Today we’d like to introduce you to Bridgette Perkins
BRIDGETTE, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I moved to Houston, TX in December of 1999, with 3 small children, ages 2, 5, and 8, with a degree in accounting. My first corporate accounting job was with Conoco Oil & Gas Company in the accounts payable department. I worked there for 5 years, then Conoco merged with Phillips Oil & Gas Company, which prompted a layoff in the accounting department. We were offered a job in Bartlesville, OK or we could accept a severance package from the company. Well, I took the money and stayed in Houston.
At this point, I was married and started my first business in 2005, which was a daycare. We had an awesome group of children and some wonderful parents. By February of 2010, my husband and I separated, and we closed the daycare in May of that same year. I soon started working at Jackson Hewitt Tax Services during tax season and enrolled in college again to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Business with a concentration in accounting. Then in February of 2012, my mother passed away. I was at the lowest point in my life by then. The anger, the frustration, the anxiety of everything just fell in my lap all of sudden. I kept pressing on no matter what.
As I got closer to the end of the college degree program, I started working for various recruitment agencies so I can enter back into the corporate world. In the midst of this, I was hired by a church to work as their financial co-ordinator, and I met an amazing friend who introduced me to becoming a notary public. This was the start of me becoming an entrepreneur again. In the beginning, I only did the notary services because I needed extra money. Some of my notary clients would ask me about other business services such as registering their business as an LLC. So, I would go home and do my research and eventually add those services under my umbrella. My business was the first LLC I filed with the Secretary of State in Texas. I taught myself everything I needed to know about properly operating a business in Texas. There I was working as the accountant for a manufacturing company in Conroe, TX, a part-time financial co-ordinator for a church, and maintaining a small business providing business services to other entrepreneurs.
By July of 2014, I was legally divorced and starting a new lease on life. A few years later, I registered with the Internal Revenue Service to become a legally paid tax preparer. I have always prepared taxes, but legally I could not charge anyone unless I was registered with the IRS. My first tax preparation company is called Professional Business Solutions. I provide all types of business services under this company. I like to call it “All Things Business”. These services include coaching business clients, teaching courses on various business subjects to small business owners, consulting with tax clients on income tax preparation and yearly tax pre-planning and budgeting, to name a few.
In August of 2017, my townhouse was flooded by Hurricane Harvey and I lost everything, thus starting over from scratch again. Nonetheless, being the strong-willed person that I am, I kept pressing on into new endeavors. I eventually started a trucking company, a cleaning company, a home health sitting agency, and an investment company. From time to time, I am also a landlord. When my mother passed away, she was still living in the childhood home I grew up in. Now my sister and I are responsible for the upkeep, and we rent the house whenever possible.
Now, here we are, after the tax season ended in 2023, and carefully analyzing the clientele I serviced in the state of Louisiana, I decided to open another tax service, this time in my hometown, DeRidder La. The name of that tax office is Miller Capital Group, LLC doing business as MCG Tax Pros. That ribbon cutting celebration was one of the happiest days of my life! I am able to bring the knowledge and expertise that I quite often share, back to my home where it all began. I still live in Houston/Spring Texas area and have appointed an office manager to control my office, and I visit it at least once a month and perform most of my work via zoom.
In summary, with 4 grown children and 10 grandchildren, I would like to say that I have been truly blessed over these past 20 plus years, enduring the good, the bad and the ugly. I call this the healing and helping era of my life. There were many sleepless nights, early mornings, being broke and even homeless at one point. One thing you can say about B, the Bosslady as my staff call me, I never give up, never have, and never will.
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?
The road has not been smooth at all. When I moved to Houston, I came with my 3 children, a bed, and a dresser. I did not have a promising job, only temporary work and shared a 2-bedroom apartment with my aunt. I came here with a 1981 2 door Oldsmobile Cutlass and not even 1 year later someone stole it. I was forced to ride the metro city bus and squared to death of riding public transportation.
I remember breaking up with a boyfriend with whom I shared a home with along with his two children, and we went separate ways. I had to move back in with the same aunt I lived with previously, but this time we were living in Acres Home (North Houston). Every single morning, I would wake my children up at 5 a.m. and get dressed for school and me for work, drive all the way to South Park (South Houston), pick up my ex-boyfriend’s children and take them all to school because we never withdrew them from that school. We didn’t have a permanent place to stay for me to transfer them. A month later I moved back in with him until I found me an apartment. We were all sleeping on the floor because he didn’t have any furniture. There were plenty of bumps and bruises during my transition to Texas.
