Jesse Frye - Eagle Accounting

Jesse Frye greets me with a superfirm, un-accountant-like handshake. Not that I want to make any stereotypical statements about accountants or anything – well, actually, as my best friend is an accountant, maybe I do.

After our warm greeting, Jesse orders his first coffee of the day.

“Latte, skim milk, two pumps of mint,” he says. I opt for a plain green tea, but I have to admit his sounds a lot yummier.

Jesse’s a Proctor boy – in fact, he graduated with my little brother. Because of our Rails connection, I know he’s going to be down-to-earth and easy to talk to.

And he is.

Jesse’s success puts a face and a story to that unattributed pearl of wisdom that life is what happens when you’re making other plans.

You see, even though Jesse’s a lifer, he hadn’t always wanted to stay in town. He visited Seattle after high school and thought about making that his home. And even though he’s built a respected accounting practice, Eagle Accounting, Jesse hadn’t always dreamed of being a numbers-cruncher.

Nope. Jesse attended UWS with the idea that he would just get his generals out of the way, then move west. At that time, he thought he wanted to become a high school guidance counselor.

But he never left. And after he took an accounting class, his professional goals shifted.

“I loved the business part, and I liked the idea of doing consulting with businesses,” he said. “What’s more, I was good at it.”

Jesse began his accounting career at a local construction company, and worked there for about a year and a half after earning his degree. His mother, Karen, founded Eagle Accounting in 1996, with her own office in Hermantown. It wasn’t long before Jesse decided he wanted to try that route out for himself.

“I approached her when I decided I wanted to stay in Duluth,” said Jesse. “I called her and asked if I could join the firm, setting up my own office downtown. She handed a few clients to me so I could get my feet wet, and the rest was up to me.”

Eagle Accounting grew – tremendously - from there. Jesse credits that growth to the power of networking.

“In Duluth, it’s all about building personal relationships,” he said. “I just got out there and pounded the pavement. I attended events, gave presentations, and talked to a lot of people. In the end, it all paid off.”

“I wasn’t that interested in cranking over a calculator,” said Jesse. “I wanted to help small businesses. I enjoy the relationship.”

Over the past two years, Jesse’s life has undergone a lot of changes – and all good ones. In 2007, he married longtime girlfriend Holly Nihart, and inherited a bonus son, 7-year-old Dylan.

“He is so much fun,” said Jesse. “We just got back from downhill skiing in Michigan. He loved it.”

In November of 2008, Jesse bought Eagle from Karen. Mom-Frye has slowly been cutting back on her workload. She still manages four or five of the firm’s clients, so the two of them do work closely together.

So how does that work, having Mom around the office?

“We have an amazing relationship. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her help and guidance,” said Jesse. “We are able to work together during the day and easily switch back to mother-and-son at night.”

It should be noted that Jesse and I are talking during tax season, and yet, he’s impressively calm. He points out that while he does do taxes, it’s not his primary focus.

“We do mostly consulting with business owners and managers,” he explains. “But, because we were building year-round relationships with our clients, it eventually started to make sense to do their taxes, too. We knew their situations best.”

While Eagle tailors their fees primarily to clients who are looking for that year-round support, anyone can come in and work with Jesse. Though, if you have a simple tax return, he will recommend you go elsewhere - just ‘cause it’ll be cheaper for you.

“I recently had a younger guy come in who didn’t have a relationship with an accountant, so we’re going to help him with tax planning through different stages,” said Jesse. “We’ll connect him with a financial planner so he can start building a portfolio.”

A typical day for Jesse? In his words, that “doesn’t exist.”

“I’m only in the office about 10 hours a week,” he said. “I do a lot of work on site with clients, because that’s where the information is. Sometimes I’ll visit four clients in a day. We are very, very busy.

“But,” he adds with a smile, “We are never too busy for a new client.”
 

Added on May 1, 2009