Welcome And Meet The Tax Pro

Unk Shannon 0:06

Hey, what's going on? Hey Hunk family. This is John Shannon coming to you again with another episode of Hey Hunger. Today we're going to talk about something that's needed in everybody's home. But whether you need it, you got it, you want it, you don't got it, it's important to everyone. So we want to touch on several things today. We want to have some expertise to make sure you get great information on the start of business. If you're looking at turning your side hustle into a real business, you know, and you want to make sure Uncle Sand doesn't get in your way. We got the man here that can tell you how to do it. That's right. As he is. So welcome to the conversation. Get your pen and paper. Sit back with your favorite beverage as we're coming to you because we got money on our minds. Welcome, fellas. What's up, everybody? Hey, hey, people. Thanks for the invite. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. First guest of the season. First guest of the season. Here we go. Here we go. So you know we always got to start with what kind of unk are you?

Kevin Mays 1:11

What kind of unk am I? I am the unk you want to talk to. We'll talk about anything from fan leap to money to whatever's on your mind. Uh, and I'll give you an answer. You may not like it, but I'm gonna give you an answer. It'll be straight, it'll be honest, and I'm gonna give you an answer.

Unk Shannon 1:32

Amen. And I didn't even do the intro. You didn't get all past that. So this week we have an expert with us. We have Kevin Mays of Mays Concepts LLC, uh, accountant to the stars. Kevin takes care of all of us. Stars. So we we wanted to make sure we brought him on uh to get to share some information with you. So Kevin is a U.S. Army vet. Uh so his practices veteran-owned. He takes care of taxes, bookkeeping, payroll. Uh, if you're looking to start a business and need some advice, this is the man to talk to you. So, Kevin, welcome, brother. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Unk Stew 2:13

And Kevin, I want to first of all take a moment to thank you for your service. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. As well as uh co-host.

Speaker 2:22

That's right.

Unk Stew 2:23

Navy man.

Tax Fear And Procrastination Cycles

Unk Shannon 2:24

Dr. Navy Man. Yes, sir. So, hey, let's go ahead and dive right into it. That's right. Kevin, one of the first questions when I thought about this topic that I wanted to bring up was there's there's always a lot of fear around Texas, right? People don't really understand it, they want their money back, but they don't want to get caught up. Nobody wants to go through an audit.

Kevin Mays 2:52

Right.

Unk Shannon 2:52

Right. And and people get stuck in these cycles of procrastinating and not doing it because they don't want to address it.

Speaker 3 3:00

Uh it was personal. I can I could tell he was feeling I mean, but we ain't saying it was him.

Unk Stew 3:20

Yes.

Unk Shannon 3:22

I think I might too. Yeah, we might know a couple of things. So talk to us a little bit about how how do you get past the fear, how do you address that with your clients?

Kevin Mays 3:35

That's a good question. Um, and I think that's the question that's on a lot of people's minds who either have procrastinated for a year or two or three or four or five, six, seven, eight, or nine, or ten. You've seen that? I've seen ten years. Wow. I've seen ten years. Um, it wasn't easy for them, um, but it was a challenge for me. Um, the first thing is basically is just be calm. When your demeanor is calm and you have a great atmosphere, listening to nice music, um um uh soothing music, it helps because now you have that vibe in your head that I got the soothing music in my in my head. And now the tax preparer myself, we're talking to you in a nice, even tone. Nothing to worry about. We can get through this, we can get through that, and we're gonna do it together. That's the most important. Assurance, I guess that's the word. Uh just the just the the have that uh rapport. Once you get past that and you see their paperwork, yeah, you're gonna have some oohs and ahs, you know, just kind of to say, okay, yeah, you have something. What we're we're gonna we're gonna use humor to kind of break it down. And then from there is just, you know, go through the motion. Um be happy, be always wear a smile. Um, I tell my my other accountants to do the same thing. Wear a smile, do not like, oh, guys, you, you know, you know, those types of reactions will generate a reaction, but it's negative. So always calm, always polite, always look the client in the eye and say, this is where we are. We have 10 years of taxes we need to do. Okay, so let's take it from year 10 and work our way up to year one or the present year. And just enjoy. I love what I do, so I'm gonna have fun with it. Um, yeah, you might have to pay a little change, but at least you're breaking that anxiety down. So you're breaking all of those emotions down so that you get them to a nice even to where they are plateau, and you go forward.

Audits And Calling The IRS

Unk Shannon 5:43

Yeah, and generally when you're in those types of situations and you're you may need to work with the IRS, is there a path to do it?

Kevin Mays 5:54

Oh, absolutely. There is, there is. Um, there are some companies out there that you can call to help you with those tax, tax, tax remedies, but for the for the most part, you could do it yourself. Or with the taxpayer. Um, do it yourself or person who prepared your taxes. Um and just call them. You may have to sit and wait an hour or two uh or three. You know, but when you finally get some, yeah.

Unk Shannon 6:19

Well, they have fired a lot of people.

