The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the passion, perseverance, and innovative thinking that fuels these businesses, as well as the challenges they've overcome along the way. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration or simply a curious listener interested in the stories behind your favorite local spots, The Alimond Show has something for everyone.
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Join us every week as we celebrate the unsung heroes of our local business community and explore the vibrant tapestry of entrepreneurship in our area. Tune in to The Alimond Show and get ready to be inspired, informed, and motivated to support and nurture the businesses that make our community thrive.
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The Alimond Show
Mario Pizzamiglio - From Marine Biologist to Financial Strategist: Embracing Change and Navigating Emerging Markets
Ever wondered how to adapt and thrive in the ever-changing world of financial planning? Our special guest, Mario Pizzamiglio, shares his transformative journey from juggling jobs in Los Angeles to becoming a multidimensional professional in tax, estate, and financial planning. Mario’s story is a testament to adaptability and seizing opportunities as we explore his shift from marine biology to accounting, and eventually to law. Discover how he launched Six Accounting and Ardent Guardian to cater to small businesses and online content creators, shedding light on the financial needs of emerging markets.
Confronting stereotypes in the finance industry is no easy feat, and Mario shares his personal experiences of overcoming preconceptions based on appearance and age. Mario discusses the critical role of mindset for aspiring entrepreneurs and offer practical tips for new business owners, like the importance of keeping expenses low in the first year to ensure financial stability. Passion and self-belief take center stage as we emphasize staying focused and confident, regardless of external judgments.
Looking towards the future, we dive into the impact of AI on the workplace and the financial sector, weighing the benefits and challenges of remote work culture. Mario reflects on the generational divide in work ethics and expectations, stressing the importance of adapting to the evolving preferences of younger generations. Finally, we underscore the necessity of year-round tax planning for business owners, offering strategies to stay proactive and maximize financial benefits. Tune in to gain valuable insights and stay ahead in the dynamic world of financial planning.
So my name is Mario Pizzamelio. I am a tax planning attorney, a CPA and a financial planner. My businesses are Six Accounting and a new business that we just launched called Ardent Guardian, which we provide tax planning, financial planning and estate planning for content creators, and Six Accounting does for general small businesses.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. So tell me a little bit of how did you get into the industry? Like, do you start off just as accounting?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I started off in accounting, so I'm originally from Los Angeles. I had a child very young in life and I was working three jobs in LA. My wife was working two and we were trying to support a kid and the Army came along and said hey, we'll pay you the same amount of money as all three of these jobs and you'll have health care for that new baby. So I signed up, unbeknownst to my wife. I signed up for the Army.
Speaker 2:You didn't tell your wife, nope.
Speaker 1:She went to work. Oh my God, I and, uh, you didn't tell your wife. Nope, she went to work. I went to max. Uh, I signed up for six years. And she came home and she was like, how was work today? And I said, oh, I joined the army today. I'm leaving in three months, I'm going to be gone for eight months and when I come back we're leaving california, moving to texas. Oh my god. And she was like, oh, all right, I guess that's what we're doing then. Um, so we went to texas second. My older son was born there and then we were in Germany and while I was in, she was going to school, getting her degree, doing her thing, and then, when I got out, I was going to be a marine biologist. So I had this plan where I was like I was going to go to school and I was going to follow transient killer whales up and down the West Coast.
Speaker 2:OK, interesting.
Speaker 1:And then my wife got a job out here in DC and there went that. So I said, ok, so we got out here and we're living in Maryland at the time and I said, well, what am I going to do now, since I'm not going to be a marine biologist? So I went to University of Maryland, I opened up the course catalog and I flipped to the all-online section and the first degree was accounting and I was like, well, I guess I'm an accountant now, and so I went to school to become an accountant.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:And so that's how that happened. I worked in corporate accounting for a while but really got involved in tax pretty early. So I did that. I got my CPA and then left the corporate world, started my own business six accounting and just was doing tax work and tax planning. Got a letter from the CFP board one day that said you're eligible to sit for the exam. So I studied for that, sat for that, got my financial planning designation and then got divorced in there somewhere somewhere in there I got somewhere and the kids and I stayed here and my first wife eventually moved to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1:We're still pretty close but we just you know we were 17 and 19 when we had a kid, and just you know we tried to happen yeah, we had a good run and we're still really good friends. Um got remarried, had a couple more kids, and then we were having dinner one night and we got, uh, chinese food, and the fortune cookie said you would be a good lawyer, and so I was like, fuck it, I'll take the bar exam.
