For the fourth year in a row, I was humbled to again be part of Optima Tax Relief and its rank on the Orange County Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work” list. What probably makes this accolade among the most meaningful to me is the fact that the award was based directly on the feedback given directly by Optima Tax Relief staff and not simply based on revenue growth or market leadership. To achieve such a huge validation by staff members who I feel honored to work with holds special meaning for me and I continue to learn every day from so many talented individuals all around me. A main reason why I feel Optima has developed such an inspiring company culture relates to what I’ve always referred to as “bottom-up-management.” What this means is that senior leadership at our firm is constantly looking for feedback and suggestions from even the most entry-level members of its staff. We do this because we know that our team that communicates directly with clients can provide some of the most meaningful feedback. I can’t stress enough the importance of this philosophy in consumer finance as listening to customer needs is as important achieving their goals.