Shownotes
So I think that shaped me in the path of understanding the, like, the obstacles that any entrepreneur can face when they have a business and they are not ready for this bad, times. Let's call it that way, because in Colombia we call it the vacas flacas. So it's like the skinny cows. When the skinny cows come, you have to be prepared for that, and we wear it. - Olga Hurtago
We sit down with the incredible Olga Hurtado, founder and CEO of NeatBooks LLC. We talk to Olga about her inspiring journey from Barranquilla, Colombia, to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the United States. Olga shares her remarkable story of overcoming adversity, from her early life in Colombia, where her parents were entrepreneurs, to the challenges she faced when moving to the U.S., including mastering English and raising her twin daughters.
Discover how Olga's experiences shaped her entrepreneurial spirit and led her to empower Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs in South Florida. Her passion for helping small business owners navigate the American dream is evident as she discusses the importance of resilience, her approach to business, and her innovative methods for creating a thriving company even in challenging times.
Here are three empowering takeaways from our conversation:
- Resilience in the Face of Adversity: Olga's entrepreneurial spirit was forged early on through her family's challenges in Colombia, teaching her the importance of being prepared for both the peaks and valleys in business.
- Pursuing Passion with Purpose: Despite initial setbacks, Olga followed her passion for accounting and finance, leading her to create a successful firm that empowers Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs in South Florida.
- The Power of Education and Adaptation: Overcoming language barriers and embracing continuous learning were pivotal in Olga’s journey, enabling her to connect with a broader clientele and make a significant impact.
This episode is brought to you by PureTax, LLC. Tax preparation services without the pressure. When all you need is to get your tax return done, take the stress out of tax season by working with a firm that has simplified the process and the pricing. Find out more about how we started.
Empowering Moments
04:51 "Overcoming Family Crisis Challenges"
06:31 Fractured Skull Recovery Journey
10:56 Balancing Education, Entrepreneurship, and Motherhood
15:17 "Entrepreneurship: A One-Way Journey"
18:07 Struggles with English in Colombia
19:59 Pursuing Independence and Helping Others
23:07 Beyond Accounting: Multifaceted Roles
29:31 Opportunity in America: A Privilege
32:32 Launching a Business with Purpose
33:32 Building Business Growth Through Structure
36:38 Entrepreneurial Decision-Making Struggles
40:52 Entrepreneurship's Endless Journey
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Glenn Harper, CPA, is the Owner and Managing Partner of Harper & Company CPAs Plus, a top 10 Managing Partner in the country (Accounting Today's 2022 MP Elite). His firm won the 2021 Luca Award for Firm of the Year.
An entrepreneur and speaker, Glenn transformed his firm into an advisory-focused practice, doubling revenue and profit in two years. He teaches entrepreneurs to build financial and operational excellence, speaks nationwide to CPA firm owners about running their businesses like entrepreneurs, and consults with firms across the country. Glenn enjoys golfing, fishing, hiking, cooking, and spending time with his family.
Julie Smith, MBA, is a serial entrepreneur in the public accounting space. She is the Founder of EmpowerCPA™, Founder of PureTax, LLC, COO for Harper & Company CPAs Plus, and Co-host of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast.
Named CPA.com's 2021 Innovative Practitioner of Year, Julie led Harper & Company's transition to an advisory-focused firm, doubling revenue and profit in two years. She now empowers other CPA firm owners nationwide through consulting and speaking, teaching them how to run their businesses like entrepreneurs. Julie lives in Columbus, OH with her family and enjoys travel, coaching basketball, sporting events, and the occasional shopping spree.
Copyright 2026 Glenn Harper
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Transcripts
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [:Julie Smith.
Glenn Harper [:What's going on, Julie?
Julie Smith [:You know, I was just saying we're on our fourth winter.
Glenn Harper [:It feels great, doesn't it?
Julie Smith [:Man, I just want spring to get here and stay so we can slide right into summer.
Glenn Harper [:How's those new glasses treating now?
Julie Smith [:I I think I can see better.
Glenn Harper [:That's pretty good. Blind isn't bad.
Julie Smith [:It's awesome. Not it not good for you.
Glenn Harper [:Not good? No. No. It's it's something we got. Well, we've got a great guest lined up today. I'm gonna do my best to do, my, my inter my, intro here and see how that turns out. And, if I mispronounce anything, please, everybody, this is a disclaimer to protect protect the innocent. I'm not good on big words, so I'm gonna do my best. Alright? K.
Glenn Harper [:Alright. Well, I'd like to introduce Olga Hurtado, founder and CEO of NeatBooks LLC. All of our listeners know I have a soft spot for fellow bean counters, and here we go again. Olga loves nothing better than assisting small business owners, especially Spanish speaking entrepreneurs, especially in South Florida to achieve the American dream of not only being an entrepreneur, but fully participating in the entrepreneurial experiment that The USA is available for all those who know its secrets. She understands the pitfalls that entrepreneurs have as well as how hard it is to to how hard it is if there's a language barrier. Olga's a feisty one. She's recognized early on in her journey that being from Barranquilla, Colombia, a woman speaking only Spanish and having twins, the game of corporate America would be a challenge. Did she wither and give up? No.
