Another year is coming to a close. While many of us hoped that 2021 would be a better year than 2020, things did not quite go that way. Though things did improve and there was some light, it was still a very difficult year highlighted by the continuing pandemic, a division in opinions, and many struggles.
Although most of us experienced difficulties throughout 2021, it doesn’t mean it was all bad. Here at Protea, we experienced a lot that was positive. We were able to grow and continue to work towards our goal of providing better accounting for everyone. We were also able to celebrate with our team in personal achievements. Many of our team members completed their educational goals or added professional qualifications to their resume.
As we close out 2021 and plan for 2022, I would like to take a moment to reflect on some of our highlights of this past year.
Launch of Protea Academy
Protea Academy has been a dream of mine for a few years now. This platform provides an area for people to learn more about accounting. The goal was not to be able to create any experts but provide content to help non-accountants or people starting a career in accounting to learn and understand accounting a little bit better.
On May 6, 2021, this goal was realized with the help of Michelle Bosman (Protea’s Training and Team Development Supervisor). We launched Protea Academy as a YouTube channel. Our first video, an Introduction to Bookkeeping, was the epitome of what we were trying to achieve.
Introduction to bookkeeping – YouTube
We released 29 educational videos in 2021 and will continue to create more videos on a variety of accounting topics in 2022.
The Inspiration of Protea Conversations
Protea Conversations was born out of the idea of asking our team what they would like to hear about. The overwhelming response was that they wanted to hear from leaders and entrepreneurs on how they achieved their success and got where they are today.
With this in mind, I reached out to business owners and other successful experts and asked them if they would contribute to this series of discussions.
It has been an overwhelming success! I have learnt so much from the leaders we interviewed in 2021, and I am humbled by the detail and honesty each one of them showed in their responses.
As a thank you to our interviewees and Protea’s commitment to more diverse and inclusive leadership, Protea will make a donation to Vital Voices (https://www.vitalvoices.org/). Vital Voices Global Partnership is a global movement that invests in women leaders who are solving the world’s greatest challenges. They are “venture catalysts,” identifying those with a daring vision for change and partnering with them to make that vision a reality. They scale and accelerate impact through long term investments to expand skills, connections, capacity, and visibility.
We plan to continue with the program in 2022 and hope to continue to inspire.
The Growth of the Protea family
We have added some amazing team members to the Protea family through 2021. As our client base grew and our current clients asked us for more help, we have been able to add to the team and bring in fresh ideas and perspectives.
We continue to be blessed with a wonderful group of professionals that is improving daily. This allows us to provide accounting expertise to every client without high overhead.
The extended Protea family also grew throughout the year with the addition of new family members, both human and furry. It is wonderful to not only see our team members grow at work but also grow individually. I am so privileged to watch them grow both professionally and personally and to be a small part of their personal journeys.
As we head into 2022, it is wonderful to reflect on all the good we have experienced this year. I am excited to see what the new year brings. Whatever happens in the world, our focus internally will be on continuing to provide high quality accounting to our customers so they can make the best possible decisions for their businesses.
Happy holidays, and thank you to everyone that made 2021 a success!
