Today we’d like to introduce you to Monica Roca-Quesada.
Monica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
To me, my story is simple. It’s about creating a space for yourself when society makes you feel like you don’t fit. In my younger years, I dreamed of being a lawyer. As life happens and choices you make change, I found myself on a career path of becoming an accountant. It was something I was naturally good at and came easy to me, so changing my major seemed obvious. The truth is you don’t know what you don’t know. While the numbers came easy and I found myself in management positions of Fortune 500 companies, I easily became disinterested in the repetitive tasks of traditional accounting positions. This led me to always look for the next great opportunity. After several years of lucrative jobs, what I thought would never happen to me actually happened. I found myself laid off from two great positions that I truly loved because I had simplified and automated so much of the work. It just didn’t seem like my salary was justifiable to them anymore. When we talk about providing value, how could it be that I had seen myself out of these positions simply because I was good at my job? Oh, and did I mention this was in a time span of less than two years?
Of course, this would happen at the worst time. My oldest son was in his freshman year at Florida State University. I remember our brief conversation over what happened and how concerned he was thinking he may have to come home. This is truly what fueled me into launching Agile Planners. At that moment, I decided I would never allow for someone else to dictate my career path or how much money I would earn. That breaking point is what gave me the realization that the same things that I had done for these companies that no longer needed my services, I could provide for multiple businesses; never as a job, but as a service with a clear endpoint in sight.
Today, Agile Planners helps entrepreneurs, as well as established businesses, streamline and automate their processes within operational and financial controls. This year, I’m proud to announce that we’re also providing bookkeeping services as well as outsourced CFO services to fill the growing need.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, and for that I am grateful. It is through the challenges that we change and pivot and build the business of our dreams. When launching your own business, you may have an idea of what it will look like, only to learn it was nothing like you imagined but something totally different. The road of entrepreneurship is not for the faint at heart. You will often find that you work longer and harder than many of the people in your life that have traditional jobs. As a woman and mother, you often feel selfish for pursuing your passion when they compete for your time and attention. And let’s not even mention how hard it is to be everything in your business (sales, admin, marketing, etc.) when all you want to do is focus on your areas of strength.
My advice for any woman starting on this journey is to know that this too shall pass. You will find the methods to create the business of your dreams while fulfilling the roles of being a wife, mother, and daughter. Is it easy? No. But is it worth? Absolutely. One of my proudest moments is having my sons describe to other people what they see in their mother. Those are the times that I know I made the right call.
We’d love to hear more about Agile Planners.
What sets us apart is that we focus on the process and match the business to the right technology and software. The business world has evolved to where most businesses are using 5-7 applications in their daily process. We specialize in getting all those systems to play nicely with each other, allowing business owners to focus on the reason they went into business in the first place. Our passion is to streamline processes and give business owners the information they need to make their business thrive.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.agileplanners.com
- Phone: 786.429.7017
- Email: hello@agileplanners.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/agileplanners_
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/agileplanners
- Other: www.linkedin.com/in/mrocaquesada
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