WHY CPA SOCIETIES ARE PARTNERING WITH ACHELOA WELLNESS?
The accounting profession is facing one of its greatest leadership challenges. Firms are investing heavily in recruiting and compensation, yet many of their most experienced professionals are choosing to leave before reaching partnership. The result is a shrinking leadership pipeline that impacts firms, clients, and the profession as a whole.
CPA state societies are uniquely positioned to drive the solution.
Retained By Choice gives your organization an opportunity to provide meaningful support to your member firms while creating a new non-dues revenue stream for your society. Through a simple licensing partnership, your members gain access to a proven leadership and professional development program designed to strengthen retention, build sustainable leadership habits, and reduce burnout among Experienced Seniors, Managers, and Senior Managers in accounting.
This partnership creates value at every level:
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Your society expands member value with a differentiated professional development offering.
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Member firms gain practical tools to retain and develop their future leaders.
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Accounting professionals receive the support they need to build sustainable, successful careers.
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Your staff receives complimentary access to the program, allowing them to better support member firms while also benefiting from the same practical tools for managing workload, pressure, and sustainable performance.
WHAT IS RETAINED BY CHOICE?
Retained By Choice is a licensed online professional development program created specifically for professionals in audit, tax and consulting. This is for those working in solo and small firms, as well as mid-sized and large firms. The program is licensed exclusively through CPA society partnerships, creating a unique member benefit while generating non-dues revenue for participating societies.
Developed by Lauren Baptiste, former Big 4 CPA and Founder & CEO of Acheloa Wellness, the program teaches professionals how to navigate increasing responsibility, demanding clients, staffing shortages, and leadership pressure without sacrificing their health, engagement, or long-term career success.
Unlike generic leadership or wellness programs, every lesson is built around real-world accounting scenarios and immediately applicable tools.
ALL ABOUT
RETAINED BY CHOICE
WHY PARTNER WITH ACHELOA WELLNESS?
Partnering with Acheloa Wellness is designed to be simple, scalable, and profitable. Through this partnership, your society can:
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Create a new non-dues revenue opportunity
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Deliver meaningful value beyond traditional CPE programming
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Support member firms facing retention and leadership challenges
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Differentiate the society with innovative programming
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Strengthen engagement with emerging leaders across member firms
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Turnkey implementation designed to integrate with your existing learning platform and processes
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Position the society as a leader in supporting the future of the accounting profession
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Eligible for up to 12.5 CPE credits (subject to state requirements and delivery format)
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Complimentary program access for CPA society staff
Here’s how it works:
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Your society licenses Retained By Choice.
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Your organization markets the program to member firms and individual professionals.
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Participants enroll during the designated enrollment window.
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Each participant receives six months of access beginning on their enrollment date.
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Your society receives revenue for every participant who enrolls.
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Acheloa Wellness provides implementation support, marketing collaboration, and participant resources throughout the partnership.
WHAT YOUR MEMBERS GAIN
The program combines self-paced learning with practical implementation tools that professionals begin using immediately.
Sustainability Audit
Participants identify the root causes of stress, overwhelm, and disengagement while creating greater awareness of the habits and workplace patterns contributing to burnout.
Sustainable Practices
Participants strengthen prioritization, delegation, communication, boundaries, workload management, and other practical leadership skills needed to sustain high performance.
Sustainable Self
Participants build personalized systems for navigating busy season, difficult clients, staffing shortages, and increasing leadership responsibility while protecting long-term career sustainability.
Every lesson is designed to be applied immediately to client work, leadership responsibilities, and day-to-day decision-making.
WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT FOR FIRMS
Unlike generic leadership or wellness programs, Retained By Choice was built exclusively for accounting professionals by someone who spent more than 13 years in Big Four accounting across multiple service lines (audit, tax, consulting) and has spent the past decade coaching thousands of accounting professionals. Every framework, case study, and tool reflects the realities of working in the profession. The partnership includes:
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Six-month licensed participant access
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Downloadable implementation tools and worksheets
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Delivery through your learning platform
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CPE eligibility
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Coordinated marketing support
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Revenue-share partnership model
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Optional promotional webinars
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Minimal administrative burden for society staff
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Complimentary program access for CPA society staff
THE IMPACT
Participants report stronger boundaries, improved prioritization, greater confidence during busy season, and increased ability to manage competing demands without burnout.
