Who Is Your Family CPA?
Born in Jackson, Alabama and raised in Indian Ridge, Jasmine is the founder and managing principal of Southern Heritage Financial Group, a CPA firm she established in 2014 in efforts to spread financial literacy around the globe. Jasmine graduated as the salutatorian of the Clarke County High School Class of 2009. She continued her studies receiving a Bachelors of Science in Accounting from the prestigious Alabama A&M University in May 2013. Jasmine went on to further her studies by obtaining her Masters of Business Administration degree from Grantham University in August 2016.
Jasmine had a desire from a young age to have a global accounting firm. To embark on that journey, she moved to Atlanta, GA, became a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Public Accountant licensed by the Georgia State Board of Accountancy. Jasmine has over 11 years of experience in government accounting and auditing; she also has ten years of experience in public accounting, which she gained through her very own firm while simultaneously working for the federal government.
A keynote speaker and advocate for financial literacy and empowerment integrating mindset, finance, and leadership to help the everyday person replace limiting beliefs with research‑informed money practices, Jasmine is also an author having released two self-published planners, Financial Wellness Planner: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Literacy and The Bottom Line: The Entrepreneurial Financial Planner, and two e-books, “Clear to Close” and “Money Mindset.”
Jasmine is a 2020 recipient of the Top 100 Global Leaders in Finance Award which was conferred on June 28, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Global Conference for Insurance and Finance. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and was acknowledged in HBCU Magazine’s October 2023 issue as one of the Top 100 Delta Sigma Theta women to know in 2023, becoming the first CPA ever to grace the magazine’s cover.
Where It All Began
Video Courtesy of Chris J. Yancy, LLC
Contrary to popular belief that all millionaires and those society deem successful obtained their success after surviving a childhood stricken with adversity and poverty, that is not Jasmine’s story. In fact, Jasmine came from a home where her parents taught her by example that financial literacy is the key to living a financially healthy and free life. Her parents worked hard, consistently strived to learn as much as they could about the things they didn’t know related to financial literacy, and held each other accountable for the household’s finances and their spending habits. As a result, it appeared to many of her classmates, some of which stated, that Jasmine was being “fed with a silver spoon.” However, Jasmine realized this perception only existed because many around her were experiencing a life of adversity and poverty, and it was their experience that birthed the perception that anyone who did not appear to be experiencing life as they were were, in fact, being “fed with a silver spoon.”
Although initially infuriated by the perception, Jasmine chose to use it as her motivation to feed her community and all those she encounters with this same silver spoon it was said that she was fed with– the silver spoon of hard work, education, and accountability. Jasmine used what was meant to be a negative connotation to fuel her desire to become a CPA and be the financial resources that her peers and their families needed. That desire manifested into Southern Heritage Financial Group. Now, many years after high school, “Your Family CPA” fulfills her calling by pursuing her passion to spread financial literacy around the globe.
My CPA Is Black©
There are over 650,000 CPAs in the world. Of the 650,000, less than 2 percent are black. Jasmine’s aspiration to become a CPA was truly one of passion and purpose as she knew no other CPAs until she relocated to Atlanta, GA in 2015.
On, May 1, 2020, the My CPA is Black© brand was born - a declaration of African American representation in an industry that, like most, lacks equitable representation of black, indigeneous, people of color (BIPOC). This declaration is not just one to bring awareness to the lack of equitable representation of BIPOC in the accounting industry, but also acts a beacon of light to other BIPOC who aspire to become a CPA.
“I can only imagine how easier the CPA exam would have been, how many mistakes I would not have made, nor how much more success I could have accomplished by now had I known other CPAs as I matriculated through college and began to build my own firm, let alone knowing other CPAs who looked like me.” Jasmine parallels the existence of black CPAs to the sighting of a unicorn. “Many people have heard of unicorns, but have never seen one. Likewise with black CPAs, when you find one, you can’t help but tell the world and share your experience. The My CPA is Black brand ensures that every one can experience a sighting.”
Purpose and Passion
Video Courtesy of Chris J. Yancy, LLC
Jasmine’s desire isn’t just to build another CPA firm. She desires to teach financial literacy to all she encounters. Because of her belief that everyone should be afforded equitable access to financial literacy education and resources, she birthed The Financial Literacy Institute, Inc. (TFLI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to globally increase financial literacy in underserved and underprivileged communities.
TFLI’s programming targets three risk areas that plague the underserved and underprivileged:
Sustainability of black-owned businesses;
Food insecurity;
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accesibility in the workplace; and
Wealth inequity
“I’m blessed that my purpose and my passion align so much so that I don’t work. When you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. TFLI is my way of giving back to my community and doing my part in helping to bridge the wealth gap between BIPOC and our counterparts.”