Today we’d like to introduce you to Carmel Lafayette McClain.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I began my tax professional career in 2018 working independently under a local tax company in Orlando. After being in the industry for 3 years at that point in time, I recognized that the African American community in Orlando had such a huge mistrust for tax professionals, a poor understanding on tax code, and a severe fear of the IRS.
In 2020 when covid happened, my husband’s company shut completely down. We lost 80% of our monthly income in an instant. It caught us off guard as we are both entrepreneurs growing our small business and recently closed on our very first home 30 days before!
At that time, I was a part-time tax professional with no intention of starting a business. I was completely comfortable being the support my husband needed for his company and preparing taxes during the season. Well, I learned quickly after Covid that as entrepreneurs we needed to pivot with generating more income. We needed a “pandemic friendly income generating business.” We are a large and growing family with 6 children between the both of us, we needed to figure it out fast. I am a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from the Caribbean islands of Jamaica and Trinidad. Both of my parents are/were entrepreneurs, so I guess it was always in my cards to follow in their footsteps.
With my husband’s media company being temporarily on hold (down for 11 months!), he pushed me to start Wallstreet Tax and Co., aka Wallstreet Tax Company.
I was hesitant at first to start a business during a pandemic, but ultimately, I’m extremely glad that I did. I recruited and challenged some of the closest women to me to learn the tax industry and become tax preparers under my company. My very first year in business, my sister, sister-in-law, and cousins supported my dream and toughed out tax training to becoming certified.
I’m proud to be a minority women business owner and to also provide a platform for the women of my company to be able to supplement the income that was lost, work from home and take care of their families during an historic pandemic. I’m also proud to be a new source of information for my community to reach out to when in need of tax help.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Stepping away from being just a tax professional to a tax business owner was definitely a learning curve for myself and also my clients at the time. I had to learn how to balance and organize my time better. My personal clients were accustomed to contacting and actually reaching me directly during the busy tax season. With starting my business, I needed to implement an admin support team to handle my communications as well as a personal assistant as I tripled the amount of people I was used to servicing. I was also the back-end support for all of the women who worked for my company and for their clients as well. It was a lot to structure with adding new service numbers, and being the only person responsible for training was tough.
It was a bit bothersome for me not to be able to speak to every single client of mine because I value the genuine interactions. It was a slight adjustment for myself and several of my clients to go through, but the support I received from them allowed all of the minor obstacles we faced to be handled with diligence so that future clients didn’t have to go through what they experienced. I’m forever grateful to the clients of Wallstreet tax and co for their patience with me as I maneuvered and figured things out.
Not only that, but I needed to also be patient with myself as I learned new tax codes and laws and learn how to communicate that information to my clients without it being confusing. There were a lot of tax credits and changes with the American Rescue Plan Act that caused a lot of confusion for many taxpayers.
I also faced a bit of guilt. I have been a volunteer at The New Image Youth Center (at-risk youth center located in the Paramore community) as a Step and Dance Coach for the past 7 years. Starting my business made my practices days/times sporadic and bit inconsistent at first. Safe to say now, I am proudly managing time for my business and my volunteer work with my championship-winning team effectively. The kids were so happy for me to start my business, and a couple of them are already planning on working for my company lol
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Wallstreet Tax and Co.?
The community’s choice for tax services and investments.
Wallstreet Tax and Co is a Central Florida-based company specializing in income tax preparation, business tax preparation, nonprofit tax preparation, accounting/bookkeeping, public notary, payroll services as well as credit repair services.
We require mandatory ongoing tax education for all of our tax professionals to enable us to solve the most complex tax issues disputes, and audits. We are a QuickBooks-certified accounting firm with QuickBooks-certified accountants, bookkeepers, and tax experts.
I am most proud of the success that Wallstreet Tax Company experienced these past 2 years. The outpouring support from the community has been tremendous for us. I am also proud to be able to be a voice to those who otherwise would not have reached out for tax help. I received so many new clients this year who have been sitting on audits or several years of tax returns needing to be filed. I am happy that I was able to help so many members of my community get back on track and with no fear of the IRS because they know that I will take care of them.
What does success mean to you?
My definition of success would be accomplishing goals that initially seemed out of reach or impossible to achieve. To be successful, you must master self-discipline and consistently work towards achieving the goal. Even if you are only able to dedicate a small amount of time or have a small budget to push the goal further, do it! Every step towards the goal, no matter how big or small, lays out the foundation for your success.
Pricing:
- Free Tax Consultations
- $399 monthly bookkeeping promo rate
- $179 credit repair services
- $175 tax amendment services
- $375 Audit Assistance (Free for current clients)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wallstreettaxandco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wallstreettax/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WallstreetTaxCompany
Image Credits
Emerson McClain