Firms report stronger delegation, healthier managers, improved engagement, and increased retention among the professionals most likely to become future partners.
For CPA societies, the impact extends even further.
You strengthen member value, create an additional revenue stream, support healthier firms, and help build a stronger future for the accounting profession.
Whether your goal is to create a new member benefit, strengthen firm relationships, generate non-dues revenue, or support the future of the profession, Retained By Choice helps your society accomplish all four.
HOW THIS BENEFITS YOU + YOUR ASSOCIATION
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE FOR YOUR ASSOCIATION
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6-month licensed access to the Retained By Choice curriculum
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Revenue-share partnership that creates a new non-dues revenue
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Member-priced offering designed specifically for Experienced Seniors, Managers, and Senior Managers
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Downloadable implementation tools and worksheets
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Delivered with ease through your internal learning platform
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Eligible for 12.5 CPE credits
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Co-branded marketing support, including promotional webinars and coordinated launch campaign
Whether your goal is to create a new member benefit, strengthen firm relationships, generate non-dues revenue, or support the future of the profession, Retained By Choice helps your society accomplish all four.
TRUSTED BY LEADING FIRMS
"We engaged Lauren Baptiste and the Acheloa Wellness to deliver this 3-month group coaching program for a select group of employees, and the results exceeded our expectations.
Across the cohort, participants reported meaningful improvements in their ability to recognize stress before it became overwhelming, take proactive action when challenges arose, maintain healthy boundaries, manage workload demands, and feel more supported in navigating workplace pressures. One of the most encouraging findings was that the largest improvement wasn’t simply awareness of stress; it was participants’ ability to take action when they noticed stress beginning to build.
Throughout the program, we also saw employees actively applying the tools between sessions and bringing real-world examples back to the group."
Consulting Firm
St. Louis, Missouri
"Partnering with Lauren has given our GBQ associates the tools and confidence to actively prevent burnout—without slowing down their careers. Her Big 4 background made her instantly relatable to our people, connecting directly to the unique pressures accountants face daily. The program’s practical, real‑world strategies have already improved how our team manages busy periods, client expectations, and work‑life balance.
The impact has been clear: more engaged associates, stronger performance, and a clear path to healthier, happier engagement teams—at work and at home. We greatly enjoyed working with Lauren and her team and would highly recommend this program to any firm committed to retaining top talent and building sustainable success."
Accounting Firm
Columbus, Ohio
"Given the type of work we do, we’re always looking for ways to support our staff, and burnout is a common concern. Lauren provided our organization with a structured, comprehensive approach to addressing burnout.
The topics covered essential concepts such as stress management, time management, goal setting, creating and maintaining boundaries, and managing tendencies like people-pleasing, perfectionism, and procrastination—all directly relevant to the unique challenges faced in the profession. Employees engaged with practical tools and strategies designed to benefit their professional and personal growth. The open coaching sessions added an extra layer of support, allowing employees to bring their questions and challenges to the table and receive real-time guidance and feedback. This personalized aspect of the program helped participants feel more in control of their work-life balance, and the structured progression of topics ensured key professional skills were addressed systematically.
The feedback from staff was very positive, with many noting that they gained valuable insights and practical strategies to reduce burnout and enhance their overall well-being. Most participants reported significant improvements in their coping skills and felt better equipped with the tools needed to manage the daily challenges they face. Many also expressed feeling a greater sense of control over their work-life balance as a result of the program. Even months after the program concluded, the tools Lauren provided continue to be referenced. Supervisors regularly bring them up when a staff member could benefit from topics like time management or boundary setting, and I find myself suggesting them as well."
Accounting Firm
White Plains, New York
“Retained by Choice delivered a clear and measurable impact for our women leaders. Within just three months, participants reported significant gains in time management, boundary setting, and the ability to ‘turn off’ work—during our busiest quarter. But even more importantly, they left with a renewed sense of confidence, control, and community. The program sparked powerful conversations we hadn’t been having, and gave our team a practical language for navigating burnout, perfectionism, and the pressures of high performance. As a leader, I saw real mindset shifts take root—at both the personal and team level. This wasn’t surface-level inspiration; it was sustained transformation.”
Consulting Firm
New York, New York