THE CPA CONSULTANTS' ALLIANCE - Key Persons
As an Executive Vice President of The Rainmaker Companies, Adelaide is a speaker, trainer, coach and consultant to accounting firms around the world. Adelaide's strengths are in marketing, branding, communications, leadership and business development. For over twelve years she has been working with accounting firms to help them build stronger cultures and stronger brands by encouraging excellence and consistency at all levels in a firm. She does this through curriculum development that addresses each firm's unique challenges and strengths and through energetic and impactful training that keeps firms excited about growth. Adelaide teams up with Julie McPherson, Vice President, in the training of The Rainmaker Academy, the premier leadership and business development program to the industry. More recently, Adelaide has spearheaded and oversees the development of Video Module training and records these to supplement growth efforts inside of firms.
Adelaide is a bilingual and bicultural citizen of the United States and France. Her unique background gives her the ability to connect with people around the world. As a consultant, her capacity to understand the cultural differences and nuances of various locales makes her a valuable asset to The Rainmaker Companies. Her previous role was as Executive Director of Enterprise Worldwide, an international association of independent accounting firms. She continues to work with firms around the world for their training and consulting needs.
Adelaide has her BA from Vanderbilt University and her MA from the American University of Paris. Adelaide and her husband, Matthew, have three young children, Eleonore, Josephine and Charles-Henri and two dogs, Napoleon and Elsa (yes, like the princess.)
Job Titles:
- President of the Rainmaker Companies
Angie serves as President of The Rainmaker Companies. She advanced from her previous position as Director of Consulting, which she held for over ten years. Her role in the firm involves high-level strategy, thought leadership, consulting, and program and curriculum development. She transforms the lives of clients through innovation, goal setting, coaching, training, and accountability development.
Angie is consistently recognized as one of the most influential people in the accounting industry. She is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences and a regular contributor to publications. She was published in a national "Ask Angie" column for several years and is the "She" in Accounting Today's column known as "He Said, She Said." This column debates issues in the accounting industry ranging from leadership to generational differences. Her reputation and passion are renowned and she brings all this to her role at The Rainmaker Companies.
Prior to joining Rainmaker, Angie worked in organizational management, sales, and human resources. She earned her BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and Pre-Law at Middle Tennessee State University and has completed master's-level work with an MBA emphasis. She is married with two sons.
Job Titles:
- Consultant for Boomer Consulting, Inc
As a consultant for Boomer Consulting, Inc., Arianna Campbell helps accounting firms challenge the status quo by leading process improvement initiatives that result in increased profitability and client satisfaction. She also facilitates the development and cultivation of future firm leaders in The P3 Leadership Academy™ Academy. Internally, she blends concepts from Lean Six Sigma and leadership development to drive innovation and continuous improvement within the company. Arianna also enjoys the opportunity to share knowledge through regular contributions to the Boomer Bulletin and other industry wide publications, as well as public speaking at industry conferences.
Arianna's pleasant yet direct communication style makes her an ideal facilitator. She thrives in the team collaborative process and utilizes her facilitation skills to help reach the best desired outcomes. She listens carefully and offers thoughtful ideas to improve processes and programs. Her attention to detail provides value for capturing feedback and strategies for implementing solutions.
Arianna's experience includes an array of strategic as well as managerial engagements. As Media Planner for a major, Mid-Atlantic advertising firm, Arianna had oversight for strategic planning, marketing and overall client service. In this role she served a diverse array of notable clients including Georgia-Pacific Building Products, North Carolina Travel and Tourism and Cargill Industries. At every stop in her career Arianna has amassed expertise in strategic enterprise operations and offers critical skills for Boomer Consulting, Inc.'s mission to make their clients successful and future ready.
Arianna received her Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt from The Ohio State University and her Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification from the University of Georgia. She enjoys reading, travelling and spending time with her husband and their three children.
Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk (like rustic without the "t") is the founder and owner of bbr companies llc. After having built a widely recognized and respected marketing firm, bbr marketing, she decided to make a big change in 2017 and scale her business back so she could focus on what she does best and brings her the most joy. And thus her part-time chief marketing officer service was born. Most firms can benefit from the input of a seasoned, experienced strategic marketer, but don't need or want to invest in that resource full-time. This way partners can focus on what they do best with the knowledge that their marketing (and often their marketing team) is being managed by an expert with their strategic plan always in mind.
Bonnie hails from Lakeland, Florida but has firmly-planted roots in the Atlanta neighborhood of Kirkwood with her husband, Paul, and their two dogs. With original aspirations of being a journalist after graduating from high school, Bonnie earned her BA in journalism, public relations and French from Troy (State) University in Alabama graduating summa cum laude. She later followed up with an MBA with a marketing concentration from Georgia State University.
Fast forward a few years, and Bonnie quite literally wrote the book on online marketing for accounting firms, Take Your Marketing Online: Proven Ways to Grow Your Firm in the Digital Age, at the request of the AICPA. She is a regular contributor and quote source for Social Media Today, Accounting Today, Entrepreneur, US News & World Report, CPA Practice Advisor and other industry-related publications and websites. She has been recognized as one of Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People (2012, 2013, 2016) and One to Watch (2011), Volunteer of the Year by the Association for Accounting Marketing and one of CPA Practice Advisor's Most Powerful Women in Accounting (2015, 2016).
Never one to put aside her passion for marketing, small businesses and women's issues when she closes the door at the end of the day, Bonnie also uses her acumen to help others simply because it matters. She is a founding member of the Atlanta Independent Women's Network (AIWN), a board member of the Association for Accounting Marketing and a former president of its Atlanta, marketing committee chair for CPA Consultants' Alliance and former marketing committee chair and board member of Atlanta Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners.
Carrie is a founding shareholder and President of The Whetstone Group, Inc. Since 2000 Whetstone has provided topline growth consulting services and training to hundreds of CPA firms throughout North America. She has more than 20 years of CPA firm marketing and business development experience.
Carrie helps clients:
Determine how to best organize for growth and build a sustainable growth culture.
Develop comprehensive growth plans, providing ongoing support and consultation.
Establish accountability for business development and meet their revenue goals.
Implement follow-up strategies to help manage the sales process with prospective clients and maximize their ROI on marketing.
Carrie is a skilled trainer and provides group sales training as well as one-on-one coaching that enables attendees to better understand the sales cycle and develop the personal skills necessary to close sales. Firm leaders, practitioners, marketing professionals benefit from her knowledge and dynamic approach.
Before joining Whetstone, Carrie was an in-house marketing director in the national marketing office of RSM McGladrey, Inc.
Carrie has presented for the AICPA, the Association for Accounting Marketing's (AAM) Annual Summit, the Indiana CPA Society, DFK USA's Annual Growth Summit, Moore Stephens North America, MSI Global Alliance's International Managing Partner Conference, BKR's Annual Marketing Meeting, PKF North America and The International Group of Accounting Firms (IGAF). She has been published in AAM's MarkeTrends: The Journal of Accounting Marketing, The Journal of Accountancy and the CPA Practice Management Forum.
Carrie is President of the CPA Consultants' Alliance (CPACA), a working group of thought leaders united in their efforts to further leadership within the CPA profession. Through collaboration, the CPACA offers deliverables and solutions CPA firms can use to advance leadership in their firm. Carrie also serves as Treasurer of the National Association for Accounting Marketing an as a member of AAM's Board of Directors and has previously been Chair of AAM's Education Committee. She is a member of the CPA Consultants' Trust.
Gary Adamson is the CEO of Adamson Advisory, a CPA practice management consulting firm. Bringing both his managing partner and consulting experience to the table, he specializes in:
Succession planning and strategies
Firm governance and management
Merger and acquisition assistance
Strategic planning and firm retreats
Partner compensation systems
Partner agreements and retirement
Partner coaching
Gary is one of the few CPA firm consultants with Managing Partner on his résumé. He led a top 200 CPA firm for over twenty years growing it from a small local practice to a regional four office firm. His experience goes deep with personal first-hand knowledge of the challenges you face in your firm, each day. Adding to that, he has consulted with over 60 firms, bringing that broader knowledge and best practices into every engagement.