Speaker 1:Oh my god it sounds like all of this was just like on a whim that's exactly right. Everything, everything in my life has just been like I. I try to. I try to be like, not overthink things. You know when, when something comes along, I try to see it, you know is this an?
Speaker 1:omen kind of thing. And so I signed up for the LSAT the next day, went to law school. My wife busted her ass to make sure that everything was taken care of at home so that I could run a business full time and go to law school full time, and so that's kind of how I got here. So you know, the tax piece has always been like the primary part. But then there's a need, right Like everybody needs financial planning, everybody needs estate planning, and so we just offer that all under one umbrella, like anything if it's got a dollar sign associated with it somehow, then it happens sort of in our house. Um. A couple years ago, I guess right after covid, we started noticing a big shift to um like the, the online content creation, social media yeah right.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, and at first, like this is kind of like a coveted fad, but I really think COVID sort of solidified it all right. Yeah, definitely when. Now it's like you've got you know, people are making money on Twitch, on YouTube, on OnlyFans, on Patreon.
Speaker 2:TikTok is the biggest thing. I feel like it's insane right and these are.
Speaker 1:They're kind of like the younger generation and my colleagues. So the AICPA says that 75% of CPAs hit retirement age four years ago, so they're not interested in learning this new thing. And I hear it all the time from colleagues Wow, that's a fad. Why would you spend time with that group? They're going to go away. They have to go back to a real job. Nope, this is their real job. This is going to go away. They have to go back to a real job. Nope, this is their real job. This is. Walk down any street in any city and you see restaurant signs that say we're now closed on tuesdays and thursdays because we can't find any wait staff. Why not? Where do they go? They're not on unemployment, they're at home on tiktok making video. They're patreon, they're doing whatever they're doing.
Speaker 2:There's so many kids out there that I know are so much like I'm 28, not even that old yeah but I know that they're. I see tiktokers that are literally like 10 years 10 years old, not even 10 years, 10 years old. Yeah, and they're just making slime and glitter and then it's like this whole thing yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so nobody in the finance, the legal world, is focusing on this younger generation and the money that's being made to help them with taxes. I mean, we did a tax plan for somebody the other day. They're overpaying taxes by like $25,000. Nobody had ever talked to them about.
Speaker 2:I mean, I would have no idea, Nobody you know, we have one lady.
Speaker 1:She says I got a 1099. I don't know what this is. I was a teacher and now I'm doing online stuff. What is this? I said we're a business owner. Well, I didn't know that, right, because nobody's ever told you that you're a business owner and that you know it opens up all these other things that you have to think about. It's not just the content creation, but now you know you have to start thinking it's all the backend stuff too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's all that stuff right, and so nobody's talking about tax planning, nobody's talking about. Well, you know, I have all this money. Now I'm 10 years old and I do glitter and slime and I'm making a bunch of money. What do I do with that money? Like, you have to get that money invested. You have to be, you know, because you're not always going to be making that kind of money right. And then estate planning, like what happens afterwards, like what happens you know what's your legacy going to be. So nobody really talks to any of them and we, there's a huge need and so we just said you know what, let's just focus 100 on on helping those people to grow. What is going to be the next sort of generation as they're coming up in this new sort of commerce that hasn't been around before and I don't think it's going anywhere. I don't, you know TikTok.
Speaker 2:I feel like it's only going to develop more and more into a lot of different things. I mean, who knows, even in like 10 years, it'll end up being a hologram in front of you. Yes, I'm sure.
