For many years, Lakesha Porter used her “gifted” hands in cooking and attending to patients as a medical assistant, and now as a tax preparer and credit consultant for the community and culture.
Hi Lakesha, introduce yourself to Bluff City Magazine.
I am a wife and mother of 4 children. My grandmother taught me how to cook at age 13, but I had a lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. In 2002, I was on my way to UT Chattanooga to get a nursing degree, but that path quickly changed because I was pregnant at 18. I continue to stay in the medical field, and I attended Remington College to get a Medical Assistant certification.
After your certification, what was next for you?
Although I was working in the healthcare field, I catered on the side. My grandmother taught me how to cook at age 13. I didn’t go to culinary school, but my food tasted as I did. I felt “gifted” as a cook. My customers raved about my food, so I created Gifted Hands Catering in 2010.
How did you transition from catering to taxes? That is a stark contrast.
I lost my job at Regional One, and while unemployed, I went to see a friend to file my taxes. Since I wasn’t working, my friend encouraged me to learn about taxes and become a tax preparer. It was so easy for me to grasp the information. I started working for COD Taxes for a season. I started calculating how I could have my own clients and work from home. That’s when I began Gifted Hands Taxes (GHT) in 2012.
How did you get clients as a new Tax Preparer?
I started with ten clients that were classmates, and they started referring me at tax time. People started trusting me to take care of their taxes, and I grew rapidly to 50 clients.
What is the difference between Gifted Hands Taxes and Gifted Hands Financial?
I started Gifted Hands Financial 2021, and I incorporated Credit Repair. My husband encouraged me to add that on to scale my business as a service.
Your mission statement for Gifted Hands Financial is to get all of your clients to where they want to be financially. How do you achieve that?
Where I come from, many people are not savvy about finances. We come from a society where we weren’t raised and taught about financial literacy. I’ve created programs to help our youth understand how to budget, pay bills responsibly, and job training.
How do you educate on proper tax filing, especially for business owners to be ready for the next year?
I advise business owners to keep a spreadsheet or have a system to track their expenses. I try to follow up every 60 days to ensure that they’re keeping track as they should. I monitor my clients about paperwork. If we don’t have a paper trail, I don’t have anything to send to the Internal Revenue Service.
What is a big no-no that you see with business owners when they file their tax returns?
Many business owners spend money straight out of their accounts for personal expenses when they should just put themselves on the payroll. I educate my clients on the need to be on a payroll to show proof of income if they want to purchase a home or a car. Lenders want to see what you’re earning personally.
What credit advice can you give to those trying to clean up their credit?
The number one piece of advice is to monitor your credit. Things can pop on your credit without your knowledge and may be incorrect. Secondly, sign up for free credit monitoring services and obtain a free annual credit report. If you have credit cards, try to keep the charges under 30% of the limit to boost your credit score.
If you have a business and want business credit, you should establish net 30 accounts and pay those on time to help build your business credit.
Your mission is to see your clients free of debt. Do you offer financial or tax classes for entrepreneurs?
I am working on a program specifically for that. I want to see my community debt-free. My goal is to teach those what to do when they find themselves in the hole instead of going to cash advances or title loan places. Our culture tends to live paycheck to paycheck without a means to be debt-free.
We need to learn how to save but save in a way that will grow our money. A savings account may only get you an annual 3% interest rate, but a mutual account could yield up to 20-22% at the end of the year. My goal is to help us become financially free for retirement.
What makes GHF the preferred choice for financial or tax services?
Tax laws are constantly changing, and there is so much to learn about credit. I stay abreast by attending seminars and training sessions. I advise clients on certain practices that they can start working on for the next tax year.
The main benefit that sets us apart is that we have our own tax software called Idea Tax Pro, which complies with the IRS without any liability. We also have a mobile app that our customers can use to upload their financial statements and documents without coming into the office.
What’s next for the Gifted Hands Enterprise?
Currently, I have close to 200 clients, and we are looking to hire more tax professionals and become a larger company. I have a developer working on my software for resale to other tax companies.
1840 Pyramid Place Suite 310
Memphis, Tn 38132
www.giftedhandsfinancial.net
