Meet the Tribe - Iskra Perez Salcedo
Each week we bring you the story of one incredible entrepreneur who can be found inside the Hatch Tribe Members Circle. Today we're excited to introduce you to Iskra Perez Salcedo of IPS Accounting Services and Consulting LLC.
Are you an Early Bird or a Night Owl? Definitely a Night Owl
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? 15 Minutes of meditation and 15 Minutes of Yoga
What are you reading now? Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker ; Girls Wash your Face by Rachel Hollis
What's your favorite podcast or YouTube channel? Oprah's Super Soul
Favorite place to getaway from it all? The beach – I was born on an Island so being by the ocean makes me feel like I’m home.
If you could get an extra hour today, how would you use it? I would get a massage.
Do you consider yourself more of an Introvert or extrovert? I know many of you are not going to believe this because I have such an outgoing personality but I’m actually an Introvert. I love being alone and spending time by myself. My husband’s biggest complain in our relationship is that he has to constantly ask me questions to get me to talk. Because when I’m in the comfort of my home I like peace and quiet.
What's your favorite food? Pasta and Seafood and if I can combine those two that’s the perfect combination for me.
I'm on a mission to... Find a balance between serving my clients and serving my community I love my work and I know that there are so many people that need my help out there. I am the happiest when I know I have helped a business owner understand their finances and move towards their goals. I get excited when I can save a taxpayer thousands of dollars on their tax returns. However, that doesn’t compare to the satisfaction that I get from the work that I do in my community whether it’s advocating for women’s rights or Hispanics I’m all about doing for others.
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How did your awesome business come to be?
At the age of 45 I found myself in a deep depression. My International Financial Analyst position was being eliminated, my children had all moved out and the life I had built was collapsing. After twenty-five years in Corporate Accounting I decided it was time to take the reins of my life back and reinvent a new path.
I knew that I wanted to help business owners grow their business by teaching them the fundamentals of how to optimize processes and improve the overall productivity of their business. This is how IPS Accounting Services and Consulting was born.
Who inspired you to pursue entrepreneurship?
I had never thought of this until recently that my grandmother passed away this last January. I had the big job of putting together her eulogy and it wasn’t until then that I realized how much we had in common. Mind you we have never been that close. However, I have never seen two people that were more alike she was such a determined person and from as far back as I could remember she always had one business or another.
After I came back home from the funeral, I started researching about this and it turns out that there have been studies done and some of the entrepreneurship traits we carry do come from our DNA. We also unconsciously copy some traits from our grandparents since we look up to them as a source of wisdom.
Have you ever had a mentor? And how did they help you?
For my career, I was very lucky in my professional life I had a very good CPA who trained me in my real job as an Accountant. He had worked for over 25 years with the IRS and knew many tricks and I was blessed to have him as my teacher. Since then I have always tried to pay it forward and love to teach new generations right out of college.
On the business end I really didn’t have anyone until I met Hillary and then the heavens opened for me and began to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
How do you define success for yourself?
Being able to spend time with my family and friends and feeling good with myself because I have successfully helped other people.
We all love failure & flop stories! Tell us about something you tried in business that didn't work, and how you moved beyond it.
Like most of us when I first started I was desperately taking on any client and not setting up boundaries. I had a small business client who grew from $50K – 1 Million in two years and expected me to charge the same fees.
Obviously, I have now set up my fees based on the growth of the business because the more the business grows the more work we will need to put in.
What is a recent success that you're super proud of accomplishing?
In my personal life, my children’s success, seeing them accomplished in their lives gives me a sense of accomplishment like no other it tells me that no matter what other things I “F” up along the way I must I have done something right.
In my professional life, having customers now reaching out to me instead of the other way around is a huge thing my first year was all about getting people to know that I existed and now they are starting to look for me.
What is your superpower?
I’m a visionary I see potential in an investment, in a business and sometimes in people that they don’t even see for themselves.
What is the least sexy part of your job?
Marketing and social media it just takes too much of my time and it will definitely be the first thing to go as soon as I can afford it.
What do you hope to learn from your fellow entrepreneurs in the Hatch Tribe Members Circle?Mostly encouragement on those days that I feel like I just can’t anymore. You know those days you want to give up because your exhausted of putting so much into it and you don’t know if you’re really going to get your ROI (return on investment) back one day. I need that reminder that although I sometime feel like I have my armor on I’m not superwoman and that It’s ok to be vulnerable because the truth is I’m just a human being.
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To connect with Iskra Perez Salcedo directly join us INSIDE THE TRIBE! Become a member today at www.hatchtribe.com/memberscircle.
She can also be found on her Website and Facebook.