Profit Strategies & Data-Driven Growth with Fractional CFO Monica Roca-Quesada

right? You work more, you're putting in sweat equity, you're willing to do whatever it takes. And at the end of the day, if you truly don't have an understanding of what's happening in your business, then did you make the right choice, right? Or how can you maximize the decisions that you've made? Look at it from, and it's not just, because one of the things I've, you know, I've often been quoted to say is I want people to stop looking at top line revenue. I mean, truthfully, Does it matter if you sold $3 million, if you have no profitability? Like, is that, did we lose? I'll give you this line. Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, and cash is king. Yes, yes. I feel like a lot of business owners trade their jobs for a less paying job as a business owner, right? You work more, you're putting in sweat equity, you're willing to do whatever it takes. And at the end of the day, if you truly don't have an understanding of what's happening in your business, then did you make the right choice? Right. Or how can you maximize the decisions that you've made? Right. Welcome to the King Dems podcast, where we share the stories of extraordinary people and dissect hot, relevant topics that shape our world. From visionary leaders to trailblazing creatives, we uncover the mindset, strategy, and grit behind greatness. Whether it's business, culture, or personal growth, we ask the real questions. This isn't just conversation, it's transformation. The King Dems Podcast. Your next breakthrough starts here. Music licensing reimagined. Your life, ladies and gentlemen, you are once again welcome to the King Dems Podcast. And today I have with me, my friend, my mentor, and the female version of myself from the other side of the pond, make welcome the money woman, Monica Rocker Cassander. How are you? I'm doing fantastic today. I'm so glad to be here. I like that, the money woman. I think I'm going to change my title, my emails. Wow, Monica is about to change her Monica. Yeah. That's the model. M-O-N-I-C-K-E-R. Wow. Interested. It's really lovely to have you on the show. I'm a newly minted practical CFO, and you are, would I say, an oldly minted CFO. A leader, a fintech leader, you know, entrepreneur extraordinaire. Wow. You're welcome. And of course, you know, on this show, I do a great work with exploring the mindsets, the systems, and, you know, the stories behind legendary leaders like yourself. And of course, old entrepreneurs, people that are reshaping the landscape of our generation, basically. And today, you are actually a force in the financial strategy and fintech space. and you are the incredible moniker whose moniker is about to change. Roca Quesada, you know, before we dive in, what's a song or quote or mantra that perfectly sums up your approach to business and life? Oh, definitely I would have to say a song would be Beautiful Day by YouTube, right? And how it explores the duality of life, you know, and really the duality of business, right? of how I think there's everything can be okay and not, right? And how you have to keep your pulse on not just what's happening in the day-to-day, but also on where you're headed, right? And that's our role as fractional CFOs, right? Like we're really talking about the strategy of where we want to take our business. Where do we want to end up, right? Being forward-facing. and how, you know, in the change of political environments and the change of economies and the change of technology, right, advancements and things like that. Like, how do you stay so forward-facing? Like, what are the things you need to do in order to stay on top? You know, it starts on the mind. You talk about a beautiful day. Interestingly, it's actually a beautiful day in Miami, Florida and a beautiful day in London, England. And what a fantastic, would I say, phenomenon, you know, in terms of the climate, in terms of the weather. But also, everything begins with a mindset. I'm a Christian, a man of faith, and the Bible says, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. You know, the mind is the world's most powerful tool when we come to think about it. You know, your mindset actually informs your philosophies. And there's something I always say on the show, conceive, believe, achieve. But on my birthday two weeks ago, I think I did a little tweak to that. Conceive, believe, strive to thrive and achieve. You need to put in that work. And speaking of people who are putting that work, you are a big example and you're also paying it forward. So what inspired your transition from traditional accounting to becoming a fractional CFO? and fintech entrepreneur. Well, that's such an interesting story. So for me, I've always liked, and I think most accountants by trade will say that, right? They've always liked structure, routine, knowing, right? Predictability. So I was fortunate enough to get my career started in what I would say is the best form of accounting, which is operations accounting. I've always loved to see how things work and how it relates to the finance of a company, right? And so I started my career very young. I was probably 24 years old and I was managing a department for a major cruise line in operations accounting. It was the most intense and still to this day, probably one of the things I look back on with the most pride in my career, even though I've owned my own business and I've owned multiple businesses over the last few years, but I've had agile planners now for, we're going into our 12th year. