Death and Taxes: Making Your Lifelong Dreams Come True Before It’s Too Late

Dena Oberst– where do we even begin. She is a fearless cancer survivor, tax and accounting aficionado, successful corporate executive, true quintessence of professionalism and now the leading lady and proud CEO of Gable Tax Group, and she graced us with an hour of her time where we learned some invaluable leadership lessons and life hacks that we just couldn’t keep from sharing with our followers on the Everyday Leader Podcast!

To listen to the full episode click here, or subscribe to the Everyday Leader Podcast with me, Kat Rippy by clicking on this link.

And for a sneak peek into the highlights of our conversation with Dena, continuing reading below!

Having been in the Sales and Use Tax Industry for over 25 years and working for some of the largest multinational professional services and accounting firms in the country, Dena Oberst finally took the leap and started her own sales tax business just over a year ago. She had some super helpful tips for other #EverydayLeaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners out there and shared some tidbits of her experience getting Gable Tax Group off the ground that our followers may resonate closely with, so without further adieu, here they are:

#1 On the Importance of Being a Subject Matter Expert

Dena’s edge is a unique one, in that she has a deep knowledge of sales tax in not just any one state like most local CPAs, but across many different states around the Country. She’s therefore able to work with national accounting firms and provide them with expertise that is a huge value added to their entire tax solutions around taxes to their clients, and with the recent decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Quill, demand for the services Dena provides has burgeoned. The punchline: when deciding to go out on your own, make sure you have a clear differentiator from your competitors, and lead with it!

#2  On the Value of Reputation

Dena could not stress enough how critical her reputation and relationships with others in her network has come in to play in her ability to build Gable Tax Group so successfully within its first year. She was able to secure vendors, credit lines, employees, and clients, all through the power of the name she has worked tirelessly to create for herself over years of hard and honest work in various companies. Whether consciously or not, Dena built a reputation of integrity, and is a person that people have come to trust, respect and want to do business with, and a leader whom employees want to work for.

#3 On Empowering Others and Leading Authentically

Dena’s secret sauce to gaining the trust of her employees has been open communication and transparency. She firmly believes in not only including her employees regularly in decision making processes but also in giving them a real sense of ownership of the larger challenges the business faces so that they can truly understand the contribution and impact they each bring to the overall success of the company. By getting them involved in coming up with solutions, she is able to inspire their buy-in from the get-go and move forward as one cohesive and unified team. She credits her ability to empower her employees to hold themselves accountable day in and day out to this very sincere and transformational style of leadership.

#4 On Self-Care and Bringing Her Best Self Forward

There are two main things that Dena tries her very best not to sacrifice in order to stay charged and grounded: sleep, and maintaining connections with her friends. She tries to avoid looking at screens just before bedtime and intentionally calendars meetups with people in her inner circle on a regular basis. Making time for other people, staying engaged with them, obtaining their feedback and building strong relationships is, in her view, no less important than all the other priorities on her to-do list. She is constantly learning from others as well as sharing her learnings with them, and fully committed to her ongoing mission in life to live out her purpose as it continues to evolve.

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Dena also swears by her biweekly yoga routine and her Sunday evening meal preps. Yoga helps her control any anxiety she may be harboring from the stress of keeping her business up and running and her employees on a steady payroll, and her meal prep helps her avoid the impulsive sugary treat which only exacerbates the anxiety she’s so determined to keep under control!

For more insights, helpful habits and tactics Dena uses to lead with purpose and intention in her life at home and at work, check out the full episode here or subscribe to the Everyday Leader Podcast with me, Kat Rippy, here.