I Like Big Tax and I Cannot Lie

In this episode of Disrupt Your Money, Meg introduces herself as a CPA, entrepreneur, and loud-mouthed political nerd who actually likes tax (don’t worry, she explains), and lays out why this podcast exists in the first place: to help marginalized business owners use money as a tool for liberation, not just survival.

Through stories about real estate, corporate tax, and walking away from a career that looked “successful” on paper, she connects the dots between personal career choices and the bigger systems that were never designed for most of us to thrive.

If you’ve ever felt like business advice wasn’t written for you or wondered why a money podcast keeps talking about politics, this episode is your primer. Meg lays out exactly who Disrupt Your Money is for, what we’re disrupting, and how this show will help you build wealth and a world that actually works for you.

⏱️ In This Episode:

00:00 Introduction: Why the Disrupt Your Money podcast exists right now
01:23 Who this podcast is for
02:51 What Disrupt Your Money is here to do
04:15 Meg’s winding path: from econ & philosophy major to real estate to
the car-ride comment that nudged her into accounting
08:10 Leaving corporate after burnout
09:25 Starting One for Women and experimenting with a values-led business
10:14 Pivoting into teaching money & building the Equitable Money Project
12:24 Naming the mission: using this podcast to disrupt our money, the financial system, and the wider economy together
13:58 What to expect going forward
16:56 Closing gratitude

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode:

👉 Disrupt Your Money – submit a money question for a future episode 

💬 Connect with Us:
🌐 Website → https://equitablemoneyproject.com
📸 Instagram → https://instagram.com/equitablemoneyproject
🎧 Podcast → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/podcast

