Lets Get Fiscal

Tax season is often portrayed as a brutal sprint—a four-month scramble that leaves accountants exhausted and burned out. But what if you approached it differently? What if tax season was less about survival and more about showcasing the work you've been building all year? In this unique bonus episode, recorded at 7:45 PM after filming 24 episodes in one day, Anastasia and Myiesha speak directly to their future selves (and to you) about navigating the intensity of tax season with intention, wellness, and even joy.

This behind-the-scenes conversation reveals the real strategies that help the Coterie Tax team get through their busiest months without losing their minds or their health. You'll hear about the importance of team dynamics, client relationships built on mutual respect, and small wellness practices that make a massive difference. Whether you're an accountant dreading the upcoming season or a business owner trying to understand what your tax team is going through, this episode offers a refreshingly honest look at the marathon of tax season—and how to run it well.

00:00 Introduction and Opening Remarks
00:19 Welcome to Let's Get Fiscal
00:44 Reflecting on Past Tax Seasons
00:57 Surviving Tax Season
02:11 Team Dynamics and Support
03:20 Maintaining Mental and Physical Health
04:17 Client Relationships and Positivity
05:59 Looking Forward to 2026
10:24 The Marathon of Tax Season
13:42 Final Thoughts and Farewell

Why subscribe? Every week, Let's Get Fiscal shares tax strategies and business finance advice that actually work for real entrepreneurs—not corporate-speak you can't use. You'll get specific, actionable tactics, real client scenarios, and answers to the money questions keeping you up at night. The goal is simple: make business finances less intimidating and more profitable.

🔗 Listen everywhere:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-get-fiscal/id1831050448
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/08AjRNfqQJBdG1vPazii4Q?si=fb0379d3bef94f11
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@letsgetfiscalpodcast

📊 Helpful resources:
Got a question for the show? Submit it here: https://www.coterietax.com/qa
Want to listen to more episodes? Start here: https://www.coterietax.com/podcast
Need personalized help with your business finances? Visit: https://www.coterietax.com 
What's your biggest tax or money question right now? 

Drop it in the comments below—Anastasia and Myiesha read every comment and love helping with real-world situations. 

#TaxSeason #AccountantLife #WorkLifeBalance #TaxPreparer #BusinessOwnerSupport #CreativeBusiness #SmallBusinessTax #EntrepreneurWellness #LetsGetFiscal #TaxSeasonSurvival #TeamCulture #ClientRelationships

Creators and Guests

Host
Anastasia Aiello
Host
Myiesha Fisher

What is Lets Get Fiscal?

Let’s Get Fiscal is the money podcast for creative entrepreneurs who want to keep more of what they earn and grow their business with confidence. Hosted by CPA and tax strategist Anastasia, each episode makes taxes, bookkeeping, and money management simple, practical, and even fun. We cover topics like tax deductions, small business finances, creative business strategies, and how to avoid costly mistakes—without boring jargon. Whether you’re a filmmaker, designer, artist, or small business owner, you’ll get actionable tips, real-world examples, and a few laughs along the way. If you want to stress less about money and focus more on doing what you love, this is the podcast for you.

Myiesha Fisher:

Okay. So this is one of those moments where I wish I could sing because I would totally do the hello from the other side for this episode as Adele. Just like, that'd be so nice to just build that out and be like, okay. But I guess we should probably explain why we have that as an opening for a bonus episode.

Anastasia Aiello:

Your creative genius deserves the same precision behind the numbers.

Danielle Aiello:

Welcome to Lets Get Fiscal hosted by Anastasia Aiello, and Danielle, part of the women led team at Coterie Tax. From smart tax moves to cash flow strategy, we decode everything it takes to run a thriving, creative business so you can scale with confidence and sleep easy at night. Press play, and let's grow your business.

Anastasia Aiello:

We have just finished recording 24 episodes. Holy crap.

Myiesha Fisher:

It was 07:45. Yeah. On the 12/11/2025.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yes. So we are just filming this for post tax season. So hopefully, our future selves have survived. Yeah. Tag season.

Myiesha Fisher:

I hope so. We have full caffeine all the time.

Anastasia Aiello:

Lots of that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is something that they do.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yeah. Tina recognizes when I get grumpy and she like has Dutch Brothers delivered. That's So genius. See? Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

How many times She's in she's delivered. Yeah.

Myiesha Fisher:

Dutch Brothers. Likes to just pile up your underneath of your, your day bed with cotton candy because that's all animal lip off of during tax season.

Anastasia Aiello:

So that's is cotton candy.