Kevin Mays 6:20

Yeah, yeah. So what um, you know, but once you get them on the line, you explain to them exactly what you need. Um they'll ask for your information and then you say, hey, I have I'm sitting here with my accountant. I'm gonna uh I give him permission to talk with the rest of the conversation.

Unk Shannon 6:36

So you don't have to do it by yourself.

Kevin Mays 6:38

You don't have to, you know, not with not with May's concepts. You you I will be sitting right there with you. Absolutely. You mentioned audit too, we'll be there with you as well.

Unk Shannon 6:46

So in regards to that, so there is a willingness from the IRS then to absolutely they they've they also offer some type of relief as well.

Kevin Mays 6:56

They'll take a um where you can offer them or you can have a settlement. That's the one for you can offer a settlement, or they will have you. Is there something that I can do that's less than that, maybe relieved maybe of those penalties, of those interests, and I've seen that, and just give it to a nice base uh number and then you work out a payment plan. Okay. It is really easy. It's not that hard. It's not that hard. Never mind. I make it sound that way, but it is. It really is.

Unk Stew 7:21

He put me in the mind of a movie of Beverly Hills Cup, and he's like, I got something in this hand.

Speaker 3 7:31

Something I got in this part. You mean like $200, you know?

Unk Stew 7:37

We are uh in a brand new year, 2026, and of course, um last year uh a new bill was passed. I'm not gonna title it because I don't think it deserves the recognition of a title. But so with the new bill that passed, tax bill that passed um for the everyday American persons, what is it in that bill that we could take advantage of that would, you know, something, some nugget in there that'd benefit us?

Kevin Mays 8:07

That is a real that's probably the question of the year. Um the what I'll break the initials down to OBBA. The main thing.

Unk Stew 8:19

So what is when you say OBBA, just it's the one big zone.

Kevin Mays 8:25

Okay.

Unk Stew 8:26

Yeah, the thing we don't want to do.

Kevin Mays 8:27

Yeah, yeah, yes. The OBBA.

Unk Stew 8:32

But even before what was the genesis of it before you get it.

Kevin Mays 8:38

That's a better question. So if you remember back in 2016 when the current um occupant um um was occupying. One of one of the things that they one of the first few things that was on his desk was the um uh tax act. He he signed a bill. Um, and that bill basically was to cut taxes for the upper echelon. Yeah. And at the same time, it lowered taxes for the average person, but from 2016 to 20 to current, those taxes are going up.

Speaker 3 9:25

Okay.

Kevin Mays 9:26

And a lot of people wouldn't realizing it until they see their bill, um, say, wait, I made this much, right? Oh this, yes, because it went up. And with this new one, yeah, um, it's basically solidifying the tax breaks for the upper ass. That's what this bill is gener is basically for. Okay. And at the same time, they sprinkle a little bit, uh a little bit of stuff in there, child tax credit, uh, they increase the standard deduction. Um, so basically the things that we used to write off, which was tax prep free for a person not without a business, tax prep fee, uh reimbursement from your employer, used to be able to write that up, that's all gone. That was all gone. 2016.

Unk Shannon 10:16

We could take advantage of 2016 gone.

Kevin Mays 10:22

Wow. This bill here solidifies that. So it's indefinite. It's indefinite. The tax breaks for the upper echelon is indefinite. And our standard deduction increased. Um, there were other things that may have been child tax credit increased, um, uh earned income credit increased. The little nuggets not noticeable. The other thing was the uh overtime pay. There's they have formulas for that. Um overall. That is the biggest con. It is the biggest con. Oh my god. It is the biggest con. And I and I I've seen it on on my clients' uh taxes. Said, this is worthless. It's it's all song and dance. Yeah. This is just my opinion on that. Someone else may have a different opinion. But what I've seen with my clients, goose egg.

Unk Stew 11:16

Yeah, but if there's anything assessed to overtime, then that just rendered the whole no tax on overtime statement a lie. It's a it's mute.

Kevin Mays 11:27

When you do the taxes, it's mute. I mean, it's all about yes, I have this, my my W-2 um box number 14. Make sure you look in box 14 14, it will have your overtime information in there. Once you plug that in, zero. It's dumb. Doesn't do anything. Not a thing. And my experience. This is just based on my experience. Right. Wow. Yes.

Unk Shannon 11:50

See, and I think that that kind of like box is what generates some of that fear we talked about earlier, right?

Kevin Mays 11:59

It does.

Unk Shannon 11:59

Because if I'm walking in your office, I've busted my ass over a year.

Kevin Mays 12:04

Yeah, I'm gonna be good. I'm gonna rot this over time. Yeah, boy.

Speaker 12:09

Nothing.

Kevin Mays 12:10

Yeah, nothing. Nothing.

Unk Shannon 12:12

Yeah, I I still remember the first year that me and Jenna made too much money that we couldn't get the tax credit, we couldn't do the standard deduction anymore.

Kevin Mays 12:21

Right. I went well with the sense.

