Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in decisions but flying blind when it comes to your finances? You are not alone!
In this episode of Business by The Books, Danielle sits down with returning guest and longtime client Nico Misleh, a nurse practitioner and the founder of Apollo Health Optimization and HRT University, who went from overwhelmed and unsure to confidently hiring, scaling, and even launching a second business. Together, Danielle and Nico explore how understanding your numbers doesn’t just change your strategy, it changes your mindset.
Key Takeaways:
- Financial Clarity Creates Emotional Freedom: When Nico finally understood his business numbers, he felt lighter and more confident, replacing stress and confusion with calm and control.
- The Right Money Team Can Change Everything: Having a financial partner who communicates clearly and cares personally gave Nico the tools and trust to grow without fear.
- You Don’t Have to Be a “Numbers Person” to Run a Financially Strong Business: Even if spreadsheets make you squirm, the right guidance can help you see your finances as a roadmap, not a mystery.
- Confidence in Your Numbers Leads to Smarter Decisions: From knowing when to hire to launching a second business, data-backed decisions gave Nico the courage to expand strategically.
- Relationships and Support Matter As Much As Reports: Entrepreneurship can be lonely, but having a team that celebrates, strategizes, and supports your vision makes all the difference.
Topics Discussed:
(00:00) Intro: Nico’s Background and Entrepreneur Story
(03:24) From Financial Frustration to Freedom: The Struggle to Find the Right Accountant and How Finding Kickstart Accounting Changed Everything
(07:03) Confidence Through Clarity: How Understanding His Numbers Helped Nico Hire Confidently and Scale Sustainably
(10:14) Mindset & Support: The Intangible Benefits of Working with the Right Money Team and the Kickstart Accounting Difference
(15:03) Future Focused Decisions: How Knowing Your Numbers Allows You to Plan Ahead and Achieve Goals
(16:53) Outro: What’s Next for Nico + Like, Share and Subscribe!
Resources:
Nico’s First Appearance | Pay Attention To Your Health, Conquer Scarcity Mindset, & Functional Medicine with Nico Misleh – Ep 148
Connect with Nico:
Apollo Health Optimization | https://apollohealthop.com/
HTR University | https://hrtuniversity.com/
Book a Call with Kickstart Accounting, Inc.:
https://kickstartaccountinginc.com/book-a-call/
Connect with Kickstart Accounting, Inc.:
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/Kickstartaccounting
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@businessbythebooks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/kickstartaccountinginc
Episode Transcript
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;28;00
Danielle Hayden
Do you ever feel like you're drowning in decisions but flying totally blind when it comes to your finances? Seriously guys, you are not alone. Today, I'm talking to one of my longtime clients and friends, Nico. Nico is a business owner who went from overwhelmed and unsure to confidently hiring, scaling, and even launching a second business. We're breaking down how clarity with your numbers can shift
00;00;28;00 - 00;00;36;04
Danielle Hayden
not just your strategy, but your mindset too. Let's jump right into my conversation with Nico.
00;00;36;07 - 00;00;38;07
Danielle Hayden
Nico, welcome back to the podcast.
00;00;38;12 - 00;00;40;17
Nico Misleh
Thank you, Danielle. Always a pleasure to be here with you.
00;00;40;20 - 00;00;50;28
Danielle Hayden
I know you are a returning guest, but for folks who have not met you yet, can you share a little bit about who you are, what your businesses do, and who you serve?
00;00;51;04 - 00;01;13;12
Nico Misleh
Absolutely. So again, my name is Nico Misleh. I am a family nurse practitioner by trade. It's a, it's a gift from God. And I love everything that I do. I am very fortunate. I have two businesses, so I own, Apollo Health Optimization, which is our, medical clinic. We are completely virtual telehealth right now in the state of Ohio and Kentucky,
00;01;13;14 - 00;01;34;22
Nico Misleh
and we serve male and female patients who are in need of primarily hormone replacement therapy, which has just been an amazing niche that we've discovered, and grown into. So, again, your men who are suffering from low testosterone, your females in perimenopause and menopause, even our younger patients who maybe struggle with fertility and things of that nature.
