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Bold Journey Magazine Features Stephanie Green

We recently connected with Stephanie L. Green and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?
Hello, and thank you for having me. When we first spoke about this interview and I thought about the topics of discussion, I really had to toil over what has had the greatest impact on my life and my career. So many areas that Bold Journey touches on spoke to me… resiliency, taking a risk, my work ethic, overcoming and avoiding burn out, optimism. Each of them resonates with me.
I was born to a single mom at a time that I imagine it was not an easy decision to make. I was raised by her alongside her best friend, a widow with two children. Both worked in accounting. I think it’s fair to say I inherited my strength, my work ethic, and my resilience from them. I’m fortunate to have had such an amazing example.
I followed in my mother’s footsteps in the accounting world, specifically business management. Like her, I worked hard and was very dedicated. I loved my work and my clients. As much as I enjoyed the numbers aspect of it, I also really enjoyed the satisfaction of taking care of my clients and looking out for their interests. I think that is why business management held such an appeal for me. It was the sense of taking care of others that spoke to my heart, to my nature.

There did come a time, however, when I began to experience a bit of burn out. I was too young to be a work-a-holic. An opportunity arose for me to go to work for one of my clients and the thought of starting a new chapter was exciting. It was also a little scary as it involved a move across the country and a change of profession. I transitioned from business management to personal management. I loved it. I loved my new surroundings, the community, my associates, the clients – everything. It was exhilarating. Very early on, I found I was proud of the risk I took and any sense of fear of the unknown quickly dissipated. In fact, I found that having made the move resulted in a new sense of fearlessness. I did it once. I could do it again. I think that experience lent itself to my ability to take risks again in the future.