Glenn Harper [:She pivoted like any self respecting entrepreneur and decided to take her talents to South Beach and hang out her shingle. Oga has the flexibility to make the impact on her clients as well as being present for her family. I always say taxes and accounting are never going anywhere, so sublimity subliminally, she must have heard the calling to start her business. From Columbia to Miami, what a great journey that will surely have many more turns and opportunities. The struggle is what keeps the things real, and boy, has she had some. Please welcome Olga, aka La Cusa, to the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. Hi, Olga. Thanks for being on the show.
Olga Hurtado [:You. Thank you for that introduction, Glenn. Let let let me just correct you just right there. It's it's Barranquilla. Okay? So when you when you say Barranquilla, you have to remember Shakira, Sofia Vergara. They come from that city too.
Glenn Harper [:Okay.
Olga Hurtado [:Okay. And my nickname when I was little is La Cucca.
Glenn Harper [:La Cucca.
Olga Hurtado [:Okay. So it's pretty weird.
Glenn Harper [:I love it. There's a longer word. There's a shorter version, and I knew I would butcher it. So thank you for helping me through that. But I I thought I'd throw that in there because I believe that has a very warm spot in your heart, so that's why I threw it in there.
Olga Hurtado [:Thank you. Thank you for the introduction, and thank you for having me here.
Glenn Harper [:Well, great. Well, you know, we always are part of the fun of what we do here is to try to get to know our guests a little bit and then start on the journey to see what things they had to overcome because as all our listeners know, if you're an entrepreneur, there's all kinds of the list is long and distinguished to the problems we have and the pitfalls and opportunities and the successes and all those things. And you, from my, deep, deep research on you, you had a lot of cool ones and a lot of not so cool ones. But, albeit, they are, and I think it's helped define you. So it says you grew up in this, can you say that town again in Colombia?
Olga Hurtado [:Barranquilla.
Glenn Harper [:Barranquilla, where you attended La Encenaza High School where you excelled in volleyball. Is that a true statement?
Olga Hurtado [:Yes. It is a true statement. I attended. Remember the n in in Spanish, it has a little, like, a hat on top?
Glenn Harper [:So it's have the
Olga Hurtado [:hat? Yeah.
Glenn Harper [:I didn't see that. Alright. Well
Julie Smith [:Nor would you have known what to do with that. But that's
Glenn Harper [:I would have known
Olga Hurtado [:You know what? Funny story here. That school is the same school that Shakira attended. Take note of that.
Glenn Harper [:No kidding.
Olga Hurtado [:Yes. I am not kidding.
Glenn Harper [:How about that? Well, you know, when you come to when you grew up there, I I think you had some siblings. And then is this and you were born and raised there your whole life. Correct?
Olga Hurtado [:Correct. I came to The US when I was 23.
Glenn Harper [:Alright. So there, you're you're going to high school. Were you, overachiever as a child, or were you kinda just chilling out? Or what what was the defining factor that, growing up in your family, what what made you who you are today?
Olga Hurtado [:Well, I think what made me what I'm who am I today is the fact that my parents were entrepreneurs. And they had this HVAC. I think is that how you call it in English? Okay. This HVAC company in Colombia, and it was, like, a pretty big one. You know? They have more, like, 50 employees, and it was, like, very good. It was doing very well. Well, my my dad has had an accident, and all of a sudden, the business collapsed. I was 11 when that happened.
Olga Hurtado [:So at the beginning, it was like, you know, chaos, confusion. My dad, he fractured his skull, so everything changed in our lives. And my my siblings and I had to go to work very early on. Like, I was 16 when I got my first job because we needed to help my mom, you know, financially because they didn't have, like, you know, the business anymore. So I think that shaped me in the path of understanding the, like, the obstacles that any entrepreneur can face when they have a business and they are not ready for this bad, times. Let's call it that way, because in Colombia we call it the vacas flacas. So it's like the skinny cows. When the skinny cows come, you have to be prepared for that, and we wear it.
Olga Hurtado [:And that's that's basically how I shaped my mind. I was like, okay. This is this is not good. Like, if you have a business, you should be ready for the good and the bad.
Glenn Harper [:Did your, was your mom part of the business as well or just your dad?
Olga Hurtado [:She was.
Glenn Harper [:So you're
Olga Hurtado [:both Yes.
Glenn Harper [:Involved. Okay. And how many siblings do you have?
Olga Hurtado [:We are well, for my father's side, we have a a sister. From my mother's side, we have another sister, and we are three from my mom and my dad.
Glenn Harper [:So the three of you all of a sudden wake up one day, business is going away, you gotta figure out how to survive, and this is what you do. You gotta go out and work and make some money and bring it in. Exactly. Was your dad able to, was he, you know, able to communicate and hang out and stuff or he just couldn't work, or how did that go?
Olga Hurtado [:At the beginning, he couldn't. He was, like, in the process of recovery. It took around like a year and a year and a half. But the thing is that he fractured his skull. Okay? And I never forget what the neurologist said to us. He told us, the brain is like a library and you start piling up all the books, but you don't have any records of how you did it. You just put the books in certain order and all of a sudden an earthquake comes, all of the books are on the on the floor, but you have no record. I have to put it again back again in the same position.
Glenn Harper [:Got it.
