The Road Trip: Humble Beginnings

Confinement to a vehicle and limited cell phone service creates the perfect breeding ground for great conversation. For us, a 9-hour road trip produced a conversation that eventually traveled far beyond the walls of our Honda Civic.

I have an unquenchable entrepreneurial thirst. As a child, I enjoyed coming up with business ideas. They were completely unrealistic for one reason or another, yet fun to imagine. My parents were nervous when I wanted chickens in their backyard so I could sell the eggs. They were equally unenthusiastic about breeding dogs, starting a fish hatchery, picking blueberries at the local orchard for cash, and online surveys that seemed to produce 15 cents an hour; however, they did support my short-lived "Emily Ann's Embroidery" business in college and my affiliate work with Legging Army. Mom also loaned me her cotton candy machine for the neighborhood yard sale (I made 50 bucks, FYI). While these short-lived ideas were fun, none of them allowed me to achieve my ultimate goal: helping people in a life changing way. That is, until Mike and I found "the idea that stuck."

The Idea that Stuck

On the way home from the Outer Banks, Mike and I were talking about our budget that he created in Excel. It's amazing! He designed it to track, down to the penny, what we budget and spend each month (one of many perks to marrying an accountant). Through hours of hard work and formulas, Mike made our personal budget both comprehensive and functional. He realized how valuable this tool was for providing financial visibility and discovered a passion for helping others experience the freedom that comes from understanding finances.

The conversation turned to how we could make our budget available and customizable for others. From there, the ideas kept rolling in. Mike's thoughts led him to the Parable of the Talents in Matthew, which talks about being a good steward with what you're given. To which I responded, "...Talent Financial?" And there it was. It happened so effortlessly that when we pulled in the driveway at the conclusion of our trip, we were shocked at what the conversation led to.

Talent Financial

Talent Financial LLC officially opened in September 2018. While the budgeting tool was our first project, we also wanted to provide resources on earning money, budgeting and tracking money, and using it to bless others. We started a blog to help people make informed financial decisions. As you probably know, personal finance is a crowded space. There are a lot of experts and blogs related to personal finance, financial independence, and the like. We differentiated ourselves by writing on these topics from a Christian worldview. However, we quickly realized that the impact we could have in the financial space could go beyond individuals, into the realm of small businesses.

Higher International Human Resources

In January 2019, Mike's sister, Erika, opened her HR business. Erika is a seasoned human resources professional with over 12 years of industry experience. Having just gone through the process of setting up an LLC ourselves, we were able to team up with Erika to get some things off the ground for her business. It was through this process and Erika's encouragement that we realized we could help other businesses get through the pain points of the startup phase.

This was the beginning of our consulting journey. Our small business clients, and the scope of our work, have continued to grow ever since.

KORE Talents Consulting

In September 2019, Talent Financial turned into KORE Talents Consulting, which encompasses accounting, bookkeeping, recruiting, and marketing services. While sticking to our idea that business owners need to focus on their talents (and let us handle the rest), we wanted our name to also encompass our "KORE Values." We are committed to being...

Knowledgeable - on the services we provide and on the businesses we help

Organized - completing our work methodically and reliably

Relational - valuing our clients for who they are and what they're gifted at; being mindful of their time, energy, and life circumstances

Effective - providing services that produce results

We know that these values are so important when it comes to creating tangible progress in a business and working well with others to make that happen.

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, said this: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." We are taking one step at a time, and appreciate your support as we connect the dots and pursue our dream of work flexibility, financial independence, and sharing our talents with the world.

Thanks for being on our team.

Emily Kern

Co-Founder