Unk Shannon 12:23

Damn, okay. But I don't make enough to have tax shelters. So you can call it that no.

Kevin Mays 12:30

And it hurts. And it hurts. And it hurts. Um $50,000 a year, $1.4 million a year. There is a way to balance that information so that they're either gonna get if you have a tax shelter, a small business, perfect. Whether you make a $50 or $1.4, that helps. Investments, that's a totally different story.

Speaker 12:56

Yeah.

Overtime Claims And Hard Truths

Kevin Mays 12:56

Um, I'm not licensed to to to go over investments, um, but it it varies based on what I've seen during taxes. Um, but the tax shelter, yeah, you you hit an you hit a nugget on that one. But for the average person, um, to follow up on your question, the average person, you know, fear is the greatest adversary. Um and the unknown. Yeah, the unknown. That's the biggest one. That's the biggest one.

Extensions And Hidden Penalties

Unk Mark 13:25

So with the fear and all that, let's talk about um extensions. Um is it good for good for us to do extensions?

Kevin Mays 13:33

I mean, of course, you know, the percent penalties and I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna do I'm gonna do this. Extensions can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. Now, here's the thing about extensions it's good for six months. But beyond the six months, if you have not filed, you're you're late. You're late. When you file an extension and it's past April 15th, it's late. And a client thought they can do an extension and it'd be fine. They'll wait till next year to do taxes. They're late. The taxes are late. They thought they filed the taxes. Without the um ones and zeros, you're you're it's late. And it's late. And then penalty and interest. So an extension is good if you if you don't have your ducks in a row um to the October 15th deadline, but you're still late. You're still late. Now you're paying your taxes and whatever assessment it is, it is what it is. But a lot of people use that as a as a uh a way of delaying for another year. Yeah, now you're a year behind. Yeah. You're a year behind. So yeah, extensions can be good. You know, if you're within 30 days, that's not a problem. It's okay, you know. If you're getting a refund, it's still okay. But if you owe it, you're gonna have you're gonna have uh penalties. You will have penalties. So that's a very good question.

Unk Stew 15:01

What what would you recommend to anybody, is especially those who have anxiety around it? What what would you recommend people do in preparation for tax season?

Getting Ready For Tax Season

Speaker 15:16

Good question.

Kevin Mays 15:17

What I would say is find a good accountant and have a conversation with that accountant. Lay down what you have going on in your life, either it's a W-2 or you're a contractor of 1099, um, or you have a small business or you have a corporation. Find an accountant, CPA, accountant. Difference between the two is a test. Same, same, same, same thing. Um find someone that you can trust, have a conversation, have a meeting with them. This is where I'm at, this is what I want to do, budget, a plan, and you'll feel better. You'll feel better. And the accountant will too. I mean, that that's what they want to do. That's what they want to help anyone that's in a situation, at least concepts. This is what we do.

Unk Shannon 16:08

And I'm gonna ask a rhetorical question. But should you lay everything out with that accountant and just say, here it is?

Kevin Mays 16:17

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Unk Shannon 16:18

Yeah.

Kevin Mays 16:19

Because this way you you one, it's clearing your anxieties, it's clearing your fear. I'm putting everything on the table. I trust the person that's in front of me. It's a one-on-one. Whatever happens in that room stays in that room and move on. Yeah. Absolutely. At least that's how May's concepts work. Awesome. Yes.

Unk Stew 16:38

Well, I can I can see that being a benefit to lay all your cards out on the left, because you don't know what's beneficial in there and what's not. You're not the experts. Um, so yeah, I would I would definitely encourage someone. I mean, I know my text preparer, my account that he he's her, he harasses me. Like he gives me the side.

Speaker 3 17:01

Hey, you're jumping on my calendar. I said that when I walked in the door. I mean, I didn't even get a was up. You ain't on the town. Okay, dang we were doing something.

Kevin Mays 17:34

That's that's the love right there.

Unk Stew 17:38

I know you gotta stay out. But it but at least it's not from fear. Right. It's not from fear from on our part, it's just about the preparation piece. Because the more now I will say this, as anybody who's listening, the more prepared you are, the easier life is. The easier time you have in that session, the less time you spend, because there's gonna be questions. And if you're prepared to answer the questions, if you got documentation better, but if you're prepared to answer the questions, that the whole interaction with your preparer, your accountant, your CPA is gonna be a whole lot easier.

Unk Shannon 18:12

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And and I know what I found, and this is one of the things I do appreciate about working with you, Kevin. If there is a question or if there is a document that you think should be there that you haven't seen, you communicate.

Kevin Mays 18:28

That's and that's the thing about laying it on the table.

Unk Shannon 18:30

Yeah.

