Today we’d like to introduce you to Rusty Fulling.
Hi Rusty, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
THE RIPPLES THAT MATTER
Someone recently asked my 10-year-old niece Sammi,
“What does your uncle Rusty do for work?”
Without hesitation, she answered,
“He gives presents to children at Christmas, and he travels around the world to help people in need.”
She didn’t mention that I lead a fractional CFO firm.
She didn’t talk about how I provide financial clarity, profit growth, or peace of mind for business owners across the country.
Instead, she described what she’s seen.
She’s seen our Fulling Management & Accounting, Inc. team shoulder-to-shoulder with the Salvation Army, handing out Christmas gifts to families who need a little hope. She’s heard stories from Honduras, Ethiopia, and Kenya—stories about people, not balance sheets. And she’s watched how people are treated when there’s nothing to gain.
It was a quiet reminder of something we often forget:
We’re always being watched.
Not in a creepy way.
In a deeply human way.
People don’t remember your title.
They remember your patterns.
They remember the ripples you didn’t even realize you made.
Author and speaker John Maxwell once said, “People will summarize your life in one sentence—pick it now.”
I’m thinking I’ll let Sammi help with mine.
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WHEN SUCCESS COST TOO MUCH
In my early 30s, life was running me instead of the other way around.
Long hours. No seasons. No pause. Consulting didn’t come with a “busy time” and a “slow time”—it was just go, go, go. I left the house before my kids woke up and came home as they were heading back to bed.
I wasn’t building a life.
I was missing one.
When my health started waving red flags—constant heartburn, drained energy—the doctor didn’t sugarcoat it:
“If you keep this up, you’re on the fast track for esophageal cancer.”
That sentence changed everything.
Around that same time, a trusted friend said something that caught me completely off guard:
“I can’t believe you’ve never started your own business.”
My immediate reaction sounded a lot like Moses: I’m not qualified.
What I learned next has guided me ever since—God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.
On April Fool’s Day in 2000, we launched Fulling Management & Accounting with three small clients and a lot of faith. Today, we serve clients in more than 25 states with team members across seven. But the real win wasn’t growth—it was alignment.
We built a firm designed to help business owners Get Clarity, Grow Profits, and Gain Peace of Mind, without sacrificing the things that matter most.
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FROM TWO PIGS TO A BIGGER DREAM
In 2025, I traveled to Ethiopia and Kenya with the mission organization “A Bright Future for Kids”. That’s where I met Christine.
Christine lives in the slums of Nairobi. She had no money, limited education, and had been abandoned by her husband to raise her children alone. Survival—not success—was the daily goal.
Through “A Bright Future for Kids”, she entered a three-year program designed to equip single moms to become entrepreneurs. Along the way, she received a modest stipend, business training, and encouragement to believe in herself again.
Out of all her options, Christine chose to raise pigs.
She started with two.
When we visited, she grown her operation to twelve—and a bold vision to grow to one hundred. Even more impressive than her operation was her confidence. Her classmates were asking how they could invest in her business.
Christine now provides for her children with dignity.
She sleeps with peace.
She leads with clarity.
Without knowing it, she became a living illustration of everything we stand for at Fulling Management & Accounting, Inc.
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LEADERSHIP THAT LIVES AT HOME
Penina, another woman we met in Kenya, carries leadership differently—but just as powerfully.
She’s raising four children of her own, plus her seven-year-old granddaughter. Like many women in her
community, she’s experienced abandonment and marginalization. But quitting was never on the table.
Through the same program, she’s building a small agricultural business—goats, a cow, rabbits—each step forward a declaration of hope.
Our U.S. team helped add planks to her goat pen. It wasn’t flashy. It was holy.
She invited us into her 10×10 home—a tradition meant to bless both guest and host. I walked out knowing I had received far more than I gave.
Leadership doesn’t always happen in boardrooms or Zoom calls.
Sometimes it looks like perseverance, modeled daily, and passed down quietly through generations.
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WHAT STARTED AS A RUN BECAME A CALLING
Just before turning 50, I told my wife Pam I wanted to try a 5K. I wasn’t a runner—3.1 miles felt ambitious.
Then our church announced a partnership with “Team World Vision”, raising funds for clean water through half and full marathons.
Pam nudged me and said, “You should try that half marathon thing.”
That “yes” changed the trajectory of my life.
Nine years later, I’ve logged hundreds of miles across trails in the U.S., Canada, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Some of the most meaningful moments weren’t the races—but the conversations along the way.
That journey eventually led me to World Vision Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, where I saw firsthand how clean water transforms entire communities.
What began as a run became a mission.
One step at a time.
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MY REAL TITLE
A friend once told me,
“CEO should really stand for Chief Encouragement Officer.”
That stuck.
On my whiteboard, I keep five words that define how I want to show up—at work, at home, everywhere in between:
• Encourage
• Guide
• Equip
• Serve
• Listen
If I’m doing at least one of those well in each interaction, it’s been a good day.
Yes, I’m a CEO.
But depending on the moment, I might also be the Chief Guiding Officer.
Or the Chief Serving Officer.
Or the Chief Listening Officer.
Titles fade.
Ripples don’t.
And when the day is done, if a 10-year-old can describe my work as helping people and bringing hope—then I know I showed up the right way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Fulling Management & Accounting, Inc.?
We provide fractional CFO, Accounting and Bookkeeping services to help business leaders, around the country, Get Clarity, Grow Profits and Gain peace of mind.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
FAVORITE PODCASTS
Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast
Path for Growth Podcast
The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Season of Life: A Football Star, a Boy, a Journey to Manhood by Jeffrey Marx
The Legacy Life: Leading Your Family to Make a Difference for Eternity by David Green
A Million Little Miracles: Rediscover the God Who Is Bigger Than Big, Closer Than Close, and Gooder Than Good by Mark Batterson
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fullingmgmt.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FullingMgmt/
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rustyfulling
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjcw3j_VGpQ&t=29s
- Other: https://www.rustyfulling.com