🚀 Your Next Step:
Ready to make your money match your values? Download our free Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Well, hey there, I'm Meg Wheeler, CPA, entrepreneur, and political activist. And you're listening to Disrupt Your Money, the podcast that's pursuing liberation through financial education. Let's face it, our economy and financial institutions weren't built to support the majority of us. So if we're going to achieve financial equity and justice for all, we've got to build our own. So let's do it, my friends. Let's get ready to disrupt your money. Well, hey there, everyone, and welcome to the very first episode of Disrupt Your Money. I am so freaking excited to get started. We have been talking about doing a podcast for quite some time now, and this just felt like the time to do it. And we'll get into why that is in a little bit. But first of all, let me introduce myself. So my name is Meg K. Wheeler. I am a CPA and financial literacy coach. And I run my own tax accounting, bookkeeping, and financial education firm that is all about empowering, educating, and supporting business owners who have traditionally been left out of the conversation and more importantly, left out of funding and left out of banking and left out of all of the economic systems that are so critical when we're building our businesses. So who am I talking about? I'm talking about women. I'm talking about black people. I'm talking about Indigenous people. I'm talking about the, you know, LGBTQIA folks who are uh continuously prejudiced against when it comes to starting their own businesses. I'm talking about disabled people uh who still don't have great access to the resources they need when they want to start a business. Uh so if if you fit into any one of those groups, if you feel like the world we live in was designed for you to fail, then you're in the right place. And you might be wondering, well, what the heck is a CPA doing talking about this stuff? Uh, you know, why are we talking about what maybe feels like politics uh in business? And yes, it is politics, and we're definitely gonna go there. Uh, and the reason is because I don't believe that as a business owner, I can run a successful business if I am not acknowledging the way our systems were designed for so many people to fail. And I say it that way because our systems aren't broken. I hear that a lot. Oh, you know, the economy is broken, the education system is broken. These things aren't broken. They were just never designed to work for all of us. They were designed to work for a select few. And that is what we are trying to combat in our business. It's what we are trying to address here on this podcast. Okay, but before we go any further, let me give you a little bit of the background because my team tells me that the first podcast episode always has to be about the host. And I hate that because this podcast is not about me. This podcast is about breaking down the systems that are not working for us so that we can become more financially savvy, we can become wealthier, uh, so that we can build the world that we want to live in, a world that works for everyone. But I get that you might want to know who's behind the mic. Uh so let me give you a little bit of the background here. I already mentioned that I am a licensed CPA that's certified public accountant, uh, if you're if you're not familiar with that term. Uh, I'm also what I call a financial literacy coach, because to me, the most important work I do is educating my clients and my community on the financial side of things. And I deal mostly with business owners, but a lot of what we're gonna talk about on the show is going to apply to you even if you don't have your own business or you're not thinking about your own business. You're still gonna get some good stuff here. So, how did I get to this spot? Well, I have over gosh, probably about 12 years of experience now in the finance and accounting world. So I actually didn't start my career there, though, believe it or not. When I graduated from college with a double major in economics and philosophy, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had dabbled in some things, but I just had really no direction. Uh, and so I decided to go into real estate. I loved houses. I thought houses were fun. I liked the idea of helping people get houses. And my dad had been in real estate. So I thought, all right, this is what we're gonna do. Uh, and boy, did that open up my eyes. Uh, there were a lot of things I loved about being in real estate and a lot of things I hated. But what was uh particularly important to me about that experience was I really saw how the process of buying a home is accessible for certain people and not for others, and how it works for certain people and not for others. And we'll definitely dive into that in a later episode because real estate is a very hot topic right now. But that's where I started. Uh, and then my husband decided he wanted to go to law school and become a lawyer. That meant a move away from Austin, Texas, where we were living at the time, back east where I'm from. And I just didn't want to start my real estate business over again. I realized I didn't love it, even though there were parts of it that I liked. So, what to do? Well, my husband brilliantly one day while we were driving in the car said, You like spreadsheets. Maybe you should be an accountant. And at the time I thought that was a funny joke, but boy was he ever right. Uh, sure enough, I do love spreadsheets. I've got a spreadsheet for just about everything. This does not mean I'm not fun at parties. I promise you, I have a personality as well. But uh, but I like organizing things. I like organizing data. I like numbers because they make sense to me. In fact, I often will say that numbers and accounting are the only thing in this world that add up. They're the only thing that I can rely on because I know that it's always going to be the same answer. So I took that interest in numbers and data and organizing and pivoted it into an MBA and a master's of science in accounting, uh, which enabled me to go into the accounting world. I basically stumbled into tax. I actually wanted to go into audit. For anyone who's in this field knows that when you're in school, you pick between audit and tax. And audit sounded really sexy to me, mostly because I had this vision that I was going to become a forensic accountant and I was going to dig into these big conspiracies and find, you know, some huge scandal uh and blow the top wide open. And I was very excited for that. It all sounded very sexy. It's not really how it happens most of the time. Uh, but nonetheless, I didn't end up there because the place that had an opening for me had an opening for a tax person. So I said, all right, let's do this. Uh and I actually ended up loving it. And I know you're gonna think, okay, I'm shutting this down right now because if this chick likes tax, she's not for me. Here's the thing about tax. I know that taxes aren't fun to pay. And I know that doing them really freaking sucks. But I'm actually really appreciative for the fact that taxes exist. And the reason for that is because it gives us the resources to provide things like healthcare, like education, uh, you know, like affordable housing in our communities. Now, I don't necessarily think that we're using those resources correctly, and we're definitely going to talk about that. But I appreciate the fact that we have this system that allows us to pay in so that not only can our families get what we need, but other people can get that as well. And so I have an appreciation for tax. Long story short, I've been doing that for just over 12 years. And I started in what we call public accounting. This is where you work with big companies, uh, nonprofits, maybe you're working with uh, you know, wealthy families. Uh, and I really got into international tax, which again sounded very sexy to me. I thought, oh, all the travel I'll do. Spoiler alert, you don't travel that much when you're an international tax accountant. Uh, but nonetheless, I loved the work and I did that for quite a few years. However, I left. I left corporate because I felt undervalued. I felt uninspired. And