FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #68 Meet the Bank Teller Who Became Your Business's Secret Financial Weapon
Demystifying business finances is a mission Katelyn Duron takes seriously. As co-founder of DuroSec LLC, she created a unique niche in the accounting world—bringing high-level financial analysis and guidance to small businesses that traditionally couldn't afford such services.
Katelyn's journey from 18-year-old bank teller to financial consultant reveals her deep understanding of small business challenges. After working her way through banking roles and helping entrepreneurs secure funding (including during the PPP loan rush), she recognized a critical gap in the market. While large businesses have dedicated financial teams and smaller ones might cobble together basic bookkeeping, there was no middle ground providing strategic financial guidance at accessible rates.
DuroSec fills that void by teaching business owners to understand their numbers and leverage financial data for growth. Unlike traditional bookkeepers who simply organize receipts, Katelyn's team delivers monthly financial reviews that transform raw data into actionable insights. "We're not selling something you can physically hold in your hand," she explains. "We're selling the ability to grow your business and really understand your numbers."
The most frequent misconception she encounters is about cost—many entrepreneurs assume terms like "financial analysis" or "forecasting" mean services they can't afford. Another common confusion is thinking DuroSec offers CPA services. While they don't handle tax filing, they prepare businesses for tax season year-round, reducing the stress and scramble when deadlines approach.
Her advice for new entrepreneurs? "Take advice." Being open to guidance from those with experience can make all the difference in your business journey. Connect with Katelyn through the DuroSec website, email, or through the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce to discover how understanding your finances can transform your business.
Katelyn Duron
DuroSec LLC
kduron@durosec.com
+1 703-615-1997
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I'm excited to introduce you to my guest today. We have Katelyn Duron with DuroSec LLC. Katelyn, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:And I think I pronounced your business name wrong. It's DuroSec, right?
Speaker 2:DuroSec, yeah. It's only on my last name, so no worries.
Speaker 1:Okay, good. I'm glad we got it. I'm glad we got it right. So let's start by telling us a little bit about your business. I'm excited to learn more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, awesome. Thank you. So DuroSec is a management consulting, management accounting, and bookkeeping firm that I started with my business partner, Jessica Flores. We started it because we realized that there was a really big need in the small business community for that management accounting services. So what we do at DuroSec is a little bit more than just your day-to-day bookkeeping and your receipt keeping. We really strive to teach our business owners about their business, about their finances, and kind of how they can grow their business or how kind of just how they're doing in general. So we we have a really strong passion for the small business community and helping them where that resource typically isn't available.
Speaker 1:Amazing. I love that so much. And so do you find that most of your clients are newer businesses? Because I feel like what you are offering is so needed for a business that is getting off the ground.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So a lot of our businesses are new businesses. Um there are people who have been doing their own books or they have their books in an Excel sheet. They're not using something like QuickBooks or a software, um, or they're using some sort of CRM system that, you know, is giving them kind of that high level, but you know, it's not really preparing them for what that next step in finance is or in business is, which is growth or strategy or pricing changes and things like that. So we love our small business, our new businesses, but um we also have a lot of small businesses that have had bookkeepers that, you know, maybe aren't providing them what they need, or they just don't really know what they're getting out of what they're paying monthly for the for the service. So um, you know, at DuralSide, we really strive to make sure every single month you're getting kind of like a financial review and you're getting a really good understanding of how are you performing, what are you doing, things like that.
Speaker 1:So that's awesome. That's awesome. I love that you're taking it a step further because it's one thing to just deliver the books, but then to have that discussion of okay, what does this all mean? Yes, which a lot of businesses don't think about that, and then how you can use that data to help your business grow. So I love what you're doing. Awesome. So tell me, um Yeah, yeah. So I'd love to learn a little bit about your backstory and tell us how you got into this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I started in banking when I turned 18. Um, funny enough, I literally was just looking for a job that wasn't gonna make me work weekends. And um I had a friend at the time who was like, aren't banks closed on the weekends? Go work at the bank. Um, and so I started as a teller at a local branch uh in Woodbridge, and um I worked my way through becoming like a senior relationship banker and doing kind of the business relationships and working with small businesses on the lending side. Um and you know, I got I got a really big passion for helping them build credit, for helping them get lending, um, get started, kind of like those starter funds. Um, I did a lot of the PPP loans during COVID, um, helping people kind of get through that process. And um, I was given an opportunity to start working for a small fractional accounting firm that we did fractional controller and CFO services, which was a totally different world than what I was used to, but it kind of gave me the ability to have that other angle that I didn't typically have in the banking side. I was usually the person at the bank that you come into, you just give all your stuff to, and then I go try to get you a loan. Whereas I was getting the opportunity to help people prepare their documentation so then when they go sit in front of their bankers, they're able to do that kind of thing. Um, and so that drove the the passion and you know, and I I love community. I love, I grew up in the Woodbridge area, which is also a very tight-knit community. Um, you know, and so I I really drove a passion for just helping people and connecting people with with what they need. And so um I started working for the fractional consulting firm and you know, it was it had grown into a pretty big conglomerate and it was looking to, you know, grow and go after the bigger businesses. And um I started to realize in my business partner Jessica, we were working together there, and we realized that there's not anybody for the small businesses anymore because once you grow out of that, um, you know, small businesses aren't looking to hire somebody full-time to do their accounting or even for two or three hundred dollars an hour to do, you know, that higher level, you know, your forecasting, your budgeting, and um things like that. And so I really wanted to start Durosec to bring that to the small businesses because I do have a background as being the chief financial officer. Um, Jessica and I both have backgrounds in doing financial analysis and degrees in accounting. And so um it just gives us that ability to, you know, really help that small business side without having the huge cost that comes with typically accounting services.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. What great experience you bring to what you're offering now with small businesses. I love that.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:So, do you find that there are any misconceptions when it comes to either your business or the industry?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think cost is a big misconception. I think people hear a lot of those higher terms, like, you know, your financial analysis, your forecasting, your, you know, or just that, you know, I am a chief financial officer and they're like, oh my gosh, I can't afford your services, or I don't know what you're gonna cost. And I think um, you know, that's where I really um struggle as a business owner to kind of make sure people understand like my goal is to help small businesses. My goal, I wouldn't be successful if I was bankrupting my clients. And so, you know, I want to make sure that people understand, you know, you can't afford these services. And, you know, we're we're here to help you. Um, we're not here to cost you a bunch of money for something that, you know, it's it's tough to create an an ROI, a return on investment when it comes to accounting. Um, there's not really something tangible, right? So we're not selling something you can physically hold in your hand. Uh, we're selling the ability to grow your business and the ability to really understand your numbers. And so that's where I think um that's a really big misconception, I think, that I deal with pretty regularly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes sense. So working with new businesses, you um you meet new entrepreneurs all the time. So if someone came to you and asked you for some advice, they were thinking about starting a new business. What advice would you give them?