Olga Hurtado [:So that was the way he used to explain to us that my father was not gonna be the same.
Glenn Harper [:Wow. Well, that has to be hit hard at that age, and then you have to then figure out how to survive. Diz, was it, working gave you some solace and purpose, or was it the volleyball to be on a team sport? What helped you get through all that?
Olga Hurtado [:Well, I think, my mom. She was a, like, a rock. She basically, like, flourished. We didn't know her. Like, when this happened, we knew our mom. We knew the the type of mom we had. And I think that was, like, our inspiration. Looking at her, like, she, basically, she redid herself.
Olga Hurtado [:She had to do a lot of things that she wasn't doing before. And for us, it was like, oh my mom. Oh my god. If she can do it, we can do it. And that was the way that we did it. My mom, she's such a fighter. And, and we there were days that we didn't even have electricity or we didn't have water to take a bath. You can imagine after having it all.
Olga Hurtado [:So my mom used to wake up early, and she talked to the neighbors and the neighbors threw some, you know, some, hose, you know, from from the garden. And she, like, got water for us to take a bath for us to be able to go to school, things like that. Okay? So she was very resilient. And I think my mom, she was, like, the one who, you know, made us be together, like, the glue for all of us during those times.
Glenn Harper [:That's amazing. Right? That's how it is. So, again, most entrepreneurs, they're, like, selling newspapers. You know, what do you say, Julie?
Olga Hurtado [:Painting rocks.
Glenn Harper [:Paint rocks. Whatever. And here you are. You're you're full on, working to support the family, and everybody's pitching in. Your mom's leading from the front, showing you what to do, give everybody inspiration. That's what it's all about. Well, at some point, you're like, well, I guess I'm at that age where I graduate high school, and you said, well, I gotta go to college, and it looks like you enjoyed higher education at the I'm I'm gonna try to do this right. University well, there's a lot of word letters there.
Glenn Harper [:Autonoma de Caribe in the sleepy town of Soledad, Colombia. And you got a degrees in finance international business. I know I didn't say that right.
Olga Hurtado [:Okay. Well, more or less, it's Autonoma, but that's okay, because before the Autonoma, I was planning to become a writer. And I wanted to write stories for to become, like, you know, the screenwriter for movies and stuff like that. You know, you are young, you are a dreamer. And I actually went to college in Medellin, you know, to get that degree. And my mom told me one day, like, hey, wake up. You know, reality hits you. And unfortunately, in this country and we were in the middle, like in a very, hard financially situation in Colombia.
Olga Hurtado [:It was, like, very hard. So she told me, you know what? I don't think this is gonna be a good path for you. So wake up and come back to Barriquilla. And that's when I decided to, you know, to pursue my finance degree. And I did it because I didn't wanna be an accountant. Can you imagine?
Glenn Harper [:This heresy. I can't believe you're actually saying that, but that's okay.
Olga Hurtado [:Yeah. Like, I I told my sister, I don't wanna be an accountant. And she was like, okay. Why don't you pursue, like, finance? Oh, okay. That's fine. I will do finance then. So here I am being an accountant in The United States. How funny life is.
Glenn Harper [:Well, what's it's funny about this and, again, I've gotta summarize all these things and little things, and we delve off in these little things. But, like, so you get your degree, and then you decide thirteen years later, you know what? Let's get an MBA from Nova Southeastern University of Miami. Then let's wait another three years, and let's get a, master's degree in accounting from the same state university. Like, that is a a lot of schools split up. I assume a lot of things happen, you know, married kids, all the things. But the ability to, you know, be an entrepreneur and be a mom and go back to school, that that's really hard. Like, what was how did you, manage that? Was it through a, you know, a lot of coffee, or what did you have to do to make that happen?
Julie Smith [:Wait. You're jumping ahead.
Glenn Harper [:I know. I was just going through school.
Julie Smith [:Well, so she went to you went to school where you were, where you grew up, but then it sounds like you graduated college and that's when you came to The United States.
Olga Hurtado [:Actually, I came before I graduated because I met my husband, and we were like, okay. Let's get married. I got married very young at 23, and I hadn't finished, school in Colombia. So I was like, you know what? I don't care. This is the country of the opportunities. I will find time to study, you know, to go back to school. So life happened. I had to, you know, work and all that that you need to do in The United States because you have to pay bills.
Olga Hurtado [:I got pregnant. It was well, I got pregnant first on '20, 02/2008, but I had a miscarriage. They were twins. And, we were, like, you know, very sad of the situation, but then I got pregnant again in '20 in 02/2009 in 02/2008 in December, and they were twins too. Like, I was destined to have twins. Okay? So after I had the twins, my mom received a phone call from the University in Columbia telling her, hey. If she doesn't finish, she's gonna lose everything. And she called me, what are you gonna do? You need to finish school.
Olga Hurtado [:You know? I was just you know, I just had twins. You know how hard that is?
Glenn Harper [:I
Olga Hurtado [:mean, twins in this country alone with my husband. So I told my mom, I'm sorry. I cannot do it. And and and they were like, there's this opportunity to do it online and we can help you. My mom and dad, they were going to help me do it. And I said, yes. I was like, listen, I don't want to lose everything that I already did, like few years. And what we did is my dad, he used to, like, pick up the homework from the university.
