Fulling Management & Accounting

08/26/2026

Comparison is the thief of clarity.

In this clip, we dig into why business owners get stuck measuring themselves against everyone else — instead of asking the only question that actually matters: "Where am I today, and where do I want to go?"

Highlights:

🚫 Why chasing someone else's version of "success" (looking at you, Jabez😉) can quietly derail your business

🎯 The power of setting your own benchmarks — budgets, spending plans, and BHAGs (big, hairy, audacious goals)

🔭 A real story: 10+ years running a company with no clear vision — and what changed the moment that finally shifted

📈 Why vision casting isn't fluffy — it's the difference between "putting along" and real, visible growth

If you've ever felt like you're busy but not building toward anything — this one's for you. 🙌

08/25/2026

After a Rough Start, I Needed a “Do-Over”

I had one job to do. Introduce the video and hit the play button. How hard could that be?

While visiting Mukurweini, Kenya, I was asked to share leadership training with about 25 leaders—probation officers, community leaders, politicians, and pastors. Diverse group, but they had one thing in common: They were hungry to learn.

A couple of days before the event, I tested the online leadership content I planned to share. Still nothing.

The night before the event, I was still fighting with the technology. Customer support couldn't resolve it, so I found other leadership content I could access. It wasn't what I originally planned, but it was good. I went to bed exhausted, but with a plan.

The next morning, we arrived at the conference center. The internet was strong and the projector worked. Four leadership videos were queued up. We were ready.

As I was being introduced, I noticed a little message pop up on my laptop: “Critical updates and reboot to take place in 15 minutes.” I hit “postpone.”

A few minutes later: “Critical updates and reboot to take place in 10 minutes.” Postpone.

A few minutes into the first 20-minute leadership video: “Critical updates and reboot to take place in 5 minutes.” Postpone!

Five minutes later: REBOOT.

Right in the middle of an inspiring story about the first female F-14 fighter pilot, my laptop shut down. I was scrambling.

I apologized and asked what they had taken away so far.

Silence.

Then one of the leaders spoke up. “You need to slow down. We are having a hard time understanding you.”

Ouch! But also…exactly what I needed to hear.

I'd been so focused on content, technology, and making everything go according to plan that I'd missed something more important.

The people in front of me.

English wasn't the first language for many of them. I needed to slow down, listen more, and ask better questions. I'd forgotten the purpose was to connect with people.

I asked for a few minutes to reset. My friend Cliff entertained the crowd while I got everything running again.

And then…I got a Do-Over.

This time, I slowed down and leaned into curiosity. After each video, I asked questions and engaged with every person.

And something changed. The technology eventually worked. More importantly, the people connection worked. I came expecting to teach 25 leaders. Instead, I became the student.

Sometimes the most valuable feedback is someone brave enough to say, “You need to slow down.” Sometimes grace is an audience willing to give you another chance.

Leadership requires vulnerability, a willingness to hear the hard thing, and enough humility to say: “You're right. Let me try that again.”

Maybe you need a Do-Over today.

With your team.
With your business.
With your family.
With yourself.

Don't fear feedback, and don't underestimate the power of grace and a chance to try again.

Sometimes the best leadership lesson is the one that happens after you mess up.

08/21/2026

I've noticed something over the years: the business owners who are most at peace aren't the ones with the fewest problems. They're the ones who've simply stopped avoiding the truth of their numbers.

There's a quiet kind of relief that comes from finally knowing where you stand — even when the answer isn't what you hoped. It's easier to build from clarity than from guessing.

If you haven't looked closely at your financials in a while, maybe this is just a gentle nudge to make the time.

Rusty Fulling
www.fullingmgmt.com
www.rustyfulling.com

08/18/2026

He Charged Me 50 Cents. He Modeled Something Much More Valuable.

How does your luggage end up in Chicago when you're flying from Kenya to Ethiopia? Apparently, mine found a better itinerary than I did.

My luggage went missing on a recent mission trip, leaving me with a few clothes and the shoes I was wearing for the next 5 days.

My shoes had seen some things. Dusty roads. Long days. And, unfortunately, a pretty smelly pig sty. Needless to say, they were no longer exactly “meeting-ready”.

Our flight was delayed because of bad weather, so there wasn't time to go shopping for a replacement pair. And, sadly, Amazon hadn't quite figured out how to deliver in this part of the world.

I did my best to clean them. Let's just say my best wasn't very good.

The next morning, one of our hosts mentioned a street vendor who cleaned shoes just outside our hotel. I was skeptical. But what did I have to lose?

We walked down a little alley and found him sitting beside a few buckets, a wooden block and the tools of his trade. Nothing fancy.

He motioned for me to put my foot on the block. Then he got to work.

He carefully removed the laces and soaked them. He scrubbed every part of the shoe with a small brush and soapy water. He worked his way around every stain and speck of dirt. Then he switched feet.

