Episode 61

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Published on:

25th Feb 2023

A Conversation with Alex Oxford, CEO, and Growth Lead at TaxValet: Part 2

In this episode of the SALTovation podcast, Meredith Smith and Judy Vorndran continue their conversation with Alex Oxford, Founder of TaxValet. Alex discusses how businesses have begun to shift their traditional cold and concrete environment to one with more emotional intelligence. He shares why he believes this shift has allowed for more of an emotionally safe environment for people to work in and how creating a culture with more emotional intelligence, allows for better communication and collaboration between teams, ultimately leading to more success for companies.

 

Topics discussed in this episode:


  • The value of creating emotionally safe and open work environments 
  • Assigning tasks to team members based on individual strengths
  • Using data to help your client make the best decisions


 


What You Will Learn:

  • 1:47 Creating a Safe and Accepting Work Environment at Tax Ballet
  • 9:37 Sales Tax Registration and Employee Engagement Platforms
  • 12:41 Exploring the Emotional Side of Business




Quotables:


  • “Every single person is unique in their own way, even the people who aren't that unique, because sometimes tax accountants, are just kind of tax accountants. And that's okay. Creating an environment where it's okay to show up and be who you are, and you will be loved, accepted, cherished just as you are is important.” -Alex Oxford [02:27]
  • “If our core purpose is to transform negative emotions and it's something positive for our clients, partners, and employees, if we have too many clients, then we're not going to be able to deliver on that promise for new clients coming in the door. And we're not going to be able to deliver it for our employees because they're going to be overworked and stressed out.” -Alex Oxford [07:08]
  • “We're able to do surveys for different departments. But when we talk about data, I think it's really easy for a lot of business owners and data junkies like myself to just think about the quantitative. But a lot of it is the qualitative information gathering.” -Alex Oxford [11:19

“One of the things that I'm the most excited about is being able to proactively identify issues with our clients that need to be escalated higher up in the chain of command before the client realizes it needs to be escalated and before the employee realizes it needs to be escalated and then being able to look at these issues and pinpoint what the root cause is.-Alex Oxford [12:21]

Mentioned in this episode:

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About the Podcast

SALTovation: Navigating the Complexities of State and Local Tax by Aprio
A State and Local Tax Podcast by Aprio
Over 1,000 business taxpayers nationwide, and globally, have trusted us to
manage their state and local tax (SALT) obligations. Our innovative SALTovation
team is revolutionizing how companies approach SALT by looking at tax from the
inside out. We know how SALT works, what it takes to maintain compliance, and
how to seize opportunities. With Aprio’s SALTovation team, you gain access to
industry-leading strategies and specialists who can guide businesses and
practitioners on the best path forward, whether you’re proactively addressing
potential issues or getting back on track. Discover how SALTovation can help you
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