Tailor Hartman: Upwork to “40 Under 40” in Just 3 Years | The Disruptors

Celerity's founder turned a side-hustle into a fast-growing success.The DisruptorsWith Liz FarrTailor Hartman didn’t start Celerity Accounting with a grand plan. The initial goal was to make enough from an accounting side gig to pay down his student loans while he worked full-time as an assistant controller. He found his first clients in an unorthodox place – Upwork. “I started going on [Upwork] to find cleanup gigs, you know, quick cleanup gigs for like 30, 40 bucks an hour in QuickBooks or maybe even NetSuite,” he shares.  MORE STREAMING: Telka: Transform Fear into Fuel | Woodard: Move Past Reports; Deliver Results | Baker: Find True Purpose to End Burnout | Brolin: The W.I.N. Leadership Formula | Gertrudes: How EOS & “Unreasonable Hospitality” Reshaped GrowthLab | Vilms: The Power of People in a Tech-Driven World | Dickerson: From Diagnosis to Disruption | Kapilovich: Treat People Like People | Martha Yasso: From Wall Street to Main Street | Jackie Meyer: Tax Plans in 90 Seconds? Believe It | Erica Goode: Build a $200K Firm in 15hrs/Week |Those cleanup gigs turned into monthly accounting. “I ended up getting enough clients where I could quit my job within three months… which is pretty crazy.” As a testament to Celerity’s excellent service, those early clients remain loyal today.“We still have all of my existing Upwork clients, which is crazy.”  Hartman's biggest challenge early on wasn't finding clients or managing cash flow—it was himself.