We recently had the chance to connect with Dennis Duban and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Dennis, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Have you ever been glad you didn’t act fast?
This is an incredibly relevant questions, as I do like to act fast and respond promptly. But when faced with a dilemma or especially a difficult or unpleasant situation, I have a found more often than not, that acting fast does not serve you and is not to one’s advantage.
It almost seems like the more difficult or unpleasant a situation, the more we all need to think about options, and the delivery should be well thought out and rational rather than knee jerk.
Lately, when faced with decisions that seem lose/lose on the face, not acting quickly has brought about a better than expected outcome. In fact, looking back, I am not sure I have ever been overly glad that I did act fast. In this day when people look for immediate gratification and instantaneous responses, it is important to step back and breathe so that you give your best response rather than your fastest response.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Almost 45 years ago, together with my sister, I founded a CPA firm and we built a company and a brand that now has a few thousand clients who want a service oriented and purpose driven boutique experience in dealing with their CPA/accounting firm. We offer bookkeeping, accounting, business management, tax return preparation of course and estate and retirement planning.
My son in law, after obtaining his CPA and Masters in Business Taxation, joined the firm. About a decade ago, we embarked upon a path of vertical integration to expand our reach, brand and services. But rather than join a global affiliation of multinational CPA firms with thousands of other like minded CPAs in an environment that has international reach but is probably owned or controlled by a private equity firm or ultra large CPA conglomerate, we affiliated with vertically integrated talents to expand our offering of services and areas of expertise.
Now we offer not only the services of a CPA firm, but we operate a registered investment advisory firm which provides capital management and investment advisory services. We also now have a full service real estate brokerage company to fulfill client’s real estate needs. We have a property management company to manage our clients’ residential and commercial properties and we have a life insurance division to assist with all levels of estate planning strategies. Finally, we have developed an arm that can put together real estate partnerships so that individuals who might not have the capital or the desire to own an entire piece of high-quality real estate rental property can invest in an entity that can acquire, own and manage the property for income tax favorable cash flow and, more importantly, future appreciation and wealth creation.
Having all these entities under one umbrella, with common control, one brand, all located in the same building, the affiliation gives clients the opportunity to not only have one stop shopping but to also know that their advisors are all speaking regularly and armed with a thorough and intimate knowledge of all their financial needs, their total financial picture and their goals and dreams. I believe this is unique to us as tax preparers.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I believe my youngest memories of myself or my self image were those of feeling invincible, powerful, clever and certainly happy with who I was. But as I got older and was navigating my school years, particularly elementary and high school, I started to feel less and less confident in myself. Instead of feeling special I began to feel different and not in a way that necessarily served me.
With the realization that I was gay and all the judgement that came with that It felt like a time where I thought it might be better to fit in and fly under the radar than to give life 100% and accomplish all the things I had always dreamed of. I recall feeling that the world was telling me I was not special, that I needed to be different than I was, and even that I wasn’t worthy of being here. But that was in ways I could not comprehend at the time.
Later, as I matured and found subjects in college that I really liked and also like minded people and the joy of literally not having to cope with grades in Physical Education where I did not excel I found my place in the world. I ultimately found a career I adored I finally got to be the person that I am today, with all the confidence and joy that I felt back as my younger self.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I would say, “please do not ever doubt yourself, You are powerful and intelligent and you owe it to yourself to be confident and proud of every aspect of yourself. Even if you are different, you are worthy and special and deserve all good things. Work hard and they will come.” (Maybe that is a little more than one!)
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
I think they would say that the most important thing in my life is my family; my husband, my daughter, her husband and our grandchild. I suspect the poll would be unanimous.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
I have always said that most any professional CPA can do a great job on a preparing a tax return, financial plan or assisting with a business decision. My specialty was the delivery. I always said that my delivery differentiated our firm and our clients’ experience and I think that still holds true today. The way we deliver our message is how people know we are knowledgeable yet compassionate and in many other ways, completely unique. The message has always been “it will be okay.” And it was delivered in a way that we, as client and professional, could have a good time and want to interact more. That is the skill I must pass on to the next generation of professionals in our firm.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.dldcpas.com
- Instagram: HTTPS;//www.instagram.com/dldcpas
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/dennislduban
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/dldcpas.
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dldcpas/.
- Yelp: http://www.dldcpas.com/biz/DLD Accountancy, LLP -accountancy-Los-Angeles-2
Image Credits
N/Adam Bouska Photography
Justin Michael Photography
