Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Epps.
Hi Courtney, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started in accounting about 19 years ago, and for a while, things were really good. I had a thriving practice with thousands of clients. Then I hit some cash flow issues and made the decision to sell my business. The buyer stopped paying me after just four months. I woke up $250,000 in debt, under a five-year non-compete in the entire state of South Carolina, and raising six kids. In 2013, my practice brought in $9,090 for the whole year. I wasn’t just broke. I was broken.
My parents introduced me to network marketing when I had nothing left. I couldn’t even afford the $365 sign-up fee. But I showed up, started helping people in the industry with their taxes, and things began to shift. One of my first clients was a couple who hadn’t even found success yet, but I saved them $4,100 more than they’d ever received simply because they became business owners. That moment confirmed everything I believed.
Then I went to a Tony Robbins event I honestly could not afford. Something he said cracked me wide open, and I walked out with one decision. Accounting was my superpower and it was time to go all in. No more distractions.
Today OTB Tax serves nearly 3,000 clients, it’s a multi-million dollar company, we have never spent a single dollar on advertising, and my children work alongside me every single day. I started this trying to survive. Now we are building a legacy.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has definitely not been smooth. Growing a business is hard and lonely but worth it. Nine years ago, we were almost homeless trying to figure out how we were going to make it, and year after year, we worked harder and smarter. It got better and better. We are so blessed to be where we are today.
Cash flow was definitely a struggle in the beginning. Not being able to get a loan or credit cards due to past history and little credit made every decision feel heavy. I remember having $429 in my bank account and $30 in cash, wondering if we were going to make it or end up on the street. Those were real moments, not dramatic ones.
Finding time was another battle entirely. Doing all of the work, the training, the hiring, and the doing while raising seven kids was overwhelming at times.
And honestly, the hardest struggle was internal. When you fail publicly and lose everything, the fear of failing again is paralyzing. Rebuilding belief in yourself takes longer than rebuilding a business. But every hard season shaped how I now show up for our 3,000 clients. I understand what it feels like to fight for your financial life, and that’s exactly why I do this work.
.
We’ve been impressed with OTB Tax, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
OTB Tax is a full-service tax strategy firm based in Greer, South Carolina, and we have been doing this for 19 years. What we do goes way beyond filing a return. We specialize in high-end tax strategy, business structure, and working with entrepreneurs, business owners, network marketers, and high earners who are ready to stop leaving money on the table.
What we are known for is finding money other accountants miss. 90% of businesses overpay in taxes, and most of them have no idea. We find that business owners are typically overpaying anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 a year. That is $5,000 to $25,000 directly out of their pocket that they should have kept.
What sets us apart is strategy first. In the strategy process, we are reviewing even prior year returns to find deductions and structure that was not done properly. We want to help our clients every dollar of their money that we can.
What I am most proud of is that we have gone back and freed up over 25 million dollars in taxes for business owners. That represents real families keeping real money. Every client we have ever served came through referrals and through my speaking and teaching, because this was never just about tax preparation.
What I want readers to know is this. It is not about how much money you make. It is about how much you keep. The tax code was written to reward business owners, and my job is to make sure you are positioned to benefit from it.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
f there is one quality that has driven everything for me, it is grit. Pure, stubborn, refuse-to-quit grit. When you have been $250,000 in debt, raising kids, and not being able to afford bankruptcy, you do not have the luxury of giving up. You just keep going because stopping is not an option.
But I would say it is grit married to purpose. The determination alone would have burned me out. What kept me going was knowing that what I was doing actually mattered, that every person I helped keep more of their money was a family that got to breathe a little easier. That is what made the grind worth it.
Here is how I might word it for the question: The quality I believe has been most important to my success is grit driven by purpose. I have been knocked down more than once, and every single time, I got back up because I knew what I was fighting for. It was never just about building a business. It was about proving that you can lose everything and still build something extraordinary, and then helping others believe the same about themselves.
Pricing:
- $99 Tax Strategy session at otbtax.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.otbtax.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtneyeppstax/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/courtney.epps.2025
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneyepps/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@otbtax-courtneyepps8107