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. And I look back on that time and I think the, it was for me, accounting, well, finance and accounting, when it's intertwined with operations, even something like e-commerce, e-commerce is like a puzzle. It's like, how do you get the pieces to flow together? There's so many different moving parts and they're all moving at the speed of light like when you think about a floating hotel right how many transactions are going through a point of sale system at any given time or i think about being in a major convenience store and how many times you hear the register being scanned at the same time right like those are all multiple transactions when you think about that neurological base of transactions happening and how do you put them all together that's always been something that i that i find mesmerizing right like how do week so many moving variables yeah no like how do you how do you break that information into by the hour by the day by the week by the month by the year right like and how can data yeah how can you use the data to structure where you want to go right not just um i think one of the bigger challenges in the accounting world is there's there's so many different you have so many different needs, right? Like you definitely need having a bookkeeper in the day to day and dealing with what's happening now, but your tax professional may be working on either what's going to happen in the future or what already happened in the past, right? But who's really looking at where you want to go, right? Like what is the strategy to get there? I work with some amazing business owners and it's always, it's always interesting to me to see how they consolidate their data right like they'll always bring out a spreadsheet of like i'm exporting from here and i create this table and i do this right and um what i what i love about the fintech industry is how we're building tools to accommodate right like literally building tools to be able to take that data and make it usable not just in accounting and finance but in operations and logistics in all different parts, even in HR, right? We can look at what is happening with the data points to figure out where we want to go. You know, basically, data is the heart of communication. You know, if you're giving me information to process, right? I process information in order to make well-informed decisions. And the ABC of communication is be accurate, be brief, and be concise. If you're able to achieve those, then you're having efficient communication. And that is exactly, you know, what persons like yourself who are able to leverage on technology, leverage on AI, leverage on data solutions, you know, leverage on ERPs, you know, relevant ERPs to ensure that organizations actually do not spend or waste time and resources on needless, you know, computing, needless data processing, and needless systems. right I think with that c right with being concise we also need to be curious right curious as to finding ways that may work better finding ways that are more efficient right like so we went from an age of only having certain systems that we would be able to connect to to I remember I want to say back in maybe 2010 it was like the average business had maybe six to seven applications they were using right now if you were to look at some company's tech stacks right like what is in there how are they running the business right and there's definitely there can be overlap they all serve a purpose but I think the key part is to be curious as to how to maximize the data and how to maximize how we're presenting it right are we making better decisions based on the data that we're extracting from these systems right i think we have to be very open-minded when it comes to looking at data you know i i am and working with with certain businesses you realize that we're in a different generational era right where you will still have business owners that are very much like this is the way we've always done it and this is the way we're going to continue to do it, right? Uh-huh. Stalking your grades. And now we also have, we've always done it this way, but is there a better way, right? Is there, you know, like, can I find the right solution? And I think it's really important that we use our skillset to not only find what's already out there, but also to be able to build what's necessary, right? Like to use our, creative acumen to how we look at numbers to solution, right? And I think that that's really what the role is going to be. It's going to be testing different theories on how we can use the data. Like the data, like there's just so much available, you know, and it's still one of the things I love most is to break that down, right? And sometimes I would say sometimes the role that we play, right, is to ask the questions of how can we use this data better, right? Like, trying to think of an example. We've worked with companies where something as simple as like monitoring leads, right? Like where are leads coming from? We use this information, we capture the data, but are we utilizing it, right? So you've been all this data in your CRM, right? And where are the leads coming from? But are you actioning on what that data is telling you? That's the question, right? We see a lot of ad campaign spends. We're going to spend more on doing all of this. But when you look at the raw data, it's really word of mouth referrals, let's say. That's right. Right? That is the most reliable form of marketing. But that's the thing, right? I think we've gotten very used to this is what we need to do, but are we using that data? Data junkies. Yeah. We have in this age and time. It's just data junkies. You should be processing that data to make a decision on where to spend more, what channel, what funnel to invest more in. But people just take this data up and why. So like I said previously, data is meant to be collected in order to help you to make better informed decisions. Right. So if you are not utilizing data to make better informed decisions, then why are you collecting that data? and you know we still have business owners as well who basically make decisions based on hunches and intuitions right that's a that's a discussion for another that is a discussion for another day but it's such a great