Myiesha Fisher:

That's how

Anastasia Aiello:

tax season is. I have a bed in my office, like a full bed in my office. Mhmm. You know, because I mean, yeah, like I if I sit too long in the same spot, I just get bruises.

Myiesha Fisher:

Oh, baby. Oh, I

Anastasia Aiello:

get bruises because I sit, you know, and I have phone calls for ten hours back to back and then, you know, work all

Myiesha Fisher:

I just same remember

Anastasia Aiello:

the last tax season, you

Myiesha Fisher:

did videos when you gave tax returns and stuff too. We can do this. Yeah. It'll be good.

Anastasia Aiello:

Well, the videos were a lot nicer. Yeah.

Myiesha Fisher:

You know?

Anastasia Aiello:

But

Myiesha Fisher:

Also, I do think we have we have more people on our team this going into this tax season, so I think that'll be helpful. Yeah. Like Mhmm. Just really as some newbies, so it'll be like fun. We like, you ready?

Myiesha Fisher:

Like, it's our marathon. I

Anastasia Aiello:

think one of the days, like, of the seasons I was like, okay, let's do like how you do the virtual walk, you know, like the virtual five k. Yeah. Yeah. And I did it for like climbing Mount Everest. Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

So that I would get up and move and not get bruises from sitting so long. But I ended up like doing it in, three weeks or something. I was like, ah. Well, whoops. Set my goals a

Myiesha Fisher:

little higher next time.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So try to do some wellness things. I mean, I don't know.

Anastasia Aiello:

It is it is a little bit difficult. It is a very busy time of year, but I still love it. I don't know. A little bit crazy.

Myiesha Fisher:

I think I disassociate usually, and then I come out at the end and be like, oh,

Anastasia Aiello:

I'm glad that's done. It's like yeah.

Myiesha Fisher:

It's more like a take it minute by minute, time by time. So I think for future me, I would like to make sure that I kind of still stick to some of the things that help me stay mentally healthy. So like Mhmm. Doing a run every now and then and just making sure that I'm like getting up and moving and, you know, just making sure I don't get too out of things that make me yeah. Stay I

Anastasia Aiello:

I forced you into taking three breaths a day that happened and I still haven't done it. I've been doing it. Suggestion. I wanted to take

Myiesha Fisher:

three deep breaths a day,

Anastasia Aiello:

and it's not even tax season, you know?

Myiesha Fisher:

I've been doing it before bed. It does help. It really does help. So that's the thing that's like very annoying about working out and like breathing and stuff is that it does genuinely help the brain and just make you feel like, oh, not everything is so like, you know, overwhelming. Yeah.

Myiesha Fisher:

But, yeah. But it is a marathon. So I kinda go into it of just like, it's gonna be better than it was the prior year. We have more things, we have more stuff and yeah, we just we get through it. I know.

Anastasia Aiello:

I'm really I'm really excited. We have a team that, like, really genuinely cares Yeah. About people and, you know, it's always like a cliche thing to say.

Myiesha Fisher:

But we do get closer. Yeah. Because we're on Zoom calls till midnight altogether. Right? Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

Really cute. It's like our New Year's, you know, on the fifteenth, we're like waiting until it goes to 12:01 Yeah. Altogether.

Myiesha Fisher:

We're like, we're done.

Anastasia Aiello:

So this is probably released when we are fast asleep. Yeah. I'm trying to catch up on some of our sleep

Myiesha Fisher:

from there. That is the nice part. We do take a break right after tax season. So we like we get a reset and then we get to come back and be like, okay, cool. Now, let's see what's next.

Myiesha Fisher:

What are we going on over here? So yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

Because tax season

Myiesha Fisher:

It's whole year long.

Anastasia Aiello:

Doesn't end. I know. It like, they're still accepting tax returns until the December 26. Oh my goodness. So I still have seventeen days.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yes.

Myiesha Fisher:

So fingers crossed, no other, like, crazy things happen in the world and, like, we

Anastasia Aiello:

yeah. I know last year, I I think, like, on on, like, January 5, I sent an email and I was like, I know everybody says, like, let's get pumped. This year is gonna be the year. Mhmm. And I was like, that's that's not gonna happen.

Anastasia Aiello:

That's not 2025.

Myiesha Fisher:

Yeah. And I feel like I was pretty spot on. Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

It was not the year.

Myiesha Fisher:

Yeah. No. All the due dates got pushed back for all of our California clients, so, like, it just kinda never ended. It's one of those things and just, yeah, a lot of crazy stuff going on in that year. So keeping it, the positivity going out into the world.

