Thank you so much for all your comments. I'm deeply touched by the personal reflections this post is inspiring you and others to share! @jeffhupert - I completely understand your personal feelings and choices about parental primary caregiving. But what does that have to do specifically and exclusively with women? Other families chose that dad is the primary caregiver. And in those cases, the same flexibility your wife seeks is sought by men. As a mother of 4 and a mom for 28 years in a variety of economic situations, I've personally experienced being a single parent, a stay-home parent, a dual-income parent, a the working wife with a stay-at-home dad. In each of these situations, I had needs. But my needs as a working mother were no different than a man's needs as a working father. Who cares whether I'm female or male, the needs for understanding and flexibility are the same.

@Rod and @Chris - exactly right! Adds perception of credibility when you teach your peers...shows you're ahead of the curve! @David - thank you, sir! That means a whole, extra lot coming from a Prof!! :) @Geni - very awesome to hear how it has elevated your cred related to your specialization. Definitely underscores it! @Michael - thanks! I find most CPAs (you are a great example of this) have chosen their profession because of their altruistic nature...they want to help other people. That desire to help makes this one quite natural once people realize the value of sharing even without charging for it (only to a degree, for sure) and the keys to sharing while CYA, which isn't all that hard to do. Keep up the great work, folks!

Thanks Michael, Kevin, and Jennifer! Kevin, it's not stealing if I've shared of free will! :) Use away.... Michael, you're right about point 2! The goal is to make sure they are equipped. If you need to recommend a third-party resource to teach them or do it for them, it's in both of your best interest to do it! :) Connecting people is awesome. Whatever it takes to make it a win for everybody... them ready and able, you on time. It's all good! Jennifer, thanks for sharing your and Jason's happy reactions! That made my day! I don't think he was able to attend my session on pricing at AICPA #pstech but here is the slide deck... there might be more that is of use to you guys... http://www.slideshare.net/goldenm/pricing-for-profitability Good luck!!

So many great comments! I'll answer a few at a time... @ Melinda Guillemette, I love your points about exploration and innovation. I really think formal benchmarking and informal surveys (picking other CPAs brains) play an evil role in close mindedness. @ Rebecca Ryan, It's interesting... I'm not sure who exactly made the remark I mentioned in my post, or the women's issues comments, but I'm okay with the idea of consultants sharing their/our observations because we've all been around the block and have seen quite a lot. The thing is that we all come at it from different angles and with different lenses and this makes our perspectives more valuable. The more thought I give it, I really do think that the audience needs to take the responsibility for vetting the content given its context. The audience KNEW none of the panelist were women. I hope they knew none are social media experts. Well, I take that back... David Maister (until he retired) had a phenomenally successful blog... he did blogging right, engaging his community and humanizing himself. He even retired from the blog very gracefully and left it live for posterity. A very generous contribution of his intellectual property. I know we discussed the merits of blogging and (early) social media on his blog but you're right, David is not, to my knowledge, a social-media tactical expert or strategist. Back to opinions, context is key. Think about how, when we read Shakespeare or Aristotle, we have to consider the eras in which they lived for their ideas and scenarios to hold their intended meaning. And when Romney talks, we have to consider his background and biases. Why would it be any different when we talk? I don't think I want to ask consultants like Allan Koltin, Gary Shamis or Gary Boomer (or you or me) to stop opining. I like diversity of thinking and want to hear others' ideas and observations. Maybe it was the tweeting that got to me... tweeted quotes can sound so damn authoritative! I do know that I, personally, will definitely be more conscious of qualifying my statements on areas where I dabble versus specialize. But I really look to the listener to take what they hear with a grain of salt until they assess things themselves and test the ideas against their realities. The audience should ask questions and prompt the speakers to provide more context and not take everything at face (ear?) value. I think it's (to some degree) laziness that makes us cling to what we hear, especially when it supports our biases. And, to Melinda's point, there's no excuse for leaders doing that!

@Rod, so true. Sometimes several examples in a single firm. It's not intentional, just a predicament that occurs very easily in our current business model, especially where marketing is not taught and encouraged early in every young professional's career. The way this post is speeding around the interwebz, I think it is resonating with a LOT of people. @Eric, your scenario rings true, also. I have seen that happen more than once. Being "marketable" now means even more than ever because we need to continually make sure we are valuable even when we have a job. As we've seen so much in cuts of recent years, even partners aren't assured security when firms are paring back. I don't want it to seem all bleak, just to reinforce the importance of personal responsibility in shaping our own careers so we don't just find ourselves, ten or 20 years later, in a position we never meant to be in. What is flattering, at first, isn't always best in the long run.

Steve, that is a fantastic story and you clearly get it! Congrats and I can tell just from what you've written and the way you've written it that you enjoy the relationship aspect of your business so that is why other people enjoy talking with you. It's a beautiful circle! Info, I love "freebie time" - we should all budget that in! Ron, as you totally know, selling one's "time" interferes completely with the greater mission of quality service. Melinda, those of us who hold the belief that the journey, not the destination, is the whole point (and it's easy to forget during the daily grind...) certainly find it easier to look on even the "wasted" conversations as worthwhile in some way. Just because they don't turn into profits doesn't mean they don't have value. You always make me think. Love that about you!

Thanks so much, Melinda. Your suggestion is outstanding (and I'm kicking myself that I didn't think of it!). Definitely want to eliminate any ambiguity! Thanks for sharing this important tip!