way to segue to my next question to you you know about the biggest misconceptions you know that small businesses have about a CFO and what a CFO does and why do they often wait too long to hire one So the biggest misconception is that they can't afford one, I think. Right. I think that would be the biggest misconception. I think having a strategist and that's what I would deem, you know, I think we use the moniker of CFO or the title of CFO because people, they know what it means. Right. But with it, they attach a very high price tag is what they attach to it. I often... Now you're sounding like Adam from the CFO projects. I mean, when I tell somebody, right, I almost don't want anybody to introduce me as a CFO, right? Like I almost, I truly don't. I love to be introduced as another business owner. I'm just like the person I'm talking to. I'm a business owner. I have the same concerns, right? The difference is that I help businesses make better decisions based on the information that we've collected from their numbers, right? Whether you want to put that as a CFO or not is debatable, but that's really what we're doing, right? I'm going to put it that other way. You help businesses to mind their business. Yes, very much so. I think the question begs to what we were talking about, right? Like when you have your books complete, right? And let's say you have years of data, if you're not utilizing that data to make better decisions, then what's it there for, right? Like, sure, compliance is one thing. We need to file taxes. There's laws. Absolutely. But there's so much information in those numbers that to not use it is it makes it makes no sense. Right. Like I often talk to business owners. I've been candid and they're like, I'm intimidated. I don't want to look. I know there's something wrong in my numbers. And one of the things I used to say is I make business owners fall in love with their numbers again. Right. There's so much power in knowing what's happening in your day-to-day there really is you you get to make better decisions like what what good is it for me to look at my financials from a year ago to plan for now like I I don't you know I want to know what happened yesterday I want to know what happened two weeks ago I want to know what happened this week in the business I want to keep my finger on the pulse right so that I can see how I can maximize on that right like how can I take better advantage of what the numbers are telling me wow that's in a nutshell what we do right look at it from and it's not just because one of the things i've you know i've often been quoted to say is i want people to stop looking at top line revenue i mean truthfully does it matter if you sold three million dollars if you have no profitability like is that did we lose i'll keep this line revenue is vanity profit is sanity and cautious kink. Yes, yes. I feel like a lot of business owners trade their jobs for a less paying job as a business owner, right? You work more, you're putting in sweat equity, you're willing to do whatever it takes. And at the end of the day, if you truly don't have an understanding of what's happening in your business, then did you make the right choice, right? Or how can you maximize the decisions that you've made right like i you know being a business owner being an entrepreneur is not for everyone that's okay right and i think sometimes it can be underrated of how how difficult it is right like i know for me when i think about my business it's not just my welfare but all of the employees that work with us all of the contractors that are depending on us right? There's a lot of pressure. Wouldn't you want to maximize the information you have at your fingertips to make better decisions, right? Like when you frame it in that way, does it not make sense to have an extra set of eyes to help you think about your long strategy in your business Not just an extra set of eyes but well eyes you know That helps you. Yeah, well-trained and well-experienced eyes. And that's exactly what we are as a fractional CFOs. But, you know, you have actually said that your business is a machine, right? Are you able to do a quick walkthrough or overview of the 16 parts that drive our profitability and how they work together? And I know you have, you know, what would I call this now? A robust resource on this. And real quick, how can we share that with the audience? Yes, it's actually available on our website. We'll post a link to it in the description. So yeah, the show notes are below. But it's more the best way to explain it, right, is when you think I'll use the example of a printer. I think a lot of times in businesses, we start a business because we have a passion for something and there is an emotional attachment to it. Right. Like we obviously it's something we feel very strongly about and we want it to achieve. But we stop looking at the business for what it is, which is it has a purpose. Right. And so to give you an example, it's like a printer. A printer, it has a role. It's going to print. And if it doesn't print, then there's the parts of the printer that we need to look at. Perhaps I'm out of toner. Perhaps there's a piece that needs to be replaced, right? But when you can break down the different parts of the business and how it should work, then you can triage those areas, right? So when we talk about the different drivers, we talk about drivers of, right, drivers of revenue and then drivers of cash flow. Like, I think that's something that is least talked about is how healthy is my business, right? If tomorrow there's a crisis of some sort, right? Let's go back to the pandemic where, you know, if you were a hospitality business and you were selling, you know, a restaurant and people couldn't come into your restaurant anymore, right? What were you going to do? You know, what were your options? cash flow and profitability are your rainy day bank, right? And it's not, we get