She Counts

Ta-Da! Celebrate the Little Things (They’re Actually Big)

April 8, 2026·1h 2m
Episode Description from the Publisher

Questian and Nancy close out Season Two with Valerie Heckman, Accountant Community Manager at OnPay, and a deceptively simple idea: the “Ta-Da!” list. Instead of measuring your day by what’s left undone, what if you kept track of what you actually did? Valerie shares how this practice helped her interrupt burnout, why women in accounting are especially prone to dismissing their own wins, and how sharing those moments with others can change the culture of your firm. Although a Ta-Da list isn’t a cure-all, it is an effective tool that can shift how you end your day, how you see your work, and how you show up for each other. Because the little things? They're actually the big things.SponsorsForwardly - https://www.forwardly.com/shecountsRelay- https://relayfi.com/shecountsClient Hub - https://www.clienthub.app/lp/shecounts(00:00) - Welcome to She Counts (01:11) - Season Finale Setup (01:42) - Valerie Joins the Show (02:33) - Diploma Text Story (06:11) - What Is a TODA List (08:33) - Try Your Own TODA (12:07) - Sharing Small Wins (14:50) - Beyond To Do Lists (17:56) - Burnout and Measuring Days (21:23) - Why We Skip Self Credit (27:29) - Making Wins a Habit (29:04) - Spreading TODA to Others (31:13) - Start Meetings With Wins (32:13) - How The Practice Changed Me (33:07) - Spotting Missing Priorities (36:50) - Less To Dos More Ta Das (39:46) - Eliminate Automate Delegate (43:00) - Track And Share Progress (49:38) - Gold Stars For Grownups (53:16) - Takeaways For Overwhelm (58:20) - Homework And Community Challenge (01:00:15) - Closing Quote And Sign Off ResourcesConnect with Valerie on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerieheckman/OnPay - https://onpay.com/about-us/author/valerie-heckman/Gretchen Rubin “Happier” podcast - https://gretchenrubin.com/podcasts/Lynnette Oss Connell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnette-oss-connell-cpa/Valerie Heckman at Scaling New Heights 2024 - https://report.woodard.com/articles/scaling-new-heights-2024-day-2-recap-snhwrKatie Helle on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkatiehelle/Nancy Jacobson on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyjacobsoncpa/DuoLingo accounting friends - https://www.duolingo.com/profile/KristenKea6https://www.duolingo.com/profile/000752.beemH9GFhttps://www.duolingo.com/profile/NayoCarterGrayGold star chart for adults - https://www.etsy.com/listing/4310943720/adult-star-chart-printable-habit-tracker“The Art of Blessing the Day” © 1999 by Marge Piercy - https://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/piercy/poem.htmlSome scientific studies on how the Ta-Da list can be helpful for mental health:“Gratitude Enhances Health, Brings Happiness — and May Even Lengthen Lives,” Harvard Health - https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/gratitude-enhances-health-brings-happiness-and-may-even-lengthen-lives-202409113071Savoring in Positive Psychology: 21 Tools to Appreciate Life - https://positivepsychology.com/savoring/Contemporary self-reflective practices: A large-scale survey - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691822002839PERMA model of psychological well-being - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PERMA_modelSPONSORS: [Forwardly

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