Bobby Dormanesh Talks to Coach Denny Schleper
The firm is sitting in a good place with growth and financial results. We continue to deliver on our seamless strategy, creating opportunities for our clients.
Just as critical is to create opportunities for our people. In this episode, CEO Denny Schleper talks with Bobby Dormanesh, who recently joined CLA in Century City, CA and chose Denny as his coach.
Hear Bobby share his background as well as his feedback on the coaching and mentoring process here at CLA.
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Transcript
The firm is sitting in a good place with growth and financial results. We continue to deliver on our seamless strategy, creating opportunities for our clients.
Just as critical is to create opportunities for our people. In this episode, CEO Denny Schleper talks with Bobby Dormanesh, who recently joined CLA in Century City, CA and chose Denny as his coach.
Hear Bobby share his background as well as his feedback on the coaching and mentoring process here at CLA.
Music up
[00:00:03]
Narrator: Welcome to “Own the Promise,” a CLA podcast created to share what guides every decision we make and every relationship we cultivate.
[00:00:16]
Denny: Hello, CLA family. Denny Schleper coming to you in the beautiful month of May. A time when obviously, many people within the firm have gone through a very busy and, hopefully, rewarding reporting and tax season. Hopefully a season where we really accomplished one of our six priorities, and that is creating a ton of opportunities for our clients.
And it’s obvious when we look at what where the firm sits as we headed through the first four months of the year, we’re sitting at a very good place with our growth, a very good position with our financial results, and really all the other key indicators that we have in the firm. Things are definitely moving the right direction.
[00:01:02]
Many of you probably, in the recent past, have also listened to a podcast regarding the chargeable hour goal that we set for March 31st, and even again with those results, I just want to reiterate the firm is in a very good place. We continue to deliver on the seamless services and ultimate result again, hopefully, the why of why we do what we do every day is creating those opportunities for our clients.
[00:01:34]
So, now as we head into this time of year, what’s really been a big part of my thought process is shifting to another one of our priorities for 2018 and that is creating opportunities for our people. And, as most everyone knows, our whole feedback coaching process is really broken into, kind of, three sections. And the dreaming session that really happens in the winter months, and now this time of year where we really start to look at the overall success that we’re having but we really want to turn it into a season of building.
[00:02:20]
Building on that dream that all of, hopefully, all of us within the firm set out as individual goals. And then obviously, in the later part of the year in the fall, the celebration of that dreaming and of that building. And so, I thought I would take some time today to actually introduce you to someone that’s been with the firm since January 1st.
[00:02:45]
And actually joined the firm through the acquisition merger of NSBN and Century City, California, or in the Los Angeles area. And that’s Bobby Dormanesh. Bobby actually is a manager within the firm, and is someone that had asked me to be his coach. And we’ve had a great opportunity so far this year. One, getting to know one another, but secondly, really going through this coaching process, this dreaming process, this building process.
And since this is truly on the forefront of my mind, I thought it would be a great opportunity to really get some feedback as to what one of our newer people are going through in this process. So, welcome Bobby.
[00:03:35]
Bobby: Thank you so much, Denny. I really appreciate the opportunity. And hi to the CLA family, it’s so great to know that everyone will be listening in. No pressure at all, right? A little bit about my background, I did my undergrad at UCLA, where I majored in economics. I finished school in 2009 and that was right after everything, kind of, went downhill. Couldn’t really find a job so I started my own little bookkeeping practice, started posting ads on Craigslist, and started offering Quickbooks services.
Realized that I wanted to do more than bookkeeping, so I went out and started studying for the CPA exams. I passed all of them and then the next logical step to me was getting a job within the industry, so that brought me to NSBN. And I always had this desire to learn more about the business world, outside of accounting. And I always thought of accounting as the foundation, or the language for business, but thought that it would be supplemented very well by an MBA.
So, while working at NSBN, I also decided to go to UCLA Anderson and get my MBA, which I just finished last month. And, on top of that, I’ve been, for the last year, kind of, just planning my wedding and that is set to happen this upcoming weekend, so it’s been a busy time.
[00:04:57]
Denny: Well, congratulations on all of that. Quite a career so far. We want everyone to take charge of their careers, and we want to make sure that CLA can be a place where they can build that career, become more marketable in whatever endeavors that they’re looking to accomplish. And as part of that, it’s the selection of the coach. Maybe tell the CLA family what drove your thought process in selecting myself as your coach.
[00:05:27]
Bobby: I chose you as a coach because I have this overarching desire to be in a leadership position. You know, while at NSBN, during one of my reviews, I remember telling our principal in charge, Ken Miles, that I only had one goal and that was to be managing partner. You know, when NSBN merged into CLA, that goal evolved and has changed, and has now become to one day become CEO. And I thought to myself, you know, “What better person to learn from than the current CEO and our leader?” And was well received, and I’m really happy to have you as my coach.
[00:06:03]
Denny: Well, I’m excited as well. I think the point to this more is back to, we want all of our people to take, really, the control over their careers and get the type of feedback, the direction, the coaching that’s going to work best for them. And I hope all of our people at CLA are doing exactly what you’re doing. Since we’re new into the coaching process, Bobby, let’s turn a little bit to your experience in the first four months with CLA.