Year-Round Tax Worksheet System

Kevin Mays 18:31

So when you when you know the when you know the tax documents of your client, you expect to see those tax documents or in variation. Yeah. Um, but then that's being intimate with your client, and you know that that client can always call you at any time. I mean, if I give my clients my cell phone number, call me at any time. And there is if it's a burning desire question, if it's at two o'clock in the morning, send me a text. I I'm I may or may not answer at that time, but at least you you have that on your mind. Because I had a client do that actually. You had that on your mind. You you wanted to get off your chest and wanted to to send it to someone that you know you can trust to text them at two o'clock in the morning um about a text question, uh, tax question or about any question uh relating to your um to your um your your finances.

Unk Shannon 19:19

And one of the things too that you do well with Maze Concepts is you build that, you have that work sheet worksheet available that that allows them to prepare all year. Yes that, like Stuart said, makes things a lot easier when it's time to cut C.

Kevin Mays 19:34

Maze ConceptsLLC.com. Um it's my um my website, and within that there's an Excel spreadsheet that you can download and you can use indefinitely. It's for you to use. It's a beautiful thing. Fill it in the blanks in the as best as you can that applies to you. Yeah. And it's all yours. Save it under that year with your tax documents. So if Uncle Sugar comes around, you know, with an A, uh, you got all your documents here. You have everything all lined up. You're giving me a call and say, hey, listen, I got this, this, this, not a problem. When when and where? Where are we gonna be? Let me put it on my calendar. I'm gonna bring my paperwork, you bring yours, we meet at the middle, we look them in the eye and tell them, hmm.

Deductions For Families And Side Hustles

Unk Stew 20:16

How how far does your tentacles reach in terms of uh can you do out of state or is it exclusive to North Carolina?

Kevin Mays 20:23

Absolutely not. I mean, I can and I mean exclusive to North Carolina. Um I have clients in Texas, I have clients in New York, California, Ohio, uh. Okay. Florida.

Unk Shannon 20:36

So so we did just uh change gears a little bit. We talked about some of the challenges with the tax bills, with the new tax laws, and kind of who it benefits and who it doesn't. What are some of those things that a typical middle class family can take advantage of? You mentioned if you have a small business, is it still advantageous if that side if that small business is still a side house? Right. What are those things that the normal people can do to take advantage of?

Kevin Mays 21:09

That's a good question. So for a person let's say a person doesn't have a small business. They they have a nine to five or six to whatever and they have a W T. Um they have a home, they have a car, um, maybe a kid or two, um all everything I just described. Everything I just described. The car. He can he or she can write off a registration that she pay that they pay for their car. Um they couldn't write off the uh the debt for the house, the mortgage interest, um um and the uh property tax. Um most the car is the biggest one. Most people do not know, don't know they can write off their their uh registration every year, annually. It doesn't matter what state they're in, they can write that off. Um the mortgage, uh, of course the children. Uh the children age. Good question. So the the children from zero until college age. College age. College age. So if they're in college, you can still write them off as a dependent, but if also you can also write off the education credit that they get from the school that they're going to. That can range anywhere from $2,500 to $4,000. And a lot of people do not take advantage of that because they figure their child is off of college, they're on their own, you know, that blah, blah, blah. But if they're under age 24, then any education credit is is uh is left on the table. Oh left on the table. They're not going to claim it.

Unk Shannon 22:44

Does it uh matter if it's uh for a under undergrad or graduate or colleges, colleges, college.

Kevin Mays 22:54

Junior college, you know, it it does not matter. Um long as it has an a name, an address, and a and an employer identification number. E-I-N. If they're within that age limit, whatever from 17 to 24, which is the college age. Absolutely. Okay, absolutely. 24. Yes. Once they get past 24, then they can claim their own education credit. By that time they're grad school or something like that. Right. Yes. They can claim it on their own. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good question. It's a very good question. Cool. But the business, I mean, if a person now has uh W-2 in a business, now you're that's where I'm happy. That's where I'm happy because I get to write off everything from head to toe. Head to toe. Office to home, so yeah, lights, everything. Everything. And that's in that packet that you just mentioned. Yes, sorry. It's in that packet of things you can write off.

Unk Shannon 23:44

Yeah, I I I might, yeah, I got a few things.

Kevin Mays 23:46

We got and I got a few answers.

Speaker 3 23:50

I definitely got a few things. I got a few answers. In that pile? It's in the pile. Okay.

Unk Shannon 23:56

Yeah, yeah. It's like a desk on my desk. In a pile. I just gotta put them in the screens for this minute. I look at them every day.

Speaker 3 24:07

What is it that's in? On my desk.

Kevin Mays 24:13

It's not in my office.

Unk Shannon 24:17

But we're gonna fix it. Go fix it, bro. Well, we don't know until we owe him some money and it'll wash it out. We still don't know until we leave. I'm happy when it washes it out. Just don't leave me alone. Yeah, there you go.

Kevin Mays 24:35

But it ain't about fear.

Unk Shannon 24:36

It's not about fear. It's not about fear.

Kevin Mays 24:38

When you walk in my office, it's not about fear. That's right. Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely.

