Is Work-Life Balance the Best Business Strategy?

Welcome, dear listeners, to the Speak and Flow podcast, where we dive into unique strategies and stories to help you and your team achieve maximum potential and flow. Today, I have an amazing leader in the finance industry. She is thoughtful, kind, smart.

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Melinda Lee: Her name is Samantha Bolison. She is the CEO and founder of Palm Team. PALM stands for Peace of Mind Team. I love that!

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Melinda Lee: We are a fractional finance and accounting firm that supports high-growth businesses.

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Melinda Lee: Hi, Samantha, glad you're here.

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Samantha Bolosan: Hi, Melinda, thank you so much for having me.

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Melinda Lee: I'm so excited to jump in. So before we dive in to strategies to help us all be in alignment with vision, what are you passionate about right now with your company?

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Samantha Bolosan: Well, I, …

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Samantha Bolosan: I, I mean, I've had Palm Team now for… we're coming up on 8 years this month.

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Samantha Bolosan: So it's been quite the journey from beginning to the point where we are at now. So right now.

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Samantha Bolosan: I'm really in a flow, on Sneak & Flow with you. I'm really watching it all come together, and it's growing organically, and I'm just really happy with the team and the clients and the vision really coming together at this point.

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Melinda Lee: What is happening? What is the vision that you saw from a while ago that you see is coming together today?

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Samantha Bolosan: Oh, I love that question. So when I started Palm Team, I was coming off of working at very high-growth startups. Quite a few had exits that I was a part of. I was working with a lot of the same entrepreneurs, so

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Samantha Bolosan: when I started it, my daughter was 2 years old, and I was really looking for peace of mind for myself, as well as providing that in my business model. As I partnered with so many startups, they were really looking for

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Samantha Bolosan: someone that they could rely on, and I was always that person, that delivered in a very unique way.

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Samantha Bolosan: And what I mean by that is…

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Samantha Bolosan: Having the flexibility to switch gears quickly, bringing, like, 200% of your care into the business.

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Samantha Bolosan: So I really wanted to build a business that provided that, but I also wanted to provide an ecosystem that my life could thrive in, so it was really about thriving in my career, but also thriving in my life, so the only way I could envision that really working was by starting my own company.

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Samantha Bolosan: And beyond that, I really wanted that for my team, because I think that's a real struggle for working moms. My team really started with a lot of working moms.

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Melinda Lee: Because there was not….

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Samantha Bolosan: the right ecosystem for them to thrive in both worlds of their life. So really.

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Samantha Bolosan: This was about bringing together a lot of worlds, and with that, I think there's no playbook, right?

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Samantha Bolosan: I would say a lot of career people told me, this isn't going to work, a lot of things are going to go wrong, you have to come from, like, a place of strength, and you can't give people flexibility like this, so…

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Samantha Bolosan: So it was interesting, like, I was… I didn't want to believe that. I did see things like that happen, and I did learn from that, so I've… what I've gotten to now is…

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Samantha Bolosan: We've built, like, a very good ecosystem around

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Samantha Bolosan: supporting both. It's not… I think it's changed a lot, but the ultimate vision and foundation is still there.

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Melinda Lee: So, that's so interesting. So, you built it because you wanted to have the flexibility for you and the people on your team.

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Samantha Bolosan: The flexibility to do both, to be in business, and then also to support.

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Melinda Lee: Family at home.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, yeah, exactly. That was really the foundation of what I was trying to achieve.

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Melinda Lee: Wow, and then at the time, so people said it's not going to work, like, can you dive in a little bit more about what they were saying?

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, definitely. So, I think there's always that trade-off with flexibility, right? Is if you're not showing up as a very accountable person, I could… I can see how… I've seen how that can go the wrong direction, right? Where people are not necessarily

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Samantha Bolosan: fully showing up like they should, right? They're taking advantage. Also, we were a remote-based model from day one, and this is… this was before COVID. So, not a lot of companies

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Samantha Bolosan: understood working remote like they do today, so that required a lot of trust. What is nice about finance and accounting is it's very tangible, it's very results-oriented, so you're always delivering a package, right? It's not necessarily something that is unclear.

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Samantha Bolosan: So I think that worked really well. I did start the business off of my network, so I would say, like, day one, I had a few clients, like, once I started. And then once I told more and more people what I was doing, it was all referral-based, and I think a lot of the professional services firms, of course, are

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Samantha Bolosan: mostly referral-based, so that's really where I started, but what I struggled with is the team, right? Like, I knew what I could do and what I was capable of, but finding the right team members to support.