Olga Hurtado [:He went to, like, a they they're called cafe Internet because my dad didn't know how to use computers. Mhmm. He used he made them scan the homework. I got the homework. I called my mom, and I told I'm sorry. I called my dad. I told him the answers. This is what, you know, what the responses are for all this homework.
Olga Hurtado [:Then he went to the cafe Internet, made someone transcribe it or scan it to my mom. My mom transcribed it, then she sent it to me in a Word document, and I submitted the homework. Wow. That's how I graduated from the university in Colombia.
Glenn Harper [:You know, you can look back at that, and anybody can say they had it harder. I don't know how, but that that is awesome.
Julie Smith [:So your parents I know. Are your parents still in Colombia?
Olga Hurtado [:Yes. My mom. My pa my dad, passed away in 02/2023.
Julie Smith [:Oh, sorry to hear that. And how about your siblings?
Olga Hurtado [:Well, my siblings, they're they don't live in Colombia either. They live in Honduras, which is a pretty funny thing to say because people from Honduras, they actually migrate out of Honduras. They went to Honduras.
Glenn Harper [:Everybody's got a coffee.
Olga Hurtado [:Yeah. But you know what? There's, there's this is the entrepreneurial spirit that we have, and I think that we inherited it from our parents. My dad, he was like this free spirit of being always an entrepreneur. He was he didn't want to be, like an employee or anything like that. He wanted to be an entrepreneur. And before he died, he was like, don't ever go back to employment. Do whatever you can to be the entrepreneur you are. Don't go and have anything related to employment.
Olga Hurtado [:He said that to the three of us, and none of us is an employee. The three of us have companies.
Glenn Harper [:You know, it's funny. I always you know, and you probably do the same thing when you consult with clients and they're they're pondering leaving corporate world and starting their own business. It is, like, ninety nine point nine nine nine nine percent of the time that once you jump to the entrepreneurial side, you cannot go back to a real job. It just you just can't. Some people do and they're totally defeated. And some people probably tried to be an entrepreneur and it really wasn't their thing, and they go back to the comfort. But once you make that commitment, it's so hard to go back.
Olga Hurtado [:It is so hard because you are so used to, you know, handling your time, managing, you know, your own schedule and going back to that. I'm not saying it's bad, you know, like, there are people that they are born to be employees and they are great employees.
Julie Smith [:We we need those people.
Glenn Harper [:Yes. You got it.
Olga Hurtado [:We need those people. Exactly.
Glenn Harper [:Everybody needs it.
Olga Hurtado [:Everybody needs it. But we, as entrepreneurs, when we go back, I think we lose, like, a light within us. There's something that shuts off, and that's what my parent always told us. My dad always told us because he was like, I did that and I lost it. I did it and I lost it and I would do everything, everything that I have, I would give everything to have it back. So don't lose it. Fight for your business. Do whatever you need to do, but keep the entrepreneurial path.
Julie Smith [:So you your graduate you have twins. You're married in Miami with twins, and you're finishing your degree with via your dad, your dad to your to you, to your mom. And so what happens next?
Olga Hurtado [:Well, I graduated and I couldn't go because my twins, they were too little and I was here by myself. I didn't have anyone to leave my kids with. So my dad went for me and he actually, you know, received the diploma and everything. He was very happy that day and I actually had some pictures of him. He was so thrilled. And I think he was it was his graduation. That's that's what I think. He felt it that way.
Glenn Harper [:He was living vicariously through you, I'm sure.
Julie Smith [:Well, I'm sure he felt like he did a lot of the work. Right?
Olga Hurtado [:Like, he
Julie Smith [:was this involved.
Glenn Harper [:You know, it's
Olga Hurtado [:A %.
Glenn Harper [:You know, it's a and this is a side note. So I'm trying to figure out, like, a a Spanish speaking person has all the vernacular down and just knows how to do that. Now you have to learn English. Your English is fantastic. I just am I do not think I could ever pick up I would have to speak and study Spanish for decades to try to have to be able to flow like that. Did you find English easy to pick up, or was it very challenging?
Olga Hurtado [:You know what? Our parents in Colombia, they actually, like, encourage us to take English as a second language, and they enroll us in all these English, classes. But when I got here, I realized that my dad and my mom, they lost all their money because when I got here, I didn't know how to say even hello. I was like, oh my god. What am I gonna do? You know? And I I used to work in a in a shoe company, and the I had a a Chinese, a Chinese boss. He was so nice with me, and he was always encouraging me to learn, to do stuff. And he he also he was he was always telling me, you're so smart. Why don't you speak, English? Why don't you learn, you know, let go that that fear. And he was always telling me that.
Olga Hurtado [:And one day I woke up and I was like, you know what? I'm gonna enroll into college. I'm gonna go to Miami Dade College, and I'm gonna enroll in college, and I'm gonna learn English. I'm tired of it. And I went to Miami Dade College, and I enrolled for the English for academic purposes. And I took two years of college classes, like, you know, like art history and pottery and all that stuff. But I needed to learn and, like, practice it more and more on the conversational side. Probably had more grammar than conversation. So and I took accent reduction classes because if I wanted if I was going to speak English, I was going to do it well.