What People Misread About Black Culture

Unk Shannon 24:43

All right, family. So hopefully you got some nuggets uh out of that. Feel free to reach out to Kev, reach out through his website if you have other uh questions about your taxes specifically or starting your business, and we'll come back to that later on in the episode. But now we're going to transition to my main man, Stu's question of the week. What you got? Ready to get ready.

Unk Stew 25:07

First one of the season. First one of the season. So, what do you guys think is the most misunderstood about the black culture?

Speaker 25:22

Most misunderstood.

Unk Shannon 25:27

That's a good question.

Kevin Mays 25:31

I gotta take my hat off to that question right there.

Unk Shannon 25:34

Well, I think by the way. No, go ahead. I was gonna say I think it's a misunderstanding that all people black people poor.

Speaker 25:43

You know what I mean? We're not all poor. Black people ain't poor.

Unk Shannon 25:46

I still think people feel like they're excuse me.

Speaker 25:50

It's not about a race thing, but yeah, it is now when they look at when they see you. That's one of that's a misconception.

Unk Shannon 26:01

I think for me, and I don't know if it's misunderstood or just uh underappreciated, how innovative our culture has always been.

Speaker 26:15

Even through the struggle.

Unk Shannon 26:17

Right now there's a lot of uh things going on on Instagram with these black chefs and influencers and all that, and they're doing this series going back about uh black truth that we're losing and recipes and things that were created, you know, um throughout our history that you know we're not caring for because they weren't written down anywhere. You know, my mama taught me how to do it, my nana taught me how to do it. Right. So um but how innovative we have always been through the struggle. And there's a reason that statement, you know, say, you know, she could make a way where there's no way. Right? Because we had to, and our culture had to. And not only make a way but excel through that. You look at how much black culture is copy. African American culture is copy around the world. Yeah, you know, there's a whole thing right now around K-pop and how much that is is just black co black American culture of three decades.

Kevin Mays 27:29

Right.

Unk Shannon 27:29

Right, which in a large part, that's exactly what it is, right? So I think that's that's the thing I would say is African American culture specifically is uh underestimated and undervalued with the creativity that we bring uh to the country as a whole.

Kevin Mays 27:52

I can agree more. I I see it as we're looked at as criminals first. There was a time we were looked at as three fifth three-fifths of a human and and to progress to where we are now, which is we've made big strives, but in the eyes of those who are looking at us, we're still where we are. We haven't moved. Um, you know, give a man a ten uh give a man um a thousand dollars, he goes spend it in a second. You know, what he's he's always broke. Black people are always broke, always looking for government assistance, which is not true. Uh we have thriving businesses, we we're we're uh we're family members, we're we're fathers, uh, we're cousins, we're uncles, we're uncles. And we we share the knowledge that we have. But we share it with people who look for that knowledge. For us to try to teach someone our culture, which they're already grabbing bits and pieces of it, to teach them the inner parts of our culture, they don't want that. You know, they don't mind being or acting like a black person, but they don't want the s the struggles of a black person.

Speaker 29:13

Yeah.

Kevin Mays 29:14

So that's that's the um that's I think that's the big biggest misconception. But uh we're thriving, you know, in our own little way. Um we don't need a big sign to say, hey, look at me. I was poor now, you know. I don't, you know, a big escalator or something like that. No, no, we don't we don't need to prove anything to anyone other than ourselves.

Unk Stew 29:36

What do you do?

Speaker 3 29:41

That was cold, that was rough. Yeah, I don't know.

Unk Stew 29:44

You don't have to answer that.

Speaker 3 29:47

You don't have to have a sign on. Hey, brother, for one bougie, brother. I don't let the dress fully. I'm saying it's something from Batman. Hey bougie.

Unk Stew 30:09

You earned it. I earned it. Yes, answered my own question with a little bit of a not a twist, but just a different perspective. We're not angry. We're frustrated, yeah. But but we're we're not angry. And I know the the phrase, especially our women, angry black women. Um again, not angry, just frustrated. Just and and the biggest thing about us is we don't want a hand-me-down. We just want the same thing.

Unk Shannon 30:48

So that's opportunity, opportunity fairness.

Unk Stew 30:51

Exactly. We we just want to level the playing field because I I feel like if the playing field was was level and the deck wasn't stacked against us, um we'd be in those higher elevations of positions, we'd have more businesses. I mean, it it it wouldn't even be a a thing to where we don't feel like um, you know, you only see common faces as you know, Fortune 500 CEOs. You know what I'm saying? So um we're we're not angry. And another thing about us too is we're we were never taught to hate people that don't look like us. But we were taught that you know you have to work twice as hard.

Speaker 31:38

Yeah, yeah.

Unk Stew 31:39

To to achieve the same level, which I think is utterly ridiculous.

Unk Shannon 31:44

And I would take that one step further. We were not only taught that, but it is borne out in my career. I've seen it personally. So, you know, that is a real thing. Um, in one of my previous roles, I was in uh a leadership program, and it was all men of color, not just black men, but Asian. Uh and it was a leadership program for us, and across the board, we all had a similar experience coming up, you know, and we're all of a similar age, right? So we were all gen X. So we all had that same experience. So people can't say it's not a real thing because it absolutely is.