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Melinda Lee: Right.

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Samantha Bolosan: Was where we really, like, had a lot of start and stop in the beginning.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah, I can imagine that. Like, what were you… you had to find the right people, and then… and then be able to…

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Melinda Lee: have them get up to speed, but then also, like, then, if you bring in new clients, you trust your new team members with new clients, that's really challenging.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, it's really challenging, so we really had to hone in on our vision, our value system, everything had to…

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Samantha Bolosan: all of our hiring procedures had to be based on that foundation, right? And just become very clear with how we operate, right? Like, a lot of SOPs have been developed at this point, to make sure that we're all successful, and just high, high communication.

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Samantha Bolosan: Over-communicating is what I like to call it when we're working remote. You can never be too careful to make sure someone understands something.

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Melinda Lee: Right. And what would you say, now that it's been 8 years, has been one of your biggest challenges?

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Samantha Bolosan: I think my biggest challenge is… what was that?

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Melinda Lee: Is it the team? You mentioned the team.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, I was just gonna say that in a different way. It's a people business, so, people are my variable, so I have to have a lot of contingencies in place. So now I structure my team so that

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Samantha Bolosan: there's always a little bit extra, right? Like, we might have a few more support resources than we need on a client. We always have, like, an accounting manager and a controller, at least, on a client. So there's a lot of backup in place.

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Samantha Bolosan: When you're talking about people, it's… people are variables, right? Like.

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Samantha Bolosan: someone can get sick, and it could be terminal, and they have to… they have to stop right then and there, you know? So, I mean, those are the worst-case scenarios, but some people could be like.

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Samantha Bolosan: I'm moving my family to Europe! So… so that could be, like, a very positive thing. So, but it's just, like, when you're dealing with people and supplying people to other companies, you have to be the one who's very prepared for all of the outcomes, right? I have to have team members.

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Melinda Lee: that are highly trained and seasoned and flexible to jump in and jump out where I need them to, and be prepared for really anything. It sounds like.

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Samantha Bolosan: Maybe more serious.

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Samantha Bolosan: than it really is, but it's… that's… that's all the things that keep me up at night, is, like, making sure I have the right team in place for my clients, and that I'm not worrying about a ball dropping and being exposed.

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Melinda Lee: Well, it matters, you care! Yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: No, I care a lot, and I think that's the problem.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: The problem and the solution.

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Melinda Lee: Right, right. Well, that's why people go to you, you know, because you bring them the peace of mind, because you're taking it on.

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Samantha Bolosan: did I know this was, like, a very big promise, right? I'm telling them that I'm gonna give them peace of mind, and that's the delivery.

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Melinda Lee: Sorry.

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Samantha Bolosan: to bring.

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Melinda Lee: Right, right. Oh my gosh. Wow, and then you're, in the meanwhile, still, the daughter is now how old? Two….

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Samantha Bolosan: She's now 10.

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Melinda Lee: Aww….

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Samantha Bolosan: Right, right, 8 years from, yeah, back then. Yeah, yeah, which is crazy, so much time has passed. But it's been great, like, I would say…

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Samantha Bolosan: I was trying to create, in some sense, a lifestyle business, and that's… that's how I operate. Like, I… even if this is not… if I was working somewhere that was not my own company.

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Samantha Bolosan: I would operate as if it were my own company. That's just my personality. So I think me creating my own business, that part of it was not stressful to me in the sense that, like.

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Samantha Bolosan: you never turn it off, right? Like, there's moments where I will intentionally not look at my phone and know that I'm gonna take time for myself, but I would say, like, my expectation is, like, I have to be available when I have to be available.

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Samantha Bolosan: So I just feel like my career and my personal life are very fluid, but they're both very healthy, because I love them both.

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Samantha Bolosan: Hmm.

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Melinda Lee: Right, yeah, and that makes sense, so it's just all a part of your life anyways, like you said, it's a lifestyle, not necessarily a job, and then you clock out. It's just part of who you are.

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Samantha Bolosan: Exactly.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, I do love it, I do.

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Melinda Lee: And how has communication supported you, or also caused any friction or challenges?

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Samantha Bolosan: That's a great question. I think as of probably 3 or 4 years ago is when

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Samantha Bolosan: I think I was more intentionally sharing my full vision with the company, and that… what I mean by that is primarily the team.