Olga Hurtado [:Like, I wanted to be, you know, like like you guys, like you how you talk. And that's how I did it. But he was the one who, like, pushed me. Oh, you're so smart. Why don't you speak English? Oh, you I cannot speak with you, but you're so smart. You should learn English. And that's what encouraged me to do it.
Glenn Harper [:And that's, you know, like I said, it's gotta be so hard to you have a slight amount, then you come here, you're trying to raise a family, trying to work, you don't speak the language, and you're like, that's it. I gotta figure this out. You dedicate two years to try to build your craft, and then here you are. At what point when you're doing this did you're, like, say, you know, I just this working for somebody is not for me. I've got to do something on my own. Now I I'm guessing it was two things. One is you had this need to help people. Right? It's very prominent on your bios and stuff that you wanted to help people that needed that kind of help, that needed the language barrier and understand the entrepreneurial side, but it also had to be something where you needed the freedom so you could do live your life with your family, do the things as well.
Glenn Harper [:How did those two come together to make you make that decision?
Olga Hurtado [:Well, I used to work in a Spanish company, and the boss that I had there, he was amazing. He was was one of my mentors too. And his name is Carlos. And he actually like, when he resigned from his position, I was, like, so sad. And all of a sudden, all his work was, you know, handed over to me. And when I asked for the raise, I was like, you know what? I'm doing his job. I'm, you know, and plus mine. Can I have a raise, please? And they said no.
Olga Hurtado [:And they fired me. That day.
Glenn Harper [:Wow.
Olga Hurtado [:That was the day I decided I was not going to work for anyone else because I spent eight years in that company waiting for me to grow, you know, and to, probably give more of what of who I am, what I what I do. And they just, I don't know, belittle me because of that. And they told me other things that are, like, you know, very frustrating or they were frustrating, but they were actually like, you know, like, they pushed me too. Like, oh, you know what? Because of a woman? No problem. I'm a woman, but I'm strong. Don't worry. I can do it. And I took my box.
Olga Hurtado [:You know, they they give you this box so you can put everything in. I thought that you was you see only that type of, you know, situations in the movies. Yep. That actually happened to me. Like, I took my box with everything in. I went to my car, and I when I sat down in my car, I was like, you know what? This is the time that if I'm gonna make empanadas, I'm gonna make the best empanadas in town, but I'm not gonna work for anyone else. And that's how I started my journey. Like, what do I do? How do I do it? Because accounting was not my first option.
Olga Hurtado [:And when it it came to me, it was like an opportunity to do a freelance. And I took the opportunity because I said to myself, what do I have to lose? Nothing. I have the experience. I know how to do it. I'm good at it. And I started working freelance for a CPA friend of mine. And he started like, they started giving me clients, and that's how I started. And that's how it became neat books right now.
Glenn Harper [:You know, it's funny. You're you know, everybody the siren call of the accounting. Nobody wants to do it because it's you know, it just totally makes you put in this box that you're always this accountant. But at the end of the day, you know, this what you do is not who you are. Right? Even though there's a lot of cross thing because you look at things through a different lens. But, again, I'd imagine it's not just about the accounting. You do some advising. You do some tax work, and you help, again, business owners navigate the landscape of an entrepreneur, which is that's not what people think accountants do.
Glenn Harper [:Right? And but it is one of the results that you do if you do your job well. So that's what that's all about, Julie.
Julie Smith [:Well, I, yeah, I can't get there from here. But what what does what did your husband do? Was he also an entrepreneur or was he yeah.
Olga Hurtado [:No. My husband is the employee type of guy.
Julie Smith [:Okay.
Olga Hurtado [:He loves to be an employee. He used to work in Telemundo, which is a Spanish broadcast, and he worked there for thirteen years. And in 2023 in January, they did this massive, layoffs, and he was one of them. And at the beginning, he was very concerned and worried about it. And I told him, listen, you can work with us. Like, we can do something together.
Glenn Harper [:You shucked him in?
Olga Hurtado [:Yeah. Oh.
Julie Smith [:Oh, man. Oh, man. Familiar? Can I can I talk to him? No. I'm just kidding. So what is what does he do? Is he learning accounting? Like, what is his role?
Olga Hurtado [:No. He's actually helping us with everything related to project management tasks, you know, or everything that is workflows and keeping, you know, like, avoiding the bottlenecks and systems and systems in place and creating pipelines and creating the processes. He's a very well structured, probably more than me, and he's he's very squared. So I was like, this is the perfect job for you.
Glenn Harper [:I thought he was gonna be the face of the organization, you know, bring some, you know, respect and credibility to the place. No. That's too fine. Well, is he is he liking this? And and this is the reason I asked that because it's twofold. Like, professionally, this is your thing. Now he was doing his thing. Now you gotta do a thing together. It gets a little blurry, and then you gotta go home at night.
Glenn Harper [:Right? And that is a challenge. So how do you guys how did you determine what those boundaries and navigate that so it doesn't you know, as you know, as an entrepreneur, it consumes you. Right? It's it becomes everything in your life, and you can't do that when you've got a significant other in this business as well. You have to have those boundaries. How did you guys set those up?
Julie Smith [:We don't have to.