00;01;34;24 - 00;01;58;23
Nico Misleh
So that's just been a real treat. The other business, which is more or less new, so to speak, we just started that. Gosh, officially we started in September and we just launched our first product. That business is called HRT University. So, a couple of years ago, I started training and teaching other medical providers, primarily nurse practitioners,
00;01;58;23 - 00;02;15;29
Nico Misleh
but medical providers at large, how to do what I do, which is hormone replacement therapy for men and women. Both on kind of the clinical side and even the business side of things, too, which is really exciting. So, we put out our course, it's called the HRT University Master Course, and it is like this A to Z
00;02;16;01 - 00;02;18;12
Nico Misleh
how do you do hormones as a medical provider?
00;02;18;13 - 00;02;19;06
Danielle Hayden
So needed.
00;02;19;06 - 00;02;37;15
Nico Misleh
Prescribe them. Yeah, it's it's amazing. So it's really cool. You know we, it was like, I tell people it was like getting my PhD. It was like a thesis, like, I have all these studies and I wrote hundreds of pages, and then my wonderful, amazing employee, Emily, she put them all on these beautiful slides, and we recorded and video edited and all this stuff.
00;02;37;15 - 00;02;52;16
Nico Misleh
So it’s this really amazing package that we can provide now. And we, again, officially launch that like end of April. And it is just exploding, which is awesome. And so now I'm juggling two businesses, which I never thought I would do in my entire life.
00;02;52;18 - 00;03;11;09
Danielle Hayden
That's really exciting and what you do in the world is absolutely amazing and needed. I know we went further into your story and some of the issues with our healthcare system in your last episode, so I'm going to link that in the in the show notes. As a woman who has needed those resources in both my life and my daughter's life,
00;03;11;10 - 00;03;12;05
Danielle Hayden
you have been a godsend.
00;03;12;09 - 00;03;13;29
Nico Misleh
Well, thank you. I appreciate that.
00;03;14;04 - 00;03;35;29
Danielle Hayden
Absolutely. So I wanted to focus on how you use your numbers today and how you use them to make business decisions. But, I want to rewind first. So before you started working with us here at Kickstart, what were some of the biggest challenges and frustrations that you were experiencing when it came to managing your business finances?
00;03;36;02 - 00;03;55;05
Nico Misleh
Well, it's a great, it's such a good question. First of all, I couldn't even take credit for managing any of my business finances because I, I don't and you don't want, you really don't want me touching that stuff. I was very fortunate to marry way up. And my wife, Cherrell, really manages a lot of that stuff, and she's amazing.
00;03;55;07 - 00;04;14;04
Nico Misleh
And she's actually very, very good at it. I think in her past life, she was probably a CPA, but, it was totally new to us. You know, we, you know, got into the QuickBooks stuff pretty quickly, which is, you know, pretty, pretty straightforward to some degree. But if you just don't know what you're looking at in terms of business numbers, it's still meaningless.
00;04;14;06 - 00;04;32;24
Nico Misleh
So we pretty quickly recognized, like, okay, we need an accountant, and a bookkeeper also. Both of those things were super new to us. I mean, we've always done TurboTax beforehand. And, you know, we never owned a business in our life. So the accountants that we would meet are, I guess you would just say, the most stereotypical accountants.
00;04;32;24 - 00;04;48;12
Nico Misleh
They're quiet. Yeah. They're a little weird. They're pretty good at numbers. And I always told people you would meet them and they'd kind of, like, give you the whole schtick of, like, so what we're going to do and we do your taxes here and there. And we would feel pretty confident after meeting with them. Okay,
00;04;48;12 - 00;05;06;12
Nico Misleh
that sounds great. And immediately after kind of signing on with them, they would just, like, ghost us and it would just be like pulling teeth to, like, try to get someone on the phone or like, answer an email. You know, do I owe taxes this quarter or like, do I owe them at the end of the year? How much am I making?
