Meet Katy Samy George | Founder & CEO of A.S.K Tax & Business Specialists

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katy Samy George and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katy, how do you think about risk?
I believe that comfort is your worst enemy, and because taking risks pushes you out of your comfort zone, I believe that it is a necessity for growth. When you take risks you overcome your fears of the unknown, therefore, you start believing in yourself more and understanding that anything could be possible as long as you’re putting in the necessary effort and are willing to fight for it. When you get there, you become unstoppable, and that is exactly what happened with me.

As a young business owner I learned very early that “risk taking” is a crucial part of the journey to find success. To me, risk taking is all about growth, and through my experience, growth only happens when someone is forced out of their comfort zone. For those who are seeking success within their comfort zone I would like to say goodluck! The real change starts when things are rough and you’re hungry for more, the growth happens in times when you feel like giving up… and you keep telling yourself just one more day, and before you know it, when you take a look back at how far you have come and what you have learned along the way, you’ll notice that your self-efficacy grew no matter the failures you faced along the way.

I would like to say that I am truly a big believer that no meaningful change will happen in anyone’s life without taking a risk, but at the same time, there’s no sense of taking risks without doing your homework and due diligence because you would only be setting yourself up for failure. So, don’t get caught up in the hustle culture and don’t pay any mind to the fear of the unknown, think of it as an opportunity of a lifetime and understand that failure sometimes is a necessary part of the process. Always think before you act so the risk you take would be a calculated one!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Getting to where I am today was not anywhere near easy. I was originally born in Egypt and moved to the States when I was 13 years old. I still remember my little self sitting on the floor of our apartment crying in silence didn’t want to show it because I know everyone had enough on their plate, I was feeling absolutely lost and rejected not knowing how I’m going to cope with all the cultural differences, the new language, the new mindset and lifestyle and how I’m going to even fit in when everything about me was different than others. It took me years to adapt to the culture while keeping the good qualities and things I learned back home that I thought were worth keeping. I started getting out of my comfort zone and out of the cultural shock phase. Even though I didn’t have the money, the knowledge or the skills, I only had a big dream and a determined mind to push through it and become better. I started learning how to introduce myself and approach others, learning more about the “American Dream” and adapting to everyone and everything around me to the point where people used to think that I was born in the States and would get shocked when I tell them that I was born and raised somewhere else. I then started excelling in school and getting recognized in the University I went to, held a GPA of 3.9 until graduation and graduated with 5+ honors and recognitions that placed me in the top 10% category while building my business in the process of keeping up with being an A+ student. I’m now a very well educated person, driving my own car, owning a successful business at a very young age and living a dream that I didn’t know existed. Throughout the process of building from scratch, I learned a lot about myself and how I function during the highest and lowest points in life and only then, I started seeing that anything is achievable and anything is possible as long as you’re strong enough to fight for it and patient enough to wait for the outcome. I started my business when I was just offered 3 times the pay I was getting from my current employer at the time. Everyone that was close to me at the time saw how hard I worked to get to this position I was about to leave, and they told me that “it is “too risky” to leave such a secure job with guaranteed income.” They told me “it was “too risky” to start your own business at a young age.” I was 24 at the time, while a lot of people advised against it, very few were supportive but I could still see the hesitation in their eyes which I knew came from a place of love.
I’m not going to lie and say I was the strongest out there during the process, like anyone else, I came so close to my breaking point where I felt like I was pushing myself to face a challenge that as time went by, I was not too sure I can handle, I only believed in one thing, which that it can be done regardless of how hard it is. By now, you must be asking, “what stopped her from quitting?” Well, if you want to know the secret to my perseverance, I kept reminding myself of all the reasons why I wanted to be where I am today and where I want to be tomorrow and that was a constant reminder of why I cannot give up after all I have put myself through and it kept me pushing through it all. I just held on for one more day at a time until I eventually took a look back and saw how far I had pushed myself, and when I reached that point, I could never let myself quit because it would be disrespectful to myself and all the blood & tears it took to get here.