Let’s fast forward to me being married. We got married in June of 2004, and purchased a home in Humble, TX in September of 2004 and my husband already had a 6-figure income. He was a pipe welder. By the time my boys made it to high school they became rebellious and started skipping school and eventually dropped out. I was so stressed out behind my boys and my husband that I started a battle with anxiety and panic attacks along with depression. By 2010, our house was foreclosed, we separated and closed the daycare. Our vehicles were repossessed as well. I had no job, no vehicle, and a daughter trying to finish high school in the middle of all of this. I lived off the remaining funds I had from the daycare until they were depleted. I moved in with my sister in a 1-bedroom apartment where me, my daughter, and my first grandson who was 3 years old, slept in the living room on 3 stacked queen size mattresses.
My next biggest battle was during Hurricane Harvey. I was still trying to get my life back together, then my townhouse got flooded and my brand-new car was considered a total loss. We evacuated and moved in an extended stay hotel with nowhere to go. It was extremely hard finding a new place because of my credit history at the time. I eventually found a house in Spring, Tx. I had to pay a deposit which was the same amount as the rent, a 1st month’s rent, and a last month’s rent in order to move in. It cost me over $5000 to move in. This is where I have been since 2017.
As you know, we’re big fans of PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS SOLUTIONS. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
My Mission — Professional Business Solutions is a solutions-driven company aimed to empower other businesses financially. We encourage growth and economic stability by providing necessary tools such as basic business knowledge, financial literacy, and continued support to our clients.
My Vision — Produce profitable, sustainable businesses by advising them with credible business expertise that will bring value to their organization.
Some of the services we provide are accounting/bookkeeping, tax preparation, notary public, document preparation, business formation, and I am also a registered agent for the state of Texas. Most of my services are performed online, which allows me to service clients in different cities and states.
Our Accounting/Bookkeeping Services include –
A. General bookkeeping package – bookkeeping duties focusing on one module (i.e.- A/R, A/P, Payroll, etc); financial reporting for that module
B. Accountant package – general bookkeeping including all modules; record all transactions into the general ledger, post invoices and payments, keep up with monthly bank reconciliations, and prepare financial statements
C. Financial Controller Services – same responsibilities as accountant duties and include oversight and accountability of the accounting processes and procedures; assist in budget preparation; identify cost savings; responsible for payroll and reporting to the state and IRS quarterly tax payments, state franchise tax reporting, and prep year-end tax documents
Our basic registered agent service package includes a registered agent address location within the state of Texas and a dedicated team to receive and forward all service of process and legal notifications for a yearly fee to be paid upon the consent of services. If an entity fails to maintain a registered agent at all times, the company takes a risky chance on involuntary termination or revocation of a foreign entity’s registration.
Being a 24-year veteran accountant, we specialize in income tax preparation on the federal and state levels. Tax preparation services include reporting income, deductions, and credits on your tax return to determine if you will owe the IRS or if you will receive a refund from overpayment of taxes throughout the year. Professional Business Solutions is registered with the IRS as a Tax Pro, with a PTIN and EFIN, which allows us to file your tax return electronically as an E-File provider. We are contracted with Santa Barbara Bank in order to provide you with the best service possible in overseeing the disbursement of your refund and the tax professional fees.
The thing that sets me apart from others, is, I am not an average tax preparer, I am a degreed accountant who prepares taxes, we are not the same. They call me the tax GWOAT (Greatest Woman of All Time)
The proudest thing I have done with my brand is expanding it to another state, seamlessly.
I am available to my clients Monday through Friday after 5:30 p.m. Most working-class citizens work from 9-5 so it may be difficult for them to meet with a tax professional. Our hours of operation makes it convenient for our clients to have their taxes prepared after hours. Now, I have 2 locations to serve my clients: one in Spring, Tx and the other in DeRidder, La.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I do not believe luck played any role in my life and business. I have not been lucky enough to win the lottery, and I have not been lucky enough to become a millionaire yet. I believe you step out on faith, and you do it or you don’t.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pbs-thesolution.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcg_tax_pros
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theserialpreneur
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@dataxgwoat?_t=8pBPIXGewJC&_r=1
