Leading a CAS Firm Through Hard Seasons

Read Time: 3:49 minutes

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Growing up playing sports through college, I was trained to bury my emotions. You don't show weakness, you don't talk about pain, you just keep pushing.

That mindset served me well in a lot of areas—grit, discipline, composure—but it also made it damn near impossible to process personal defeat. So when I hit a rough patch last month and shared it publicly on LinkedIn and X, I wasn't sure how it would land.

Upcoming Events in The Kick C@$ Community

• Deep Dive into Fathom with me on May 20th at 12 PM CST

• Built to CASh out – How to build a Scalable, Valuable, Exit-Ready Firm with Daniel Talbott (firm owner and accounting M&A guru) on June 3rd at 12 PM CST

But the response was overwhelming. Turns out, I'm not the only one who's been slayed by the dragon.

A letter from my mind coach helped me process it all. One line especially stuck with me: "The real hero's journey isn't about slaying the dragon. It's about being slayed by it—and learning to keep going anyway."

And man, isn't that the truth?

We hear the phrase "hero's journey" tossed around all the time, especially in entrepreneurial circles. It's usually framed as: face your fears, crush your goals, and go viral. But Paul Weinfield (the coach who wrote that letter) flips that narrative. His version hits harder because it's real: Sometimes, the dragon wins.

Sometimes, the deal falls through, the client leaves, or the team turns toxic. Or, as in my case, your personal life hits a point that makes P&L statements and onboarding clients feel irrelevant.

And that's precisely where the real work begins.

No One Escapes the Mess

We mainly see "perfect" on social media. I'm guilty of it too. Back in February, I wrote about how perfection is the death of CAS—and honestly, it's the death of anything meaningful. Yet we still cling to that image. We still act like we must show up polished, put-together, and always "crushing it."

But the truth is, every one of us has been wrecked by something—personally or professionally.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I walked into my business group completely shattered after my ex-wife, and I decided to get a divorce. Work felt irrelevant. I had nothing to offer that day. I didn't even want to be there.

But when I shared what I was going through, our coach paused everything and asked if I wanted to stick to the normal format or go off-script. I chose the normal meeting. It might sound counterintuitive, but it was exactly what I needed. The group didn't have answers and were not supposed to. None of them had been through a divorce, but they all opened up about their relationship challenges. It helped to hear how others had navigated hard seasons. And in that moment, I didn't feel so alone.

That's the power of community—not advice, not solutions, just presence—knowing someone else sees you and says, "Yeah, me too."

What Real Support Looks Like

Running a CAS firm is challenging enough on your own. You're wearing multiple hats—trying to lead a team, serve clients, improve operations, and still have some energy left for your life outside of work. It's easy to feel like you're the only one facing these issues.

That's why I'm excited to share something new we're rolling out in The Kick C@$ Community: Accountability Groups. These are small, curated pods of CAS firm leaders who are at similar stages in their growth. The goal? Create a space to:

• Share experiences and roadblocks

• Set SMARTER goals together

• Stay accountable

These aren't masterminds in the traditional sense. There's no guru, no "top-down" instruction, just peers sharing openly in a structured format, supporting each other fully, and growing together.

In a way, it's the opposite of the hero's journey. There's no dragon to slay here. Just a handful of real humans, showing up imperfectly, ready to walk through the hard stuff together.

Life Will Humble You (Let It)

I keep returning to this line: "Let life humble you."

It's not about giving up. It's about letting go of the need to prove. When you stop identifying with the striver—the version of yourself that needs to win or be recognized—you can finally connect with what actually matters: purpose, presence, people.

Whether you're navigating your own dragons right now or in a season of strength, remember that the journey is less about conquering and more about coming home to yourself. And the best way to do that? Surround yourself with people who can remind you who you are when everything else feels unsteady.

Let me know if you're interested in joining one of our new accountability pods. It's not for everyone, but if it's the right fit, I promise—it'll be one of the most valuable things you do this year.

In the meantime, keep showing up even when it's messy. You're not alone.

Thanks for reading, Luke Templin!

P.S. There are four ways I can help you grow your CAS offerings when you are ready:

1. Join my How to Start Offering Advisory Services Cohort.

2. Cannot wait until it starts? Check out the pre-recorded version here.

3. Join The Kick C@$ Community to grow your CAS offering alongside others doing the same.

4. Automated white-labeled financial digests for your clients with FinDaily.io