so caught up in the day-to-day and can I meet my expenses for this month? But what is your plan long-term, right? A year from now, three years from now, five years from now, what's your exit plan in your business, right? And if you want to truly look at your business as a machine, right, then you need to be planning for that and you need to plan for, you know, what is my business truly worth, right? If I were going to sell my business today, it's going to be based on the profitability of the business, right? I mean, you could sell it for parts if you have a great client base, lots of inventory, right? But if you want to sell it as a whole, then you have to make sure that it's healthy enough and that it's profitable and that there's cash flow, right? And those are the things that get overlooked. you know, particularly in a small business and in startup business. Exactly. Like no controls and management override of controls. We have where the controls even exist. It's a, it's quite a very, very interesting terrain. But how should businesses approach financial forecasting in today's uncertain economy? By leveraging, leveraging the data, right? Leveraging and looking at the data in different ways. I think we often look at our financials as this is what we sold in the last month. And that's a way to forecast for sure. But do we understand why? Do we understand what we need to tweak? Do we understand what we can do better, right? Looking at the entire picture of what's happening. What's how the drivers. Yeah, definitely looking at the drivers, breaking them down. You know, most of the time, if you talk to a business that's struggling, their answer is always, I need to sell more, right? That's always the answer. I need to sell more. And that's possibly not, right? Like, maybe I need to increase my price. Maybe I need to negotiate my costs. Maybe I'm holding too much inventory, right? Like, who's looking at all of those different levers? And I think there's a huge misconception about whose responsibility that is. A lot of times we'll talk to a business owner and they're like, but I have a bookkeeper. Are we clear on the scope of what the bookkeeper's responsibility is? Or when we have entry conversations, they'll say, but I have a CPA. Okay, but is that included in the scope, right, of what the CPA is doing for you? Are they going to be monitoring profitability, cash flow, right? Not to say that they can't, right? And not to say that a bookkeeper can't either. It's just, is this included in the scope? And is it even on your radar, right? I often say nobody gets into business to do their bookkeeping, right? Like nobody's ever really excited about, yes, I need to reconcile my bank account, right? But if we could get excited about the data that's in there, right? Like and what it tells us, then maybe we would have a different perspective on looking at the numbers, right? maybe we would be more excited to truly forecast where we want to go right because forecasting isn't just i mean it can be it can be how much money are we going to make right but if i tweak if i make one change if i touch one driver right so if i if i lower my cost right i'm pulling a lever in my business if i raise my price i'm pulling a lever in my business what happens if I touch them all, right? Like if there's 16 different drivers and I can tweak them all just a little bit, right? My business can have a completely different outlook than what I thought. So you could be having pretty much a simulation on your business. Of course, you are actually adjusting multiple variables at the same time. Absolutely, absolutely. The thing is, do we have our pulse on those variables, right? That's the question. We get stuck in, I've always paid X for this, right? Or I have a great relationship. Like, did we try? Did we try to have a different conversation, right? Did we, do we have stretch goals for ourselves, right? Like, one of the things that I think is the biggest killer of business is getting comfortable. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. you know what a way to to branch out to my next question and it is what so three things do you think uh business owners should stop or start doing if they want to scale up our profitability so i and i think this is the greatest thing for any human to do right is approach everything with curiosity right there's a lot of times that we believe we know the answer right and we're not open to something being different or changing something because we've always done it this way it's traditionally been done this way right and we live in a time where I think that that's you know who thought what was two years ago that AI really became used like I'm seeing teenagers in high school that are having conversations with chat GPT now, right? Like who thought that that would be where we are now? If we don't approach everything we do with curiosity, we could be leaving something on the table, right? I think if we're gonna, I would want to see people embrace, I know nothing, right? Like show me your way, show me what you know, how can I leverage what I know, what you know, how can we put it together to make something versus being in a position of I know what I need to do in business right like and I think that even even for us as advisory professionals that's an interesting place to be right like when you have a conversation with someone like well okay explain to me why that's happening like why do you think that's happening right like or show me tell me how the data points you there right like give me physical proof of how we got to that right like but these are conversations that should be had right like you know um we live we can build just about any tool right now you can you can have you know ai compute the most complex things right just by having a conversation it's not even like it's like i want to input this data and i want to look at the data that way right like if we're not curious