Gary is a frequent speaker at professional conferences including state societies, associations and the AICPA. His articles have been published in over 40 professional publications.
Gary's professional background includes:
Graduate of Indiana University, School of Business
Graduate of the Leading Professional Service Firms curriculum at Harvard University Business School
Indiana CPA Society Board member and Audit Committee Chairman
Ohio Society of CPA's Council of Leaders
AICPA MAP Committee member
AICPA G400 Steering Committee member
Member of CPA Consultants' Alliance
Job Titles:
- CEO of Accountingfly and the Publisher of GoingConcern.Com
Jeff Phillips is the CEO of Accountingfly and the publisher of GoingConcern.com. He has 19 years of experience in building and implementing recruitment strategies and has spent the last 6 years leading Accountingfly, a recruitment platform for employers of financial talent. Prior to starting Accountingfly, Jeff was with Monster.com where he helped craft recruitment strategy for clients such as H&R Block, Shell, Dell, Walmart, AT&T and Verizon. As publisher of the popular website Going Concern, Jeff's team has built (and learns from) the largest audience of Millennial CPAs of any publication or website. He was named among the Top 100 Most Influential People by Accounting Today for 3 consecutive years.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Partner
- Member of the Association for Accounting Administration
- Member of the New Horizon Group and
Jennifer Wilson is a co-founder and partner of ConvergenceCoaching, LLC, a national leadership and management consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders achieve. Jennifer's ultimate goal is to make a transformational difference in the lives of her clients and their businesses.
Named as one of Accounting Today's 100 Most Influential People in Accounting, INSIDE Public Accounting's Top 10 Most Recommended Consultants, and CPA Practice Advisor's Top 25 Thought Leaders and Most Powerful Women in Accounting, Jennifer has worked in both the public accounting and IT sectors before cofounding ConvergenceCoaching, LLC. As a partner for the top ten accounting firm, BDO, Jennifer ran the National Financial Solutions Group practice with nearly 100 consultants providing financial systems selection, implementation, and support services to clients.
Jennifer is a member of the Association for Accounting Administration (AAA), Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM), American Marketing Association, American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and International Coach Federation.
Jennifer is a member of the New Horizon Group and CPA Consultants' Alliance, forums for leading consultants to the accounting profession. She is a regular guest columnist and blogger for Accounting Today, Accounting Tomorrow, The Journal of Accountancy and AICPA CPA Insider with many recently published articles on engaging Next Gen clients and talent, succession, partner performance, talent development, and growth. She is a nationally recognized speaker, teacher, and facilitator delivering leadership and management insights to accounting and technology associations, state societies, and firms. Above all, she is a change agent. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys spending time with her husband and three girls, gardening, reading, practicing yoga, running, paddle boarding and is active in her church.
Job Titles:
- CEO of the Center for Enlightened Business
Matt Solomon is the CEO of The Center for Enlightened Business. He takes an unconventional and bold approach to teach accounting firms of all sizes to learn how to get highly profitable clients and find more personal freedom. Empowering these firms to increase their engagements to $3,000-$15,000 per month while decreasing their hours by 20% or more.
Matt started his career at 17, successfully coaching accountants at an International Accounting Firm association. By 20 he was running a 15-person marketing department for a multi-million-dollar organization, by 26 Matt had trained and inspired over 1000 people internationally including those at Fortune 1000 companies, accounting conferences, and prestigious universities. Each engagement focused on the balance of personal and professional mastery of their true potential.
By the age of 30, Matt became the CEO of the Center for Enlightened Business. His work over the years has pointed to one compelling and controversial truth, that to unlock our great ability to attain personal and financial freedom while having an incredible impact on our communities. We must learn how to let go of the limitations in our thinking and free ourselves from outdated belief systems, and then we must learn how to take purposeful, intelligent, and inspired action to make our wildest dreams come true.
