Growth doesn’t always mean moving on—it can mean moving deeper.
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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines
“I love Smith + Howard, and I loved marketing, but I didn’t think I was the person for that role anymore,” says Julie Barnes, chief of staff of Smith + Howard, during her appearance on Gear Up for Growth, powered by CPA Trendlines, and hosted by Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing. “I didn’t want to leave; I wanted to do something different. I wanted to be valuable to the firm and create value in whatever role I landed in.”
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Barnes shares how her 30-year journey at the firm has evolved through initiative, transparency, and a culture that supports growth from within.
Her story offers two powerful takeaways for professionals in accounting firms:
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- Create your own opportunities – Don’t wait for someone else to define your next move.
- Embrace transparent conversations – The right culture allows you to be honest about change while staying true to your firm and yourself.
Barnes began at Smith + Howard in 1993 as an administrative assistant to the firm’s then managing partner, Jim Howard. Over the decades, she transitioned into leadership roles in marketing, including marketing coordinator, director of marketing, and chief marketing officer, before being named the firm’s first chief of staff in July 2025.
“I believe our firm has set up a culture that encourages conversations like that,” she says. “It didn’t feel brave. It felt like something they would want me to do.”
Barnes also discusses how Smith + Howard’s growth, fueled by a private equity investment from Broad Sky Partners, created the need for more structured leadership and her new position. She views private equity as a positive force for firm evolution and client service.
Other Highlights:
- Barnes relies on one-on-one connections and clear communication, and she understands how to delegate based on strengths.
- Barnes describes herself as a dot connector, wrangler of people and schedules, and problem-solver.
- As chief of staff, she supports the CEO, CFO, CGO, and president/COO, helping them streamline operations and remove distractions.
- She’s involved in coordinating aspects of M&A, internal policy updates, and firm-wide communication.
- Recognize when you’re ready for a change before someone else does.
- Identify what’s non-negotiable, what you want to carry into your next role.
- Find trusted leaders who you can have open, transparent conversations with.
- Be willing to take the risk; it’s better than staying in a role where you’re no longer fulfilled.
- Nothing about her new role has surprised her; she already trusted leadership’s openness.
Transcript
(Produced by automation. Not edited for spelling or grammar.)
Jean: Hello. Thank you for joining “Gear Up for Growth”, powered by CPA Trendlines. I’m Jean Caragher, President of Capstone Marketing and your host. Today’s guest has a unique career story to share with us. Julie Barnes serves as chief of staff at Smith + Howard, where she plays a pivotal role in driving strategic alignment, operational efficiency, and cross-functional collaboration across the business. Julie joined the firm in 1993 as the admin to the managing partner. And after decades of serving different roles, which she will share with us, she is now the chief of staff. Julie has been a long-time member of the Association for Accounting Marketing. Julie, welcome to “Gear Up for Growth”.
Julie: Thank you so much for having me.
Jean: You’re welcome. Now, when you joined Smith + Howard in 1993, could you ever imagine that you would be with the firm over 30 years later as its chief of staff?
Julie: Not in my wildest dreams, no.
Jean: So, do you remember? Like, what were you thinking back then? You took this opportunity. What did you see there?
Julie: That’s a great question. I saw an opportunity really to work for a smaller company than I had been with before. And that appealed to me. Work to me and career is all about people. I didn’t know that then. I was too young, I think, to really realize that. But I did see personalities at Smith + Howard. And so, I think I joined for that more than for some grand career plan.
Jean: Interesting. So, even unconsciously, you realized that the people who you were going to be working with is a really important component for you.
Julie: Yes.
Jean: Yeah. And maybe it’s more obvious these days, just of life experiences and things that have happened in the world, that when we’re really thinking about how we’re spending our time, and then who we’re doing it with, that those personalities are probably even more important today.
Julie: Exactly. We talk so much about culture now, and we didn’t call it then back in 1993. It wasn’t called culture, but that’s what it was. And it was as important then as it is now. I think we just focus on it a lot more now than we used to.
Jean: So, you started as the admin to the managing partner, and then I believe it was doing some work with the audit department before you took on your first marketing role as marketing coordinator. How did that happen?