When he was finished, he dried the laces, and carefully put them back in. I couldn't believe it. The shoes almost looked new.

The cost? About 50 cents. Needless to say, he got a much bigger tip.
But what stuck with me wasn't the price. It was the pride he took in his work.
He didn't look at those shoes and think, “It's just a 50-cent job.” He treated them like they mattered.

It reminded me of something Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said about doing whatever work you are called to do with excellence. “If your job is to be a street sweeper, you should sweep streets like Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music, doing it so well that heaven and earth must pause and say a great street sweeper lived there.”

Leadership isn't always about having a big title, leading a big team, or making big decisions.

Sometimes leadership looks like taking whatever is in front of you and doing it exceptionally well. It looks like caring when nobody is watching. It looks like taking pride in your contribution—even when the contribution seems small.

And maybe most importantly, it reminds us that there is dignity in every honest job when we choose to do it with excellence.

I walked away with clean shoes. But I got something much more valuable that morning. A reminder that you don't have to have a big platform to make a big impression.

Sometimes, you just need a bucket, a brush, and a commitment to do your work well.
Rusty Fulling

08/14/2026

One of my favorite places in Ethiopia isn't a famous landmark. In fact, I'm not even sure it shows up on a GPS. It's a small rural community called Legedadi.

Last year, I visited with the mission team from A Bright Future for Kids. Part of their mission is helping single moms become entrepreneurs so they can provide for their families. One of the women we met was a young mom named Bethlehem.

This week, I had the opportunity to return.

After a rainy morning delayed our drive, we gathered in the local church. The youth led worship, the pastor shared a message, and several members of our team encouraged the moms working so hard to build a better future.

Then we walked to Bethlehem's home.

It wasn't large. Mud-and-straw walls surrounded a simple space divided by a curtain. A tarp covered the floor, and as dozens of us squeezed inside, people sat wherever they could—on crates, blankets, water containers, or simply stood. No one complained. We just made room for one another.

It felt like home.
Then I noticed Bethlehem.

Her smile filled the room. Not because life had suddenly become easy, but because she had grown.

A year ago, I took a picture with her at the church. This time, I stood beside her and her son in the home she now provides. It wasn't a mansion, but it was theirs—a testimony to perseverance, courage, and a woman discovering she was capable of more than she once believed.

As we sat together, the women shared devotionals and updates on their businesses. Some proudly displayed handmade products they had created.

What stood out wasn't the products. It was their confidence.

These women weren't simply receiving help anymore. They were becoming leaders.

Leadership isn't about titles or corner offices. It's choosing to take responsibility for the people and opportunities God has placed in front of you.

Sometimes that means leading a company. Sometimes it's raising a child, serving a neighbor, mentoring a coworker, or simply refusing to quit when life gets hard.

Very few leaders discover their potential alone. Behind almost every courageous leader is someone who believed in them, challenged them, encouraged them, and walked beside them.

Watching Bethlehem's journey reminded me that leadership often begins long before someone sees themselves as a leader.

Who are you encouraging today? And who is encouraging you?

08/13/2026

Our team recently wrapped up a staff meeting series featuring leadership lessons from CFO Dr. Tim Naddy of the Savannah Bananas. We spent time discussing culture, authentic leadership, ex*****on, character, and the importance of protecting joy in the workplace. These conversations reminded us that when you invest in people first, great things follow—for your team, your clients, and your business. We're excited to continue putting these lessons into action! Check out this blog post to read more!

Over the past several staff meetings, our team has had the opportunity to learn from CFO Dr. Tim Naddy, CFO for the Savannah Bananas. His leadership series challenged us to think differently about culture, leadership, and what truly drives long-term business success. One message stood out throughou

08/12/2026

The Difference Between Financial Statements and Financial Clarity

Before I started Fulling Management & Accounting back in 2000, I worked for a local CPA firm.

The work looked a lot like what many accounting firms still do today.

Close the books.
Print the reports.
Deliver them to the client.
Repeat.

The financial statements were accurate. The work was solid. But I often wondered how many of those reports ended up sitting in a drawer... or finding their way into the shredder.

Not because they weren't important. Because they weren't bringing clarity.

Over time, something kept nagging at me. Business owners didn't just need someone to tell them what happened last month.

They needed someone to help them understand what the numbers were saying, what questions to ask, and what decisions to make next.

That led us to start Fulling Management & Accounting and begin providing Fractional CFO services, even before outsourcing CFO services was popular.

The fun part is that we’re still evolving today.

Our goal has never been to produce more reports. Our goal is to create more IMPACT.

To help business owners see around corners, improve cash flow, make confident decisions, and sleep better at night because they understand their business.

That's the difference between having financial statements......and having financial clarity.

One tells you where you've been. The other helps you decide where you're going.