I felt like I was spending all of my time working towards some golden, you know, finish line that, uh, which in accounting is making partner, uh, which didn't really feel like much of an accomplishment to me. I didn't see the world getting better if I made partner. And so I didn't really like that option. I also was frankly getting sick of working in a very male-dominated world. Uh, in the last few years of my corporate career, I was um, in particular in the finance industry, I had left public accounting and I was just sick of it. I was over it. I was over having to constantly defend that I was good enough, that I was smart enough, that my voice deserved space in the conversation. Uh, and I said, screw it. I left. So once I left, I went back to that feeling that I had when I was in college where I had no clue what I was going to do. But I knew whatever I put my time towards, it had to be something that made the world better. It had to be something that focused on the issues I care so deeply about. And so I started my first company, One for Women, uh, which was all about supporting women with small gestures uh and focusing on not the weddings and the baby showers, which are those traditional patriarchal things that we celebrate, but celebrating a new job or a promotion or starting your own business or buying your first house. And I loved what that offered women uh to be able to have a different way of supporting their friends, a way that focused on the things that to me helped us build wealth and helped us build impact in this world. As it turns out, though, that wasn't quite the business for me. And while I loved the concept and I was very passionate about the impact, I just didn't love the business itself. So I pivoted and I thought, you know, how can I use my incredible experience in finance and tax and my love, frankly, for this area to support other business owners and in particular business owners who are being left behind. And that's when my business was born. Uh, so we started off very, very simply providing financial education through courses and workshops. Uh, and then I realized that there was a huge gap in the industry for accountants or CPAs who understood online business owners, who understood a non-traditional type of business, you know, someone who doesn't have a retail storefront or isn't in manufacturing, um, someone who maybe your entire business is built on digital products. Um, maybe you're uh working remotely all the time. You know, maybe you don't have one place where you live and work anymore. Maybe you're traveling the country. And most CPAs just don't really know how to support business owners like that. But I also realized that there was a huge lack of people in the industry who were supporting business owners for whom the economy and the financial system wasn't working. You know, I talked to so many business owners in the industry who said, I'm just so sick of being told, oh, just go get a loan. Oh, just go get some capital. Oh, just go do this, oh, don't take a salary for a year because that's that's what the business needs to grow. That shit doesn't work for many of us. It doesn't work for us if we weren't born with a trust fund. It doesn't work for us if we don't have a spouse who makes enough to cover the bills. It doesn't work for us if we're a woman or black or a combination of those, because walking into a bank does not mean that we will get capital, much like it does for a man who walks in who is white. So when I realized that there were very few people in the industry using their platform and using their voice to bring light to these issues, I thought maybe that was the spot for us. So that's what brings us here today to this podcast. You know, disrupt your money is all about how we can do just that. Disrupt our money. But not just our money, disrupt the entire financial system, disrupt the entire economy. Because until we demand change, we will not see it. And yeah, that means we're gonna talk about politics. It means we're gonna dive into some uncomfortable topics. This is not your family's dinner table where we are sticking to the weather and sports. No, sir, ma'am, or however you identify yourself. Here we are talking about the tough issues because that is the only way that we will see change. And change is absolutely what I demand, and it's absolutely what I desire, and I am thirsty for it. And I say that as a white woman who has incredible privilege. So if you're here because you want to learn how to be a more financially savvy business owner, this is the place for you. But if you're also here because you want to learn how to do that while building something that matters, that has impact, that makes it better in the world, that doesn't rely on these outdated and inaccessible systems that don't work for most of us, then you are absolutely in the right place. Okay, but I don't want to end on such a dark note. So let me just say if you decide to stick around, you are in for what I hope will be really satisfying. Because not only are we gonna give you some really great information, we're gonna have some incredible conversations. Uh, we are gonna have some laughs, absolutely. And I'm a big fan of donuts and memes. So we're definitely gonna have some of those too. But let me just say this as I wrap up. I am so incredibly grateful for your time. Because if you are in one or maybe several of those groups that I mentioned before, those groups that are left behind in this society, then your time is especially valuable because you know, as I know as a woman, that you have to be better, you have to be faster, you have to be smarter because the world is designed to work against you. And that means that your time is all the more valuable because you have to do so much with so little of it. And that is why I am so incredibly grateful that you have decided to loan just a little bit of that time to us here. I really hope that you see Disrupt Your Money not just as a platform for me to speak to you, but as an open conversation for all of us to have on how we're going to collectively make this world a better place. And if that sounds a little woo-y and sunshine and rainbows, then I apologize for that. But I truly believe that it's possible. I know that progress feels nearly impossible, especially with everything going on in the world right now. But let me tell you this I've seen progress happen. And where I've seen it happen isn't big scale. It's not in Congress or on that national level. It's in the changes that people in our communities are making every single day, the changes that they're fighting for. And we as business owners, we as people in this world have it fully within our power to make those changes happen too. So I hope that you will join me in this conversation. I hope you know that this is a place where I absolutely want to hear your voice. And you can do that by going to disruptyourmoney.com. You can send us a voice message, you can send us a text, you can DM us on social media at MegK Wheeler, but I want your voice to be a part of this conversation. If you like what I'm saying, I want to hear it. But if you don't like what I'm saying, I want to hear it even more. I want to know where I'm getting this right and I'm getting this wrong because this is too important for you not to speak up. I also want to know your questions. I can't do the work that I know how to do if I don't know where you're stuck. So every week on our episodes, we will answer your questions so that you can move forward so that together we can see progress. And let me just say again how incredibly grateful I am for you being here. Disrupting our financial systems, disrupting our world that doesn't work for too many of us is not possible on our own. But together I know we can do it. And I am so grateful to have you here. So stay tuned for episode number two and let's disrupt our money. Thanks for listening to Disrupt Your Money. If you have a money question you'd like answered in a future episode, go to disruptyourmoney.com. To support the podcast, please rate and review it wherever you get your podcasts. And if you want access to all of my free templates, checklists, resources, and guides, click the link for the Biz Money Library in the show notes.