Julie: So, my first role was, as you said, with Jim Howard, our managing partner, co-founding partner, who, by the way, I still text with quite often. So, we’ve stayed close all these years. It’s a wonder he didn’t fire me after a year. I was not cut out to be an administrative professional. But we had a good time. And then I moved into audit, not as an auditor, I’m not a CPA, but on the admin side. And really enjoyed a few years of work with that group, John Luck, who was later a managing partner with us and Wade St. John.
So, I spent a few years doing that. And as part of our performance review process one year, they asked us to talk about our hidden passion, like our deepest passion in work. And if we could create the ideal job description, what would it be? And I went out on a limb and created a job description for a marketing coordinator. I had been doing the seminars and newsletters for the firm for the past few years. And so, I had an interest in that, created the job description, and lo and behold, they said, “Hey, that’s a great idea. Let’s give that a try.”
Jean: So, that’s an example that sometimes you do just need to take a leap of faith and put it out there.
Julie: Absolutely.
Jean: And then your titles changed. So, I think next was then director of marketing. So, how did that promotion happen? And then I imagine you started building your team.
Julie: I did. I actually had my first hire, Misty Olive, who is still with us today, just a couple of years, I think, into my tenure as a marketing professional at Smith + Howard. And so, I went from marketing coordinator to marketing manager to marketing director and then to chief marketing officer. And that was over a long period of time due entirely to the firm’s growth as we got bigger and were performing more services and had a diverse client group. The things that marketing needed to do became more complex, and so, the role grew, as did my team.
Jean: Right. Now, it’s interesting because I’m sure you enjoyed that marketing role, you know, over the many years where you served in marketing. But then tell us how this shift to chief of staff was made, because you shared a very interesting story with me, you know, offline.
Julie: Yeah, so I love marketing. And once I started down that path, I never saw me doing anything else. Marketing is just a fascinating field to be in. As I tell people, there is not a day goes by that you do the same thing every single day. Is always something different, which is super important to me, I get bored really easily. So, I enjoyed it and didn’t anticipate saying, “Hey, I don’t want to do this anymore.” But the firm grew. As you know, we have gone through, I think, six acquisitions over the last year and a half or so. And marketing changes with the growth of the firm like that. And I think I kind of reached this point where on one side, I felt like the firm had outgrown my marketing expertise, and maybe wasn’t being served as well as it could be in its next stage of growth.
The other part of that was I felt the urge to do something different, but at Smith + Howard. So, I had a conversation with Marty Dower, our chief growth officer and said, “Hey, can I be really transparent about something?” And we’re that way here, we can have difficult conversations and feel comfortable doing that. That’s been my experience. So, I said, “I love Smith + Howard, and I loved marketing, but I don’t think I’m the person for this role anymore. I just don’t want to leave, I want to do something else.” And we talked a little bit and I had, I think three main things I wanted. And one of those, which was probably the most important was I want to be valuable to the firm. I wanted to create value in whatever role I landed in.
So, we both kind of agreed that this might be a really good idea, but what would it look like? I stepped away for a day or two, and he called me and he said, “Would you mind if I tell Sean Taylor about our conversation?” Who is our CEO, as you know. And I said, “No, that would be great. I would love for you to do that instead of me.” So, I think it was that evening, I got an invitation, an Outlook invitation for a meeting with Sean. And so, I thought, “Well, I know Marty’s talked to him now.” So, we had a meeting and he had been working on this role along with Sean Spitzer, our president and COO, and said, “I think this might be the fit for you. What do you think?” And by the end of the day, I knew I wanted the role, but he wanted me to think about it while he was out of town. So, he was gone for maybe a week, came back, and I said, “Let’s do it.” So, here I am having a great time, by the way.
Jean: See that to me, that story is inspiring for a couple of reasons. I mean, I suppose number one would be, if you’ve been in a role at a firm for a long time, there’s something different you might want to do, would be someplace else, right, and not staying within the firm. And you also had the bravery for opening up that dialogue for wanting to do something different within Smith + Howard.
Julie: I’ve had other people say that it was brave and courageous, and it may have been, but I believe that the firm has set up a culture that encourages conversation like that. And so, it didn’t feel brave, it felt like something they would want me to do. And that, in fact, was upheld by Sean Taylor. When he and I talked, he said, “I wish other people would do this when they felt that urge to change.”
Jean: Oh, gosh. See? What a story. Okay, viewers and listeners, this is how it’s done. If you’re feeling the itch, you know, to get into another area, it’s possible. But you made that happen for yourself.
Julie: Yes.