about what we can do with that, then we're going to leave stuff on the table. For sure. So speaking of leaving stuff on the table, what is on the table right now is strategic advice for new CFO firms. And of course, you know, I am on that table. So as someone who's just, you know, launched their new fractional CFO service and, you know, what foundational CFOs mindset shifts or habits would you recommend for them to focus on? for I would say that you definitely you you have to have your your processes system right it has to be repeatable I think the challenge with growing into advisory service is it is part of what most accounting and finance professionals already have in their wheelhouse right it's about setting up a way to systematize that information and make it repeatable for multiple clients It doesn't matter. That's K-T-Bow as well. Correct, right? It doesn't matter the industry per se, right? And that's the beauty of the numbers. The numbers are the numbers, right? Your benchmarks may be different, but how am I looking at all of the different parts of my business, right? At all the different drivers. How am I looking at that data and able to consolidate that and put it in a way that is understandable and more than understandable, actionable. I think that's right, because having access to the data and not making a decision or change is almost criminal. Right. Like it's like if you have all these data points and what am I doing with it? And that's what we're really trying to. That's what we're doing with advisory service, right, is that we're presenting the data in a different way. You know, for our shortened services, you know, the emphasis is more on the accuracy and the understandability of the data. On the other side, you also need to ensure that the data is actionable and understandable because you're actually making recommendations and not just making recommendations. You're making recommendations that ought to be actioned in order for that piece that has to move to the next level. Absolutely. Absolutely. absolutely i think that's the that's where the the guiding your client comes from right like meeting them where they are because at the end of the day you know this is something that you've been doing for how long how long have you been in the field i i'm embarrassed to say how long i've been in it but how long have you been in the field uh i'll say again seven years now yes seven plus CS now. So it's so even second age already, right? The amount of knowledge you have in being able to support a business, right. Can be overwhelming to someone that isn't as familiar. Right. And so I think we need to also keep our pulse on meeting, meeting people where they are. right like this is new it's different we're looking at data different let's be curious right there's there's ways to look at this from a different perspective right where someone might see a challenge you may see an opportunity and that's actually very very true you know so back to to the framework about the business document the global document you know being able to work with cross-functional teams, right, that helps you identify opportunities across the board. And building relationships would actually help you to action those recommendations that come by way of the opportunities that you support out. So it's all just, you know, moving variables, different moving paths together, and you need to figure out how to feed them together and ensure a proper balance for yourself and for your clients. What would you say is like one big mistake that, you know, many new CFO consultants make when starting out and how is the best way to avoid it? So one of the things I think the big, the bigger challenge is that they think they don't know enough, right? Or they're not leveraging the years of experience they have under their belt, right? I spoke briefly about my time working at a cruise line, right? Like that, the amount of knowledge that I gained from that experience, right? Like, unless you did the same thing or worked in a similar situation, you wouldn't have that knowledge. Don't underestimate the experience that you have, right? Or different opportunities. One of the reasons I opened up my own firm was, it's such a taboo thing to say, but you can get tired of doing bank reconciliations month after month, right? Exactly. What did I find interesting is learning about different businesses, right? So, I mean, I can probably tell you I worked for a diaper manufacturing company. I had no idea that in three minutes they can make over 400 diapers, right? Like, so there's a, there's a lot of data, right. That you can extract. And that's what I find interesting. Right. So never underestimate because, you know, I meet people or I meet other financial professionals that are like, oh yeah, but I'm just an accountant. And I'm like, what? How do you mean? I, I, I hate that. I seriously dislike that, but our people do that a lot. Good luck. Or they're like, well, I'm a bookkeeper. I'm a CPA. And I'm like, I don't know. I am a numbers wizard, right? Like I can take those data points and be able to construct a different plan or think of a different way to do things. Or it's about leveraging the information, right? Like I think we like to put it in a pretty little box of what this looks like and we want to give it a title. And that's the challenge, right? With saying that I'm a fractional CFO or a CFO or whatever it is. It's like at the end of the day, I'm here because I want to help you and your business succeed. I want to help you plan out that strategy to be able to get to where you want to go, right? Like a lot of times we get disconnected in our businesses from our why. Why did we start the business, right? Like why did you start your firm? What was your goal? Basically, you know, to help our businesses reach the next level and, you know, be resourceful to those businesses. And, you know, win-win. My business philosophy is