Matt's taken notice of what he considers to be "The great epidemic in the accounting profession" - while the industry is being disrupted by technology and innovation, many still hold on to the old ways of thinking about and working in their businesses.
His training, studies, and work have led him to discover the heart of the matter; beyond strategy, systems and processes, tools and technology. The real issues that inhibit growth and evolution for the profession are the emotional and psychological barriers such as fear, doubt, and uncertainty. He believes that unless and until we solve the problem on that level, growth remains a slow climb and we will never reach our potential for profitability, impact, freedom, or fulfillment.
Matt's made it his mission to help accountants understand, let go of, and move past the self-created limitations so that they can use personal empowerment as the engine for professional success and their business as the vehicle to help make the world a better place.
He, his fiancé Michelle, their dog Willy and cat Mala live in Long Island, New York and enjoy traveling, outdoor adventures, giving back to the community, and attending personal development workshops around the world.
Job Titles:
- President of Boomer Consulting, Inc
Sandra Wiley, President of Boomer Consulting, Inc., has been lauded for her industry expertise in human resources and training. She is often called the "go-to person" for solutions to the profession's staffing crisis, citing her wise advice on hiring - and keeping - employees for the rest of their careers.
Sandra developed the P3 Leadership Academy and hosts regional training sessions throughout the country. She is also a founding member of The CPA Consultant's Alliance and a certified KolbeTM trainer, advising firms on building balanced teams, managing employee conflict and hiring staff.
Sandra's role at Boomer Consulting, Inc. includes serving as co-director of the P3 Leadership Academy as well as the Boomer Managing Partner CircleTM, the Boomer HR Circle and the Boomer Nextgen Leader Circle. Her years of experience and influence as a management and strategic planning consultant make her a sought-after resource among the best and brightest firms in the country.
Sandra is regularly invited to speak at national conferences where she empowers audiences with new ideas and a sense of humor. She is a popular author, bringing penetrating conversations to many online and print publications including Accounting Today, Accounting Web, ADP Thrive, the Journal of Accountancy's Career Insider, and Intuit's Firm of the Future.
In 2013, Sandra penned The Journey Ahead: A New Roadmap to Collaboration in Your Firm (available on Amazon). In 2015, in partnership with the AICPA, Sandra wrote The Engaged Employee: 10 Initiatives for Successful Firms (available in the AICPA Store). She is also the author of an award-winning marketing plan, Rebuilding the Community Bank, published by the Bank Marketing Association.
Prior to joining Boomer, Sandra worked for over 16 years in the financial services industry in the areas of human resources, marketing/sales, training and business development. She has developed numerous one-day seminars in human resource and marketing and served as an officer of the American Institute of Banking.
Sandra's work in the accounting profession hasn't gone unnoticed, and she has received a variety of awards and honors. Those include 2009-2016 Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting, 2012-2014 CPA Practice Advisor Top 25 Thought Leader, 2012-2016 CPA Practice Advisor Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting and 2012 Leading Edge Alliance on the Edge Innovation Award.
Sandra is a naturally gifted public speaker who is noted for the energy and excitement she brings to an audience. At the same time, she adds a personal touch that leaves individuals in the crowd with a sense that she is your friend. This ability to build relationships and project warmth makes Sandra especially effective at building great teams. She is a team player in her own right, offering her multi-tasking skills and a realistic viewpoint that can keep an agenda on track and people focused on the tasks at hand.
Sandra is a graduate of Friends University in Wichita, KS, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management. She also graduated with honors from the University of Colorado School of Bank Marketing. She and her husband, Doug, make their home in Manhattan, Kansas (aka "the Little Apple"). They have three children: Charlie, Deanna and Sarah.
Job Titles:
- President and Founder of Inovautus Consulting
Sarah Johnson Dobek is President and Founder of Inovautus Consulting, a national consulting firm that develops strategies, programs, and training designed to help accounting firms grow faster and in the right direction.
Sarah and her team work with firms to assess their growth goals and execute practical marketing and business development plans. With her unique background in operations, human resources, practice management, and marketing, Sarah delivers insightful, practical advice that guides organizations down the right path toward achieving the growth they desire. Sarah's ability to understand where an organization is starting from, coupled with her disciplined approach to best practices, drives results for firms and helps them to evolve.
