One of the most unexpected joys of running Sara Pope Photography has very little to do with photography.

It is watching a client become a business owner and suddenly wanting to shout their name from the rooftops.

Maybe it affects me so deeply because I remember what it felt like to start my own business. Every referral, review, shared post and encouraging word mattered more than people probably realized. Or maybe I just love seeing someone take everything they have learned, lived through and worked toward and turn it into something completely their own.

Either way, it lights me up.

Over the years, several women have first walked into my studio as new moms and later stepped into entrepreneurship. Some were building businesses from scratch. Some were leaving established careers. Some were adding a new chapter alongside motherhood.

And some, like my client Mili, have supported my business so wholeheartedly that I cannot wait to return the favor.

From Newborn Client to Fellow Business Owner

Milagros, or Mili to those of us lucky enough to know her, first came to my Oakley studio about five years ago for her daughter’s newborn portraits.

One thing I love about newborn sessions is the time we spend together. There are feedings, cuddles, breaks and plenty of time to talk. With many families, the atmosphere starts feeling less like a formal appointment and more like friends hanging out while I photograph their baby.

Mili and I clicked immediately.

Every time we saw one another after that, we somehow ended up talking longer and longer. She later launched Little and the Brave, and I had the chance to watch her experience the realities of building a small business firsthand.

Now she is bringing together her experience as a CPA, her years in complex financial environments and everything she has learned as an entrepreneur to launch Mira North Advisory.

What Is Mira North Advisory?

Mira North Advisory is a CPA-led financial advisory firm for growing businesses.

The firm provides bookkeeping and organized financial reporting, but its work goes beyond tracking transactions. Mili’s approach is built around helping business owners understand what their numbers mean, anticipate what is ahead and make better decisions with real financial information behind them.

In other words, this is not simply handing someone your receipts and hearing from them again at tax time.

It is having a financial partner who helps you answer questions such as:

• Is my business actually profitable?
• Can I afford to hire?
• Where is my cash going?
• Which services or products are performing best?
• What should I plan for before tax season?
• Am I financially ready to grow?
• What numbers should I be reviewing every month?

Those are the questions many creative and service-based business owners struggle to answer—even when bookings or sales appear to be going well.

How is financial advisory different from bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping organizes and records what has already happened in a business.

Financial advisory uses that information to help guide what happens next.

Mira North Advisory offers support that can grow alongside a business, including monthly bookkeeping and reconciliations, financial statements, KPI insights, cash-flow visibility, forecasting, profitability analysis, strategic decision support and CFO-level financial planning.

That distinction immediately spoke to me.

I have never been a numbers girlie. My natural financial review tends to look more like:

Are bookings coming in? Can I pay everything this month? Great—we’re probably okay.

That may get a business through the early years, but it is not the same as truly understanding whether the business is healthy, where it is vulnerable or how to plan for its next stage.

Does Mira North Advisory also provide tax services?

Yes. Mira North Advisory offers business and individual tax preparation, tax planning and projections, entity-structure guidance and ongoing tax advisory.

The goal is not only to prepare a return after the year has ended. It is to consider the tax impact of decisions throughout the year so business owners can plan instead of constantly reacting.

Who does Mira North Advisory work with?

Mira North Advisory is primarily designed for growing, service-based and product-based businesses that need more than basic bookkeeping. Its website specifically speaks to established businesses, entrepreneurs scaling their operations and companies that want ongoing strategic financial support. Select services are also available for simpler or earlier-stage businesses that are still building their financial foundation.

Mili’s own background is an important part of what makes the firm different. Before launching Mira North Advisory, she built her career in Big Four public accounting and later specialized in alternative investments and complex financial reporting. She also understands entrepreneurship from the inside because she has built a business herself.

Why I am choosing to work with Mili

I first heard about Mili’s idea when I bought something from her through Facebook Marketplace.

Naturally, what should have been a quick pickup turned into an hour of us standing there talking.

But as she explained what she wanted to create, I became genuinely excited, not only because I knew she understood the technical side of accounting, but because I knew her character.

Trust is enormous to me.

There is a reason the only person who has ever regularly worked inside my own business is my sister. Allowing someone into the financial side of a business feels incredibly personal, especially when that business supports your family.

With Mili, I know both the expertise she brings and the person behind it.

So yes, I will be hiring her. I also plan to document parts of the process, and I am already trying to convince her to let me help create content for her website, because apparently I cannot leave anyone else’s business alone either. 😆

You can learn more about Mili and Mira North Advisory at miranorthadvisory.com