Frankie Fernandez is a master Solution Engineer on the Net at Work Intacct team.  Did you know he once lived in Thailand supporting himself doing Muay Thai and teaching English (ESL) to young monks at an orphanage?

This is absolutely true!  Frankie fell in love with the sport at 16, and at 23 had enough money saved up to go to Thailand and have his first fight!  Here is the rest of the story, in his own words…

Unbeknownst to me, the fight was in the middle of NOWHERE, against an absolute killer and it was my first fight. While getting taped up, my coach loaded all my knuckles up with coins in my wraps and when I asked why he told me my opponent does the same thing, everyone does in this part of Thailand, they like blood….so hence the coins.  Lol!  That’s what I signed up for and it was too late to back out.

Needless to say, I got obliterated. But I was hooked. I did my last two years of university in Thailand. Getting to fight about every other weekend!  Showing up to class with split lips, stitches, arm slings, casts. I was living the dream! And to help support myself, I taught English to young monks at an orphanage.  Ultimately and unfortunately, I got older and after graduating I realized I was a far better accountant and student than I was a fighter, but I did continue to compete occasionally until about 4 years ago when I hung it up.

And now, I am a consultant with the Intacct practice helping to migrate our clients from legacy accounts systems such as Abila MIP, Quickbooks, and others to the Sage Intacct platform. I primarily work with non-profits, as that has been my passion for my entire professional career. I love helping people, therefore, assisting our non-profit clients in maximizing their efforts with a cloud-based accounting system to bring them up to speed with the latest financial accounting technology is an exciting activity which always offers opportunities to learn and grow. Prior to joining the Net at Work team, I’ve worked as a tax preparer specializing in IRS tax form 990s (non-profit tax returns), worked for the IRS, professional fighter, deckhand on a tuna boat, as well as a sanitation infrastructure technician (or a janitor if you want to be a jerk about it).

My wife and our two kids, Luca and Lennon, live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We have been here for almost three years now, and I am acclimating quite well to life in the Midwest. I drive a Zamboni, I have a closet full of flannel, and teach both of my kids how to play hockey in my free time. I am originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, and my wife, Haley, stems from Cavalier, North Dakota. I love to laugh and would be thrilled to get to share some stories with our clients here at Net at Work, so if you ever have a moment to rap, please give me a shout as I’d love to say hello! ffernandez@netatwork.com