Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
Bringing together local businesses and neighbor of the Tri-Cities region. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Skip Mauney helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around The Tri-Cities.
Is your business serving the residents of Tri-Cities? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpTri-Cities.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
EP# 247: Breaking Stereotypes: How Genene Curry Makes Accounting Approachable for Small Businesses
What makes Genene Curry with Genene Curry Accounting a good neighbor?
What does an approachable accountant look like? Genene Curry is redefining the profession one small business at a time. As the owner of Genene Curry Accounting in Asheville, NC, she's on a mission to help those who might otherwise shy away from professional financial guidance.
Genene's journey into accounting began unexpectedly when a mentor noticed her natural aptitude for numbers. "Oh my god, this is so easy," she recalls thinking about accounting tasks that many find challenging. This discovery led her to build a practice specifically designed to serve small business owners, self-employed individuals, artists, makers, landscapers, mechanics, and construction workers throughout Western North Carolina.
Breaking from the stereotype of the stuffy, intimidating accountant, Genene has created a welcoming space where clients feel comfortable discussing their financial concerns. "What we like to specialize in is being approachable, providing services to people who are scared of it and wouldn't typically go to an accountant," she explains. This philosophy was put to the ultimate test when Hurricane Helene devastated her community. Rather than focusing on potential business losses, Genene and her staff provided free services to help clients navigate FEMA applications, loans, and grants during this critical period.
Beyond her professional life, Genene finds balance by attending live music shows, recently enjoying performances by The Black Keys and Slay Bells. This work-life harmony reflects her overall approach to business – bringing humanity and understanding to a field often perceived as cold and impersonal.
If you're struggling with tax issues or financial concerns, Genene Curry Accounting offers a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your situation without obligation. As a woman-owned, minority-owned business, they bring unique perspective and empathy to every client relationship. Visit Genenecurryaccounting.com today to schedule your consultation and experience a different kind of accounting service.
To learn more about Genene Curry Accounting go to:
https://genene_curry_accounting_llc.ptinpro.com/
Genene Curry Accounting
828-575-9045
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2:Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. So I am super excited today to have a very special guest in our studio, and I'm sure you'll be just as excited because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Ms Janine Curry, who is the owner operator of Janine Curry Accounting. Janine, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Well, we're glad to have you, like I said, really excited to learn all about what you do. So if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us about your business?
Speaker 3:My business is accounting for small businesses in the Asheville area. We do tax prep, bookkeeping, payroll etc.
Speaker 2:Very good. So a little bit of everything.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, how did you get into the accounting business, Janine?
Speaker 3:I had um a first job out of college where I was an administrative assistant and I was bored and the accountant at the business saw that and started to take pity on me and was like here, why don't you enter bills and pay bills and do that kind of thing? And she saw that I had an aptitude for it and she was like I think you have a career in accounting If this is easy for you.
Speaker 1:And I go.
Speaker 3:it is easy for me and she goes well, I think this is what you should do.
Speaker 2:Amen, cause it's not easy for everybody, I can tell.
Speaker 3:No, I know she was like. She's like is this easy? Do you find this? Yeah, I go. Oh my god, this is so easy. Like I was so bored, you know it's like a 21 year old in the office and she was just like, oh, you have a mind for accounting.
Speaker 2:You should think about it it's a very special skill set that not everybody has, so for sure you're blessed. Well, what are some myths or misconceptions in the accounting business, janine?
Speaker 3:um, some myths in the accounting business. Um, you don't have to look a certain way to do accounting. You don't have to have a stuffy office. What we like to specialize in in my office is being approachable, providing services to people who are scared of it and wouldn't typically go to an accountant. That's what.
Speaker 3:I think my business feels that little niche spot. So that's a myth to be stuffy and boring and you know, like your dad's accountant you don't have to have an accountant like that out there. You know there are lots of different types out there. There are lots of different types.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, I think the term accountant gets used a lot to describe someone who's kind of I don't mean anything about this but it's a myth or misconception that most accountants are boring and dull. Yeah, oh boy, a room full of accountants.
Speaker 3:It's not the most exciting thing, no, but I love it so you must love numbers too. Right. So I was like numbers are universal and numbers are numbers. They're facts, I don't know, they're easy.
Speaker 2:Percent. Not fair For me, for you. So who are your target customers, janine, and how do you reach them?
Speaker 3:My target customers are small business owners, people who are more than just working a W-2 job but might have, you know, self-employed people, artists, makers in the area, landscapers, mechanics, construction workers, who people have their own construction business, that kind of people who don't follow necessarily a white collar career. That's where we come in.