So here's my question:

When you receive your financial reports each month, do they change the way you lead your business—or do they simply confirm what already happened?

Rusty Fulling
www.fullingmgmt.com
www.rustyfulling.com

08/11/2026

Don't Grow Out of Being Curious

While traveling through Dandora, Kenya, I was called “Mzungu” quite a bit. It means “white person.”
I never found it offensive. In fact, it was funny at times. It was simply how the kids—and sometimes the adults—identified someone who looked very different from them walking into their neighborhood.

The kids were curious. Some would stand back and stare at me for a while. I could almost see the questions running through their heads.

Who is this guy? Why is he here? and Why is he so white?

Eventually, a few would get brave enough to come closer. I'd smile at them, and most of the time I'd get a huge grin in return. I'd reach out my hand, and I'd get a handshake or a high five.

Some of the kids would grab my hand and start rubbing it. I’m pretty sure they were checking to see if the white would come off.

Others discovered the hair on my forearms and thought that was equally fascinating. They would run their little fingers through it, probably wondering why this strange Mzungu had so much hair on his arms when theirs were completely smooth.

What struck me most wasn't just how funny those moments were. It was how quickly curiosity broke down the distance between us.

Most of these kids didn't speak fluent English. We couldn't have a deep conversation about life, leadership or the differences between our cultures. But that didn't seem to matter.

A smile was enough. A high five was enough. A silly picture was enough. A hug was enough.
Before long, some were walking down the road holding my hand.

And I started wondering if we adults sometimes make things harder than they need to be. When we encounter someone who doesn't look like us, come from the same neighborhood, share our background, or live the way we do, our first instinct can sometimes be extreme caution.

Kids seem to have a different instinct.
Curiosity.
What if we approached people that way a little more often?

Instead of keeping our distance, we got curious. Instead of deciding what someone is like based on what we can see, we took the time to discover their story.

Leadership author and speaker Dan Owolabi describes leadership with three simple words: Listen. Learn. Love.

I think those words work pretty well outside of leadership, too. You can't listen well from a distance. You don't learn much when you've already decided you know the answer. And it's hard to love people you haven't taken the time to understand.

The kids in Dandora reminded me that sometimes the simplest way to build a bridge with another person is to stop worrying about the differences and simply take one step closer.

Smile. Reach out your hand. Get curious. And see what happens.
You might get a high five. You might get a hug. You might make a new friend.

Or, if you're really lucky, someone might rub your hand to see if the white comes off. 😄

Maybe curiosity is one of the things we shouldn't have to grow out of.
-Rusty

08/11/2026

About 10 years into building Fulling Management & Accounting, I hit a wall.

From outside, everything looked good.

Revenue was growing.
We had great clients.
Our team was expanding.
By most definitions, the business was successful. But I wasn't.

I wasn't burned out because I was working too many hours. I was burned out because I'd lost sight of why I was working so hard.

My personal growth had flattened out.

I was leading from habit instead of purpose. Solving problems. Chasing the next goal. Checking the next box. Every day felt like another lap around the same track.

One day, a friend asked me a question.

""What if this isn't just a business? What if it's your calling?""

That resonated. I had been measuring success simply by revenue, clients, and company growth.

But God had been measuring something entirely different. He had entrusted us with people.

People on our team who would become better leaders, spouses, parents, and followers of Christ because of the culture we created.

Business owners carrying the weight of payroll, cash flow, and uncertainty who simply needed someone to walk alongside them and help them find clarity.

Families whose futures would be impacted because a business leader made wiser financial decisions.

That was the moment Fulling Management & Accounting stopped being a business I owned and became a calling I steward.

Ironically, when that changed, the business grew too. Not because we chased growth harder.

Because purpose has a way of bringing energy back to places where performance alone never could.

Today, I still care deeply about healthy financials, profitable businesses, and sustainable growth.

But those things are no longer the destination.

They're the vehicle. The destination is helping leaders get clarity, grow their profits, and gain peace of mind so they can make a greater impact with what they've been entrusted.

If you've been feeling burned out lately, maybe it's not because you've lost your capacity.

Maybe you've just lost your connection to your purpose.

What's one moment that reminded you WHY you do what you do?

Rusty Fulling

08/07/2026

"You can't steward what you don't understand."

That statement from Alex Judd really resonated with me.

I see it every week with business owners. They're passionate about serving customers and leading their teams, but many are making important decisions without fully understanding what their numbers are telling them.

The result? Uncertainty, cash flow stress, and reactive decisions.

At Fulling Management & Accounting, we help business owners understand the story behind their numbers through Fractional CFO and Accounting services.

Our mission is simple:

Get Clarity. Grow Profits. Gain Peace of Mind.

If Alex's message resonates with you and you've been looking for greater confidence in your financial decisions, we'd love to connect and explore how we can help.