In this episode of the Trusted Professional Podcast, Calvin Harris Jr., CPA, CEO of the New York State Society of CPAs, chats with Zachary Gordon, the founder of Red Five Services LLC. Zach is a CPA with more than fifteen years of professional experience across multiple industries and functions. He serves as the fractional CFO, strategic advisor or head of technical accounting for a portfolio of crypto, cannabis, psychedelics, AI, and tech companies.

In this episode of the Trusted Professional Podcast, Calvin Harris Jr., CPA, CEO of the New York State Society of CPAs, chats with John M. Spatola, the Partner of the Emerging Business (Tax), Business Valuation, Forensic Accounting and Dispute Resolution Services (BVFDR) practice at Nawrocki Smith LLP. John has diversified experience in income tax planning and preparation, business valuations, insurance loss consulting, economic damages, agreed upon procedure engagements and various other complex matters. He has performed numerous training presentations to clients, attorneys, accountants, and other groups on various topics. Mr. Spatola provides assistance to counsel in all aspects of litigation-related matters. In his capacity as a director, he works with high-net-worth individuals and their business as it relates to tax preparation and planning in addition to being in charge of various business valuation, insurance consulting, forensic accounting, and litigation support engagements.

John is currently serving as a vice president of the New York State Society of CPAs. He has previously served the Society as a Director-at-Large on the Board of Directors, a member of the Awards and Nominating committees, and in chapter roles with the Suffolk Chapter as President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. He is also a Past Co-Chair of the Suffolk Chapter Litigation, Forensic and Valuation Services, and Membership committees.

In this episode of the Trusted Professional Podcast, Calvin Harris Jr., CPA, CEO of the New York State Society of CPAs, chats with Orumé Hays,CPA, CGMA, MST, a director-at-large of the NYSSCPA and founder/CEO of Hays CPA LLC.

Orumé Hays Agbeyegbe (She/Her) is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA ) in the State of New York and the Commonwealth of Virginia. She is also a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). Her extensive finance and accounting experience includes working with small, medium, local, national, and international businesses. She has more than a decade of business operations and financial expertise in various business sectors, including architecture, design, entertainment, event productions, food & beverage, healthcare, and hospitality.

Orumé holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from CUNY College of Staten Island, New York (inducted to Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society), and a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology & Anthropology from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Nigeria. She also earned a Master of Science in Taxation from the D'Amore Mckim School of Business, Northeastern University, Massachusetts.

In this episode of the Trusted Professional Podcast, Calvin Harris Jr., CPA, CEO of the New York State Society of CPAs, chats with Michael Durant, CPA, a member of the NYSSCPA board of directors, and a senior tax accountant with Prager Metis CPAs, LLC, New York.

On this episode of the Trusted Professional Podcast from the New York State Society of CPAs, NYSSCPA CEO Calvin Harris Jr.. chats with Kevin O'Leary, president of the NYSSCPA and managing partner at MMB + CO..

About the Guest

Kevin O’Leary became Managing Partner of MMB + CO’s Albany office in 2019. On June 1, 2024, Kevin was elected President of the NYSSCPA. Previously, he had been President, President-elect, Secretary and Treasurer of the Northeast Chapter. Because of his role with the NYSSCPA, he is also now a council member of the AICPA.

Kevin graduated from Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, where he played four years of college football and received his BS in Accounting. During his downtime, he enjoys coaching basketball and flag football at St. Gregory’s School, as well as playing golf with the kids. His wife, Tara, is also a CPA, and they are the proud parents of two awesome boys (and future CPAs—they just don’t know it yet), Mason and Nick.

On this inaugural episode of the Trusted Professional Podcast from the New York State Society of CPAs, NYSSCPA CEO Calvin Harris Jr.. chats with Rumbi Petrozzello, a past president of the Society and Head of Strategy, Consulting at Seramount.

About the Guest

Previously Rumbi was the principal of Rock Consulting and with Aon’s Cyber Solutions. At Aon, she directed the career-development arm of the company’s Women in Cyber program, also serving as a leader in the organization’s Asian and Pacific Islander employee resource group. Leveraging training on building racial equity, through Race Forward, Rumbi led Courageous Conversations on antiracism and racial equity and, as a certified facilitator, led sessions on activating allyship and leading inclusively. Rumbi is certified in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion though Cornell University.

A Past President of the New York State Society of CPAs, in 2021, Rumbi became the first woman of color elected to serve in that role in the organization’s 125-year history. In 2024, Rumbi joined the board of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), thus also joining the board of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). The Association is the world’s leading professional accounting associations, serving over 600,000 members.

Rumbi has been recognized and honored for her DEI work and has been on countless panels. She has also been interviewed by numerous news outlets such as The New York Times, New York Post, CBS, and The Rachel Maddow Show.

A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, in Massachusetts, Rumbi received a BA in economics, and then went on to the University of South Africa, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting science. She is a certified public accountant, is certified in financial forensics, and is a certified fraud examiner. Rumbi and her husband live in Arverne, New York, where he surfs and she runs. She also loves reading, podcasts, all manner of sport, and traveling. Rumbi dreams of becoming a Double Dutch skipper one day.