Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Raymond.
Hi Alexandra, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Well, my story is simple and serendipitous at the same time. I’m a Haitian-Canadian born in Montreal, Canada where I was raised, went to college, got a job in Finance, bought my first property, and never questioned the status quo. In 2017, I got my first “ping” from life where I started wondering if there was more to life than what we call in French “métro, boulot, dodo” which is a way of describing the rat race or living to work. So after a few months of soul-searching, my adventure began when I got a job that relocated me to San Francisco where I was introduced to the world of tech and the idea that you could build the company of your dreams. I wasn’t sure how this would translate but I dove head-first in this new world. In 2020, while I was laid off during the pandemic, family and friends started reaching out for help with their small business accounting and this is how I founded Alexandra Raymond Consulting Inc, with the initial goal of helping small businesses with their accounting and bookkeeping. However, a few months later, the tech world called again, this time with the opportunity to move to LA. So I said yes to the opportunity, streamlined my business operations, and created TrackMyMoney.Co to help small businesses specifically with their QuickBooks setup as I knew that it was important for me to continue to help small businesses while continuing to grow in my corporate career. Finally, at the end of 2022, I got another “ping” from life where I started to ask myself, what would I do if I got out of my own way? Who would I be and what would be the ultimate way to earn a living? And the answer came in the form of a redefinition of my consulting firm’s mission which is to develop products and services to increase diversity in tech and make the latest FinTech information accessible to all. I have big dreams for this new mission and the first step is to launch my speaking career as a FinTech speaker championing diversity and accessibility in tech.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road and the best analogy to the way that I view my journey is the book “Peaks and Valleys: Making Good And Bad Times Work For You by Spencer Johnson”.
Peaks and Valleys, just like up and downs, are normal and inevitable. Some of my “valley moments” were, getting laid off during the pandemic and having to move back with my mom (as an adult!!!), pivoting my company and not signing new clients for a few months, signing clients that ended up being conflictual, making poor investment decisions to help grow my business, phrases like “I’m really happy for you, but are you sure that…”
That said, nothing beats the feeling of truly feeling like you are living your life’s purpose by using your gifts to help people understand something that comes easily to you. It absolutely warms my heart when my clients express their gratitude for helping them demystify their small businesses finances. To this day, one of my favorite client review is the following;
“Alexandra is a true professional with a knack for making a non-financial person comfortable with reconciling and managing their books. She helped me realize that I did not need a bookkeeper to help me with my books and made me confident that I could manage them by myself for now.”
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
In a nutshell, I’m a FinTeck Speaker, Finance Product Manager and Founder. My business is Alexandra Raymond Consulting, and my mission is to develop products and services to increase diversity in tech and make the latest FinTech information accessible to all.
To help further this mission, I created TrackMyMoney.Co, a finance and accounting systems setup service that helps service-based business owners install the tools they need to manage their numbers and maximize the use of their funding. The signature service is a QuickBooks VIP Experience, a done for you QuickBooks setup service.
The second endeavor to support this mission is my FinTech speaker career where my goal is to help underrepresented communities access and understand financial information.
What does success mean to you?
To me, success is knowing that I am making a change in the world with the gift that I was given. For a very long time, I thought that being smart and easily understanding financial concepts was not something that was special. Now, I know that my superpower is my ability to simplify and contextualize financial topics. Therefore to me, success is knowing that I am utilizing this superpower to do something that is greater than just me and that is contributing to making a difference in other people’s lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thealexandraraymond.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealexandraraymond
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymondalexandra/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alexandra_LAX
- Other: https://alexandra-raymond-consulting-inc-1.showitpreview.com/