After several years in personal management, I was drawn home to California again. A twist of fate brought me back to the west coast where I returned to business management and working for several of my former associates. It really, truly was coming home again. I enjoyed several years with that firm, managing their business management practice. Those years, however, were not without their personal challenges.
In a series of back-to-back heartbreaking events, I lost a dear friend to cancer, my mom’s best friend (who had become something of a grandmother figure over the years) passed away, and shortly after her passing, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Her care was never curative; it was always palliative. At this stage of my life, having just turned 40, I learned quite a bit more about strength and resiliency.
My mother and I worked together, so when she went into treatment, I was down a man at work. I was also her sole caregiver. I found myself up every morning at 4am to start her medications. I would get a little work done, then prepare her meals for the day. I would head into the office and go about my workday while covering the extra workload due to her absence from the office. In the evenings, I would head home, administer medications, make dinner, and clean the house because keeping everything clean was paramount in consideration of her compromised immune system because of her chemotherapy.
I had a ton of support, and will be forever grateful.  Still, at the end of the day, the weight rested on my shoulders.   You do what you must do to get through it, to meet each day, with determination as much as being on autopilot. My perspective changed. Or, perhaps, I should say expanded. When you go through a life-threatening illness with someone you love, your priorities shift. They become clearer. My mom eventually returned to work and enjoyed quality of life for her remaining years until she finally succumbed to the disease.
Then, roughly six years later, I was diagnosed with cancer. I thought my perspective had changed before. It really changed when I was facing my own health issues. Fortunately, my treatment was curative. I was truly awakened to the concept of self-care. I was given a piece of advice when caring for my mother through her illness – “try to keep one foot in your life.” It was difficult to do, but I was always grateful to have a mantra to strive for. I really tried to adhere to that mantra through my own illness.
It didn’t matter what I was in the middle of – I could have been in the middle of a phone call, a meeting, a conversation – if I had a doctor’s appointment, I promptly stopped what I was doing and excused myself to attend to my needs. Again, I was blessed with amazing friends, and worked for a fantastic and supportive organization. I cannot say I survived that experience alone, but I can say I was my own caregiver and my own advocate. I had to be. It was time to find more balance. It was time to value me. To prioritize me. To take care of my needs. It was a turning point for me in my life, and my friends, associates, employers, and clients all rallied around me. I am forever grateful.
A few years later, I was experiencing some challenges in my career. It was creating an enormous amount of stress on me. At first, I opted to hang in there. To continue to try to find solutions, to be a problem solver, a fixer. I started to feel as if I was pushing that boulder uphill alone, and I could not effect positive change in the inter-personal relationships or in the team functionality.  I knew it was time to make a change.
I’ve always believed in having choices. If you are not happy with something, you can choose to change it. One doesn’t have to stay stagnate, and shouldn’t, waiting for things to change. It’s not anyone else’s responsibility to make changes that I need. I decided my health – physical, emotional and mental – was more important than anything else. The time had come. I’d done as much as I could in that role, as rewarding as it had been. After 15 years with the organization, I resigned.
Ironically, I didn’t have a plan. I just knew I wasn’t going to stay in a place I had outgrown. Thank goodness for that cross country move nearly 25 years before. I was not afraid. I was willing to take the risk and make the change I needed to make.
You know what happened? When I told my clients and my staff that I was resigning, they all surprised me and responded with “take me with you,” “where you go, I go,” and so on.
Wow! I didn’t see that coming. I had thought I would take some time off, maybe find another position or even work from home independently. Turned out, I was about to start a business and open my own practice.
The partners at the firm I departed from were a huge inspiration to me – from how they built their business and developed relationships – in how I would embrace my next chapter. They are the cream of the crop. I admire and respect each of them, and each of them were amazing mentors. I’ll always be indebted to them for a large part of my personal and professional growth.
Two months later, I launched Legacy Business Management Group. It was the best decision of my career. Of course, I must appreciate the universe’s sense of humor. We launched in January of 2020, and then promptly went into COVID lockdown within a couple of months. Nevertheless, we got through it. We’ve been improving, thriving, and growing ever since.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Legacy Business Management Group is a small, boutique practice, and it is exactly what we want it to be.  We’re not a corporate giant, but we get the job done and we enjoy what we do.  I like the intimacy of our practice and the connection we have with our clients. Our clients are treated like family. Our ideal client is one who needs our assistance and wants to be an active participant in the process. Clients with whom we can develop mutual trust and respect, who allow us to do what we do best but are open to learning from us and to implementing processes that benefit them. We like working as a team. We plan, we strategize, we implement, we advocate. We also support. We are there during times of crisis and help them to usher in new chapters. We are there for the good times and the challenging times in their lives. It is very satisfying.
In addition to standard services, including but not limited to accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, bank reconciliations, personal and commercial insurance reviews, etc., we are proud to have experience in divorce matters as well– navigating community vs. separate property. We work closely with all client advisors – entertainment and business attorneys, agents, managers, investment advisors, and estate planning attorneys – often acting as the client’s quarterback to effectively contribute to client choices related to career strategies, financial, tax and retirement planning, and wealth management.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

There are several factors that went into where I am today. Risks taken. Fantastic mentors. Challenges. Tragedies. All of which shaped me into the woman I am today, as well as the professional I am today. I can’t overlook the simple truths of life experience and the wisdom that one acquires over time, but those combined with my personal challenges and lessons learned have helped me to view my life and my career with optimism, courage, and patience. I’m absolutely blessed. It’s tough to narrow it down to just three skills or qualities, but I think highly developed communication skills would be at the top of the list.  Clear and effective communication can solve problems, avoid problems and provide vision.  Being a good listener is another valuable skill, as is developing empathy.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

In all candor, when I’m feeling overwhelmed sometimes, I still find myself caught up in old habits. Meaning, I find I allow my stress level to rise. While I consider myself very self-aware, and always try to recognize my limitations, I am not perfect. Far from it. I often remind myself that I have to communicate my needs and that includes asking for help. That and remembering another favorite mantra – “Delegate is not a dirty word.” I allow myself to step back, assess, reprioritize, and reassign tasks as may be needed. I have a fantastic team, and I work with some remarkable professionals. I am regularly reminded that I am not, and do not have to be a lone wolf. I always see results when I work together with my team and with those professionals whom I hold in such high regard. Collectively, we win. My advice would be to be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to step back from time to time. Seek the wisdom of peers. Know your limitations. You can certainly take steps to improve or gain new skills, but you can also seek experts who are able to offer support in areas that may not be your strength. Never try to do it all and don’t believe you have to go at it alone. Build your village. You will reap the rewards.

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