Glenn Harper [:Let's let's
Julie Smith [:hear let's hear what she has to say.
Olga Hurtado [:Well, we don't have to, but we do. We have a rule. When the computer is off is off, no more questions.
Glenn Harper [:That's a good rule. Does it keep it on all
Julie Smith [:the time? With your laptop at
Olga Hurtado [:home or yeah. No. We don't walk around with the laptop.
Glenn Harper [:It's a question.
Olga Hurtado [:But the the computers are there. You know? And if we're working from home and you get like, you get so focused on that, and there's no ending. There's need to be an end in the day. And he works from home. And if we don't do that, then we're gonna be consumed only by work, work, work, and that's not life. And I I always tell him, my computer's off. No more questions. When I turn it on tomorrow, you ask me any questions.
Glenn Harper [:So you kinda leave the leave that because that you're kinda enforced that limit, which is good. So that's that's awesome.
Julie Smith [:So you have twins, boy girl, boy boy.
Olga Hurtado [:Girl girl.
Julie Smith [:Oh, jeez. And you are in the throes of it, if I can do math, which isn't my strong suit. But
Glenn Harper [:Yeah. Good luck.
Julie Smith [:You're in the throes of those teenage years. Right?
Olga Hurtado [:Yes. I am. It they are 15 now. Well, they actually pretty you know, they're really good. I think I think the teenage girls, when you have, like, a very good relationship with them and open conversations, but with rules and guidelines at home, they become a really nice people to hang with.
Julie Smith [:So I have an 11 year old, and I'm gonna take this clip and replay it for every time in the next six years for her to to remind her that I'm not the only one. But yes.
Glenn Harper [:You know, it's it's funny. Kids and young they just need they need to know what the boundaries are. They need to know what the expectations are, and they can thrive in that. It's when they don't know, they're always probing to try to figure that out. But once they know the framework to operate in and you hold true to that, I think everybody can thrive. And that's what most people probably miss out these days is actually being able to tell the kid no. Like or this is the limit.
Olga Hurtado [:The thing is that also, I think Latina moms, we are very strong with our kids.
Glenn Harper [:No. That's that is totally a stereotype.
Julie Smith [:I mean, I think
Olga Hurtado [:I am too.
Glenn Harper [:That is not true.
Julie Smith [:Can you know?
Glenn Harper [:No. What are you talking about? That is I would never guess that. That's not true.
Olga Hurtado [:I like it anymore in this country Because you you you have that responsibility. You know?
Glenn Harper [:Oh, yeah.
Olga Hurtado [:You come to this country, and you respect the laws, and you respect everything here, and you have to pass that on to your child. And when your children understand that and that responsibility, they understand that it's not only like, oh, we are here and we are entitled. No. We earned this. Okay? It's not for free. And they respect that. If you teach them that and they they learn how to respect that part, they will do it. And that's part of our responsibility as Latinos, immigrants here in this country.
Olga Hurtado [:And my girls, that's what I tell them. I I didn't come, you know, in a in a canoe or something like that. No. Not at all. But everything here, don't take it for granted.
Julie Smith [:I think that holds true throughout, though. And I think, you know, I try to teach my girls the exact same thing, like earning it, you know, respecting it, not being entitled. And I I can, you know, relate so much with you with that. And I think, you know, that holds true. And those girls, man, it's you gotta hold hold true and steady on all those things.
Olga Hurtado [:You know? Exactly.
Glenn Harper [:It's, it's funny. The the things that a lot of people take for granted, what you had gone through that, you know and a lot of people that have immigrated here, even the initial settlers and stuff, they it's the the dream. Like, this is this is what makes America great is we are trying we have a framework that if you'd want to, you can succeed. You just gotta want to. And it is truly a privilege to be able to do that. And when you can teach that to the next generations that that is this is don't take this for granted. I I mean, that's a pretty cool thing. I think your daughter's gonna be amazing entrepreneurs someday.
Julie Smith [:Well, I wanna know. Do they do they work in the office Yeah. In their free time?
Olga Hurtado [:No. What?
Glenn Harper [:Get them off the
Olga Hurtado [:I'm gonna like it.
Julie Smith [:My kids are coming next week is spring break, and they're coming into work in the office to earn it.
Olga Hurtado [:The thing is that my kids are musicians, and they they were born with something. Okay?
Glenn Harper [:This is your artistic thing that you didn't pursue.
Olga Hurtado [:I think so. I think so. And my husband is he also draws, you know, very well. So he they were always showing this artistic thing when they were little. And at the age of three, yes, three, I realized that I needed to do something. And I talked to my husband and we enrolled them in piano lessons when they were three. And actually, they became, like, really good. And when they were five, well, my husband was, my husband when I got laid off, we decided to do something with them in the afternoons because, you know, we didn't wanna spend the whole afternoon with them.
Olga Hurtado [:And I found this amazing program here in Miami. It's called the Miami Music Project, and it's actually free music, like a free music academy. Let's call it that way. It's free to free of tuition. So they can go three times a week. Okay? And it's two hours, Mondays. It it was Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and they learned how to play violin. So they've been there for ten years now.
Glenn Harper [:Wow.