win-win. You know, when you add value to an entity, they are happy to give you value because money is a store value. So the only way to get it is to make people happy by the way of you being resourceful to them. That's the easiest way to make money in my business philosophy. You know, when you give people value, they are happy to give you back, you know, some value in return. And win-win is the best way to grow. and the most sustainable way to grow in any form of business. I stand to be corrected, or do you have any opposition to that philosophy? No, no. As a matter of fact, I find that interesting, right? Because what you're saying is that what's important to you is the value and the exchange, right? The energy exchange, because I do think that money is current. It's energy, right? And so that's the exchange, right? For me, very similar to what you said, I want to see businesses succeed, right? Like I feel everyone has a specific skill set, right? And you need multiple different skill sets to successfully operate and stay in business term, right? And so to say that I may not be the best person for you if you were trying to do a pay-per-click campaign, definitely out of my wheelhouse, right? But my relationships with people that can do that, right? Or knowledge that I've seen, numbers that we've run, all these things may still help your business, right? And the more people that you have that can add that type of value, the more successful your business will be. Exactly. Interesting. So what's the best way, you know, to stand out? Because for me, I believe in being different. And being different is what makes you to stand out. So how do you position, you know, yourself for success and, you know, this increasingly competitive financial services space? I would say that would be, I place a lot of emphasis on building relationships, right? um not like this is like uh finding a business advisor right for your business is often like finding a doctor or a therapist right like it has to be the right person right the person wow do you know i'm laughing uh i was chilling with my doctor friend yesterday uh he's an orthopedic surgeon he's been on this podcast uh before uh dr abdu jabbar hamza shout out to him And you know I tell him you are a doctor of bones or bro I a doctor I a financial doctor bro I checked the pulse i checked the health status of of organizations so put some respect on my name brother and you confirming it today god bless you monica the body woman with with um there there are a lot of people in the space right but not everyone is going to be the right fit for your business yeah like it's i don't i never see it as competition, I think there is the right person for every business, right? And that is going to be determined by the relationship that you build and the impact that you're able to have, right? Because if someone doesn't want to get on a call with you, because they don't vibe, they don't feel the same energy, right? Is that going to be a successful relationship? Even if you have the best skill set in that market, right? If I can't reach you, because we're not on the same page, then how can I impact your business, right? So for me, I think it's about connecting with people, building a relationship, right? And being in a space where you feel like not only they can benefit from you, but that you can benefit from them, right? Yeah, win-win, win-win always. That's what I always pursue. Like, I love a win-win, you know. That's just the best way everybody leaves the table happy. I don't want one part to leave the table happy and the other is leaving feeling, you know, shortchanged. No, I want whoever we work with has to feel like I want them to feel like they received value, right? I didn't just give them a report. I didn't give them a tangible document, right? Like we had a conversation. We discussed things. We came up with an action plan together, right? Like there's deliverables built on the conversation that we had. We have been approached by, and it happens a lot more frequently than I care to admit, where they're like, no, we want to work with a team that's just hands off. We never want to meet with you. Just tell us what we need to do. And I'm like, it's probably not a good fit, right? Because that's not the way I work. I'm not going to get the information I need to help you change your business, impact your business if I can't connect with you. That's okay. The data tells you a story, right? But the relationship and conversation are what shifts the data. But you know the interesting thing, right? It's still part of data because we tend to focus too much on quantitative data. But we do get qualitative data off the relationships. Absolutely. But the qualitative data does not go into those, you know, analytical tools. it goes in here. You know, we often, often, often undermine the qualitative data, and that's one annoying thing, you know, amongst numbers guys like ourselves. The qualitative data does matter a lot, and it's good to see persons like yourself acknowledge it. You know, how's partnering with incubators like texters or aligning with, you know, fintech ecosystems helped you to grow Finox and auto planners? Being a Techstars alum is probably one of the, like, it was one of the greatest experiences that I've had. And also when you talk about an entire system that gives back, right? Like the entire Techstars ecosystem is on giving back, right? So you reach out to anyone in the network for a need, a question, a conversation. Can I pick your brain? And the door's open. I've never seen a system like that. And to be a part of it was great, right? Or is great because you're always going to be alum. I think that that's the model that we have to adopt as a society, right? We tend to gatekeep a lot of information. We don't want to share. And being part of an incubator, being a mentor in these programs, helping develop new technology is just an amazing experience. I