Kevin Mays 32:33

Or happened many years ago.

Unk Shannon 32:34

Yeah, you've been taught now that now that is one argument that drives me crazy. And I do get angry at them. Why are you bringing up the past? It was so long ago. So long ago. Uh my mama may have done to Jim Crick. Mine did too. Not my great-great-grandma, my mother. Mother. Yep.

Kevin Mays 33:01

I'm two generations from the.

Speaker 3 33:06

But we're not here ain't angry. We're not angry.

Unk Stew 33:08

Every time we express ourselves, and and I know I hear this a lot, especially when we are passionate about something.

Speaker 33:17

Yeah.

Unk Stew 33:18

And and lo and behold, if you know you're right, when you know you're right, and somebody trying to tell you otherwise, yeah.

unknown 33:30

Yeah.

Unk Shannon 33:30

Now you're angry.

Unk Stew 33:32

Well, I mean, I guess that's you can't it can't lead to anger. But it you're not, you don't start out that way. Right. And I guess that's the thing. You know, you you get that label every time, you know. Well, that's what I'm saying. They they think you ain't or I'll be honest, in my case, I can't read you. What you need to read me for? Right. Oh.

Unk Shannon 33:50

That's a good one.

Unk Stew 33:52

You don't need to read me. You just need to hear what I say and watch what I do. Accept it or not. You ain't gotta read my expressions. My expressions ain't gonna tell you how I'm feeling. Right.

Kevin Mays 34:00

You look angry right now, though.

Unk Stew 34:02

See? That's just passionate. And you're trying to tell me how I feel. I get passionate about that. Because you don't have that, yeah, you don't have that ability to look into my soul and tell me how I'm feeling.

Authenticity At Work And Privilege

Unk Shannon 34:21

And I think a lot of that because I've I've had this conversation with either my employees, the people that report to me. Um, and it was in the vein of talking about, you know, can you be your authentic self at work? Right? And it's a double-edged sword. Yes, sir. My answer to them, and we were having a completely open conversation. I'm like, no, no, I cannot be my authentic self here at work. Because if I do, I'm gonna get labeled angry black man. Right? Now, my counterparts, they can go into a meeting and they can show frustration and they can yell and walk out and they can get away with those things. I've been on a call where a VP in finance just started cussing people out on a call.

Speaker 35:18

I'm like Yeah.

Kevin Mays 35:20

That's that's a different type of understanding and I'm gonna use the word privilege. Yeah. Ah, that's a good privilege.

Unk Stew 35:29

But I think this is the one thing I will not accept. I will shut it down in a heartbeat. I can take all the criticism in the world that you want to, you know, levy on me, but don't try to cuss me out. Oh, yeah. Oh, no, no, no. We getting ready to draw a line. Yeah, yeah, but but you know, and I and I think most of the time they realize where they can levy that type of conversation and who they can project that on. In my ex in my experience. Because I'm not with it. They're they're they're looking for a reaction. Yes. They'll get one, but it's gonna be a stern, subtle one. Pull up partner.

Unk Shannon 36:11

It's to your point.

Kevin Mays 36:12

You fought the wrong one.

Unk Shannon 36:14

It's to your point, yeah.

Kevin Mays 36:15

And and the calm and the calm voice. The calm voice.

Unk Shannon 36:18

It's to your point of how far can I take this one?

Kevin Mays 36:21

They they're inflicting fear. Yeah. Yeah. They want you to be afraid. They want your reaction. You want your reaction because your re your reaction is what gets in trouble. Yeah. Not the action.

Unk Shannon 36:32

So and my to all of that has always been if I'm in a work setting, if somebody has been an asshole, let them. Oh shoot. Silence is gold.

Kevin Mays 36:43

Go ahead. Yeah. Silence is gold. Show everybody in here that you are an unreasonable, ridiculous person. No fear, just looking them in the face and say, and they read your face.

Unk Shannon 36:53

And then as soon as that happens, I continue the conversation. Absolutely.

Kevin Mays 36:58

Like they didn't exist. Absolutely. Everybody's just looking around for me. Like, whoa, what just happened? Yeah. Oh wow, he's so cool, comic collector. Yeah, he's irrelevant. Or she is irrelevant. Or she is irrelevant at that time. Absolutely.

Unk Shannon 37:10

Absolutely. Yes. That it's it's always a challenge. Because, yeah, do I want to be me 100%?

Speaker 37:18

Absolutely.

Unk Shannon 37:19

Will I? Hell no. I can't afford to. That and there's the key.

Kevin Mays 37:28

Exactly. You don't have to worry about that. I did the corporate world. Um, I worked uptown um uh HR. Um have a master's in HR, I worked uptown, and and put me in a hospital. And that was my wake-up call. That I can either continue the rat race, hold on, get a week vacation, and and then run again, or I can build me. Yeah. And I I chose that route. And yeah, I can you you you feeling that? You know, they feel that you run and you and you get that one week vacation, that means you stop and you grab onto it. Yeah. And that's it. That's it. I liked it. Um but but when you're when you're working for someone, yes, you have to bite your especially us.