Prior to forming Inovautus, Sarah was the Director of Marketing for a Chicago-based accounting firm and the Director of Consulting Services at PDI Global, where she learned the nuts and bolts of public accounting firms and the importance of aligning marketing, people, and practice management strategies to achieve growth.
Sarah is a sought-after speaker for conferences, board meetings, and professional service associations and societies. She is a thought leader appearing throughout the profession through articles, podcasts, and videos in Accounting Today, CPA Society publications, the AICPA Journal, CPA Practice Advisor, and more.
Having been named a "Top 100 Most Influential Person" by Accounting Today in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, and a two-time "Top 20 Under 40 Vendor" by CPA Practice Advisor, Sarah is without a doubt glued into the profession. Living and breathing her passion, she's also a member and former board member of the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) and the past President and member of the CPA Consultants Alliance.
Tamera Loerzel is a partner of ConvergenceCoaching, LLC, a national leadership and marketing consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders achieve success. Tamera is committed to help her clients capitalize on opportunities to transform their practices and businesses on a foundation of unity and trust in their leadership teams through retreat facilitation and strategic planning, in-person and virtual leadership training programs, and individual coaching.
Prior to ConvergenceCoaching, Tamera managed the BDO USA Minneapolis consulting group and implemented their middle market financial software service methodology and the customer relationship management software her team used to manage their sales, marketing, and customer support processes. In addition to her local responsibilities, she directed the national sales and marketing efforts of the package solutions group at BDO. Prior to BDO, Tamera acted as the National Sales Manager for State of the Art, Inc. (now known as Sage Software, Inc.), where she was responsible for financial systems sales, CPA programs, marketing communications and recruitment, and channel communications.
Tamera is committed to giving back to the accounting profession through volunteerism and is a founding member of The CPA Consultants' Alliance. Tamera is a member of the Minnesota Chapter of Sales and Marketing Executives, Toastmasters, the national and local chapters of the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM), and the Association for Accounting Administration (AAA). Tamera served on the planning committees for the AICPA Practitioners Symposium and AICPA TECH Conference and has served as Chair for Information Technology Alliance (ITA) Fall Collaboratives.
Tamera is a frequent facilitator, speaker, teacher, and coach and has written articles for several state and national CPA publications and associations, such as the CPA Insider, The Progressive Accountant, AAM Minute, MNCPA Footnote, WSCPA's The Washington CPA, and MSI Global's Smarter Practices on the topics of employee engagement, sales and marketing, leadership, and succession planning. Tamera regularly practices yoga to reenergize, enjoys cycling and running, and relishes vacationing and spending time with her husband and three children.
Terry Putney brings his unique experience in both the accounting and merger/acquisition disciplines to his role as CEO of Transition Advisors, a firm dedicated to working exclusively with accounting firms nationwide to:
An Accounting graduate of Kansas University, Terry is a licensed CPA, a member of the AICPA, and the University of Kansas Accounting and Information Systems Advisory Council. He is a Past-president of the CPA Consultants' Alliance. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and is regularly published in accounting profession magazines. He co-authored with his partner, Joel Sinkin, the book CPA Firm Mergers & Acquisitions, published by the AICPA in 2014. Terry and Joel authored the CPA Firm Succession series which was published by Journal of Accountancy, from July, 2013 through June, 2014 as well as the CPA Firm Valuation series published from October, 2014 through December, 2014. A sample of other recently published articles include How to Admit New Partners: A Fresh Approach, Journal of Accountancy, December, 2015; Planning and Paying for Partner Retirements, Journal of Accountancy, April, 2012, Accounting Firm M & A's: A Market Update, Journal of Accountancy, November, 2010; Mergers & Acquisitions of CPA Firms, Journal of Accountancy, March, 2009; Keeping It Together Journal of Accountancy, April, 2009. Terry was named to the 2016 list of Top 100 Most Influential People in the Accounting Profession by Accounting Today.