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Samantha Bolosan: And… I think when you share your vision.

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Samantha Bolosan: that allows people to self-select, right? So, you're very intentionally telling them, like, this is where we're going, this is what I expect, this is how we define ourselves, and people will self-select out of that.

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Samantha Bolosan: And then some people will rise to the occasion. So, I think at this point.

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Samantha Bolosan: we have such a great team. We've gone through the transitions of people… the self-selecting out, and we've gone through the transitions of coaching and leveling people up, which makes us such a fantastic team. So, I think in terms of communication, it's…

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Samantha Bolosan: the full vision, right? Like, you have to communicate that very clearly to your team, and keep communicating it.

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Samantha Bolosan: Also, I think what's different about me is…

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Samantha Bolosan: I… or maybe not, but I… I feel like I'm a very authentic person, like, I really want to…

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Samantha Bolosan: know my team, and I do actually care about how they're doing, so I think

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Samantha Bolosan: having that leadership relationship with your team is super important, because it's like giving them, you know, their own gift, right? Like, their own ability to show up.

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Samantha Bolosan: In a different way, that maybe… I have a lot of people on my team who didn't work well with certain leaders in their prior lives, and, like, we've been really able to connect and get them to the next level, because I actually do really, like, invest.

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Samantha Bolosan: My time and my energy into….

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Melinda Lee: God.

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Samantha Bolosan: Helping them get there.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah, I could definitely feel that. I'm sure, and that's where they probably are very happy and thriving and motivated to be part of the team, even when….

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Samantha Bolosan: I mean, yeah, and that's important. It shows up in every…

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Samantha Bolosan: inch of what we do, right? Our clients notice.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: How dedicated our team is to their business.

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Melinda Lee: Right, right.

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Melinda Lee: And… and then… so what about, to clients, and from your team to clients? What was that… how's… has there been additional training for you… for your team to supporting the clients?

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, so that's a whole nother challenge. Because we typically work with high-growth startups, and what that looked like 8 years ago was a lot of them were VC-backed, so we work with technology, what I like to call multi-channel retail, and then, like, larger agency businesses. So…

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Samantha Bolosan: when I'm hiring, I'm really… look, we have… it's… there's one, the technical skill, right? They have to have… a lot of them come from audit, they had worked at a company, a lot of them are CPAs.

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Samantha Bolosan: That's not necessarily a must-have for my business, because it's not… it's operational, right? We're not… we're not auditors.

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Samantha Bolosan: But they… they need a technical background, right? They need a strong tech… technical background, but also.

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Samantha Bolosan: They need to be able to work in a high-growth company, which means

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Samantha Bolosan: you're doing a couple things, right? So, you have to be flexible, because things are changing all the time, but you also have to be efficient with their time, and your time, and their resources, and our resources. So, like, you're not gonna need

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Samantha Bolosan: all the bells and whistles that you may want or need. The client doesn't necessarily need that or want that, so you have to really disseminate pretty quickly, like, how you can serve them in the most optimal way possible, and we're about the journey, so…

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Samantha Bolosan: we start…

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Samantha Bolosan: somewhere around, like, a seed round or a Series A round, and we grow with you, and eventually.

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Samantha Bolosan: They're ready to hire their full-time resources, and we can barely safely exit as they bring in full-time hires.

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Samantha Bolosan: But at the stage we're at now, we also have very early entry points, which we call bookkeeping, which I think a lot of people just call fractional accounting and finance teams bookkeeping, but they're very different. Bookkeeping's, like, much earlier business, or it's, like, an individual who is, like, a professional who can't focus on their books, they're really focused on selling and marketing and all the other things.

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Melinda Lee: And then we also have CFO, which is part of.

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Samantha Bolosan: was typically part of our core business, but CFO is, like, in isolation, it's far more involved or more intensive in the strategy and the forecasting and potentially board deliverables. So the… so what we offer now is pretty robust.

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Melinda Lee: Right.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah.

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Melinda Lee: That's awesome. That's a full gamut. And did you say that you just started talking about this vision? Was it not set, like, 4 years prior? Like, you just started….

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Samantha Bolosan: I think it was… I think I had my naivete idea of what it was, and I think when I sold it to a new hire.