Speaker 38:24

Yeah.

Kevin Mays 38:25

We've got to bite auto. Even though we want to say, mm-mm. And you learn strategies of learn how to filter things. How to filter. How to cuss somebody out without cutting. Exactly. Exactly. Um when you're when you're your own boss, then you you can fire a client. That's a different mentality.

Unk Shannon 38:51

Not all money is good money. Not all money is good money.

Kevin Mays 38:53

Not all money is good money. Not all money is good money. Yes, you you want to make money, but you don't need money. Yes, great. What you need is is is a good client, a good customer. Not loyal. That's totally different. Someone is gonna come back to you because they like what you've done for them.

Speaker 5 39:15

Yeah.

Kevin Mays 39:16

And yeah, so when you get to that point, uh, where'd your paperwork at? Um, what you're just shaking your head at me. Where's your paperwork? Yeah, I mean, then you can be honest.

Speaker 3 39:31

Oh, that's not you know, that's how much stuff together.

Kevin Mays 39:37

But it's it's a it's a then you are yourself because now you're talking to your client in the level that they understand. Yeah. They know it's not threatening. You know, it's like, well, your damn paperwork. I've been waiting 15 months for this stuff. Where's that? What's going on? I mean, when you have a good report with your client, you can be yourself. Yeah. But outside of that, you know, working with the other side of the aisle. Yeah, you gotta put your interview voice on. You've got to be a different person. You've got to put some bass in your throat and everything and everything. So you gotta look them and and and tell them in a way that doesn't hurt their feelings, you know. Because once you hurt your feelings, then oh, you're just angry black man. That's circling back to what we started with.

Unk Shannon 40:20

Yeah. Yeah. So for all our young people, it sounds like to me, learn how to play the game.

Kevin Mays 40:25

Well, once you learn, yeah. Yeah. If not, talk to your aunt. Or figure out figure out your own things. Talk to your aunt, we go, we get you. Yeah, that's right. We're gonna get you straight. We've been there. That's right.

Unk Shannon 40:36

So I know one of the other services you provide is business consulting and people trying to start businesses and all of that. So if I'm sitting here and I have a side hustle and I want to start exploring doing what you did. I I want to make this my thing, I'm gonna run with it and see where I can take it. What advice would you give them?

Kevin Mays 40:59

First, uh have your conversation with yourself. Is this what I want to do? That's that was my conversation. And can I make money doing this? Um exploration is is the greatest way of finding out whether or not you're fit for what it is that you want to do. But once you get past that exploration phase and you see that, okay, there is a niche for what I'm offering, then start a business. And that's that's simple. It's very simple. It's not as hard when people make it, they try different entities, spend gobs of money, get things that they really don't need. You just need a basic. You need an EIN, you need to register with the Secretary of State, regardless of what state it is. And you're off and running. That's the simple version. That's a simple version. I I I do think a lot of people think, well, I gotta have tens of thousands of dollars.

Unk Shannon 41:52

Thousands of dollars.

Kevin Mays 41:53

I gotta get how do I get this? How do I they're overthinking. You start with a basic. First is a is a thought. What is it that I'm good at? Can I make money out of it? And if I can make money out of it, how do I make this into a business? That's the start.

Unk Shannon 42:09

Say that again.

Kevin Mays 42:11

So first is have a thought of a business. Can I make money out of it? Once you know you can make money out of it, then start a business. There you go. Yeah, yeah. It's it it is a it's it's a step. The first step is your thought. What do I like to do?

Speaker 42:29

Yeah.

Kevin Mays 42:30

You know, if you like to paint, whew. Oh my gosh. There's so much money in a in a painting.

unknown 42:35

Right.

Kevin Mays 42:36

There's so much money in a painting. If you like to drive, whoo. There's so much money in starting your own um um um chauffeur business. Transportation. Transportation. There's so much money there. You just gotta find a niche.

Unk Shannon 42:48

Yeah. And that that is a good point. Finding your niche and where you can go. What makes you happy? Yeah. You don't have to be everything, everybody. No.

Unk Stew 42:58

You don't have to know it all. You don't. You know what the biggest thing I draw from all that is the take action part. Take action. If you don't take that first step, you're gonna still stay where you are. That's called analysis paralysis. Analysis paralysis, yes.

Kevin Mays 43:15

Getting ready to get ready. Getting ready to get ready. Take that step. I'm thinking about doing.

unknown 43:20

Yeah.

Kevin Mays 43:21

You hear that a lot. Yeah, I thought about it. I thought about it. Or I was I was I was uh, you know, I have this idea, but you know, I I don't know if I can do it. That's doubt. Yeah, that's fear.

Unk Shannon 43:32

Yeah, that's fear.