Speaker 1:I'm sure, yeah, stuff that we can't even fathom right now. You know, and maybe you know, maybe TikTokcom goes away, but something else will come and replace it, right Like MySpace disappeared and Facebook came in and was the juggernaut in that space, right?
Speaker 1:So it's not like it's something that's just going to be there and disappear it. It's not like it's something that's just going to be there and disappear, it's a growing. It feels to me very much that the content creation space today feels very much like weed felt 10 years ago, where nobody wanted to touch it, nobody wanted to get involved with it, nobody was like oh, don't do it, don't do it, there's so much risk. Blah, blah, blah. And now look at it.
Speaker 2:It's all over the place.
Speaker 1:That industry is huge and if you're now a new person in either tax or financial planning, you're trying to break into that market now. You can't, because the people that have been in that space have been in that space for 10 years and they're trusted names and everybody in that industry knows them and they're only going to work with them. Content creation today feels very much like that.
Speaker 2:So, with the whole content creation and all that stuff, what are you doing for marketing or to find these?
Speaker 1:yep, social media. So most of it right now is um you know we, we market on instagram, um, and a lot of it is just word of mouth. Where you know we've um you know. So I had. So I had a client have a client um she's a, she's a in the adult film industry and she does content creation and we were working together on her on her tax plan and just kind of going over her expenses and this, and that she told me she said you know um. She said I've been in this industry for 30 years and you are the first person to just treat me like a business owner.
Speaker 2:To actually give her all the information she needs.
Speaker 1:Right, she said you never asked anything about the work, you just were interested in the business. She's like that is the first and I said that can't be true, that cannot be true. She said first person ever to just treat me like a business owner. I said okay. And then she said would you be willing to help other people that I know that need this kind of help? Yeah, of course I don't. You know, it doesn't matter to me Like how's the wife you feel about it?
Speaker 1:She's fine with it, she's fine with it. She said that you know she's like you do whatever you need to do. That's fine, you know I'm I'm not a big partier, so I'm always kind of home with the kids and, like our, our idea of a good time is like my younger kids and I just sit and play dungeons and dragons all weekend okay, that's cute you know. So the website, if you go to the art of guardian website, um, it's very like dungeons and dragons, themey kind of, and and you know and we're we're judgment free.
Speaker 1:You know I don't standing up, sitting down, laying down, we don't care how you make your money. Irs is still going to try to take it all from you. So, yeah, you know, so we're, we're kind of focusing on that and it and it feels good. You know, there is definitely an emotional like a, not a high, but like a, you know it gives you a little rush.
Speaker 1:It feels good when you're when people are like man. I've never heard this before. Like you know, I've worked with my other cpa for 15 years and never once did they talk to me about, you know, doing tax planning or converting to an S Corp or putting my kids on payroll or stuff like that. Why didn't they ever talk to me about that? Well, because you're working with a tax preparer or not a tax planner, and that's the big you know. It feels good when you can help people save money and screw over the government do you think that's what would be the most rewarding part of your job?
Speaker 2:Do you think that? I think that's yeah.
Speaker 1:That's definitely the most rewarding part is when you know I can sit down and talk to somebody either brand new in business didn't really realize that they were a business owner and help them get on the right path, or somebody that's been in business for a long time and has just been shelling out cash and realizing now like wow, you're looking at how much money Like is. You know, look at, this is the price of a small minivan. Like what, how are we paying all that? You know and you can show them and they're very appreciative of it and, and I think for me that's that's always a big win. It's like when I can help somebody else and and um, and see the smile on their face, or if it's, even if it's over email, you know, and there's little emojis, like you can just tell the that they're very excited, they're very happy about it and it comes down to the you know and it all to the bucks right, I mean at the end of the day, right, that's.
Speaker 1:That's really what it's all about, right what?
Speaker 2:what are you finding, maybe? Or what have you found within? You know, your, your career, that is maybe one of the biggest challenges when it comes down to like speaking into the nitty gritty of the financial yeah, um, I think the biggest channel, like there's definitely a stereotype, right?
Speaker 1:like when you would you like if I told you to close your eyes and just picture a cpa or an attorney, like you definitely don't think of me, right? You don't?