can't even really, I don't think I'm doing it justice. I'm putting it into words, right? Like, I know when we went through the program, we met with, I don't know, so many e-commerce businesses that we wanted to get feedback from. And everyone, like, it was never a no. It was never difficult. Whether it was like, I only have 10 minutes. Is that good enough for you? Perfect. I'll take the 10 minutes, right? Like it's about truly being part of the change, right? Being part of building the next great thing. I think that in itself is a mindset. You know, it's interesting how super successful people do not hold back. They don't keep information. And, you know, information is key if you are to progress to the next level or to anything. And that brings me to the concept of the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. You know, people who have that fixed mindset tend to keep information, tend to live in that scarcity mode, right? But what I hate when you can't collaborate, you know, if you close your hands, right, to hold what you have back, your hands are not going to be open to receive more. There is the challenge or the opportunity, right? Like, sure, you may not want to give every industry secret that you have, right? But even for us, like I think as advisory professionals, right? Like I give away more information on a conversation at a restaurant with a business owner than I would. Because it's how do you build a relationship if you're guarded on what you're going to share or the knowledge that you know, right? Or how can you scale if you don't want to discuss where you're trying to get to or how you're going to get there? Or how can you receive, right, the information that you need if you're not willing to have a conversation or ask? And so I think these are the things that we need to keep in mind when we're having those conversations. You know, I was listening to a podcast the other day where I believe what the gentleman quoted was, don't block the blessing, right? And I wonder how much we do that, right, in conversations when we gatekeep, thinking that we're going to give away something that we're actually blocking what we can receive. Exactly. And of course, speaking of don't block the blessing, I think you were aligning with my thoughts, right? Because sometimes you're in conversations with people and you bring on those elements that you would probably have wanted to gatekeep. And they actually provide you with superior information or even just a little bit of insight to improve what you already have. speaking, for example, about yourself and myself. I teach this course, you know, beats and paths and, you know, strategies on my new company with you. And you did a great thing giving me a referral to the CFO Projects. You know, I spoke with Adam, you know, a great guy, you know, And I have been really grateful for that opportunity to be immersed in a very supportive system, you know, with all of that technical and non-technical support, you know, business development support. Like, how do you get that if you don't open up in terms of exchanging strategies, you know, in terms of, you know, exchanging ideas? Like, you don't get what you need. A closed mouth is a closed destiny. Right, right. A closed mouth don't get fed. Absolutely. So that's really interesting, too. So being part of the CFO project, right, like, I'm actually a mentor for the program. It is such a great program. I've learned so much. And even, I know you spoke with Adam, but Jeff Prager is amazing as well. One of the things we talk about is there's so many businesses that need help, right? There's not enough people to be the change that's needed, right? So if you don't talk about what's helping you or how you've gotten to where you are now, right? you know like it i was at a local event and i i want everybody to get what they need right like i never i don't see things as direct competition in that manner because because not everyone is meant for me just like i'm not exactly everyone right and so if they can get what they need right then i feel that you will get repaid in different ways right and so you always genuinely i always want to help anyone get like I am what I would call a serial connector right like if someone has a need whether it's I need printing done a t-shirt it doesn't matter I know someone that knows someone that can get that done on that you know it's to be helpful right to to help people achieve what they need right and to be able to give in ways where you're not expecting to receive is one of the most beautiful things. Exactly. I think what you just said right now, my friends that know me would agree that you're the female version of me. You're just on the other side of the pond, you know, same philosophies, you know. Yeah. And of course we don't just talk to talk. We walk to talk, you know. There's this book, The Founder's Evolution by Scott Reitzheimer. He was a guest on the podcast, you know, He basically documented the evolution, the journey of a founder from inception to exit. And there's this phase he talked about, you know, the shift from being a reluctant manager to being a disillusioned leader. You know, how do founders know when it's time to stop being the doer and start being the builder? so i think what is difficult about being an entrepreneur at times is that you are the visionary for sure you spread yourself in but like for me i am still very much a doer in the businesses that we have i don't know that that will change i i think as you evolve in your founder your journey right then there's things that you will delegate and give up however i think there is a shift that happens right like where you acknowledge what you're good at where you excel and where you don't exactly there is a point where you have to step back and own that right like and own this is not this is not my zone of genius and i should probably let someone who excels in that space do that part right um