Kevin Mays 43:33

Kick that child to the curb. Yeah. Kick it to the curb.

Speaker 43:38

Uh yeah.

Unk Shannon 43:54

Um the show John Brother Morton for sure. My my philosophy of the week is taken from the from this podcast on the things that we've been talking about today. Um don't be afraid to do what you want to do. Don't be afraid of the taxes. We are responsible for paying taxes. Find somebody that is going to be trustworthy, somebody that is going to be available to tell you the truth, you know, and uh give you that's that analysis you need um to get those taxes done. So I just wanted to basically, hey, everything's been shared. That's where we're at today. And it's where I'm at right now. And I want to take a moment and do this to a couple of people in the room. We are I learned I learned sign language today.

Speaker 3 44:48

I know that's a cop out.

Unk Shannon 44:55

All right, if that's where we are.

Unk Stew 44:57

If you're gonna summarize the show, then summarize the show.

Speaker 3 45:00

Again, I'm gonna have to run the fuck.

Unk Stew 45:05

No, take my job. The camera just wants to say, are you a philosopher? No. No. No, no, hey. No, I'm gonna cut that sickness today. But we're gonna talk. I learned some stuff today. That's all. That's fantastic. Yeah, I learned some stuff. That's okay.

Unk Shannon 45:22

It's all about you, so as long as you're good. That's right. Again, we're cutting this part. No, no. Yes, we are. We are not. All right. You better cut that part when I say cut.

Speaker 3 45:34

When you say cut, yeah. So I love it. Yeah, it's so funny. This is why this is why I'm not worried about immigrants. My boy's looking like that. Immigrants ain't taking it by. Yeah, that's right. What?

Unk Shannon 45:53

Yeah, you could be on your phone. He got on the phone. No, it was uh oh shit. Yeah, yeah. Damn, I said that again. Okay. This is an important thing. I hope so. It's important. That was like, you sure? We need to wrap up. You got something to go ahead? I I just wrapped up. It's your time. It's all about you. Anyway. Is it hold on? You got any more philosophy? I you know what philosophy for today is if your boys don't trust them. They full of, you know. We don't always gave married today.

Unk Stew 46:48

I had a question.

Unk Shannon 46:49

I had a question. I had a statement, but I like the way we went there. I felt the heatway. I know you know what? I know where your philosophy is. Isn't it on my text?

Speaker 3 47:04

No, no, but we did it for you, and we'll loop it back in.

How To Reach Kevin And Wrap

Unk Shannon 47:14

Oh. All right. But Kev, thank you very much for joining us. Absolutely. And my pleasure. Appreciate you. My pleasure. Uh all of the knowledge that you shared uh with the audience. Uh, how can people reach you?

Kevin Mays 47:28

So I am located in Midhill. My address is 11300 Lawyers Road. I'm in Sweet B in Midhill, right downtown Midhill. Um you can also reach me at uh 704-526-0307. That is my office number. Um I also have a cell phone. Office cell phone is 980-258-1334. Um is mazeconcepts at gmail.com. Of course, the website mazeconceptslc.com. And uh as an uh added nugget, I do have a client portal where clients can upload their documents. So if you're in California, you're in Nebraska, uh uh anywhere in the country, and have to do uh United States taxes, then that portal is maze conceptslc.taxdome.com. Then you sign. Once you sign up, create an account, and you can upload your documents. I can even send you your tax work for you to sign. Awesome. Awesome.

Unk Shannon 48:36

That's why I'm sitting on my desk. Because I was gonna send all the time.

Kevin Mays 48:42

No, no, I did get the first message last year. Um about this information and and and I I've been waiting, you know, with bated breath for the rest of it to follow. But yeah, I I understand, you know, life happens and and and you know, podcasts and you know, and and and and and and being uh the black man, black king of your of your home and your throne. So I understand that. It's a lot, it's a lot of no it's not. No, it's not.

Speaker 3 49:22

It is a hand speaker privilege. Anyway, messed up.

Unk Stew 49:29

I made a comment earlier that we're not all angry.

Speaker 5 49:34

That's right.

Speaker 3 49:39

I was sitting here, don't let him off the other.

Kevin Mays 49:42

Still though. Hey, if you're if you're a black man, you're a king. And you see, I didn't say he wasn't a king.

Unk Shannon 49:48

I just said don't let him off the other.

Kevin Mays 49:51

Take care of your kings.

Unk Stew 49:52

Absolutely. Thank you. Go ahead and do the official wrap-up.

Unk Shannon 49:57

Thank you all for joining us. Hey, we wanted you to be part of the conversation as well. So reach out to us over all the social media platforms, Hey Unc podcast. You can reach out to us individually as well. Handles and everything for Instagram and all the other platforms will be in the credits. So please reach out. Let's continue the conversation. And if you have other questions you want to submit them, we'll make sure they get to Kevin and we can get you some of the answers that you need. But we appreciate you being here with us and supporting the podcast and having this conversation with us. We want to continue it online. So let us hear from that.