Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Trevino.
Hi Marcus, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I got into accounting after being released from prison in 2020. I had never held a job before since I joined the Marine Corps right out of high school. I ended up in prison after a tragic DUI crash in Bakersfield, CA, on June 2, 2010, when I fell asleep at the wheel while on leave. I was sentenced to 19 years, but was later resentenced after consideration was given to my 2006 deployment to Iraq and the likelihood that I was suffering from PTSD.
The VA eventually diagnosed me with PTSD, depression, and alcoholism, all stemming from my combat service. New laws also helped reduce my sentence due to my severe bodily injuries, and I was released six years earlier than expected.
After getting out, I had no job experience and didn’t know how to navigate civilian life, so I started a bookkeeping business—even though I had no prior experience. My first year, I made about $20k. The next year, I made around $50k. Last year, I earned $90k, and this year, my wife and I are on track to make about $115k.
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?
I was initially denied an EFIN from the IRS, but after filing an appeal and explaining the circumstances the IRS approved my application. I have had some difficulties passing a background check, but overall I have found myself in a position achieving more than what people might have thought I was capable of with my background.
We’ve been impressed with Estrada Bookkeepers LLC dba Estrada Tax & Accounting, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I started my business in the name of my best friend LCpl Oliver Estrada who passed away in 2007 after we returned from Iraq. I did that as a reminder of everything I have lost and I use that loss as my drive to create a different future for myself, my family, and for my children. I have achieved more than people expected of me and I have recently discovered that my story is amazing to some, but for me it has been second nature to improvise, adapt, and overcome everything that life has thrown at me. It has not been easy and I had no idea I would find myself today as a business owner with clients who earn as much as $8m in gross profit. I’m truly blessed to have been given the opportunity and trust at helping businesses grow. What sets me apart from others is that I become overly involved in my clients and often give services comparable to a CFO or Company Executive. I learn about my clients businesses and discover numerous ways I can help them grow on a personal and professional level. Accounting has became my new purpose and way of helping others now that my original plan for military and law enforcement has collapsed. I’m not where I wanted to be, but I’m exactly where I needed to be today.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
My services have shifted dramatically to an accounting approach as oppossed to bookkeeping. I have grown enough knowledge and experience that people have assumed that I’m a CPA when I only have a high school diploma. I don’t consider myself to be the smartest, but I do find the answers I don’t know one way or another. I’m eager to gain the credentials of Enrolled Agent and someday CPA.
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