Myiesha Fisher:

Yeah. That it's gonna go smooth. That'll be fine.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yeah. Yeah. It's 2026. I mean, it's an even even year, so Mhmm.

Myiesha Fisher:

I do think that one goal for you, one real meal a day. I think I think if you can't do the three breaths, let's maybe try the one real meal.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yeah. Yeah.

Myiesha Fisher:

No. Not just snacks. Not just candy.

Anastasia Aiello:

Name's Anastasia. My first car was a sky blue Volkswagen, and I'm like, we don't we don't need to make noise connections. Yes.

Myiesha Fisher:

But it's okay.

Anastasia Aiello:

I See, I'm not I'm I'm preparing, you know? I'm eating a lot extra. I've gained

Myiesha Fisher:

fewer You don't prepare. Honestly. Don't hibernate. This is so silly. No.

Myiesha Fisher:

Even if it is like your snacks. Honestly, like, I love your love of candy. I just like if you could have other snacks that have

Anastasia Aiello:

So some it's Skittles, but I separate them by color and I eat them two at a time.

Myiesha Fisher:

This is why you want her to do your taxes. Because she does stuff like this. The neurodivergence there. Just a little a little bit of that for you. Yeah.

Myiesha Fisher:

Because yeah. So yeah. So like, you know, I don't know, like the the adult version of a Lunchable, I think like, let's like pack up your fridge with that. Because like, you don't get mean when you're hungry. I'm a mean person when I'm hungry.

Myiesha Fisher:

So I usually have to eat, otherwise, like, no one's gonna wanna be around me. But, yeah, like, maybe we just get you some healthy snacks that to to offset the cat candy. Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

I don't know. And Skittles. I'm not I don't know. It's the whole, yeah, food thing. I don't know.

Anastasia Aiello:

Like, it's it is about the experience, but not necessarily for fuel. So

Myiesha Fisher:

I don't

Anastasia Aiello:

know how you can do

Myiesha Fisher:

it with the Skittles because like go in. Like breaks your mouth. I don't like, I feel like it could just make everything get like real, like, your jaw doesn't hurt No. From chewing on hard candy.

Anastasia Aiello:

No. I mean, I've told you about like Jolly Ranchers, how I like to put them in between my teeth and then, like,

Myiesha Fisher:

it melts. Get out of this room. Yeah. How is it that you've never had a cavity? You are hoarding candy in your teeth.

Myiesha Fisher:

It never had a cavity. So annoying. I look at candy the wrong way and I have a cavity the next time I go to the dentist. It's ridiculous. Mhmm.

Myiesha Fisher:

But yeah. So we can it'll be fun. It'll be fun to listen back in this, like, I feel I do feel positive, like, we have a really good team, I really love our clients, we've had some really like, we have some fun ones that are gonna be new going through tax season with us, but we have honestly, most of it is people who've been with us in the past, so they know the drill at this point, they know what to expect. A lot of times, they're like, hey, I know you're busy, so when you can get to this, or like, is when they start their email. Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

So Yeah. Like a very sweet and that's, you know, like, that's why I, you know, I am so giving sometimes that I forget that everybody else wants to also take care of me. Yeah. You know? So just trying to be a little

Myiesha Fisher:

bit I take screenshots of the nice messages and send them to her as her positives, like, hey, this person's very grateful for you.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yeah. It's love it. I love it. And I like and that's kind of the whole, you know, like, we're starting the vibe committee, you know, within the company that's all based on, you know, just protecting the company culture Yeah. And things like that and just making it so that, you know, not only because we spend so much time supporting other business owners, you know, just making sure that we're also taking the time to support ourselves, you know, and really elevating ourselves and, you know, like, the team skills and everything and, you know, taking all of that time to really invest and make sure that the comp our company Mhmm.

Anastasia Aiello:

Is going the way that we really enjoy. And then that's how we kind of like create a full community. Yeah. Yeah. But it's just really nice, you know, having so many people that are so supportive of us.

Anastasia Aiello:

Mhmm.

Myiesha Fisher:

Yeah. They think, like, really like us. It's almost like, oh, well, it's so weird that it's like mutual. Know. We always tell you it's a marriage, it's a partnership, it's stuff,

Anastasia Aiello:

but I don't know

Myiesha Fisher:

why still, like, rocks my brain sometimes that I'm like, oh my god, you like me too? Oh, okay. Cool. Yeah. Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

All of those sleepless nights. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Exactly.

Myiesha Fisher:

So, yeah. So I'm putting positiveness into 2026 and people give us their documents. I mean, most of it, we've getting now. We've already been starting now. So, yeah, like, it's we're getting things.