00;05;06;16 - 00;05;24;02
Nico Misleh
You know, all these burning questions that we had as new business owners. And I always joked it would it would be like, you know, the week before our taxes are due and they're reaching out to us like Nico, we need 500 documents and all these different things, and you're behind. It was so stressful. So I went through that like, I think in one year,
00;05;24;02 - 00;05;51;06
Nico Misleh
no joke, I think in one year, we went through maybe three accountants and bookkeepers. All also were, by the way, like highly referred to us and it got us questioning, like, are we just like those people who, like, can't handle our stuff and like, maybe we're the problem. You know, it literally became that. And I remember thinking, if this is the way it's going to go, like, I don't know if I'm going to be able to enjoy my business.
00;05;51;06 - 00;06;10;23
Nico Misleh
And it was becoming that. We were really fortunate because we were doing really well pretty quickly, early on in the clinic, so to speak. And, you know, I just remember thinking, we have got to find a way out of this. And basically another nurse practitioner who I didn't really know that well was like in a Facebook group was like, hey, I work with like, this Kickstart Accounting team.
00;06;10;23 - 00;06;28;04
Nico Misleh
They're in Ohio. I think you guys are in Ohio. You should check them out. And it was like immediately love at first sight. Like, I remember looking on your website and just being enamored with this idea of like, oh my gosh, you're basically doing this kind of amazing, almost like a concierge type of accounting business. Kind of similar to my business.
00;06;28;04 - 00;06;51;17
Nico Misleh
Like, it's monthly payments and it’s really reasonable monthly payments. I get apparently like my own accountant and I get to like, talk with her whenever I want, email her and, we hopped on with Aubrey, who's like this little beautiful angel who just, like, comes down and blesses you with all these amazing personality. Anyways, it was just such a, such a different feeling.
00;06;51;19 - 00;07;03;03
Nico Misleh
I remember Cherrell and I just praying like please make, please make this a thing. Like, make this real. Don't make this like a, just a dream. And, it was everything we could have ever wanted it. Really.
00;07;03;05 - 00;07;14;03
Danielle Hayden
What are some of the specific things that you've been able to do because you have access to your numbers and that data being sent to you on a regular basis?
00;07;14;04 - 00;07;34;07
Nico Misleh
Yeah, I think I can--I'm coming at this from a not numbers guy--what I feel is emotions and the psychology around money and numbers. One of the things I, I mean, I grew up, seriously, I am not a math guy. I don't really care for numbers that much. They kind of freak me out, to be honest with you.
00;07;34;07 - 00;07;43;04
Nico Misleh
I think I told you, Danielle, like, you know, I'm the kind of guy who just like, if you just save your money and you never look at it and you never touch it, you'll be fine. And that's a terrible way to do business.
00;07;43;07 - 00;07;45;27
Danielle Hayden
It's a strategy.
00;07;45;29 - 00;08;09;25
Nico Misleh
But, you know, I felt really uncomfortable with it. And when I joined, one of the first things I noticed was I just feel better. I felt lighter, and I think it was because I had this very objective data, which is numbers, but also someone to actually describe those to me in detail and also not make me feel like an idiot and actually help me to understand them.
00;08;09;25 - 00;08;23;25
Nico Misleh
And if I didn't understand them, they would just, you know, my amazing accountant, Sara, she would just continue to say, hey Nico, okay, let me describe it this way. And she'd give these amazing analogies and, even just her telling me, Nico, we're good. I promise you, we’re good. This is okay. This looks great.
00;08;23;28 - 00;08;25;02
Danielle Hayden
It's okay.
