My name is Starlene and I am the owner and head bookkeeper at Start Right Bookkeeping, LLC. Pleased to meet you!
My Passion
I am passionate about empowering small business owners, helping to provide the information needed from the monthly financials which will allow them to succeed in business. I am efficient, detail oriented, and precise with numbers – owning my own bookkeeping business is the perfect fit for my personality type! One of my bookkeeper friends dubbed me “The Cleanup Queen” since digging into and cleaning up a set of books is one of my favorite things to do.
My Business Story
I remember a time in my life when I was content to hold a W2 position and work for a company. I had worked at a rehabilitation center in Phoenix, Arizona for twenty years and worked my way up to the head of the finance department. On the weekends, I ran a side business as a blogger. My first blog was a personal finance blog which I started in 2007. Perfect, right? Many of my personal finance blogging friends were able to quit their day jobs, and when I felt envious I realized I had a secret desire to do the same.
The time wasn't right, and although the urge to become more than a weekends only grew, I settled in and assumed I would be with the center until I retired.
That was to change in the summer of 2021, my twentieth year with the agency. After taking a leave of absence to recover from burnout, I realized it was time. Actually long past time.
In September I resigned from my position, and am proud to say I became part of the Great Resignation 2021! During that time there was a huge paradigm shift happening around remote working and we were required to use technology to work virtually: Teams, Zoom, remote desktop and others.
I loved my work as Controller, so opening a bookkeeping firm was a no-brainer, and Start Right Bookkeeping was born.
I was finally able to fulfill my dream to be an entrepreneur full-time!
My Professional Life
I had my first bookkeeping job at the age of 18. I started out as a sales clerk at an office supply store and the bookkeeper was moving on so I was trained to keep the books. It was one of my favorite jobs, one of the perks being that I could go out onto the floor and select any office product to use at my own desk. For someone who finds joy in office supplies, can you say “dream job”?!
I moved on to a new job working in a warehouse where I learned to drive a forklift before I knew how to drive a car! I can still remember not being able to pull a car into a parking space since on the forklift the back wheels steered. I got a lot of physical exercise there and loved the work, but the summer heat was so intense, and I have always loved computers so I knew I wanted that to be my next job. Here I must give credit to my dear mother-in-law (RIP) for enrolling me in the data entry operator class she was teaching at a local college. I didn't have a car at the time so she picked me up after work and took me home after class was over. Thanks to her, my next job was working as a data entry operator at the Arizona Department of Revenue! Tax season was so busy! After 18 months as a data entry operator, during the tax season I applied for and was hired for the night supervisor position.
My first son was born and I continued with the state until he was nine months old, but was fortunate to find a work-from-home data entry position. I was so happy to be able to stay home with my little boy. We had another little boy a couple of years later, and the work-from-home position was dissolved by the company so I became a full-time stay at home mom.
My next job presented itself after I began volunteering at a non-profit agency. I worked with the fund development person for one year before I was hired to take over maintaining the website and working with the finance supervisor. As is common at small non-profits I was to pick up and wear many hats during the time I was there. I assisted with fund development, web design, information technology, computer training, copywriting, copy editing, finance, event planning, and even driving the agency van to pick up clients. I learned so much over the years and owe much to the fine people who allowed me to grow into the person I am today.
In 2015 my predecessor retired so I stepped into her position and along with all the accounting duties, I inherited the “Facilities Manager” part of my title, and the kitchen/janitor team of three. My predecessor also managed the two major annual events, so I was tasked with handling those as well. Turns out I am pretty good at planning a big event with 125-150 people in attendance!! It was said when my grandmother retired from her job that three people had to be hired to replace her. I was well on my way to following in my grandmother's shoes!
After two years of doing all the things in my new position, I was given permission to hire a billing assistant, which was a big help but I was still filling too many positions. Our CEO of thirty years retired and his replacement recognized that a finance team was needed. The team was assembled and I was tasked with training three people to take over my various tasks. It is challenging to parse out tasks when you have been doing everything! I learned a lot in that last year, and while it was a very difficult time in my life, I am grateful for all the changes which led to my being able to fulfill my dream to become an entrepreneur.
My Personal Life
I am married to a man who makes me laugh, it is one of the best things about our life together. We have two grown sons, our oldest son has Down Syndrome and lives at home with us. We moved to a rural area in 2001 with hopes of being self-sufficient and have raised chickens, geese, turkeys, dairy goats, steer, sheep, and pigs. I will say it provided me with a ton of insight of the reality of growing one's own food and I have great respect for the farmers and ranchers who provide the food we eat.
Nowadays we only have cats and dogs, critters that are supposed to be forever pets (just FYI self-sufficiency = do not get attached to livestock, they are NOT meant to be forever pets, LOL).
I have lots of hobbies and interests: cooking, baking, crocheting, gardening, urban line dancing, journaling, reading, blogging, writing e-books and I love the work I do so much it's almost like a hobby!
Ready to work with us? Click here to schedule your free 30-Minute Discovery Meeting appointment, we look forward to chatting with you and getting to know more about you and your business!