Why I Became an Enrolled Agent

I started my career in the restaurant business. I worked my way through college to earn a business degree. During those years I worked in a hospital kitchen that also offered a culinary school. I took the culinary classes, went to college, and worked at the same time. I had no free time, but it was OK; I was learning how to cook and work at the same time going to college. When I finished college, I stayed working at the hospital until a restaurant opportunity came by. It was a Dairy Belle franchise that the owner wanted to sell quickly. We were able to buy it and I was so excited that I was finally in the restaurant business. Since Dairy Belle is a franchise, I learned about procedures, processes, vendor relations, hiring employees, and many other things. The turning point for me was after six or seven months: I was exhausted, worked every day, did all the cooking, paid the bills, and managed the finances. It was worse than when I was in college!

The first year I took my business records to a certified public accountant (CPA) to have my taxes prepared, we talked about depreciation, cash flow—all the things that a business owner should know about. When I picked up my taxes, the CPA charged me $300! I thought, Here I am selling $5 plates of food when I could be selling $300 tax returns! I thought, How can I sell this restaurant? A few months later, the owner of the shopping center came
in and asked me how much would I sell my restaurant for? I thought about it, and I told him a price that was three times what I paid for it. He came back two weeks later and handed me a cashier’s check. I asked him, “Why?” He said Burger King wanted the spot and would pay three times the rent I was paying.

I went to the CPA and asked him about working for him and becoming a CPA. I had taken several of the college courses required and could finish the rest. He said I would have to work for low pay to learn about auditing and accounting. I had already been self-employed, bought and sold a business, married, and had a child. He said, “You seem to have a good understanding of taxes, we have an enrolled agent in our office, why don’t you talk to her?” I did and told the CPA I was interested in working for him for tax season. He agreed. I enrolled in a tax course at a local college, and during that
first tax season I knew I found my career and that was to prepare taxes and become an enrolled agent.

In 1986, President Reagan announced an executive order that started the amnesty program for undocumented agricultural field workers. There were going to be about 40,000 new taxpayers in Monterey County, and I wanted to be part of it. These were my people, and I knew I could help them with tax preparation and that is when I knew I had to seriously become an enrolled agent so I could represent them before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Here is what being an enrolled agent means to me:

• Being the best in my industry
• Having the top credential for tax preparers
• Preparing tax returns for hardworking Latinos and hardworking business owners
• Representing my clients before the IRS at all administrative levels
• Walking into any IRS office knowing that I am the top of my profession
• Teaching Spanish-speaking people in Monterey County how to prepare taxes just like I taught other people how to cook
• Applying what I learned in the franchise business to expand my business and open more offices.

What I am saying is look at all the experiences you have had in your life and put them to good use. By helping others to be successful, your path in life will always be successful.