Clelland was still in her first days of work as a fully licensed CPA around a decade back, she seized the chance to introduce herself one of her heroes, accounting Software Consultant Doug Sleeter, at the accounting technology conference that he co-founded and steered. Sleeter looked at her badge for the conference that included The name of her company, The Dancing Accountant, and the next day McClelland was present on the main stage for the opening ceremony of the conference.
True North. McClelland’s advice to other professionals in finance: “So as long as you’re reflecting your authentic self, people are going to remember that and it’s what has led to the connections that I have with people in the accounting world,” she explained.
“You think of accountants as having the green eyeshade, their head’s down, and they don’t communicate with anyone around them, they just crunch the numbers,” McClelland said to CFO Brew from her workplace in Chicago. In contrast, she frequently appears at client events in full costumes and has said that she has been able to develop her business and establish connections with customers.
McClelland has been described as “kind of like the exact opposite of any accountant I’ve ever worked with before,” said Jessica Wobbekind, executive director of the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce and also is an Dancing Accountant client. “They typically are just more serious, and Nancy is such a warm personality…She really puts her heart into it; she gives her all.”
The winding pathway. McClelland wasn’t headed to a career in accounting right from the beginning. She was a music major at school in the University of Michigan, who was only introduced to the field of accounting when she accepted the position of an instructor in music theory at a school for performing arts close to her college, when she was still in college, in 1992. The job consisted of one-third teaching, the other half administration of the office, with bookkeeping duties.
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“Not surprisingly, I was the only person who applied for that position, because that is just weird,” McClelland noted. “But it was perfect for me.”
McClelland quickly realized that, in a group of creatives She stood out due to her ability to organize, and she worked for four years after graduating as an administrator for the violin maker. Following her move to Chicago and spending a short time working in the accounting department of a non-profit organization, McClelland decided that she would be best suited to an occupation that required greater communication. She was able to put up her shingle to serve clients from small businesses like the café/bar/event venue as well as an co-operative supermarket store. McClelland attended classes as a sideline towards a masters degree in accounting, and at the age of 40 she was a licensed CPA. The firm charges an hourly rate for its services, and an annual flat fee for tax returns. It employs eight part-time workers.
The leap to HTML0. Also around the when she turned 40, she made the decision to pursue her passion to find a way to express herself creatively. When she was talking to one of her friends about reaching the age of 40, McClelland recalled saying “I have to say by now I really did think that I would have already started taking [go-go] dance lessons.” The reply of her friend to “Why not?” turned into an instant search for dance classes in Chicago and McClelland discovered a class at the Go-Go group “The Janes on the same night. After a few months of lessons, McClelland was invited to be a part of the group as an actor.
Then, shortly after the fusion of her license and a new leisure activity, a customer introduced her to someone he described as “the dancing accountant,” and the name was an amazing revelation. “I filled out that DBA paperwork the next day,” she told me.
In the present, McClelland is a bit of a star in both dancing and accounting. She’s a sought-after speaker for audiences of accountants, and now performs with three different dance groups–including the ’80s-aerobics-inspired Fabulous Ladies of Fitness and “glam marching band” Clamor & Lace Noise Brigade–at large events like Chicago SummerDance.