Olga Hurtado [:And this program has has gave them a lot of has given them a lot of opportunities. You know? They went to Michigan. They went to Yola. They even played with, Maestro Dudamel from California. So they are in that artistic world. And I told them, listen. I I read this book from Arnold Schwarzenegger. I loved it, the the seven rules.
Olga Hurtado [:And I told him, listen, Arnold says that you have no plan b. There's only one plan. It's plan a. So if you're going to be a musician, you better be the best of it, like the best one. Okay? So because there's no plan B. So that's what they are deciding. They are deciding to pursue the music career, which is amazing. Fine.
Olga Hurtado [:I don't have a problem. Okay? But they have to do it. They have to do it well. It's not like, oh, they the only musician in TikTok. No. No. No. It's gonna be a good one.
Glenn Harper [:Well, jeez, I feel like you can have them show up at the office and play for the staff and put on mini concerts. You could probably pay them, deduct the tuition, have a good time with that, and, put them on the hot seat. Of course, your staff might think they're being tortured. It's hard to tell. So as you're doing this business, you decided you go on your own. You're subbing for this, one accountant, and then you decide, look. I'm gonna hang my shingle, and now you've got a crap ton of employees. And how how was that? Like, was it scary for you, or was it just like you're moving with purpose, you knew exactly your business model, and you grab 10 clients.
Glenn Harper [:Soon as you get too busy, you hire somebody else. Go grab 10 new ones. Like, how did you scale this thing and grow to know that this is what you wanted to do to have your company this size?
Olga Hurtado [:Well, actually, the scaling of the business helped me more organically than I looking for it. Okay? During the pandemic, I learned something, and it was that people were not ready for tough times.
Glenn Harper [:Mhmm.
Olga Hurtado [:And I was not ready for tough times. Okay? So I started saving and I created these buckets. So those buckets helped me, like, escalate my business because I was saving for this and I was saving for this and I was I was getting ready for that growth. I envisioned the growth, not that I pursued it. It came. It just came in, and I said yes because I was ready. The thing with, with growing that way is because when you grow without a structure, it's very dangerous for your business. Okay? So having to create this structure every time that I had to, like, you know, these clients because I have, like, like a niche very specific, which is, we take care of franchise owners or franchisors or these people that have, like, multi entity businesses, like twenty, thirty, 40 businesses.
Olga Hurtado [:So when I was getting ready for that, I realized that I needed structure. Not that I thought about it in 2015. I didn't know that. In 2022, when I realized what my niche was, I said, okay. Now I need to structure it this way, and that's how I did it. But it was painful, you know, because I had to, like, make decisions and then go back. Oh, no. This doesn't work.
Olga Hurtado [:Then make another decision and then go back.
Julie Smith [:How integral was your dad in regards to, you know, you starting out and having to make some of those decisions and go back? And I just you know, your both your parents probably had been through a lot of what you were going through.
Olga Hurtado [:Well, actually, my dad told me one day, you're so smart. You don't need me. And I was like, really?
Glenn Harper [:Job well done, dad. Yeah.
Olga Hurtado [:Thank you, Papi. No. He was actually, like, always telling me the only thing you need is to don't overthink your decisions. That's the only thing you need to do because the more you think about it, the less you're gonna do. So and and that's something and that's something funny because this this past week, someone asked me, how do you make your decisions? And I was like, I do it with my stomach, and I said it in Spanish. I know in English, it's with your gut.
Glenn Harper [:Yep.
Olga Hurtado [:Okay? So and the every human being always makes a decision with their gut. When you fall in love, you fill it in your stomach. You feel the butterflies. You know? When you you when when you have fear, you fill it in your gut. You have to rush the bathroom because you feel it. It's not your brain. It's not your heart. Okay? So my dad was always telling me, what does your gut tell you? Listen to it.
Olga Hurtado [:And I was like, okay. That's what I'm gonna do. That's how I got married.
Glenn Harper [:You you know, it's funny. The the struggle, the entrepreneur of of going with your gut, what the world's telling you to do, what other people are telling you to do. You know what you think you to do, but then you're not sure. And, eventually, once you make the decision swift and furious and go, you really are committed. You you really can't, you know, take that back. You gotta keep going. And that's where your swift decisions as an entrepreneur, you you're we always joke about, you know, you're always pivoting. There is no straight line.
Glenn Harper [:It's always it's just, you're trying to draw squiggly all the time and put off fires. Definitely.
Olga Hurtado [:And that's how how that's how entrepreneurial life is. It's there's no joke. There's no straight line.
Julie Smith [:There's not. I just keep thinking my I messed up on the pivot to go to Miami.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah. It's, that's the thing. Do you have, do you ever have any desire to move back to Columbia or have a second residence there? Are you you're totally USA now and this is where you're at?
Olga Hurtado [:Well, I'm a % in USA now. I, of course, go to Colombia because I decided in 2022 to open a virtual office in Colombia. So right now, we have half of the staff here in The U. S. And half of the staff in Colombia. And but it's not it's not in my city. Okay? It's not in Barranquilla, it's in Medellin. And that that happened, like, coincidentally because, I I met someone and that person, you know, we clicked.
