$100K Club Case Study
They fired a $45,000 per year client.
On purpose.
Ken & Julie Mallette replaced the headache with dream clients, added what Julie’s own review calls “$100,000+ in new revenue” within months, and built a firm that runs while they cruise.
→
+$80K recurring
The firm’s biggest headache walked. Four months later, Ken counted it on camera: “$80,000 of recurring revenue”, added in their slowest quarter.
“Our clients had no idea we were gone. We still did the work we needed to… but our life is dramatically different now.”
— Ken Mallette, on the cruise nobody noticed · $100K Club Winner
The Transformation
Before Dream Firms VS. After Dream Firms
The numbers speak for themselves.
The Cruise Test
They left the country.
Nobody noticed.
Ken and Julie sailed off on a cruise and told no one. Not their clients. Not even their employees. In Ken’s words: “We never told anyone we left.” The work still got done. That is what a systemized firm buys you.
A firm that runs without you is not luck. It’s a system.
Behind The Breakthrough
The Full Story
Before Dream Firms
Ken Mallette left public accounting to build a firm with his wife Julie. Their Chattanooga-area practice carries roots that go back to 1973, and by the time they found Dream Firms they had run it together for more than a decade. Established. Respected. Busy.
Busy was the problem.
“Before DreamFirms, we thought we had a handle on what we should be doing. But once we got into the program, we realized we really had no clue. It was chaotic. We were scrambling, disorganized… not living by our calendar, and spending time on the wrong things.”
Julie Mallette
And the biggest time thief had a name on their client list: an account worth $45,000 a year that treated their firm like a fire department.
The Three Moves
- 1
Addition by subtraction
Imagine joining a growth program and one of the first assignments is firing your biggest client. They did it.“We even fired a client who was paying us $45,000 a year… because they were such a headache. And we replaced that revenue with clients who fit our model… take a fraction of the time, and are actually fun to work with.”
Ken Mallette
- 2
Trust built before the first call
They put their expertise in front of their market until prospects arrived pre-sold. In their words from the original case study: “There’s no selling at this point because that’s already been done. We’ve already established trust with our audience.” One new client chose them off the strength of their Google reviews alone: an $8,000-a-year engagement, signed before any pitch. - 3
Priced like they meant it
They used to joke that asking a client for their real worth once brought them to tears. The program rebuilt that muscle: value first, price stated plainly, no apology. The right clients said yes.
The Result
Julie put the headline number in her own public review: “$100,000+ in new revenue within a few months of starting his program.”
Ken counted it again on camera, mid tax season:
“Since January of this year, we’ve added $80,000 of recurring revenue… and that’s during our slowest quarter, when we’re usually buried in tax work.”
Ken Mallette
Then came the part money can’t fake. A cruise, booked and boarded, with no announcement. No panicked calls. No inbox on fire. The firm they rebuilt simply kept running. And the next tax season? “It was just a dream. It really was a dream.”
In Their Own Words
Fired a $45K Client. Added $80K in 4 Months.
Ken and Julie tell it themselves: the chaos before, the client they let go, and the cruise nobody knew about.
Which client would you fire first? Let’s find out together.
The Journey
From Chaos To Cruise Control
Every milestone below comes from Ken and Julie’s own interview, their public review, and Dream Firms’ published record.
$100K+ Added
+$80K Recurring
The Proof
Ready to write your own timeline?
If we’d had this in 2009, we’d be light years ahead of where we are today. So don’t wait. Just do it.
Julie Mallette · $100K Club Winner
Julie said it best: don’t wait.
Straight From The Channel
Two Wins, On The Record
Published clips from Ken and Julie’s progress reviews: the $8,000 client their Google reviews closed for them, and the tax season that finally felt easy.
The $8,000 client their reviews pre-sold
“It was just a dream. It really was a dream.”
The Why Behind The Win
What Made the Difference
Addition by Subtraction
The growth started with a goodbye: the $45,000 client who consumed their firm was let go, then replaced by clients who “take a fraction of the time, and are actually fun to work with.” Better revenue beat bigger revenue.
Trust Before the Call
Reviews, content, and a real online presence did the selling in advance. “There’s no selling at this point because that’s already been done.” One client signed at $8,000 a year on the strength of their Google reviews alone.
Systems That Travel
Cloud tools, delegation, and documented process turned the busiest season calm: “DLA made our lives beautiful during tax season.” The final exam was a cruise their clients never knew about. The firm passed.
Fire the wrong client. Add the right ones. We’ll show you how.
The Program Behind The Result
The Create Your Dream Firm Program
Dream Firms is the only CPA firm growth program built specifically around expert positioning, niche content, and high-value client acquisition. Ken and Julie’s result isn’t an outlier. It’s the system working exactly as designed.
“$100,000+ in new revenue within a few months of starting his program.”
— Julie Mallette, from her public review