-Thankfully, I’ve learned so many lessons along the way. I’ve learned the definition of “you cannot do the same thing and expect a different result.” I looked at everyone that was trying to push me to stay in my 9-5 job (thinking that it was the safest option) and noticed that none of them were anywhere close to where I want to be in life. And that was when I learned my first lesson, which is to not listen to anyone that is not where you want to be in the future, if they knew better, they would’ve been where they dreamt to be; give them all respect for their opinions of course, but do not follow their footsteps.
-Second lesson I’ve learned was to not waste any chances.Take every chance that life throws your way, because believe it or not, all of who and where I am right now started when I accepted a very short-term job with a new business owner that offered to pay me $8/hour when I was getting $12/hour in the prior job, so I basically downgraded and I know it might seem crazy to downgrade sometimes (which is something I said I’d never do for the longest time) but I accepted less income and gained lessons and made a name for myself due to the fact that I was good at what I did and how hard I worked even when the financial reward was less than the minimum-wage at the time. I gained a lot of things that money could have never bought me. I gained the name of “The BBB” across a lot of business owners, which stood for “The Business Builder Boss” (most people did not know that I was only 21 years old at the time). Around that time small business owners used to reach out to me and ask me to work for them to help them grow their businesses because of how they saw other business owners succeed and grow after a very short period of when I started working for them. I used to get requested by name which also gave me the chance to be exposed to a variety of fields in the business industry and that’s when I ran across the accounting field and found my everlasting passion. Even though I have a science degree, which a lot of people kept pushing me to utilize, I still chose to learn more about the field of finance which captivated me and that is how I ended up to where I currently am.
And please remember all of that came because I refused to waste a chance when a lot of people voted against it and saw it as a downgrade. All of that came because I accepted an EIGHT DOLLARS per hour job!
-Other than becoming a big believer in taking every opportunity that life puts your way, I also learned that you need to be ready to build alone and don’t wait for anyone to acknowledge the effort you’re putting in, instead, have them appreciate your effort when they see your success.
-Throughout the process of growth, a lot of people will not like how serious/obsessed you are about reaching a goal which is when you will run into objections and peer pressure but what most people don’t know is that once those people separate themselves from you, your likelihood of finding success increases 10 fold and that’s when you understand that these actually were the people that anchoring you down.
-I learned that not everyone is going to be happy to see you succeed and the closest aren’t always the realest in fact they could be the most jealous and envious of how far you’ve gotten.
-I learned that the support you’re waiting for will come from strangers that just heard your name, and it will come when you least expect it so make sure to always leave no bridges burnt because you never know what the future holds or who could become a blessing addition to your life.
-I learned that negative comments and discouragements should be beneath you for you to step on them and not to place them in front of you to block your view from what you’re capable of doing.
-I learned that it is about the quality of who you surround yourself with and it is not about the quantity of people or how big your group is.
-And most importantly, I learned that whether we want to admit it or not, we become VERY similar and will most likely have a similar future to those we surround ourselves with the most. So, please do yourself a favor and choose who you become close to wisely and understand that it is okay to lose or let go of the “weight” that’s holding us back from reaching your full potential.

In terms of my business, I believe that we are unique in all we do because we put our hearts in what we do. A.S.K offers multiple services which gave us the ability to help more than 2000 clients nationwide. The quality of service we provide is a key component that set us apart and placed us among the top performing offices in the DFW area for the 2021 tax season. We also pride ourselves on our ability to bring our clients the highest legal refunds they have seen while providing seamless communication and full transparency to all of our dear clients, these are THE core values that shape how we conduct business.
At A.S.K., we are not only Tax specialists, we like to call ourselves a centralized administrative hub for all professional needs since we can also provide other major services like Payroll, LLC-Corp formations, and Notary Services.

I want the world to know that it took me so much to get here, and throughout the process I learned how to become a strong fighter. I fought my way up from nothing to something, I fight so hard for what I want to accomplish and still I fight to keep what I have already accomplished. I give my all to what I do and I will still give my heart and my all to what I believe to be meant for me.
And because I know how tough life could get since I was there too, and because I know how much small acts of kindness can make major differences, A.S.K Tax & Business Specialists offers free Tax services to those with very low income and to disadvantaged families while we make sure to get them the maximum legal refunds possible to help them out as much as we can. We also provide discounted payroll service prices for small businesses to help grow their businesses at lowest possible costs . I believe that we grow together and by helping and pushing each other to the right direction therefore, at A.S.K we are always willing to help you the best we can no matter who you are or where you come from.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Other than places to eat and drink, if my best friend was visiting for a week, I’d definitely suggest to take them to the Dallas aquarium and to Fossil Rim in Glen Rose since my love for animals is priceless and I would not waste a chance to share my love and admiration of them with people that I enjoy being around. I would also take them to museums like Perot Museum of Nature and Science and Dallas Museum of Art. I would also take them to walk around Sundance Square. When it comes to Food & drinks I’d definitely take them to Texas de Brazil, Yardbird Dallas, Dragonfly, Sanables Mediterranean Restaurant in Addison and Sky Blossom Rooftop in Dallas.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
While a lot doubted that I will be where I’m at today, there were a few who believed in me the whole way.

I would like to sincerely give the biggest thanks to my family (Samy Soliman Khalil, Emy George & Abanoub Guirguis) who were the main source of motivation behind every step I have taken.
I will also be forever thankful to my biggest supporter of all time who has also shared every step along the way, Beshoy Awad.

I would like to also thank the following people because without them I wouldn’t have had the amount of success I have had if it weren’t for them and their support.

Abanoub Guirguis: Founder & CEO of AJ Boss Limo
Beshoy Awad: Payroll Agent & ASR
Iman Antonious: Founder & ECO of Global Genesis Medical Equipment
Alex Miles: Personal Trainer, Founder & CEO of MyFit Strategy
Sergio Zapata: Entrepreneur & Credit Repair Agent
Anthony Faragalla: Entrepreneur & Credit Repair Agent
Mena Wahbaa: ESPES Award Candidate/Top Performer Real Estate Agent in KW Realty
Karam Salib: Owner & Director of Operation of 7-Eleven Franchise

Instagram: Usernames, Business: ask_tax_specialist & Personal: katy2274

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-george-987a2b17a/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katy.koky.794/