I always had the cash I needed in my pocket. Investing or saving for my future was just as vague as becoming a philanthropist. I never had a lot, but always had a drop of more than just enough.

One day I took a nap, and then I woke up and am now somewhat retired and standing here in front of a large make-believe audience. Looking back, I find that I am pretty well satisfied with my professional career. I loved what I did, loved the clients, the staff I worked with, my partners, and my colleagues, and made a good living. When I think about my career, a lot happened by accident or circumstance, but I was smart enough to grab the opportunities when they arose.

I also had a plan that I developed in college. It was an abstract plan and not the type of strategic plan I advise my clients to develop, but it was a plan. The plan was to have my own CPA practice. When and where, and how were not even blurred thoughts, but having the practice was what I wanted. I can share the reasons why, but that won’t impart any lessons, so I’ll save that story for sometimes when I am having a drink with young people, and I’ll do what many old people like to do, which is talk about what they did and how great they were.

However, by wanting to have my own practice, I knew I needed to learn how to run a practice. The technical part, like taxes and auditing, would be learned no matter what I did, but not the management part. So I decided that I would work for small firms and get to see how they were run. I had jobs with 5 firms in the six years I worked, plus I was hustling to get clients on the side at every opportunity I had. I was lucky to get clients and also met a banker that referred a steady stream of business clients to me. I also never turned down any work, and whatever needed to be done, I did. Usually, I had to learn what to do and spent many nights reading and preparing, and picking the brains of more experienced accountants who never shied away from helping me. It also helped that my father was a CPA, and he was a great mentor as I grew my practice.

That’s my lesson. Success will come to those that have an inner drive to be the best. Yeah, some will succeed that don’t have that inner drive, and some that have it will not succeed. But what I do know is that the vast majority that succeeds have that inner drive to be the best and to always do the best job possible. If you do not feel that inner drive, then quit what you are doing and find a place where you will have that inner drive if you want to succeed. If not, that’s your choice, but then don’t look back on your career, regretting what you did not accomplish.

Good luck. You did it! Now go do it!