Speaker 1:I mean, that's just is what it is like yeah, you know so there's this constant like if I haven't met you face to face, if we're just interacting by email or just you know, people already have this preconceived notion of like, oh, it's this nerdy dude with the visor on and he has no people skills and, like I, people have actually asked, my clients have been like are you sure you're cpa? Because I actually enjoy talking to you and I hated talking to my other students.
Speaker 2:Yeah, normally I feel like most people think of those people as like crunching numbers and just like, right, you know.
Speaker 1:And so overcoming that initially, but then still being able to say look, you know, I don't wear a suit and I'm not. You know, I'm not getting all dolled up for you, but I know my shit've been doing. I've been doing tax for 20 years. I've been doing estate planning, I've been doing this financial planning. I know what I'm talking about, but just because I wear dungeons and dragons t-shirt doesn't mean that I don't you know. So kind of overcoming that um is is a little bit. And and then the other thing is has always been um, like I look younger than I am, and so people kind of they don't really take me seriously, like I have to be like, oh, I'm 47 years old and I've been doing this for 20 years. And they're like, wait, what, I thought you were 25, how did you? And I'm like, yeah, I have a 28 year old kid and, uh, you know and so, and a grandchild we're at the same my, my dad is the same.
Speaker 2:Well, I told you, my dad's name is Mario too. Yeah, that's awesome. He's 48. Okay, same thing, I'm 28. Yeah, same exact thing. And he has three grandkids.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, my grandkid, my granddaughter is four months old.
Speaker 2:Oh, congratulations.
Speaker 1:Thank you, yeah, very exciting. But she was born like that's really poor planning on you guys. This part Like I don't think you were thinking.
Speaker 2:It's like you weren't thinking ahead of me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, so, yeah, so that's a new chapter, you know, and I'm very excited for it. But, yeah, the same thing, like your dad you know it's, and so I have to constantly like sort of reinforce the first time I meet people, like I'm not, you know, brand new to the industry and I don't know what I'm talking about, like I have been around the block a few times, you know, and so. But yeah, so, overcoming that kind of that stereotype of, oh, the CPA or the you know the attorney or the financial, like what's it?
Speaker 1:I'm looking for a guy in finance, right?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yeah right.
Speaker 1:oh yeah, yeah, I'm not that guy like I don't, that's not me, but um, and I think a part of that is just like like I you know, I grew up in la um a different upbringing than people that have grown up like in sort of wealth and you know we, we never had any of that. So, like, for me, it's like this is just who I am. Like, you know I'm I'm showing up with a t-shirt and I eat roller dogs from 7-Eleven and drink White Monster all day long. But I know my shit.
Speaker 2:And when we sit down and we're talking about it.
Speaker 1:we can talk about all this stuff and I'm happy to talk about it. So I think once you get past that sort of stereotype of, hey, this is a different kind of guy then people seem to be at least from my perception, like they sort of relax a little bit, like, oh, this guy's not going to talk down to me, or they're like let him take over.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he doesn't have like his little law library in the background, you know like it's just not, that's not. That doesn't help people feel comfortable and do you work mostly with, like you were saying, business owners and stuff but individual like business owners 1099 business owners or do you work with also a little bit bigger companies as well that have employees under their belt?
Speaker 1:yeah, we work with with some larger. So, like our real bread and butter is like if it's a business owner and maybe like one or two, three employees, right. But if you're getting to that like business owner and 15 employees and seven different locations, like that's not. You really need somebody bigger than than what we are. Um, so you know, our, our sweet spot is like if you're, if you're grossing between a hundred and a million, is is really where we can show you the most amount of tax savings. We can take the most amount of work off your plate. You know we can help streamline your investment plan and get you on a good estate plan.
Speaker 2:What would a piece of advice be to future generations that want to go into business but they don't even know, like, where do we start at or what like?