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Samantha Bolosan: They were like, this sounds amazing! Like, like a place where I can, like, work and actually, like, go to my daughter's ballet recital, and you won't be upset with me.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: I think I… I knew what it was, but I think I really honed on what it means as a business.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: four years ago. Like, I wrote it down, right? So, like, I wrote down what our mission is, I wrote down what our value system is, I wrote down what our behaviors are, and I had a colleague that I used to work with help me with this, and she was extremely pivotal in, like, being like, Sam, you know what to do, but I'm gonna make you do it.

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Melinda Lee: That's lovely. Yeah, it's the difference between, right, like, having… but writing it down is the first step, definitely.

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Samantha Bolosan: It's huge.

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Melinda Lee: It is huge as entrepreneurs. And then the following up is the execution, the communication of it, and it's not just the communication one time, it's like the communication, reminders, communication, reminders.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, we even had workshops, like, after we did that to dive into everything. Like, how do you write the job description around this? How do you interview around this? So we had, like, committees that we developed to really branch it out. And we have weekly stand-ups, so I have, Lena on my team, she's an amazing operations manager, and she always, like, leads us off.

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Samantha Bolosan: With, we kind of rotate, like, every other week we'll do something personal, and then the other week it's usually something around a value, so we're always trying to, like, sneak it in.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: To make sure that we continually remind ourselves of, like, who we are and what we're doing.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah, yes, yes, yes, because there's no… we can otherwise get into the weeds of things, and then….

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Samantha Bolosan: Hmm.

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Melinda Lee: And then the reminders of the values are so important, because it's always, like, the North Star of how we make decisions.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, yeah, it makes things easier, actually. It's, like, upfront work for… Quick decision… quick decision-making later.

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Melinda Lee: It does, it does, even though it feels like we're taking up time in the meeting, but really, it actually is helping us to make faster decisions, more informed, better decisions.

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Samantha Bolosan: Exactly.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah. It's like a reset, and sometimes I think when, you know, people jump in from meeting to meeting, and they don't take the moment to just take a breath.

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Melinda Lee: When you do that, you actually are in the meeting, you're thinking about something else anyway, so you're really not present, so you might as well, yeah, you know….

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Samantha Bolosan: The present is one of our values.

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Melinda Lee: So cool! I bet you have really cool values, like presence, authenticity or something, integrity.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, oh, gosh, let me see if I can remember them all. Innovative….

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Melinda Lee: Love it.

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Samantha Bolosan: Collaboration, present, and grace.

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Melinda Lee: Aww, yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: Born one.

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Melinda Lee: Great. Oh, I love those. I love those. I love that. Well, I… Samantha, that is such a fascinating journey, and I loved, again, it's just, like, so…

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Melinda Lee: inspiring that you've done this for… for yourself and for other parents or moms who have to be, like, they have the integration of both worlds, all the worlds.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah.

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Melinda Lee: one, and you've been successfully doing that. And that's inspiring for anybody, even if you're not, like, running your own business. A lot of our… the audience members are out there thinking that, okay, I gotta clock in and out, and then go to my other job. It's just… it doesn't feel as integrated as how much as you've

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Melinda Lee: Done that with your life, with business, and work.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah.

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Melinda Lee: Personal.

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Samantha Bolosan: I love that you bring that up, because I do think…

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Samantha Bolosan: People that work at companies can advocate for that, for themselves.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: I think back, at the roles that I had, I think I was….

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Melinda Lee: I just assumed that this wasn't….

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Samantha Bolosan: you know, it just wasn't okay. And I think if I had actively communicated with my leaders about what I needed to work well, I think they would have accommodated it. I just think…

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Samantha Bolosan: it's like, hindsight is 20-20. I just was like, oh, I'm gonna solve this for myself. When there's a lot that can be done, when you just communicate better with your direct reports, and the leadership team, depending on… I don't know how these… how these employment structures are set up for other people, but there's so much that can be done if you just

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Samantha Bolosan: talk to people, and try to get what you need. At the end of the day, it's hard to find good people.

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Samantha Bolosan: It's hard to find people who care about the company as much as you do, so if you have that person, a lot of the times, just asking for what you need goes a long way.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah.

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Melinda Lee: I agree.

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Samantha Bolosan: I love that.

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Melinda Lee: And so, therefore, asking what you need, and then also going into, … Meetings, like, prepared, and….

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah.

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Melinda Lee: Before we close, can I ask you one final question?

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Samantha Bolosan: Yes!

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Melinda Lee: What would you want the audience to take away?

