Practice Success Podcast

Randy Crabtree on Mental Health Awareness

• Canopy • Season 1 • Episode 3

Share episode

Randy Crabtree is the founder and partner of Tri-Merit. Randy has had a long, successful career but found himself at a crossroads after suffering a work-induced stroke that changed how he viewed work. We’ll dive into his transformation and why he is so passionate about the ability to have work/life balance and business success.

KC Brothers:

It's time for another episode of the Practice Success Podcast, brought to you by Canopy. Today, I'm excited to sit down with Randy Crabtree, founder and partner of Trimerit. Randy has had a long successful career, but found himself at a crossroads after suffering a work induced stroke that changed how he viewed work. We'll dive into his transformation and why he is so passionate about the ability to have work life balance and business success. Welcome to an episode of Canopy Practice Success. I am Casey Brothers and I am here with Randy Crabtree. Randy, will you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Randy Crabtree:

Sure. You said the name. We got that. Uh, I, uh, co founder and partner at Trimerit, especially tax professionals. We do R& D tax credits, cost segregation. credits and incentives. We support the accounting industry by being able to bring those opportunities to their clients. And that's that's what we do in a nutshell.

KC Brothers:

Okay. And tell us a little bit about yourself, your evolution through your career. Um, and some things that you've been focusing on lately.

Randy Crabtree:

Sure. So my career. But actually accounting is my third career. The first two were very short, like one year each. Computer science, decided I didn't like that. Went into sales because that's where all the money was. I was awful at it.

KC Brothers:

Oh yeah, I tried that once too and I'm, that's not my strength.

Randy Crabtree:

But I learned. The cool thing is you learn from every experience you have. And so I learned from that, uh, but one day, uh, sorry, we're going to go into a story, but please do. Please. One day I was in my sales role selling food, which I'm passionate about food, just not selling it. Um, and I was driving down North Avenue in Chicago and had this brainstorm and actually I got a company now that's called the brainstorm group. I think basically because of that and another reason, but I'm, I'm, I'm going down the street and. I just had this idea. I should have been a CPA. And so, this was a long time ago. Stopped at a phone booth, uh, called my wife at work, and said, I'm going to quit my job. I'm going to go back to school full time. I'm going to be a CPA. And it was just silence. On the other end. Uh, and then it was like, yeah, we'll talk when we get home. But that's what I ended up doing. I went back, uh, uh, two full semesters plus a summer. Got enough hours to take the CPA exam. When I did that, my goal was, I've always been an entrepreneur. Even at that time I was, I started my first company at age 16. I think I was tired of working with for people even a couple of years into my career, but I gave myself a goal four years after becoming a CPA, I'm going to start my own firm. And so three and a half years later I did, but. Sat for the exam, nine months or so, 12 months after I had that idea, passed the exam. You were on your way. Yeah, started the firm three and a half years later. Um, but your goal, I made the goal, but I was not that smart at running the firm at that time.

KC Brothers:

It's different. It's a different skill set.

Randy Crabtree:

It is. And, uh, after about 15 years, I, and this doesn't have to happen to people. For me personally, I got burned out, sold the firm, but the positive is TriMerit was born out of that. Our specialty tax firm. And. Every day has been beautiful with that. I just love what we're doing. Good.

KC Brothers:

Well, talk to us a little bit about burnout. You're not alone. No. Um, people all over in all sorts of industries are experiencing burnout, but accountants, particularly, um, levels of depressed, like sad metrics, levels of depression, suicide, anxiety, they. are pretty high amongst accountants. How would you, how do you go about helping people in those situations?

Randy Crabtree:

So I'm extremely passionate about, about talking about that. In fact, I'm doing a presentation tomorrow on, I think it's called Mental Health Awareness. Don't treat burnout as a badge of honor. Because that's one thing we seem to do as a profession in general.

KC Brothers:

Yeah, or even, um, I've talked about it with some of my friends as don't, don't let the hours you've slept Or not slept, be a badge of honor, sleep is so important.