Speaker 1:It's all here, it's all 100. 100 of it is mindset like if you, if you, if you have a feeling that you can do it, do it. Don't let anybody else tell you you can't. Don't listen to the people that say you know, oh, this is a fad that'll never work. There's and there's a lot of them out there, you know, there's a lot of them out there that'll tell you you're just wasting your time. Go get nice cushy government job because it's safe and secure and if that's what floats your boat, that's great. But if you really have that entrepreneurial drive and you really have a calling towards whatever it is, even if it's playing Minecraft on Twitch, if that's really what puts a fire in your belly, do it.
Speaker 2:Just don't listen to what anybody else is saying and take the first right step and just keep moving forward. Are there any specific steps that these people should be taking once it comes down to their financial process, like what would be the first step?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the first year. Well, so the first year, I always tell people, like, just try to keep your expenses as light as possible, right? Because really, during that initial setup phase, like cash is king and you don't want to be blowing it on shit that you don't need, right. So, really and truly, just, you know, use Excel to keep track of your expenses. You don't need to go out and get an accounting software, you don't need to hire a bookkeeper on day one. You don't need to bring in a, you know, like a us, right, like a firm that's going to handle everything, all payrolls and bookkeeping and plan that first year. Just establish. You just establish.
Speaker 1:Hey, is this the right thing for me? Is it really is? Is sitting in a chair for four hours a day playing minecraft online really what I thought it was going to be, or was it only cool in my head, you know? And then, after that, like year two, year three, is where you really want to start saying, okay, I'm making good money. Proof of concept has been established. Now let me start to bring in people to take care of the back office. Now, let me start bringing people in to take care of this particular thing. Let me find a solution for this, so that you don't get bogged down in the technical part of your work and you can keep doing the piece that you love to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when do you see the future of your business going within? Maybe the next, I don't know five years or so?
Speaker 1:Yeah, in the next five years Do you have?
Speaker 2:any employees currently under your belt?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, we have Between the two companies. We have one, two, three, four employees and one contractor that comes in to help out part-time, so everybody's remote. One other guy is here local with me in Nova. Everybody else has always been remote. We're big on remote work. We're big on not needing to be butt in a seat from 9 to 5. Same kind of thing. We talked earlier. The rest of my colleagues they're like well, I can't find help, but they've got to be in the office. Why they weren't in the office before? And you got work done. Why do they need to go? Well, how can you keep control? How do you know what they're doing? And you got work done. Why do they need to? Well, how can you keep control? How do you know what they're doing?
Speaker 2:I'm like I don't and I don't care, I just tell, as long as they get their work done, exactly right like this is what needs to get done today.
Speaker 1:If you do that in 10 minutes and you're spending the rest of the day screwing off, well, that's on me for not giving you more things on the list, right, but if it's done, it's done. I don't. What do I care, right? Um, so I think we have a pretty good work culture, you know I like that most people, you know. Uh, I think. Anyway, if you ask them, maybe they'll say mario's fucking crazy and don't talk to that guy well, the other day I was watching this dr phil episode.
Speaker 2:Dr phil, where um some girl was saying I'm not gonna work as much and other people are like you need to go above and beyond, like the older people are like no, you need to go above and beyond always yep, it's that older generation and it's like, yeah, well, which?
Speaker 1:there which one is. It's a huge divide between and you see it on social media all the time right it's like the boomers versus gen z all the time right, and that's gen x folks. We're in the middle just going.
Speaker 2:I don't know, we don't care, right, but those but then the younger generation is definitely the one involved with totally 100 well, and that's the thing it's.
Speaker 1:It's like you know this. The, the older generation, yes, they are established, yes, they're, they're very vital to everything, but they are the moving out generation and this is the moving up and this world like the gen z kids have. No, they don't understand a world where a smartphone doesn't exist, right like they have never seen a world where a smartphone doesn't exist their entire life is digital everything, right.
Speaker 1:Which is why, even like, if you see like nfp, right, and they're like why is this a popular thing? Because digital their world. And it's only the beginning, right. We're seeing the Windows 3.1 version of AI right now. What's it going to be when it gets to the Windows?
Speaker 2:11? There's an AI version already. I haven't even seen it.