00;08;25;05 - 00;08;50;28
Nico Misleh
It was amazing. It was so great. So again, even from just the psychology and emotional side of things, just there was this weight off my chest. But from a numbers perspective, I mean, Saraand the whole team, you know, really helped us identify where our strong points, where our kind of weaker points. Hey, Nico, we know you just started, so, like, we can't say a whole lot of stuff on this end or that end, but we can tell you that you're doing great here.
00;08;51;00 - 00;09;12;01
Nico Misleh
I remember one of the, one of the most important things that Sara helped us do, our accountant with you guys at Kickstart, was to recognize that we could totally pay for a new hire. We desperately needed a receptionist. I was, I was, like, functionally drowning is what I would call it. Like, take gasps of air.
00;09;12;06 - 00;09;30;13
Nico Misleh
And, again, I'm the kind of guy I was like, we'll be fine. We'll just put our head down, and my wife was like, you're about to die. I'm about to die. We have to change something. And, you know, well, let's just ask Sara. And I just remember it being such an easy conversation of, like, Nico, you're doing amazing.
00;09;30;16 - 00;09;47;22
Nico Misleh
Look at this. You could totally afford to hire someone at exactly this much. How much you want to pay her? Well, I'd like to pay for her this much. Okay, great. You could totally do that. Look, you'd be fine for, like, the next 6 to 8 months. If you did that, you'll be totally fine. That was so reassuring, because, again, in my head, I'm just like, I'm gonna hire this person, and I'm,
00;09;47;22 - 00;10;01;19
Nico Misleh
we're gonna run out of money in two weeks, and the whole place is going to go under. So just super actionable bits like that were imperative because we doubled our growth literally after that hire to which is now, again, like, I would have never suspected that.
00;10;01;22 - 00;10;24;00
Danielle Hayden
The stories we tell ourselves around spending money is incredible. We are our own worst enemy and limiting belief, holding our businesses back. 1,000%, yeah. What are some of the other results or changes that you've seen in your business, and maybe this is even around starting your second business and what that was like?
00;10;24;02 - 00;10;48;12
Nico Misleh
That's a good question. I think again, I listened to a couple different mentors of mine very, very closely, and one of them always said the most important person in your business is your accountant. And I was like, that's interesting. I've never, I've never heard that before. And the way he described it was mostly like, look, at the end of the day, this is just a numbers game to some degree.
00;10;48;12 - 00;11;04;25
Nico Misleh
I mean, there's emotion and psychology behind it, but when you really are able to kind of put those aside a little bit, you can really start making very strategic decisions and moves that, you know, they don't have to feel like a gamble. I think that's what most people assume is like, oh, going into business, just like you might as well
00;11;04;25 - 00;11;22;20
Nico Misleh
just like, I don't wanna play the lottery or gamble. It's actually pretty scientific in a lot of ways. And when you really understand those numbers, you can make some very calculated decisions. And like anything else, of course we can have pandemics and all kinds of crazy stuff happen, but at the end of the day, you know, the numbers are still the numbers.
00;11;22;22 - 00;11;39;18
Nico Misleh
And so when we started with you guys and, and just recognized, first of all, how freeing it was for us to just, hey, like, we can just go work and do my thing and get clients in the door. I know that my bookkeeping and accounting is being done because I get these amazing graphs and charts every single month from my accountant.
00;11;39;18 - 00;12;06;06
Nico Misleh
And, again, it kind of breeds confidence into like, okay, so starting another business wouldn't even be challenging. In fact, it could be really rewarding because I already know exactly what to expect here. And I know exactly what numbers we were looking at and tracking, whether it's my profit and loss or, you know, my overall profit margins or, hey, like breaking down with services like, what are you selling a lot of?
00;12;06;06 - 00;12;24;18
Nico Misleh
And like, what is something that's just totally, you know, eating you alive and you can just get rid of? I think those were invaluable to me. Again, just having the confidence and the capability to even feel confident knowing I can't start another business. I have the money to do this. All of that I just thought was super special.
00;12;24;21 - 00;12;44;07
Danielle Hayden
I love that you were able to start your second business with more information and more empowerment. I think when we don't understand the data or how numbers play into the game of business, it can hold us back from pursuing the next level of whatever it is that we want to go after.
