10/09/2026
An Open Letter to My Clients
This tax season has been the most challenging season of my entire career.
I have spent many years building my business, serving families, helping business owners, solving tax problems, and doing work that I genuinely love. But this year tested me in ways I was not prepared for—professionally and personally.
I was the victim of a cyberattack and identity theft. My business was impacted, my personal information was compromised, and I found myself trying to navigate something I had never experienced before. I didn't talk much about it because, quite frankly, I was traumatized.
And while I was trying to manage the chaos surrounding my business, life did not stop happening.
I experienced family loss. Business loss. And murder.
There were moments when I was trying to answer emails, prepare returns, communicate with clients, work with agencies, handle business responsibilities, and continue showing up professionally while grieving and trying to process things that had shaken me to my core.
Somewhere along the way, I realized that people sometimes forget that the person on the other side of the email, telephone call, tax return, or business transaction is still a human being.
I am not a robot.
Taxes are what I do, but taxes are not the only thing that happens in my life.
I have a family. I experience grief. I experience fear. I experience disappointment. I get overwhelmed. I hurt. I make mistakes. I have days when I don't have all the answers. And this season, more than any other, reminded me of just how human I really am.
That doesn't mean I don't take responsibility for the areas where I could have communicated better or handled something differently. I do.
But it does mean that I have had to give myself permission to acknowledge that adversity struck me at my core this year.
And for the first time in a very long time, it made me question whether this is still what I am supposed to be doing.
That is difficult for me to admit because I love what I do.
I love helping people understand their taxes. I love solving problems. I love helping business owners make better financial decisions. I love being the person who can walk into a complicated situation and help someone see a way forward.
But this season has changed me.
To the clients who extended patience, grace, compassion, checked on me, prayed for me, sent a kind word, or simply understood that there was a human being behind the business:
THANK YOU.
You may never fully understand how much that meant to me.
And to those who are still angry with me, disappointed in me, or believe that I am the worst of the worst:
THANK YOU, too.
Because this season has taught me that I cannot control everyone's perception of me.
I can only take responsibility for what belongs to me, learn from what happened, correct what I can, strengthen my business, protect my clients, and decide what kind of woman and professional I am going to be on the other side of this.
I will not pretend this year didn't hurt.
I will not pretend I handled every moment perfectly.
And I will not allow one devastating season to erase the years of work, service, relationships, knowledge, and care that came before it.
I am still here.
A little more guarded.
A lot more aware.
Still grieving.
Still healing.
Still learning.
And still deciding what the next chapter of Audrey The Tax Lady will look like.
To everyone who has walked with me through this season with compassion—thank you from the deepest part of my heart.
— Audrey