Speaker 1:AI is going to change the entire landscape of everything, and this generation and the gen alphas that are skivvity-rizzlers out there they're the ones that are going to be inheriting all of this and moving forward.
Speaker 1:And we know how to serve this model right. We know how to serve these older clients. We know what they're. You know you've got to work harder, you've got to stay there. You've got to stick through it. You've got to, you know, show up before 10 minutes before 9 am and stay until the last person leaves, like that's not this generation, that's not what the new workforce is looking for, that's not what they want. And unfortunately, a lot of my colleagues are here. You know they're here, they're focused on here and they go well, no, you can't do that. No, you got to do that. No, it can't be that way. And why? Way well, and why? Why? Just because that's the way you did it, that's the way it happened then, like there's no corded phones anymore, but the world is still surviving yeah right, there's no vcrs anymore, but the world is still surviving.
Speaker 1:Like, why is it, you know? Why can't we look at what they're doing down here and going, hey, you know what, let's embrace this, let's embrace this technology, let's embrace their culture, let's embrace the thing that they want to see.
Speaker 2:What is?
Speaker 1:important to them is not the same as what's important up here, and so really we need to make that shift to be able to say what are they doing, what do they enjoy, what do they like, where are their pain points and how can we help with that.
Speaker 2:You were mentioning AI right now. You were mentioning AI right now. What do you think about AI coming into the financial world? Do you think AI can someday take over that financial world?
Speaker 1:I've seen Terminator and I've seen iRobot, I know where this is headed. Yeah, I mean, I think you could definitely see. I think really, the industries that are safe from AI really right now are hands-on blue-collar skills. You know, like an AI is not going to come in and be a plumber, right, but anybody that's any. All the work that I do. Yes, I definitely could see AI taking over parts of that, but this, I think, will always, even for the younger generation, that is all digital, like having a person on the other end of a part of it, even if it's just. You know, hey, we're chatting, I'm communicating with you, but then I'm taking the work and I'm handing it to my little AI robot team.
Speaker 1:That's beep beep, beep and they're spitting something out, but it's me that you're interacting with. Yeah, you know. So I think there'll still always be a human element until the machines turn on us and kill us all, and then we're all little batteries and then don't take the red pill, because it's not worth it, right? Exactly so, but yeah, I definitely think that we're just seeing sort of the tip of the iceberg of what AI is going to do to the finance and the tax and the legal industry for sure.
Speaker 2:Is there anything that you would like to touch on that we may have not kind of hit in the financial world or in the real world a little bit there?
Speaker 1:I don't think so. I mean, you know business owners know, like you know well I guess, like you said right in the very beginning, like not a lot of people are talking about tax planning, right? So whether you're working with a firm like us or you're working with another CPA or startup, you know tax planning is key and it doesn't happen. That's what happens.
Speaker 2:You know tax prep is what happens from like January to April 15th, right, and everybody kind of knows that part and I feel like a lot of people start like, like, for example, me, I'm not, I really should, yeah, you're not even. I need to. I need to call you, you're not even thinking about tax until you're like oh shit it's april 14th.
Speaker 1:I need to get my taxes done yeah yeah, all right, but tax planning is everything from like after this date to the end of the year right, because if you get to the end of the year and you haven't done the planning, it's too late. So the prep piece is really just taking everything that happened last year and putting it in a format that IRS can understand. The planning piece is going hey, how do we make sure that we're keeping the most amount of money in your pocket year-round and not letting a little sand have it all? So if there's one takeaway that I could say for business owners is just to start thinking about tax planning and and not tax prep right yeah I forgot my last question what was I gonna ask um?
Speaker 2:I was gonna say um, so for my last question, if you could leave us with a message or like a mantra or something like that, that you live by, oh man. What would that be?
Speaker 1:I don't know. You know what, like I said, it would be don't listen to other people, you know, don't listen to naysayers. It would, it would be don't listen to other people, you know, don't listen to the naysayers.
Speaker 2:uh, and just in the morning, put two feet on the ground and start moving towards it, yeah,