Olga Hurtado [:So that happened just because. So the reason why I don't think I'm going to be moving to Colombia anytime soon is because I have my business here. My girls are, you know, starting their lives. I don't know where they're, you know, where they're gonna go. So but, you know, when when I grow older, probably, I would think about leaving the Colombian dream for the old people.
Glenn Harper [:Which is?
Olga Hurtado [:Well, they used to live in these beautiful farms, you know, with animals and with the mountains and great weather. It's not cold. It's not hot. Okay? So it's it's in the, the mountains of Colombia. They are very nice where this, the the the coffee and all that. So that that's the dream of every Colombian to go back and live that way.
Glenn Harper [:I got so the folks that you open up your virtual office, are they working on the work that you do in The US, or did you open a division to do Colombian accounting and taxes and such?
Olga Hurtado [:No. I'm not interested in that. Sounds good. Yeah. Sounds good. Because yeah. Because Colombia is very complicated, and I don't wanna complicate my life that way. In The United States, you find, like, yeah, it's complicated, but I think it's easier, in terms of practicing accounting here.
Olga Hurtado [:There are a a ton of regulation in Colombia, so that's fine. I'm I'm happy in The United States.
Glenn Harper [:Love it.
Julie Smith [:Well, I have some, questions. They're the hardest ones of the whole Brutal. Whole podcast. What is your superpower?
Olga Hurtado [:Well, I think my superpower oh my god. That's a tough question. Let me think because I think as women, we have tons of superpower. Okay? But in terms of the entrepreneurial life, I think the superpower that I consider I have is that I finish what I start. I don't know how to say that in English in another word.
Julie Smith [:No. I think that I think you said it perfectly. Finish what you start. Finish what you start.
Glenn Harper [:I love it.
Julie Smith [:So you're very goal oriented.
Olga Hurtado [:Yes.
Julie Smith [:And whatever those goals are, you you achieve them. So
Olga Hurtado [:Yes.
Julie Smith [:You kinda run a role
Glenn Harper [:run
Julie Smith [:a bulldozer to get to those. I I would I can envision that.
Glenn Harper [:You guys might get along, I
Olga Hurtado [:think. Yeah.
Julie Smith [:So then I have one last question for you, and that is what is your end game? You kind of alluded maybe to it, but what's your end game?
Olga Hurtado [:Oh my god. My endgame. Well, I've thought about it a lot lately. Okay? Because I think that entrepreneurs, they don't have an endgame. Ding ding ding. Winner winner. Because when you learn something, the only way you become an expert is by teaching it. So when you become an entrepreneur and you reach some of the like, you know, like this, I don't know how to say this, like the top of the top, let's call it that way, then you start teaching it like, okay, do you wanna learn how to do it or, you know, you strategize with other people on how to do it.
Olga Hurtado [:So you never stop. And I think when you stop doing what you what you love or, you know, or stop working, I I I think that's where you die. Yep.
Julie Smith [:No. So it's it's funny because it makes people think, and you took it straight to the goal of what the the question was, which was good job. But there is no end game for entrepreneurs because you can't stop doing something that you've become essentially an expert at and that you love and you have a passion for. It's just in your blood, and you can't you can't take it out of you.
Olga Hurtado [:And that's right.
Glenn Harper [:Why would you stop? You you can impact and help so many others. Why would you just stop and do nothing? It seems like a waste as you spent the entire the journey that you made or had to go through to get here, it just doesn't seem sporting. Maybe you don't work, you know, you know, three hundred hours a week during tax season, but, gosh, you don't have to give it up all in at once. Right? So that's
Olga Hurtado [:Right.
Glenn Harper [:Great. Well, I tell you, Olga, it's been a pleasure having you on on the, podcast today. I I hope our listeners got some great nuggets. I know I did. And, again, the struggle is real, and that's what makes it what it is. And, I think the the theme is just never give up. Just keep going.
Olga Hurtado [:Well, I
Julie Smith [:kind of envisioned her journey as we were kind of wrapping it up. As you know, we talk a lot about peaks and valleys, but I we literally went we kind of we kind of rode the waves with you today in regards to, you know, all your peaks and valleys and how you got to where you are today. And I'm sure there'll be more because you can't have the peaks without those valleys. So
Olga Hurtado [:That's right.
Glenn Harper [:Well, I just wanna hear about the kids' concert at the office. I just wanna know when that happens. And,
Julie Smith [:yeah. Come down and join. Yes. We'll be the spectators. We'll bring our laptops.
Glenn Harper [:I I I'm not gonna I'm not gonna sing. Olga, would you mind giving a a plug to if our listeners wanna get ahold of you or your company?
Olga Hurtado [:Of course. Well, we are, of course, in social media. Our Instagram is neat underscore books. And I also have a LinkedIn, page that you can find me as Olga Hurtado. I you see my beautiful face. And we also have our website, www.needbooksllc.com. You'll see there a lot of, of part of my story and how original is our website because it has a little bit of stamp of how of who we are and how we are because we are not like this big accountants. We have fun.
Olga Hurtado [:Awesome. These numbers are fun. So, yes, you can contact me and connect with me in LinkedIn as well.
Glenn Harper [:Awesome. Well, I appreciate you being on the show. Well, that was another great addition
Glenn Harper [:of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [:Julie Smith.
Glenn Harper [:Have a good one.
