Resilience, Revenue, and Responsibility: Lessons from the Other Side of the IRS Desk
How faith, failure, and federal experience shaped my journey from IRS auditor to client advocate and entrepreneur.
Success is often portrayed as a straight line upward. In reality, it is a series of setbacks, recalibrations, and comebacks. My career has been defined not by avoiding failure, but by learning how to rise from it.
The best advice I ever received was this: If you want to succeed, you must be willing to go through failure. Success and failure are partners. Falling short is not the opposite of achievement — it is often the pathway to it.
Think about a child learning to walk. That child falls repeatedly, yet never questions whether walking is possible. There is no fear — only persistence. Adjustment follows every fall. Progress follows every attempt. Eventually, what once seemed impossible becomes natural.
That mindset has carried me through every chapter of my professional life.
From IRS Auditor to Advocate
I began my career at the Internal Revenue Service in my late teens. Over the years, I worked as a tax auditor, revenue agent, and later within the Criminal Investigation Division. Early in my auditing career, we were taught something that permanently shaped my professional philosophy: we were not simply auditing tax returns — we were auditing individuals.
That distinction mattered.
Tax law is technical and complex. But behind every return is a human being — a family, a business owner, someone navigating responsibility, uncertainty, and often fear. Numbers tell a story, but people live the story.
Understanding behavior, communication, and human nature was just as critical as understanding the Internal Revenue Code.
Today, I sit on the other side of the desk. I stand beside individuals and business owners who feel overwhelmed, unheard, or confused by tax law. My federal experience allows me to anticipate issues, navigate compliance, and advocate strategically. Equally important is my ability to translate complexity into clarity.
Technical excellence matters. But so does compassion.
Resilience Rooted in Faith
My resilience does not come from professional titles. It comes from my relationship with God.
Each morning, before emails and meetings begin, I sit quietly with my coffee and align myself spiritually. I pray. I reflect. I listen. I believe God guides my footsteps, my words, and my decisions. That spiritual grounding — instilled in me since childhood — has been my anchor through every professional high and personal low.
Failure may shape you. Learning will grow you. But faith will ground you.
When resilience, knowledge, and faith work together, success becomes sustainable.
Loving the Law — and Loving People
To succeed in tax law, you must love two things: the law itself and people.
If you love the law but lack empathy, you will struggle to serve effectively. If you love people but lack technical mastery, you cannot protect them properly. True leadership in this field requires both.
It also requires lifelong learning. The federal government offers extraordinary opportunities for advancement, education, mentorship, and leadership. Entrepreneurship demands the same mindset — continuous growth, adaptability, and courage.
Knowledge is power. No one can take it from you. When you maintain a learner’s mindset, you future-proof your career.
Stewardship Over Status
Influence, to me, is not about recognition. It is about responsibility.
Every client, every opportunity, every platform is stewardship. I strive to operate with ethics, integrity, and compassion — not because it is good branding, but because it is the right way to lead.
Whether guiding families through complex returns, mentoring aspiring professionals, or building initiatives to expand financial literacy, my goal is simple: to serve people in the way I would want to be served.
With clarity.
With strength.
With respect.
Success is meaningful only when it uplifts others.
And that is the kind of success I am committed to building.