Randy Crabtree:

Extremely. Your brain, your body needs to rest, your brain needs to rest and your brain actually needs to rest during the day too. Not just at the night. And so, so what I do is, you know, my burnout that I went through in public accounting when I had the firm. Was not, I didn't identify that. I just knew, oh man, I was working too much and my kids were young and I can't keep doing this. For me, the reason I got passionate about talking about burnout and mental health awareness is a different story. Uh, nine years ago, over nine years ago now, I had a stroke and I am like the, the poster child for being a stroke survivor because everything works. I can speak. I didn't have any physical deficits after a few months. And, and, but I had mental issues from a standpoint that I actually, and it took me a long time to say this, but I, I, I'm a mental, I'm a mental illness survivor. Yeah.

KC Brothers:

I've never heard that term before. Yeah. That's perfect.

Randy Crabtree:

Well, I'm a stroke survivor. Yeah. But now I look, I'm a mental illness survivor too. And so after the stroke, I went through PTSD. Anytime something was going through your head, a trigger, I'm going to die this time. I'm not going to survive. What's my family going to do? I'm never going to see my kids graduate college. I'm not going to see grandkids. And your brain, my brain would just start. Taken over

KC Brothers:

and you spiral and it's so so hard to get out of that.

Randy Crabtree:

It was that PTSD just started building Panic attacks would kick in which I didn't even know where the panic attack was I thought I was having another stroke the first time it happened and then because of all that depression kicked in which I didn't even Admit was depression at the time. It's hard to I called it I would tell my wife, that's anybody listening. It's important to share what's happening.

KC Brothers:

Yes. Just to get people to be aware and know, and, and not just so that they can have that information when, or if it happens to them, but if it is happening to them and they're in the thick of it, that they know they're not alone and they can say that, okay, here's an individual who's on the other side. Who's describing, Oh my gosh, exactly what I'm feeling. And there's a way out.

Randy Crabtree:

there's definitely a way out. It doesn't look like it at the time. Uh, I actually at the time called it, I would tell her I'm, I'm having that melancholy feeling again. I wouldn't say depression. I'm having that melancholy feeling. And I had a spot in my house where I would go sit and just have the melancholy feeling, but she was always open to, you know, listen, listening's huge. If somebody comes to you like with this, uh, but for me, it ended up. I finally realized I needed to talk to professional counselors. And, and after three counselors, I got to the point that, uh, I started to understand that I could control at least the way I was thinking. I probably couldn't control. I could at some level, would I have a stroke again or not? Uh, but I can control the fact of how I reacted to what happened in the past. And, and Oh, I think it was at the third counselor. She was amazing. They all were. It's just not every counselor is perfect. Yeah.

KC Brothers:

You need to find what's good for you.

Randy Crabtree:

Yes. And as to back up a second, cause this is for this, uh, audience, it's probably interesting. My first counselor, great woman. I mean, I go hang out with her anytime if we could, obviously we didn't do that. But her, her solution was, well, Randy, you can't control it. So don't worry about it. You can't be concerned about it. And, and I said to her, you know, I'm a CPA, you know, that's our mindset. We control, we help, we have the solutions, we solve the problems. That's what we do. And so for me, it wasn't a fit and it was probably good advice. And it was probably in the long run, what really helped me. But when I got to the third counselor, she. Listened. She helped me realize that, you know, I've got it great and I do. I'm very fortunate. I've had it great. And after I think our third session, I'm sitting in our melon, my melancholy place. And I'm not going to swear right now, but I, uh, you do typically when you tell the story. No, I don't, I don't swear much, but at that moment I did because I was like enough. And I, I actually looked myself in the mirror. And I was looking at my brain, which was in control. I wasn't in control of my brain. I was starting to take control back. And I looked at my brain and myself in the mirror and I said, F you. That's not the word I said, F you. You're not real. Get out of my head. I am not listening to you anymore. F you. You're not real. Get out of my head. I'm not listening to you anymore. And I just was chanting that. And that, that. And that. This was a five year journey, so it wasn't immediate, but I finally realized that I could at least control the way I felt. And oh, after a few weeks, I honestly, everything started going away again after five years in a few weeks. Um, but after that tent and every, and people won't believe me probably. Every day is great. I don't. I am so lucky. I have the best life in the world. I have the best family in the world. I have the best job in the world. And, and it's, it's mindset getting that mindset rate that worked for me.

