Meet Teresa Plaugher | Accountant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Teresa Plaugher and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Teresa, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in Cd Juarez, Mexico. My mother and I arrived in Denver in 1989. After my father attempted to kill my mother on several occasions she finally mustered the courage to leave him. I remember it like it was yesterday. My auntie picked us up, we were allowed one suitcase (for the both of us) and I was allowed to bring one toy with me. I chose a brown teddy bear, with a knitted sweater whom I had named Fernando.

For all intents and purposes my mother and I were homeless. We couch surfed from house to house. My mother would offer to care for people’s kids and do housework in exchange for a place to stay. We moved around so much that in one school year I attended 5 different elementary schools. When I was 15 we were kicked out of a home for the last time in my life. I was fed up with being homeless and not having a place of my own. I got a full time job and found a roommate so my mother and I could have a place of our own.

Needless to say I soon found out how difficult it was to hold a full time job and attend high school at the same time. I failed at it. I dropped out of high school after the first semester. I was heart broken. I had managed to keep excellent grades throughout my school years but this was getting way too hard. I was an immigrant child from a broken home with a physical and mental abuse background. I was the poster child for all the minority failure stories and statistics.

Just a year after my attempt at independence, I failed again. My roommate was moving to another state and I couldn’t qualify for any apartment rentals because I was underage. My boyfriend and I had the great idea of getting married. This would solve all our financial problems. I fell into the regular statistic of abused children marrying abusers because that is all you know.

After 10 long years of an abusive marriage I somehow found the courage to walk out. By now I’m a 25 year old single mother of two. I focused all of my energy and attention into doing two things 1) being the best mother I could be and 2) breaking the chains of every statistic what I was in. I was determined to make a better life not only for myself, but also for my kids.

It wasn’t easy but I was determined. I enrolled in community college thinking that if I could only get an associates, I would have an advantage in life and set a better example for my kids. I was blessed with amazing counselors and people whom God put in my path along the way to guide and encourage me. After another 10 long years I graduated Regis University with a Bachelor’s in Accounting, ready to take on the world.

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?
Lunas Accounting & Tax is an accounting firm that works with small to mid size business owners. We work on whole health. Instead of focusing on the compliance aspect of accounting (bookkeeping and tax) we approach a business from a global perspective.

What are the business owner’s goals? Why did they start the business? What was their original dream? Then we start looking at every aspect of the business and personal finances to create a plan on how we will help that business owner achieve what they set out to do.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am known for being a foodie. I would start by taking them to “La esquina del sabor” a spot in Aurora on the corner of Chambers and Colfax. It is filled with food trucks representing a variety of flavors from all over Latin America.

Of course every visitor wants to walk 16th street mall in downtown Denver from Union Station to the Brown Palace Hotel for Whiskey’s and Cigars. Maybe we schedule a spa day at the Brown Palace and dress up for tea

Following the foodie path, Havana St in Aurora has so many choices from all over the world. Moroccan food with fresh baked naan, huge Korean ice cream bowls at snowl bowl and sushi dinners at Katsu Sushi.

How can you visit Colorado without wanting to go to the mountains? Are you a hiker? We get up early and go hike a fourteener, or if that’s too much for we can always drive to the top of one so you can see the majesty of our Rocky Mountains. However, no trip up I-70 is complete if you don’t walk through the streets of Vail or stop for ice cream in Breckenridge. Before you start thinking the lack of oxygen must be affecting our sanity because we intentionally put our selves through the pain of hiking and walking around towns, let me tell you that we do this knowing that at the end of the day we can go jump into a hot spring and soothe the aches and pains away.

After you’ve cured your need to go visit all the usual places that tourists love to visit I would take you to may favorite of all towns. Manitou Springs, located just minutes from a big city offers all the charm of small town. The artist shops, the mountainy feel and it’s spring water tours.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My children.

Website: www.lunastax.com

Linkedin: Teresa Plaugher

Facebook: @lunasaccountingandtax