This isn't his first rodeo.
Chad Ridner, who joined the Two Roads team in September, intimately knows the plight of many partners he speaks with on a daily basis. He's been there himself.
"I've had sleepless nights," he said. "I've had trials. I'd wonder how I'll make it tomorrow. Had I not walked through those things, I wouldn't be able to help them."
Ridner dove into the murky waters of small business in August 1998 shortly after graduating from
Lee (Tenn.) University. With a degree in an unrelated field, he began his own internet start-up at the young age of 22.
He hired his first employee over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
"I was green, and I didn't have a clue," Ridner said, "and I learned from the school of hard knocks."
After working for himself for five years, Ridner sold his company in 2003. Aside from a brief stint as a pastoral intern at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, he spent the next eight years working outside the world of small business.
But when Two Roads owner and longtime friend
Adam Slack began talking up his new bookkeeping firm, Ridner said he couldn't resist the opportunity to get back into small business.
Slack was more than happy to hire his friend.
"Chad has been invaluable," Slack said. "And that is the right word. Chad has this ability to articulate what we do to our clients. He has the ability to discern needs from potential clients and to determine whether we are a fit for those needs."
For Ridner, working at Two Roads has given him an opportunity to serve partners rather than selling a service. That has made all the difference.
"This isn't work to me," he said. "I'd do it for free if that was an option."