From High School Dropout to COO and Partner: Layla Ebersole's Journey at On Call Restaurant Accounting

🎙️ From High School Dropout to COO and Partner: Layla Ebersole's Journey Building On Call Restaurant AccountingLayla Ebersole, Partner and COO at On Call Restaurant Accounting in Denver, shares her journey from a rough upbringing that led her to drop out of high school at 16 and start working full time, through a Craigslist data entry job at a restaurant accounting firm she almost overlooked, to becoming a partner and COO during an acquisition that doubled the firm's reach to over 400 restaurant clients across the country.✨ Key Insights You'll Learn:Started at OCRA in a data entry role posting paper invoices 12 hours a week and learned every piece of the business on the job without formal education or accounting trainingDomain expertise in restaurants is the firm's core differentiator because every staff member has some form of hospitality background and understands what operators actually face on the floorClosing books weekly rather than monthly allows clients to catch problems like a contracted vendor quietly raising prices before they snowball into a prime cost disaster months laterPrime cost, the combination of food cost and labor, is the single most important number for restaurant operators to control and where most financial problems first appearThe fractional CFO service added through the Multiply Group acquisition creates a referral loop where bookkeeping clients get advisory access and CFO clients get clean books to work fromFine dining and quick service are both holding up in early 2026 while the middle tier of casual dining continues to struggle as guests either trade up for the experience or down for valueRestaurant 365 is the exclusive software platform OCRA uses because it consolidates bookkeeping, inventory, payroll, scheduling, and vendor integrations into one system that reduces tech stack complexity for clientsThe most common mistake new clients make is believing that a positive bank balance means the books are fine, while vendor pricing errors and unreported tips quietly erode margins in the backgroundThe book Getting to Zero transformed how she handles conflict on her team by helping her distinguish between problems worth addressing and situations that simply are not a good fit🌟 Layla's Key Mentors:Father: Raised three kids alone as a single parent while her mother battled addiction, modeling relentless work ethic and doing the best with the tools available under genuinely hard circumstancesMark Rubinstein (Founder and Partner, OCRA): Consistently pushed her toward the next uncomfortable thing, refused to make calls she needed to make herself, and sent a career-defining text before she walked into an imposter syndrome conference sessionLeadership Certificate Program Peers: Validated her hands-on management style through real comparison and gave her formal language for approaches she had already developed through experienceMultiply Group Partners: Built a trusted relationship over time that made the acquisition feel natural rather than forced, expanding OCRA's capabilities without disrupting its culture18-Year-Old Friend's Daughter👉 Don't miss this conversation about learning to love education after dropping out, why weekly bookkeeping saves restaurants more than monthly ever could, and how a data entry job on Craigslist became an 11-year journey to partner.🔗 Connect with Layla Ebersole:Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: Layla Ebersole Company: On Call Restaurant Accounting Website: OCRA-us.com📄 Transcript Available: From High School Dropout to COO and Partner: Layla Ebersole's Journey at On Call Restaurant Accounting📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com