KC Brothers:

We don't all have to experience this. We thank goodness. Um, What would you say to because those stats really are staggering amongst accountants? Um, What's something you feel like really contributed to that point that you feel like people should avoid?

Randy Crabtree:

Yeah, so so Burnout is actually something that can go deeper. And so there's, I talk about this a lot and there's just so many things that we do wrong. And I don't mean that we do so much, right. But as a profession, things that we do wrong that are correctable and it's that whole thing of. I got to help everybody. I don't, I can, I, I, for me, I found what I'm most passionate about when my job and I started concentrating on that, but simple things that you can do, let's say it's tax season and you think you're going to be sitting at your desk all day long. That is actually counterproductive because your brain just slows down and you can't, you'll never,

KC Brothers:

efficiency goes right.

Randy Crabtree:

Yeah. So I just say, and I do this personally all year long. It's on my calendar. 10 a. m. 2 p. m. Go for a walk. Stop what you're doing. Let your brain refresh. Don't take your phone. Don't be looking at it nonstop. Don't answer tasks and emails. Just go out and clear your mind for a few minutes. Simple thing. Everybody can do it. They're gonna think I can't. I got so much work. My to do list is like this. I can't leave my desk. Believe me, your brain actually needs that time to regenerate and you'll be more productive. Very simple. But there's, I have lots of things like that, that I could expand on. You just tell me.

KC Brothers:

Well, yeah, so my husband is fixing up a 1986 Jeep Wagoneer right now. Right. He got it and it could only go 30 miles an hour. And I, I, this is coming to my mind because of this concept of I have to do this and, and this is something I personally have been really passionate about is like you, you only have so much to give. And if you're not taking care of you, you really can't take care of other people. And so this Jeep Wagoneer, he's since. Um, flushed out the fluids, replaced some spark plugs, um, all sorts of things, and now it's able to go 60 miles an hour. But if he hadn't taken the time, just like us, if we don't take the time to replenish ourselves, we can't. Go as fast. We're going 30 miles for longer to get just as far when you could go 60 miles. I mean, not necessarily that the, these miles per hours are equivalents of us going faster, right? But just efficiency,

Randy Crabtree:

energy. Yeah. Yes. I love that analogy. I'm going to steal that. I'm going to start using that. I allow that. Thank you. But that, what I said, looking at your phone, being on 24 seven, we can't, you can't do it. Your brain needs shut time to shut down. And I'm no doctor. I'm no medical professional. I've lived through things. So I talk about that. If your brain doesn't have a chance to relax, if you, if you have uncontrolled chronic stress in your life, it actually changes your brain. It physically can change your brain. This is what I've read. chemical imbalances and alter the makeup of your brain physically. And so you need time to refresh. So one of the things that I've learned from someone else, um, and I give him credit all the time, uh, Brian Cush is how you shut down at the end of the day. And because you need to, you need to separate work from life. Yeah.

KC Brothers:

We don't need to be logging on at 11 PM and having all that right before going to bed, suppressing our melatonin.

Randy Crabtree:

And I'll guarantee half the people, more everybody looking at watching this today as some point in time, and maybe often, maybe probably too often wakes up at three in the morning and like, what am I working on? What's that project I have to do? Oh yeah, I got to do that. Oh, now they're going to give themselves a note in the middle of the night. And so. I'm going to, if you don't mind, I'm going to go through this three steps real quick that he says to do, because I think this is great. And honestly, I sleep so much better after having this conversation with Brian. Go through a shutdown ritual. At the end of the day, bookmark your work. Just tell your morning self. where you left off. So you don't, you train your brain. I don't have to think about this anymore.