Jean: And that’s being proactive. You weren’t waiting around waiting for somebody to guess, you know, of how you were feeling about your marketing role and how they could help that.
Julie: Right. And I will say too, the funny thing about my career path is, every role I’ve been in here, except for the very first one, has been the first time anyone was in that role. And so, I kind of have this history of saying, “Okay, I think maybe the next thing for us to do would be this,” and having the backup of firm leaders who say, “You know what? I think you’re right. Here’s how we can get there.” So, I did have a history of success and approaching firm leadership about changes, but this was a big one.
Jean: Yeah. The outcome could have been different, right?
Julie: Yes.
Jean: In your bio, I mentioned your areas of focus, alignment, efficiency, collaboration. Could you be a bit more specific on how that works?
Julie: Sure. And part of this, we’re still figuring some of it out since it’s a new role. Couple of the things that I keep telling people is I’m connecting dots. That’s part of my role. I’m the missing link sometimes on purpose. And I’m a wrangler of people and schedules and plans. And so, if you think about that in terms of what a firm like ours is doing, that involves, how are we coordinating on maybe acquisitions? I’m not doing the acquisitions, but I’m looking at schedules and I’m thinking through working with our CGO on the M&A funnel and what that looks like. I’m working with our CEO on streamlining his world, essentially, trying to remove distractions and wrangling people and thinking ahead for people, CEO and CFO and a CGO who have not had anyone to help them with that. They’ve really been on their own doing that themselves for so long.
Our president, Sean Spitzer, this is a new role for him as well as president and COO of the company. So, we’re kind of, I think, in this together, trying to navigate what this looks like, not just for me, but for him. And I’m really enjoying that connection with him and helping figure that path forward out, if that makes sense. With our CFO, I’ve been working with him on, we rewrote internal travel and business meal policies. I mean, so it’s such a wide variety of responsibilities and connections with people that, again, I’m never bored, but it’s very challenging work, which I really like. And I’m also helping people every day, which is a big part of what makes me happy.
Jean: Right, right. That’s awesome. What parts of your role as a marketer is helping you as chief of staff?
Julie: That’s a great question. I think, partly, it’s understanding our business, understanding the nuances of it, what we actually do from a technical perspective. So, 30 years of knowledge of the industry, our business, having existing relationships within the firm, has definitely kind of paved a path for me to have good connections and transparent conversations, not just with the leadership team I work with, but with our legacy partners and our new partners across the family of companies as well. And we have a new CMO. So, I’m able to be a little bit of a link for her. She’s doing fabulously on her own, but it’s nice that I’m here and can answer questions as they pop up. So, I have the advantage of being able to do that for her when needed as well.
Jean: Right. Now, I know it’s just been a few months now that you’ve been in this role, but have you had experience yet of how to balance the long-term goals versus the shorter-term priorities?
Julie: No. How’s that for a short answer? And actually, I’m meeting with our CEO sometime in the next few weeks to sit down and look at the things that I’ve been working on and say, what makes sense to keep doing? What should I not keep doing? And what does the long-term look like? So, I’m excited about that part of it, but I’m really just getting my feet wet right now and trying to get a flavor for how the business is run and how I can contribute to it.
Jean: Now, in your role as a marketer, you shared that you’re a dot connector, you get people together, what’s your style? Or how do you make that happen in getting team members to work together on a project?
Julie: I think for me as a marketer, it was, number one, having good, solid one-on-one connections with firm leaders, and then listening to and understanding their goals and where they’re trying to go. Then connecting with the marketing team members who had areas of expertise there. And if I can throw out a name, I’ll throw out Misty Olive, who is the employee I mentioned we’ve had forever. She is the firm’s events manager. I knew early on that if someone was talking about an event, that was not an area I needed to be working with them on, that needed to be Misty’s area. And so, for me, it was more about understanding and hearing the need, and then connecting them with the right person in marketing or elsewhere who could help them solve that.
I am a bit of a control freak. And so, I rarely pull completely out. But I did try and learned over the years to let the people with the real knowledge handle those things. Thinking about what Steve Jobs said, which is, “Always surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.” I think I did that.
Jean: Yeah. I’m only chuckling when you made the comment about being a control freak because I forget which show it was now, but I heard somebody use the term control enthusiast. So, I decided to adopt that for myself.
Julie: I like that. Yes, I am.
