Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Thai.
Hi Jenny, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, let’s briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I came to the U.S. from Vietnam as an Exchange Student when I was 15 years old. I lived with a host family and attended a high school in California. After the program, I moved to Saint Louis and continued my education here while working full-time as a nail technician. I met my husband and married in 2005, but my educational goal remained the same. In 2010, I graduated from Meramec Community College as a valedictorian and represented the school to speak at Commencement. Due to that great accomplishment, I received a full-ride scholarship to the Pierre Laclede Honors College of the University of Missouri Saint Louis. I completed an Accounting Degree in 2012 and started my first job as an Intern for a small local CPA firm during tax season. I also volunteered in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) school program, initiated by the Internal Revenue Service, to help file taxes for low-income individuals at no cost. In that same period, I was pregnant and delivered my first child in January 2013.
When my daughter was about 6 months old, I received an offer to work at another local public CPA firm as an accountant. Of course, I took the job, which opened me to gain so much experience in accounting and taxes. A couple of years later, I took and passed the CPA exam and became an official Certified Public Accountant. After about 4 years of working with this amazing company, I was offered an opportunity to partner with other CPAs in the firm to purchase a commercial building as our main headquarters. I bought my first Commercial building. During this whole time attending college and working as an accountant, I also worked as a nail tech after working at the office daily and on weekends. “Hard work pays off”; the earned income qualified me to purchase my first home when I turned 19. In 2019, my brother and sister-in-law, who owned the nail salon I worked at for years, wanted to move to Texas and sell the salon to me. I now have my very first business. I decided to slow down with accounting and taxes to focus on managing the salon and building it up, so I left the CPA firm at the end of 2019. Right after I left, I received panic calls from multiple tax clients I handled at the prior firm, asking me to continue handling their taxes. I have always been passionate about helping people solve problems, so I decided to open my second business, a CPA firm called Solutions All, to service a small group of clients. Because I am very active in the Vietnamese Community and influenced by this language, many Asian business owners reached out and needed my help handling accounting and taxes. Before I knew it, our firm provided services such as bookkeeping accounting, taxes, payroll, and sales tax filing for over 200 business clients. In 2019, I had my second child, a boy, and then in 2020, I had my third and will be the last child, another girl. Continuing with the work story, while doing taxes, I was often approached by clients needing help checking on income and providing and completing paperwork to obtain a mortgage. I decided to become a Mortgage Loan officer as well. I got my license at the beginning of 2022, and I love the experiences so far. You’re probably asking now, “What do you do with your money?” The answer is real estate investments. As of right now, I have my 4th business, which is owning and managing 9 Airbnb rental properties, all of which are in Saint Louis, 4 commercial buildings, with the most recent one sized 19,000 sqft, were purchased in June of this year. I am in the planning stage of establishing my 5th business of building and managing a large wedding and corporate event center at this location. I feel successful every day in what I have accomplished; however, it does not mean I will stop striving to improve each day. My definition of success is that I can be the “Solutions All” to help many individuals resolve problems, lifting them up on the right path from my own experiences.
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a challenging road. The biggest and first obstacle was that I needed to speak English when I first came to the United States. My father passed away when I was 10 years old, and I had to leave my family to study abroad at a very young age. When I first came to the US and landed in the large airport of Los Angeles, I was lost and was late getting to the gate, so I could not board San Diego, where my host family is. I had to stay at the airport overnight, waiting for my next flight. Because I was an international student, I did not have a cell phone or able to get a driver’s license. I had to use public transportation and only can access a computer to communicate with my family at home. And, of course, many, many more problems with running my businesses. My CPA firm provides specialized services and thus requires knowledge and experience. I ran into problems training many employees who left for better positions at bigger firms with the experience they learned at my firm. Similarly, at the nail salon, I am always short-staffed. Because I have multiple businesses that I manage simultaneously, I could not focus on growing one of them to the fullest. I am trying hard, but I did much of the work myself. When I get home after a long day at work, imagining 3 monkeys screaming in my ear at the same time, lol. Another challenge is the cash flow, which sometimes could be short since I have almost full equity in our assets.
Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us more about your business next.
Solutions All is a full-service accounting/CPA firm specializing in small business services such as bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, income tax preparation, and sales tax filings. We represent clients before the IRS due to an audit or examination and assist with resolving IRS notices. We also provide business start-up consulting services to help new owners set up the company correctly. Many new clients have benefitted from coming on board with us by switching their business to an S Corporation to lower taxes. Several commercial bankers also recommended our firm to clients who want to obtain financial statements, year-to-date profit and loss statements, and balance sheets. Because I own several businesses, I can relate to small business owners to identify strengths and weaknesses to help them improve. This is what sets us apart. We aim to deliver the “Solutions” for “All” of your tax concerns/problems.
Are any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
Yes, the calendar app is the first to help me keep up with deadlines and requests for everything. Then, I use Airbnb and VRBO apps for my rentals for my CPA and mortgage licenses; I attend tax seminars and read tax law books each year to get updates on changes in the law.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://solutionsallcpa.com/