KC Brothers:

You're taking, yeah, you're taking it off, putting it somewhere else. So then you're freeing up that space to do something else. Yes.

Randy Crabtree:

Yeah. Step two, come with a, come up with an instead of plan and instead of plan, instead of thinking of work when I get home, I'm going to read a book. I'm going to go see that movie. Yeah. My spouse and I are going to go to this museum. I'm going to do this home improvement project, whatever it is. I have a plan that, now I'll tell my brain, remember, work's done, I'm going to do this instead when I get home, or I leave my office in my house, or whatever it is. And then the third step is actually have a physical slash and mental, uh, ritual you go through to shut down. Simple as closing your computer. Uh, maybe you, you want to go do five push ups, that's your indicate, you say a prayer, meditate, you know, something that you go through that again, an indication, trains your brain that this is done. I know I'm done with this. Now I'm going over here and I'm going to have the rest of the day. I'm not going to look at my emails and I text messages. And you also have to set client expectations of what your schedule, what your time is. There's boundaries you have to set, but if you do that,

KC Brothers:

Guess what? How much is an actual emergency?

Randy Crabtree:

We do taxes in accounting. There's not too many.

KC Brothers:

Well, yeah, and between the hours of 5 p. m. And 8 or 9 a. m. The next morning. How much of what clients might If they're reaching out in some form or fashion, whatever it might be How much of that actually needs to be responded to right away? It doesn't it doesn't know and there The thing with the modern world is that people are going to reach out to you whenever it pops in their brain. And that is, that is great that I can through my device, text someone when I'm thinking of it. And then again, kind of like you're saying, like I can take that off of, out of my mental capacity and then pivot my mental capacity to where it needs to be. But by me doing that is not me also indicating that the person on the receiving end needs to get back to me right away. It's just. Right. That I shot off that text. I shot off that email. And then I'm going to go about and do what I need to do. And things just aren't an emergency. They're not.

Randy Crabtree:

And some people will still have a hard time not looking at email and you should, but even if you feel you have to. Schedule the email. If you're going to respond to something, schedule it. Because if you send this to someone you work with at nine o'clock at night, what expectations are you setting? Oh, I just got this from my boss at nine o'clock at night. I'm expected to be on at nine o'clock at night too. So you have to set good examples.

KC Brothers:

Yeah. Okay. So then let's talk about that. How this personal impact then, um, Turned into a firm impact.

Randy Crabtree:

Yeah, so there's a couple things one the firm Completely I completely changed my role in the firm when this happened. Now, it was the best for everybody. It was the best for me I didn't see it at the time because I was managing partner and Another thing that brain tricks you with is that was my image if I'm not managing partner, what am I? That was not who I am, managing partner. And, and so, so what we did is that, you know, a few years after the stroke, uh, my partner who I started the firm with took over managing partner. And then I, I knew I had a new role, but it took me a little while to realize that my new role is just going out and educating on this, educated on tax, educated on corporate culture, educated on anything that I'm passionate about. Because I want to stick with the things I'm passionate about. Everybody can, has something they're passionate about at work. And just try to identify that. Maybe it's a client base. Maybe it's a, an industry. Maybe it's a specific part of the tax code. Maybe it's just a, a, I love working with family owned businesses. Or I love working with startups. And if that's your passion, stick with it. So what we've tried to do is make that part of our whole identity as a firm. Is everybody find their passion. What we do. Is we allow, and this is really from day one. I have a lot more focus on it today, but from day one, we set out to create a place where people feel comfortable to be part of, can be their authentic self. They're not the tax expert, they're not the auditor, they're not the bookkeeper, whatever. They're the mountain biker, the hiker, the craft beer enthusiast, whatever. That's what you are and that's what makes you, you. But if you can be your authentic self at work, it just creates an atmosphere where everybody has a good time. And for us personally, we don't, we, and you know, it sounds weird, but we don't lose people. And in fact, everybody. that comes to work with us. Now I'm bragging. Brag. Please do. Everybody that comes to work with us almost immediately tells everybody, you got to come work here. And when we have mothers, daughters, sisters, brother, sister, husband, wife, uh, college roommates, um, best friends from high school that all come to work here because they told somebody that, you know, they told their college roommate about us and they come. And in the last five years, I think we've lost one person. That alone, the cost of replacing a person is huge. Creating a culture Where people be enjoy being part of is so important, especially in this profession, where we have a hard time finding individuals. So culture is great.