[00:06:31]
I believe that you had some time, probably, from the minute that you learned of the CLA acquisition merger with NSBN, you had some time to, maybe, form some thoughts and some ideas of what this might look like and what might happen. Is there something that, now that you have at least four months of experience in the CLA family, is there anything that really surprised you from what, maybe, some of those initial ideas or perceptions you may have had?
[00:07:10]
Bobby: Yeah. So, one of my initial worries when we merged into CLA was we’re joining a large, national firm. With more than 5,000 employees and more than 100 locations. And, how am I not going to be just another number in the system? And, you know, it was just–as soon as I heard about the announcement that, a person that came to mind, and then you walk in the door and gave us presentations to our office, regarding what this really meant. And right away, I knew that we weren’t just a number, and we weren’t just another office.
[00:07:48]
And then going even further, it was very interesting to have that feeling of, whenever we had issues or whenever there were some questions that may have come up, all we really had to do was pick up the phone. And as soon as you picked up the phone, there was always an answer on the other side. You know, I think those events really solidified that we are not just a number, we’re not just another office, we really are part of the CLA family.
[00:08:12]
Denny: That’s wonderful to hear. What, maybe, has been the most difficult thing to either transition into CLA, or learn about CLA, or just simply help you on your day-to-day functions, serving clients and developing people around you. Is there any one thing that has really stood out as maybe being the most difficult part of this transition?
[00:08:41]
Bobby: You know, I think the biggest obstacle for me, in particular, is getting to know CLA and all the various services that we offer, along with all the resources that we have that we can tap into. You know, it’s like–some people describe it as drinking from a fire hose and really understanding all the different service lines, and communicating that to our clients, to provide that seamless service has been somewhat of a struggle just because there is so much information that we need to take in. You know, I think with enough time that will be a non-issue.
[00:09:14]
Denny: And that clearly is something that’s a challenge for all of us at CLA, is to continue to find out what CLA can do along this seamless line, how to get connected to it, and then be part of that delivery system as well. So, the nice thing, even though you may be newer, and the people in the Century City office may be newer at this, it doesn’t change the fact that we all, kind of, struggle with this same issue going forward.
[00:09:41]
Maybe a little bit about opportunities? And, obviously, NSBN offered opportunities, all firms do. So, sometimes it might be just a little bit different types of opportunities. Do you see anything that really stands out as, from a pure opportunity standpoint, the move to CLA maybe opened up a door, or opened up an opportunity that maybe you did not have prior to CLA. Anything come to mind?
[00:10:13]
Bobby: Well, one of the things I’m involved with is young advisory council. And I think having that opportunity is just a great way to really become involved with the initiative that the firm is trying to implement. You know, I think in the past, there have been opportunities at NSBN, but actually being part of the young advisory council really gives us that ability to take that grassroots approach and really make change at a local level. And, you know, I think that’s just one of the many opportunities that we have, and it’s been a great experience so far.
[00:10:45]
Denny: This may be a more difficult question, Bobby, but from a suggestions standpoint, or even if it’s critical, is there anything you’ve experienced, or maybe you realized other people have experienced, where maybe a recommendation for the firm or a suggestion for the firm, as I say, could be critical, of anything that you’ve experienced, anything comes to mind in that regard?
[00:11:12]
Bobby: You know, Denny, I don’t think I have anything that comes to mind that really hindered us from providing services to our clients, or hindered our teams from working together. Everything went surprisingly smooth, and, you know, I think we’re waiting to do the hard cut and really get into your system but, you know, everything’s been very smooth and everyone’s been very helpful and, you know, it’s a very pleasant surprise.
[00:11:38]
Denny: Now, Bobby, I sure appreciate your time, just sharing some of your thoughts with the CLA family. It is encouraging to hear some of your comments. I also look forward to the additional acquisitions that CLA will always be involved in as we continue to look for great firms to join the family, add additional resources, expertise, and just great people like yourself, and all the great people in the Century City office. This is something that, clearly, I look forward to.
I also wanted to thank everybody in the firm that is responsible for the type of feedback that you just heard from Bobby, those people that do respond very, very quickly to requests from some of our new locations and our new people. I understand you don’t know these people, but you just automatically assume positive intent, and you trust the people and you react to whatever needs that they have.
That is so unique in any firm in the country, that we have that ability to do that. And we continue to do it, time and time again. I hear it over and over again as I go across the country and work with many of our new people that have joined CLA. So, I can’t thank all of you enough, who are responsible for this, it truly is a unique advantage for CLA.
So, thank you to everyone, I so appreciate once again, everything that everyone’s doing, I hope everybody’s recovering. For those of you headed into your, maybe, reporting season, I wish you the best of luck. Let’s continue moving this promise forward within CLA, and really accomplishing all six of our priorities this year, so that we really do create those opportunities. Thank you to everyone.
Denny is the chief executive officer of CLA. As he goes about his duties related to the oversight of CLA’s direction, operations, expansion, and strategy, he is also an enthusiastic ambassador for the CLA Promise. He is fully committed to the firm’s position as a professional services firm that delivers integrated wealth advisory, outsourcing, and audit, tax, and consulting capabilities to help our clients succeed professionally and personally.
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