325. How Giving 10% Equity to One Employee Tripled This Business to 7 Figures

Cubicle to CEO

Ellen Yin

Entrepreneurship, Business, Marketing

5.0 • 580 Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When a traumatic brain injury forced Jenny Groberg to step away from her company for two years, it could have ended her business. Instead, it became the catalyst for exponential growth. Jenny, founder and CEO of BookSmarts Accounting and Bookkeeping, handed day-to-day leadership to her manager, Emily, granting her 10% ownership of the business plus profit sharing. During Jenny’s absence, the company grew 30% year-over-year—scaling from $300K to seven figures in revenue annually. In this case study, we’ll unpack how giving up control and ownership unlocked unprecedented growth, why empowering women became BookSmarts’ biggest advantage, and how Jenny turned adversity into opportunity to build an unstoppable company. Connect with Jenny: https://booksmartspro.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-groberg/ Iconic business leaders all have their own unique genius. Take this quick 10 question quiz to uncover your specific CEO style advantage: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://cubicletoceo.co/quiz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you enjoyed today's episode, please: Post a screenshot & key takeaway on your IG story and tag me ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@missellenyin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@cubicletoce⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠o so we can repost you. Leave a positive review or rating at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.ratethispodcast.com/cubicletoceo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe for new episodes every Monday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, just leave on work now. Sorry, it's a bit loud. Um, basically, so I was thinking we could get Macies tonight. Had a big Mac on my mind all day, and delivery fee on the app is now from 99P. So you win? Of course you are. Love you. Bye. Exclusively on the McDonald's app. 18 plus, service fee and small order fee may apply. Participating in restaurants. Serving times and teas and seas apply. You're listening to Keep a called CEO, Episode 325.
0:23.4	When a traumatic brain injury... Service fee and small order fee may apply. Participating restaurants. Serving times and teas and seeds apply. You're listening to Keep a Call to CEO, episode 325.
0:23.5	When a traumatic brain injury forced Jenny Groberg to step away from her company for two years,
0:28.5	it could have ended her business.
0:30.0	Instead, it became the catalyst for exponential growth.
0:33.1	Jenny, the founder and CEO of Booksmarts Accounting and Bookkeeping,
0:36.7	handed day-to-day leadership to her
0:38.3	manager, Emily, granting her 10% ownership of the business plus profit sharing. During Jenny's
0:43.5	absence, the company grew 30% year-over-year, scaling from $300,000 to seven figures in revenue
0:49.8	annually. In this case study, we'll unpack how giving up control and ownership unlocked unprecedented
0:55.6	growth, why empowering women became Booksmart's biggest advantage as a team, and how Jenny turned
1:01.5	adversity into opportunity to build an unstoppable company.
1:08.5	Welcome to Cubicle to CEO, the podcast where we ask successful founders and CEOs, the business
1:14.5	questions you can't Google. I'm your host, Ellen Yin. Every Monday, go behind the business in a
1:20.6	case study style interview with a leading entrepreneur who shares one specific growth strategy they've
1:26.0	tested in their own business,
1:27.9	exactly how they implemented it, and what the results and revenue were.
1:32.8	You'll also hear financially transparent insights from my own journey,
1:36.5	bootstrapping our media company from a $300 freelance project into millions in revenue.
1:51.2	Hi, everyone.
1:52.2	Welcome back to the show.
1:57.8	Today I'm joined by Jenny Groberg, the founder and CEO of Booksmarts, accounting,
	...

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