Speaker 2:Gotcha. Well, there's a lot of them, and that's what, uh, what we focus on on this show is small, locally owned businesses, so you're in the right place.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, have you ever thought about having a your own podcast?
Speaker 3:No, I get stage.
Speaker 2:uh, fright oh my goodness, oh my goodness. Well, you're doing fine here. Is this your first podcast?
Speaker 3:Yes, it is.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:My goodness.
Speaker 2:I'm honored, I'm honored to be your first Well outside of work. Janine, what do you like to do for fun?
Speaker 3:I love to go see music shows and I'm very grateful to live in a community where we have a lot of artists come through, so that's my main passion is going to see music. I love it.
Speaker 2:I was afraid you were going to say I like to do math.
Speaker 3:No, no, I leave that at the door.
Speaker 2:I'm like very good, very good, Any like music performances, uh like uh plays or or bands, oh nice, nice. What was your favorite?
Speaker 3:Oh my goodness. Um, well, your favorite, oh my goodness. Well, I just saw the Black Keys recently, nice yeah. And I went to a show the other night and I saw another band, slay Bells, which is an oldie but a goodie, yeah. So getting to see music helps release the stress of accounting.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Of everything. Trust me, I love music. Well, let's switch gears for a second, janine, can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you've overcome and how it made you stronger on the other side?
Speaker 3:Sure, I mean, we could just go to the hurricane, the most recent horrible thing that happened to our community. It was devastating and we were struggling and hopefully were able to bounce back. And that was a very scary moment in time where I was thinking that the business may be shut down because a lot of my clients were affected. So if they don't have a business, do I have a business? You know Right?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:So if they, don't have a business? Do I have a business, Right, right?
Speaker 2:So what we decided to do, me and my assistants I mean my staff was to just stay open as much as possible and not charge anybody anything and donate our time and resources to help people apply for FEMA and loans and grants and just to help, you know, and make sure that we could survive together as a community. It has. It has done my heart good to see the Asheville area, you know Hot Springs, marshall, all around Western North Carolina and East.
Speaker 3:Tennessee actually.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, come together in a big, big way.
Speaker 3:Like mountain people being kind of closeted or whatever like cloistered together. But part of that is that you do take care of each other and you try to look out for your neighbor as much as possible and we know that, since we are so remote, we do depend on each other to survive and that is a wonderful thing to really see and be a part of. After the hurricane. It was yeah, it was amazing and humbling and made me very grateful and wanted to help.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, you know recovery is still happening. I know I live right across the state line, about 45 minutes from Asheville, and we had a major bridge, the Irwin Bridge, still happening. I know I live right across the state line, about 45 minutes from Asheville, and we had a major bridge, the Irwin Bridge. Yes, it was destroyed and it just reopened last week actually. So yeah, it took nine months.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, yeah, we're still struggling. There are a lot of businesses that are pivoting and trying to find their way and we're, excuse me, trying to help with that and as best we can. So, yeah, we're still doing it. I mean, you know, we're still together and we're still trying to make it. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Very resilient community.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:So, janine, if you could think of one thing that you'd like our listeners to remember about Janine Curry accounting, what would that be?
Speaker 3:um, don't be afraid to contact us if you, you know, if you have, uh, especially if you have old taxes that need to be filed or you have issues, irs, please feel free. Um, we like to specialize in also making our clients feel comfortable, so you don't have any anxiety anymore. You just give it to us. You know woman-owned, minority-owned, so we understand.
Speaker 2:You know the heart, you know very good, very good thing to remember. So for those of us who are in trouble with the IRS or have issues that we is just beyond our scope of capability, how can our listeners learn more about you and what you can do?
Speaker 3:Yes, you can go to my website, janinecurrycom, and there is a little button that says contact us, and so that comes directly to my office, and so we get a lot of people just writing in there saying can you know? I have this issue. Can we schedule a consultation? Because we do offer a free 30 minute consultation, so I can just give you a consultation for free for 30 minutes.
Speaker 2:All right, writing that down. Free 30-minute consultation. Everybody remember that. Give Janine Curry of Janine Curry Accounting a call and you can get a 30-minute. I've been desperately into that, so I'll probably be in touch.
Speaker 3:I love that. Please do.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome. Well, janine, I really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us and to talk to our listeners about your accounting business, and we wish you and your family and, uh, jenny and curry accounting all the best moving forward thank you and back to you. Thank you so much thank you so much, and maybe we can have you back sometime we'll love that all right, all right. Thanks so much. You have a great day you too.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnptry-citiescom. That's gnptry-citiescom, or call 423-719-5873. Thank you.