00;12;44;09 - 00;13;03;11
Nico Misleh
I couldn't agree more. I mean, it really, again, you're kind of speaking to the psychology of everything, right? Which is I think a lot of people just ignore that or don't recognize that. But really, once you can face the numbers and the reality, it, it does kind of just have this freeing, you know, capacity to it, I guess.
00;13;03;14 - 00;13;17;21
Danielle Hayden
Yeah. If you had to pick one thing that's been the most valuable part of working with Kickstart and having the bookkeeping being completed for you, with the Snapshot being sent to you each month, like, what is the most valuable piece of having that in place?
00;13;17;23 - 00;13;42;09
Nico Misleh
I mean, I would--I mean, I think I've spoken to a lot of the deliverables, which are stellar. I mean, again, I think a lot of people are looking for that. They're looking for timely accounting and bookkeeping. Always we're looking for that. We're looking for, you know, these monthly reports that were promised and they're always on time and, you know, we're looking for timely messaging back and forth if it is around tax season
00;13;42;09 - 00;14;05;19
Nico Misleh
and we've got a burning question. But I would say that at the end of the day, what we're all looking for is that transformation. Because, you know, the tangible goods and services and stuff are amazing, and certainly those add to it. But again, I'm a relationships guy and I think most of us are too to some degree. We can talk again about the emotions.
00;14;05;21 - 00;14;25;25
Nico Misleh
We're humans. Yeah. We just need that. And you spoken to this well about your own team. And I think that speaks volumes about your own business. But Kickstart has always been, a team where we are, we are a active part of each other's lives, you know, in a very real sense. Like our accountant, Sara, we know her.
00;14;25;25 - 00;14;57;08
Nico Misleh
We love her. Like, we know if we ask her question, it doesn't matter what it is, she's going to get back to us. And, she's gonna have a really great response. We have an amazing relationship with Aubrey, and, like, working with her has been just a dream. And, you know, I think, again, that transformation of going from not confident, scared, worried, concerned to like, confident, feeling prepared, feeling motivated to really pursue more is, it's unbelievable.
00;14;57;08 - 00;15;00;05
Nico Misleh
And I think that is the difference with working with you guys.
00;15;00;08 - 00;15;02;07
Danielle Hayden
I love that. Thank you for sharing all that. I really appreciate it.
00;15;02;09 - 00;15;02;26
Nico Misleh
Absolutely.
00;15;03;01 - 00;15;08;08
Danielle Hayden
Is there anything else that you'd love to share about your experience or anything that we haven't touched on yet?
00;15;08;10 - 00;15;29;04
Nico Misleh
You know, I think for me, again, one of the things that I personally value a lot outside of even the relationship is, is the kind of like looking forward to the future sort of thing. I, I've always appreciated that with, with Kickstart. Even Sara has always been able to kind of help us vision out things. “Okay,
00;15;29;07 - 00;15;49;26
Nico Misleh
you're making this much now, what is that gonna look like in six months? What are you guys planning on doing in six months? Like, again, actively taking a role in the business itself rather than just, like, here are your numbers, Nico, and then they leave. It's like, here are your numbersm, what are your thoughts? Here's my thoughts. Are you planning on hiring someone in the next six months?
00;15;49;26 - 00;16;12;00
Nico Misleh
Are you planning on firing someone in the next six months? What are you guys planning on doing? So that, again, this doesn't have to feel like, a chore or a surprise six months down the road. Like, we can kind of, again, create some vision and landscape to your business. Rather than it just feeling like, again, a very sterile relationship or sense of like, yeah, here's your numbers,
00;16;12;05 - 00;16;14;25
Nico Misleh
we'll talk about them some other time. Who cares? See you later.
00;16;14;28 - 00;16;17;17
Danielle Hayden
I call those coaching questions, coaching opportunities,
00;16;17;17 - 00;16;19;01
Nico Misleh
you know? Yeah, great way to put it.
