The Cuspers, Busters, Generations X and Y, and now the "Netsers" have been aware for some time that they will switch careers much more often than their predecessors, a generation emotionally and mentally satisfied with delivering the "company line" and receiving the gold watch after a half-century of loyalty.

Over the years, the innovators who were before their time in opinion and foresight outshined and outlasted the competition, a concept not too unlike the pathfinders in today's business marketplace.

Houston CPA Mal Lusky, owner of the Lusky CFO Group, is one of those individuals who has changed careers more than several times over his life only to realize that he might change again depending on where the treasure lies at the end of the day … and where the road to success and self-fulfillment takes him on his next journey.

A CPA who can Write: Alert the Media!

Strange, but true. Mal Lusky is a CPA who also can write a pretty good sentence-as he should. Mal attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated in 1970 with a degree in journalism, then went immediately into marketing and advertising for employers in San Antonio and Houston. He soon found that his desire to make money was counterproductive to his choice of career.

"I can't deny that my change in careers was not financially oriented because there's absolutely no money in advertising if you're at the junior level," he says. "I love to write, and write articles today for various pursuits. Still, I say that if you're going to make a change, you may as well do it right and go for the most you can achieve."

This philosophy provided him the ambition to take accounting classes at the University of Houston to supplement his degree from UT. He always had the inclination for financials-also a rarity for a writer-and knew that possessing a CPA license would open doors for him.

After his additional schooling, he began a string of progressively engaging accounting positions, the first of which was in auditing for the State of Texas.

"This position was interesting because I was not only a sales and franchise tax auditor, but Robert Calvert, the state comptroller at the time, knew about my background in journalism and asked me to start a statewide magazine for employees," says Mal. "I maintained my auditing duties, but had autonomy and was assigned to work directly at his request to assemble a staff, find the stories, and produce this magazine."

Mal went on to work for Sakowitz, the largest family owned specialty store in the country at the time, and held positions with the United Way and American Savings & Loan. While working at the bank as an internal audit manager, the company merged with a much larger savings institution and Mal found himself making one of three choices. He could stay with the bank, get another job in industry or venture out on his own. He chose the third option, and coincidentally, also received his CPA license right around the same time.

"Simply put, I was in the right place at the right time, and the timing was perfect," says Mal. "I had just made the decision to open my own doors about a month before I found out I passed the exam. Once I decided to do this, everything started happening for me. Clients started coming, and I was immediately asked by another CPA to share an office with a library and office supplies, but most of all, the opportunity to share his knowledge."

Mal has always been a little "outside the box" in his approach to traditional roles. With his CPA practice, he often presented financial statements along with charts or other graphics to help the client understand them. He says he was one of the first small firms to computerize his office in 1980, and he instituted an internal policy of maintaining accounting records on letter-size paper, rather than the traditional legal size, long before this ever became a standard. His creativity flows to even to his presentations where he will incorporate magic tricks or juggling to emphasize an accounting or economic principal.

In the mid-80s, Mal and a friend produced a nationally syndicated television show known as "the Breakfast Club" and later the "Eddie Bracken Show," geared to the 55+ age bracket. While the show was able to attract major entertainment talent, they could not convince advertisers that persons over 55 would really spend money.

Expanding the Mind and Learning From Experience

Before long, Mal found himself with a full client load, and several years later in the early 90s, the opportunity to do yet something different. One of his clients, a satellite encryption and sports marketing company called Prostar, invited him to become the chief financial officer. Mal says leaving public accounting was one of the most difficult decisions he ever made, but felt that the opportunity outweighed the effort.

It was only last year that he left PROSTAR, turning them into a client, and began his new venture, the Lusky CFO Group. The decision to start the Lusky CFO Group grew from an unfulfilled niche that he discovered in the small to medium size firms. Mal feels his lifelong experiences have brought him to this moment because he has learned an incredible amount about himself, the accounting profession, and most of all, his own abilities. And, his marketing abilities combines with his financial skills make him and his company unique in the marketplace.

Not known for taking the traditional route, the Lusky CFO Group provides management assistance to start-ups and emerging companies by offering management consulting services on general business matters, obtaining funding, strategic planning, marketing, managing the accounting and treasury functions, and even in the outsourced CFO function, if needed. Mal has a home office, which he refers to as his "virtual office," and is constantly "on-the-go" on behalf of his clients, not necessarily as a CPA, but in a position as business advisor.

"I'm trying very hard not to practice as a CPA for two reasons. First, because I feel I'm better equipped to help a company make decisions by venturing out of traditional CPA waters, and second, I don't want to compete with CPA firms for their piece of the pie. I want to partner with them to provide the in-depth advice which the client needs and deserves."

Instead, he has formed a number of close relationships with CPA firms, banks, lawyers and others who have influence in the marketplace and often is called upon to complement their services with his own business acumen. In the meantime, Mal has ventured back into the journalism arena and is now working on a publication in conjunction with a bank on commercial loans and what business needs to know about the lending process.

"Being more prolific will only help my reputation and generate more business," he says.