Speaker 2:I would give them the advice to take advice. So I think um it's really scary when starting a new business. And you know, you don't know what you don't know. Um, and I think everybody starts a business for a different why, right? Like we all have our why of why we do what we do. And um, there are going to be people who have resources or experience in the business industry, whether they're entrepreneurs themselves or they're working for small business or they just have a lot of years in the industry they're in. Um, and so my advice would be to take their advice and you know, to use your resources. There's so many resources, especially in the Fredericksburg area, like the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, to go on and talk about, you know, what you're doing and really connect with people. And I think that would be my biggest, my biggest advice would be just always be open-minded to taking help and advice and use your resources.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's really great advice. And you are uh practicing what you preach and you are very involved with the chamber. And I saw recently that you are in the new uh Leadership Fredericksburg class. So congratulations on that.
Speaker 2:Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm very excited about the program.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I know this might be throwing you off guard a little bit. Uh, it didn't prepare you for this question, but tell us how that experience will help you in your business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I um I am very fortunate. I was thrown into leadership very young in my career. Um, I got a lot of opportunities right off the bat to be a chief financial officer, to manage an accounting team. Um, and I think I was really capable of developing some things on the fly and learning some things. And I've learned a lot in my career experience, but I don't think I've ever had any really solid leadership training uh, you know, as a person or as a business owner. And so what I'm really looking forward to about the leadership class of 2026 that I'm in is being able to really develop those skills and learn from other business owners. There are so many people in my class that are, you know, career military or have had businesses for 20 plus years, and they a lot of them are there because they have taken those leadership trainings I haven't gotten. And so as a young entrepreneur, I'm I'm really, really excited to be surrounded by people who are just so driven towards leadership, so driven towards bettering themselves. Um, and so that's what I think I I hope to take the most out of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what an amazing opportunity. I'm really looking forward to following your journey through that. And I'll have to have you back on the podcast when you have graduated from the program so we can learn all about your experiences.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would love that. Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Awesome. So tell me, what is something that you wish the listeners knew about your business?
Speaker 2:Um, I wish this is a funny one. It's probably not the answer you expect. Um, what I wish people knew is that I am not a CBA. So I find the hardest part of what I do is explaining to people the difference between the work that we do here at Durosec versus being a CBA. Um, Durosec is really genuinely meant to help business owners on a personal relationship basis. Um, when you get into being a CBA, you know, it becomes very transactional. You lose a lot of the um understanding, it's really just there's a purpose behind the work that the CBAs do, and it's a very important purpose. Um, but that being said, I have a lot of trouble sometimes with that because when you use the word accounting, most people think CPA right immediately. And um, and I we don't, we are not CBAs and we don't do that. We basically get you prepared to the point of being ready for your CBA. So um again, creating the value in that is difficult. And I think that that's something that I really strive to teach people about is you know, having somebody on board all year round versus just stressing yourself out at tax time and trying to meet the deadlines really can save you a lot of time, money, energy, and honestly help you grow your business rather than stressing about those things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Thank you for clearing that up for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So if the listeners want to connect with you or learn more from you, where can they find you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I we have a website. Um it's www.durosec.com. Um, you can also always email me at kderon at durosec.com. Um, I'm also involved in the chamber quite a bit. So you can pretty much Google my name and you'll pop, I'll pop up somewhere for you in the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce. Um I'm also on social media. I have Instagram, Twitter, uh, or I guess it's X now, um, and uh Facebook as well. So we're we can connect anyway, anytime. Um, a lot of people connect through other people who know me, so feel free to reach out to Dory and ask, and she can connect you with me as well. But um, any way that you can find me, we're happy to help.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Katelyn, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Durosec with us.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited. Thank you.
Speaker:You're welcome. Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG NeighborsPodcast.com.