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Samantha Bolosan: … I think coaching people toward a shared vision is…

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Samantha Bolosan: such a… it's been the game changer for me. So I think as a leader, if you can continue to make that very intentional.

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Samantha Bolosan: And you have to show up authentically. I think…

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Samantha Bolosan: In this day and age, people know right away whether you're full of it, per se.

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Samantha Bolosan: So, as you're communicating that vision, it has to be real, because people can sense. If that's not… if I'm not working for something that you actually care about, or…

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Samantha Bolosan: a vision where you actually care about the people involved, then why do they want to be a part of that?

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Melinda Lee: That's the question.

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Samantha Bolosan: that I would ask. And you can't shy away from hard conversations.

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Melinda Lee: ….

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Samantha Bolosan: Part of being an authentic leader is saying things that are not nice, but they're kind. I like that statement. I like to be kind, but I'm not gonna always be nice.

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Melinda Lee: And to me, that means really caring about the person's.

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Samantha Bolosan: Ultimate outcome, not just really telling them what they want to hear.

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Melinda Lee: right.

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Melinda Lee: Right. I mean, yeah, it's especially because we want to be liked, or we don't want the other person to get upset.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yes, yes, and that's a really big pitfall for a leader. You can't… you can't actually care if people like you or not. It's really hard.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah, it's too much! I already have enough going on in my brain, so I can't think about what you're thinking.

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Samantha Bolosan: Right. I mean, I hope they do, I just hope, like…

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Samantha Bolosan: that I'm… I'm giving them a place where they like showing up and talking to me, but… Yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: I have to be okay with that not being….

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Melinda Lee: Yeah.

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Samantha Bolosan: what it is.

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Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah, no, and you're doing it with such kindness and authenticity, and yeah, so that's…

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Melinda Lee: That's the avenue already.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yes, exactly.

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Melinda Lee: Oh, thank you so much, Samantha. I love that. So just, yeah, continuing to speak our vision, continuing to be authentic, and just being

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Melinda Lee: Clear, and even if it's not nice, but kind.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, exactly. I love that. I love how you summed that up.

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Melinda Lee: Oh, man, it was really fun, Samantha. I really enjoyed… I got so much out of it. I'm really inspired by the… your daughter's very lucky to have you. She's probably very inspired, too, by seeing you thrive in your business, and it's supported me in how I'm thinking about my business, too, and….

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Samantha Bolosan: Oh, I'm so happy to hear that. Yeah, my daughter… my daughter wants to work for Palm Team one day, and I keep telling her, I don't know!

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Melinda Lee: Oh, that is so cute!

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Samantha Bolosan: I'm like, maybe we'll want to do something more fun, more creative.

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Melinda Lee: Because there's probably a lot she could do with it.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, I know, I mean, I don't know, I haven't thought of… I always wanted a business that has an exit strategy, and by that, I mean, if I want to sell it, I can. But I love it, and I think… I mean, I don't know what else I would do, honestly. This has become my baby. Yeah.

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Melinda Lee: I know.

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Samantha Bolosan: I don't know.

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Melinda Lee: It's just, I don't know, I… women, I think we see our business as babies. I think, do men do that? I'm not sure.

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Samantha Bolosan: Probably not, I know. I know, I'm like, oh, should I….

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Melinda Lee: We call it peace of mind, right?

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Melinda Lee: Oh, that's so funny. Well, how could people get ahold of you? They're looking for fashionable finance and accounting services, ….

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Samantha Bolosan: Yeah, so, Samantha Bolizon on LinkedIn, our website is www.thepalmteam.com. We didn't… we couldn't get Palm Team, unfortunately. We're also on Instagram, Palm Team, ….

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Melinda Lee: Cool.

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Samantha Bolosan: We have our own LinkedIn page, Palm Team, so, lots of little spots you can check us out.

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Melinda Lee: Love it. So, when you need these services, reach out to Palm Team. Get peace of mind, team.

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Samantha Bolosan: Yes.

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Melinda Lee: And connect with Samantha.

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Samantha Bolosan: Exactly.

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Melinda Lee: Yay! Alright, Samantha, thank you so much for your time and your expertise today.

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Samantha Bolosan: Thank you, I appreciate you.

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Melinda Lee: Yes, you too, and thank you, audience, for being here. I hope you got your golden takeaway and implement them right away. And so, remember, the next time I see you, until then, connect and inspire and make a positive difference in the world.

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Melinda Lee: Love you. Mwah!