Hey peeps! Now that I’ve got the blog up and running, I figured I’d throw in a little background on me. My name is Katie Amori Hanna and I’m the daughter of Joanne Baum, who is also well known in the community. I’m a Walkersville native and graduated from Walkersville High School. I then went on to Towson University and graduated with dual majors in Animal Behavior and Psychology. I know…not exactly a bookkeeping background. I lived in Baltimore for about 8 years, met my husband (at an Orioles game and I don’t even like baseball). After college, I worked at the Maryland SPCA as an adoption counselor, behavior assessor, data entry specialist, vet and surgical tech, and eventually Foster Coordinator. You can see where the love of animals comes from! My husband is in biotech and his first job out of college happened to be in Frederick, so back home for me! With the big move came a big decision to switch up my career.
My mother used to be a banker, but when the banks all started eating each other, she decided to start Details Matter Bookkeeping and run her own business. I decided to follow in her footsteps and take over the business. I got my Certified Bookkeeper and QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor designations back in 2011 and worked at a local CPA firm as an administrative assistant while I was in school for that. I eventually became a bookkeeper there and worked part time doing their clients and my mom’s clients. Eventually, the CPA got bought out and all the part-timers and miscellaneous office staff were laid off. Time to finally strike out on my own! I took over Details Matter Bookkeeping full-time in 2016.
I was doing everything myself for many years, but trying to balance a business and having a family – my daughter was born in February 2017 (I do not recommend having a baby during tax season) – didn’t leave any room for growth. I decided I wanted to start building the business sometime in 2019. I spent the lockdown portion of COVID doing webinars and learning how to run my business differently. I hired my first employee in October of 2020. From there we just had an amazing, rapid year of growth in 2021 and I’m up to 4 employees now (and looking into a 5th).
It may have been a bit chaotic at first, but now we have a great system down. I have amazing ladies that back me up and work hard for their clients!
In the little free time I have, I like to do cross-stitch, read, and play video games. I also have a massive houseplant addiction, so you can see where I get those botanical vibes from. I have a big half sleeve botanical tattoo as well. I also ride a motorcycle – it’s a 2018 Indian Scout Bobber and his name is Keith. My husband and I are both great cooks, but I’m more of the baker in the family. My daughter, Alice, seems to be soaking in a lot of that, so hopefully she’ll continue the tradition. I have 2 dogs who are also my children – a 12 year old australian cattledog mutt named Rufio and a 1.5 year old german shepherd puppy named Akali. Bonus points if you have any idea where we got those names!
Ask me questions if there’s anything else you’re dying to know! I’d love to do a follow-up post someday.
Stay awesome out there!