00;16;19;01 - 00;16;46;07
Danielle Hayden
You know, we don't need anyone to present financial statements to us. Yeah, the Snapshot is helpful to guide a conversation. However, it's a guide. It's more about talking to, talking to your client, talking to your bookkeeper about business and how it actually impacts the decision. So I'm glad to hear that is valuable. And I think at the end of the day, entrepreneurship is lonely.
00;16;46;09 - 00;16;53;03
Danielle Hayden
And to be able to have a team to celebrate, to commiserate, to think through things with, that's really the gold.
00;16;53;06 - 00;16;53;25
Nico Misleh
Absolutely.
00;16;53;27 - 00;17;04;04
Danielle Hayden
What's next? You have you have two business; are we are we opening up a third? Where's your focus today? Are you hiring? Where are we going?
00;17;04;04 - 00;17;27;07
Nico Misleh
We're actively--Well, we, we’re practically done with the hiring process for Apollo. So the clinic is is kind of moving in a direction which I've, you know, been hoping and praying for for a long time, which is now, you know, opening, opening the doors up to other nurse practitioners who want to work and also help a lot of the patients that we've accumulated over the years, which is amazing and super exciting.
00;17;27;07 - 00;17;48;28
Nico Misleh
So, that also just gives me a little more breathing room to pursue, very heavily the education side of things. I've always loved teaching and educating, and the more and more I've stepped into it fully, I think, you know, we all have those callings and it just, it just feels more and more certain every day that I, that I pursue it.
00;17;49;00 - 00;18;13;12
Nico Misleh
And, I quickly recognized that I just didn't have the time between the two businesses. And, you know, it is now this game of, okay, you know, the growing pains are occurring in the sense of like, I've got to make this really big decision around Apollo. I'm a control freak. I love my patients. I don't, you know, I don't want to see anything terrible happen to the business or, you know, my clients and all that sort of stuff.
00;18;13;14 - 00;18;41;00
Nico Misleh
And again, it’s just so helpful to have a team, like you said, you know, whether my wife, my receptionist, my accountant and bookkeeper, like, all those people, matters so much. And so I felt really confident finally, like, okay, I think we're in a really good position here. And yeah, so the next really, I've said the next several years, I'm just going to sink my teeth into, HRT University and, and grow, grow, grow and see what happens there.
00;18;41;02 - 00;18;54;11
Danielle Hayden
Alright, awesome. Well, we will be here, celebrating and cheering you on. And I love that you're able to be a resource for so many other business owners. And we'll continue to make sure that our community knows about your education.
00;18;54;13 - 00;19;17;26
Nico Misleh
Same to you guys. You guys have been, again, I can't imagine and I can't imagine doing any of this without you guys. And I've had so many amazing friends and colleagues who have, you know, been in very similar situations to me and honestly, even colleagues who've been business owners for 5 or 10 years and they have finally crossed over to the light side and joined with you guys, and they just speak so highly.
00;19;17;26 - 00;19;26;22
Nico Misleh
Anyways, it's really a remarkable feat because it's not an easy chore to do accounting and bookkeeping all day long, and you guys just do it flawlessly.
00;19;26;26 - 00;19;28;08
Danielle Hayden
Thank you. Appreciate you being here.
00;19;28;11 - 00;19;31;08
Nico Misleh
Absolutely. Thank you, Danielle.
00;19;31;10 - 00;19;57;06
Danielle Hayden
I hope you enjoyed today's episode of Business by The Books. Don't forget to hit like and subscribe! This is the number one way we can help other entrepreneurs find this podcast, because here at Kickstart Accounting, Inc., it is our mission to help entrepreneurs understand their numbers, get access to this information, and grow and thrive in their business. So please help me, help other entrepreneurs understand their numbers
00;19;57;08 - 00;20;18;21
Danielle Hayden
so they can finally grow and thrive.