Myiesha Fisher:

I feel like everyone kind of knows, like, the expectations for the most part. So, we can all kind of be on the same page and, like, just get it going and let's do it. Mhmm. Yeah. Get these things done.

Anastasia Aiello:

I love it. I love it. Yeah. Some people do ultra marathons, you

Myiesha Fisher:

know, and Maybe some people, you've also done marathons.

Anastasia Aiello:

What do you mean?

Myiesha Fisher:

Didn't you decide to do marathons just because you wanted excuses to visit certain cities or something like that? Like, you had to pick a run so that you could go visit that city. Yeah. Okay. Some people do ultra marathons, talking to me of myself in third person.

Myiesha Fisher:

Sorry. Finish your thought. Some people do that and you have Yeah. Tax season.

Anastasia Aiello:

Tax season. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, know, I like, you know, I always tell people, you know, hopefully, your company and what you're doing kind of evolves out of your passions,

Myiesha Fisher:

you know? Mhmm.

Anastasia Aiello:

So I think that's kind of like what we found here in like a weird way that Yes. Is kind of, you know, I say it's like Pocahontas kind of following where the wind takes you. Mhmm. We've really landed in a good spot where we're, like, surrounded by a lot of really good people, a lot of positivity, you know, like, really helping other people Mhmm. Achieve their dreams.

Anastasia Aiello:

And like I said, like, I I get to help people do these incredible things and provide them the security that maybe they might not have had previously.

Myiesha Fisher:

We are not supposed to be getting emotional with this, so you need to, like, take it

Anastasia Aiello:

to another It's butterfly effect, you know.

Myiesha Fisher:

We just, like, end up on a couch doing therapy all over again. No, because you get, like, genuine joy when, like, they succeed. Like, it's really really cool to like see and you're just like, dang, I remember when like you were just starting and we had to clean everything up and like do this and well, look at you, you know?

Anastasia Aiello:

Yeah. Oh,

Myiesha Fisher:

yeah. When they get married and then have kids, it's so fun. It is fun because you do like, I mean, some of that I how long have we worked together? I feel like it's been a while and it's I've known to these clients since we started that and they were with you for even longer than that and you're just like, yeah, no, it's just yeah. It's wild.

Myiesha Fisher:

Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yeah. So it's a lot it's a lot, but Mhmm. It's really fun to see kind of how that grows. So, I mean, I'll take this four months of a little bit of crazy hecticness. Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

You know? I think we just approach it differently. Yeah. You know, like that it's just kind of like, you know, like having an event. Mhmm.

Anastasia Aiello:

You know what I Like, so you go from like the planning portion

Danielle Aiello:

and then you

Anastasia Aiello:

rent out the arena and you bring all the, like, the contractors in and then, like, you see this concert come together live and, like, all of these incredible things. And so that's really what tax season is for us is we're able to go through and be like, okay, all that stuff that we did all year round, now it's there. And now, like, we've really had people come to us that, you know, they they were in really bad positions, and now we were able to help them, you know, just completely change their lives and change the trajectory of where they're going. And so that's what tax season really is, is like our, you know, this is our showcase. It's our concert.

Anastasia Aiello:

It's like the end of the, you know, like our film premiere, and we get to kind of finalize it.

Myiesha Fisher:

It makes sense being sad. Because I do for almost any major thing in my life. I get so anxious right before. Even though I'm like, it's gonna be fine. It's gonna be fine.

Myiesha Fisher:

It always is. It's just, yeah, it's just the unknown. It's the, oh, this is gonna be a thing. And then you just dive in.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yeah. Mhmm. Mhmm. Yep. So

Myiesha Fisher:

So hello to our families. We also miss you. Try not to grow too much kids.

Anastasia Aiello:

Yeah. Yeah. And so, yeah, I'm glad that you listened to all of our episodes from our current slash past selves. So, yeah, we wish the best for future us. Yeah.

Anastasia Aiello:

And New Year.

Myiesha Fisher:

Look at that. Well, thanks for listening, guys. And you'll keep hearing us because we just You're about

Anastasia Aiello:

to yeah. At this point, we would have run out of our pre scheduled, you know, our prerecorded May. Things. So now I will. Mhmm.

Anastasia Aiello:

You'll start hearing from us again Mhmm. Soon. So be a Bye.

Danielle Aiello:

That's right. On Lets Get Fiscal. Ready to start guessing and start saving? Click the link in the show notes, grab your console, and let's make your business work for you, not the other way around. You've got this.