Jean: I’m a control enthusiast.
Julie: Have you done a DISC assessment? I’m like a D that’s so far up. It’s almost at the top.
Jean: Oh, gosh. I’ve probably taken them, but it’s been a really long time and I don’t remember what they said, but it’s yes. But, yes, I fully admit that I like being in control as well. I can relate to that very much. So, back in 2022, Smith + Howard received some private equity from Broad Sky Partners. And in the news release or what I found on the website, it’s dedicated towards long-term growth, expanding advisory, geography, technology. How much do you think this chief of staff role came about because of that? Or how do you see that private equity impacting your role and what you do?
Julie: I think this role exists 100% because of that private equity investment, because the investment allowed us to grow at the rate we’ve grown. And that growth is what created the need for this. So, 100%, it is private equity. I’m an enthusiastic supporter of this in our industry, by the way. Yeah. It’s been a huge benefit for Smith + Howard and for our clients. And what was the second part of your question there?
Jean: Of how that PE is impacting your role. So, you’ve just said that your role exists because of the private equity. But how do you see that, you know, working in the firm?
Julie: I have to think about that for a second. I think the way private equity affects my role is primarily through growth. And I may think about this differently later, but because it has allowed us to grow so much, we’re spread out much more than we used to be. Our leadership structure has changed from the traditional partners across the board decision making to a more of a CEO, president, CFO, CGO kind of role. And so, there are more demands on our leadership. And I think at this stage of our growth, someone has to be that connector. So, I think that’s the answer to your question. It’s great when you have…
Jean: Right. Yeah. It’s been so interesting to read and listen to different points of view about PE, because you do have the cheerleaders for it and you’ve just named yourself as one. And then you have those partners… In fact, I recorded an episode of “Gear Up for Growth” recently that hasn’t gone live yet with a couple of managing partners who are on the fiercely independent side of PE. So, it’s going to be interesting to see how all this works itself out.
Julie: Yeah. And I don’t think it’s a one solution is right for everyone. I think PE is great for some firms depending on… We had set our vision before PE investment. And so, it helped us achieve that vision or is helping us achieve it. And I can see how it’s not necessarily the right fit for every firm.
Jean: Right. So, you are a fantastic example of a marketing professional who pivoted in their career into a different type of leadership role within the firm. What advice would you give to other marketers who might be interested in making a similar change or curve in their career within their firms?
Julie: I’ll use myself as an example and say that the thing that I did was, first of all, it was up to me to recognize that I was ready for a change. And I’m glad I did that before someone else thought I might be ready for a change. And then to think about really, what were the no-goes for me? If I wanted a change, what did I want to carry with me into another role? Because I think that helped our leaders look at those and say, “We can make all these happen. They make sense, not just for Julie, but for the business.” So, have those lined up, and then know the person or people that you can have that kind of transparent conversation with and be willing to take the risk. Because I’m sure not all of them will go like mine did, but it’s definitely better than sitting in a role and just waiting for something to happen and not being completely happy.
Jean: Right, right. Okay, I’ve got two more questions. And again, I know you’re in this role just a short amount of time. Has anything surprised you so far in being in this role?
Julie: No. And it’s so funny you asked that, because I had three or four partners who when I took this role said, “Now, you’re going to be surprised by things that you learn. You’re kind of getting behind the curtain a little bit.” And there’s been nothing that surprised me. I have enjoyed a more open relationship with firm leaders. But even that’s not surprising because I think they’ve always been open. It’s more that I feel like I can approach them about things in a new way.
Jean: Okay. All right. That’s wonderful. Okay. So, my last question is a bonus question. If you could acquire a new skill or a talent right away, no practice, no studying, what would that be?
Julie: A skill?
Jean: Or talent, yeah. But what would you like to be able to do just right now?
Julie: Two things. One is I’d really like to be able to throw pottery, like actually do pottery on the wheel as an expert. That’s one. And the other is, I would like to be able to have the mind of an accountant without having to go through college and take accounting classes.
Jean: Because they really are smart, right?
Julie: They are. And those numbers really mean a lot. So, I would understand them a little bit, but I would like a deeper understanding.
Jean: Oh, those are two great answers. I’ve been speaking with Julie Barnes, chief of staff at Smith + Howard. Julie, thank you for sharing your Smith + Howard career with us. And I wish you nothing but tremendous success going forward.