KC Brothers:

So what about your culture do you think has worked really well to help you provide that kind of retention with your employees?

Randy Crabtree:

I think it is. I think it is the fact that everybody can be themselves and everybody's free. Everybody, and I'm going to tell you a story in a second. Everybody, I have lots of stories. I love stories. Uh, so I'm going to, I'm going to tell you this, but it's, it's that being your authentic self. It is not be afraid to share your ideas. Two stories. The first story is, and I think this helps create the culture. What happens is our payroll service. sends me a Teams message automatic as soon as a new person gets hired. And so what I do, as soon as I possibly can, schedule, I don't even schedule it, maybe should, but I just do a Teams call. I call the person, welcome them to the team, um, and we just talk about who they are. We don't talk about work at all. I want to know who they are. I want to know what they do. I want to know what they're passionate about. They probably, first thing they do is, Who's Randy and why is he calling me? Or if they know who I am, let's go, why is Randy calling me?

KC Brothers:

Why is he talking to me about my life?

Randy Crabtree:

But what happens is we just build the relationship right away. It's not, this isn't about work. This is about humans. It's about humans. And I tell them right away. Anything you ever need, reach out to me. If I'm not available, you know, and I don't respond right away, don't be afraid to reach back out. And so I think, to me, that sets the stage right away. And then the other story I wanted to tell you is that we are remote. People get scared. How do we build a culture with a remote team? I'll tell you we've done it. Can I define the culture? It's really hard to do. But I think this defines that we have a good culture. More than anything I've ever heard before and what happened was we do get together twice a year. Last one was this May. The prior one was, uh, this was in Chicago. The prior one was in San Diego in November. We were at this event. We had a photographer come out. Photographers taking pictures the whole time, you know, headshots, but just action shots of us having fun. That's what we do with these. We have fun. And he talked to this woman I work with and he just said this Probably off comment to her. He maybe didn't even think much about it, but he said, you know what? I do this all the time. And this is the first time I can not tell who the partners of this company are. I was like, that is like the best compliment I've ever heard. And, and I, I I'll, that gives me goosebumps when I think about that. Cause that was so amazing. Cause that's what we strive to do. This is, this is awesome.

KC Brothers:

When an outsider can see it. Yeah. That's. It's big news. Yep.

Randy Crabtree:

Yeah. I think so. So I'll brag about that. Yeah. All the time.

KC Brothers:

Yeah. And that's so great when you, um, get rid of hierarchy and everyone feels like they can contribute. You don't necessarily know just how much that does for you as individuals, but as the firm too, people are smart. People are, um, want to be invested in their work, wants to be encouraged to explore and to be curious and to find. new solutions and to make an impact and when you free, free that up, you, the multiplying effect comes in with the productivity. Yeah. And

Randy Crabtree:

if somebody wants to see the benefit of that, like a turnover is such a, I mean, even if we spend 200, 000 to bring anybody into one spot, we save more than that by not having turnover.

KC Brothers:

And so glad that you found such a happy spot, not just personally, but with the firm. Thank you, Randy.

Randy Crabtree:

Well, thank you very much. I really enjoyed this.