Meet Shanderia Montgomery of One Chance Bookkeeping

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shanderia Montgomery. 

Hi Shanderia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I am an Accountant, Owner/Operator of a virtual accounting services business named, One Chance Bookkeeping. 

I knew back in high school that I would want to be an Accountant. I was interested in numbers but I didn’t know how much until after school one day waiting on my ride home, my principal asked me what I wanted to do after high school. I told him I wanted to be an accountant, and he immediately said “you must like numbers”. I told him yes, I do! Then he asked me, “Ok what’s the room number to your English class”, I answered without even thinking about it! He confirmed that I got it right and I realized then that numbers would just come natural to memorize! Aside of that, my favorite classes were accounting and banking classes! 

I didn’t go to college until 3 years after I graduated but when I did, I continued until I got 3 degrees in accounting. I have my Associate’s in Accounting, Bachelors in Forensic Accounting, and Master’s in Auditing. In the midst of getting my degrees, I worked 2 jobs but my main job was always an accounting job. In 2018 I had my son, Chance who in which my business is named after. In 2018, I realized how difficult it was being a mother and working in the corporate world. I would miss a lot of days due to him being sick, eventually ran out of PTO days, and since I was a salaried employee, it was nothing, I could do to make up for missing. In 2019 I decided that I wanted to work for myself. I figured that if I can do accounting work for someone else, I can do it for myself and generate my own revenue. The word “chance” by Webster’s definition means, “a possibility of something happening”. I was told for many years I would not be able to carry a child, so my son’s name being Chance is sentimental. I decided to name my business, One Chance Bookkeeping after my son, as I viewed it as another possibility of making something happen. I have now been in business 3 years as of January 1 of this year! 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I first started, my biggest obstacle with being self-employed was networking. I struggled with getting exposure, so in August 2019 I decided to have my 1st Small Business Expo. I had no experience with events, but over 30 vendors gave me an opportunity to try it out! I was still in a lot of debt from being off work after having my son, so I did Postmates and Instacart just to pay off the venue! I have been so blessed to meet such amazing business owners, and many have become friends! My business has grown so much and so has my experience with event planning! This year on August 27th at 11 am-3 pm, I am hosting my 3rd Small Business Expo at Gaylord Springs Golf Links here in Nashville! Hosting the events has been success after success so I intend on hosting them annually. I support ALL of my vendors in some way, to show my appreciation! 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about One Chance Bookkeeping?
Our mission at One Chance Bookkeeping is to give small business owners confidence by knowing where their business stands. Our vision is to educate small businesses on their finances while watching them grow to a big business. 

One Chance Bookkeeping brings accountability and trust while helping with bookkeeping, consulting, business credit, tax planning, and preparation. 

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Who deserves credit? My family and friends for sure!! They have been available when I wanted to give up, had bad days/experiences, needed a sitter just to be able to attend an event, I mean the list goes on! 

However, if I had to choose ONE person to give all the credit to, it would be my grandmother, Mae Hall! A lot of my family and friends played roles in my success thus far, but I do not think I would have succeeded without her. Before I even got my first client she told me, ‘Always be truthful, treat people right, and keep God first no matter what.” My grandmother has kept so much faith in me my entire journey I would definitely give her the MOST credit! 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.onechancebookkeeping.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/one_chance_bookkeeping_llc/?fbclid=IwAR2MCiOr9D6N365rjyNge6WB4lbdNDF41Cl4Lra16URLnXEiyDcYvfEy4Aw
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onechancebookkeepingllc

Image Credits
Motelewa Smith Photography