but it takes a you know like owning your own business is to me right like it is it is my personal relationship my husband my children my grandchildren and then my business right like it is right there like after um the humans in my life and it is hard to give up parts of your baby you know that you've built right like you I think for me I went through a phase of thinking that no one understood our brand but me like I couldn't explain it to anyone else like nobody nobody's gonna get it nobody's gonna do it like me right like I need to be the one that does all of this I'm the one that does this and now I'm like no how can I build these things so that someone else can do it because the truth is there's people now on the team that do things better than I do in certain, you know, spaces, right? Like maybe there's, you know, like I feel like I always want to be a visionary for the companies that we're in. I always want to be a part of dreaming to where we're going to go. Right. But am I the one that needs to execute all the time? Probably not. No, you know, and it leads to burnout very, very frequently. Yeah, it does lead to burnout. But for me, I've learned very, very quickly, you know, that you need to be able to institute our systems in place and teach people. Yeah, I think maybe because of my teaching background, you know, if you're able to explain certain things to people and build a walkthrough, yeah, a well-documented walkthrough, I think that helps to serve as a guide for people. Anybody with average intelligence is able to follow a well-documented walkthrough and with repetition, you build mastery. So I'd love to pick your brain on that. Because we are structured individuals by nature, right? Yeah, yeah. If you work with, you know, any type of SaaS software, right? Software as a service, there's always change, right? One of the things we talk about a lot on the team internally is SOPs, right? And the endless changes that happen. And how do you stay on top of that? Where do you fall on the list of documentation or SOPs in this ever-changing landscape? You know, the only constant thing, you know, is change, basically. And that is why I believe in constantly updating your documentation. But in the first place, there has to be a documentation on ground. Remember, I'm an auditor by background. but aside from that audit background right i am actually a business strategist by nature so even while i was in audit i think i did have some managers from time at pwc who told me like you should consider being a strategy not being an audit of course the way you think the way your mindset is is actually built to be a business strategist i never really got what that guy was saying until much later like oh there you go because of the value right so so back back to the question right um same thing with uh forecasting you see how you know the landscape keeps changing the variables keep changing are you saying we are not going to have a forecasting model no we'll keep updating the numbers and yeah so basically you can update on a ad hoc basis or a periodical basis. So basically, you just try to find, you know, a periodic system that actually works well for that business model, you know, depending on the frequency of change. So if we have, say, a quarterly review, right? Yeah, fine. But if we have any major changes, then we are paid on an out-of basis. So that's not the way to go on, you know, my own side of things. interesting well no i think i've learned over the years that i'm more of a rule bender than a rule breaker and so i tend to i think what i heard you say is structure is built into the updating of sops and and what and so i'm just always curious at how other accounting professionals are taking that right because i do feel like particularly software changes so much now by the time you make your final edits on how to do something it's often different yeah yeah so so basically you just need to classify what are the major changes what are the minor changes so if you're doing on a monthly basis right so you could wait till the end of the month if there's a minor change because you keep documenting those things you know you have your your google sheet where everybody's collaborating on and you know we're documenting those things and notice right so yeah if you can wait let it wait till the month end process. If you cannot wait, then okay, we update it. So it's still structural flexibility, you know. Gotcha. You're welcome. You know, when we talk about founders, you know, that are trying to move from being stuck in the weeds, you know, to becoming visionary leaders who will build scalable systems and culture. Like, what's your advice for that? And it goes back to what I was, stay curious, right? I think for founders, particularly, sometimes we get, or I've seen it happen where they're so focused on what they're building. It no longer serves the purpose and they haven't pivoted yet because they're so focused on the end goal, right? Like a lot of times we have to stop and ask yourself, is this still working the way we intended, right? Particularly in the founder world. And there's a lot of missed opportunities because I think what happens, at least particularly in the fintech space, is that you're solving for a certain solution. And you're so focused on solving for that one thing that you can't see that you have something even bigger right in front of you. Right. And so you have to be able, like, I'll give you a perfect example. When we were building out FinOps, we had a target market that we were looking at. right and if it wasn't because we had met other companies that were larger than what our target market was we would have possibly never made that pivot it was talking having those conversations are like wait you're missing what you could actually build with this right like and and I remember those moments of being like so headstrong but that's not who we want to build this product for. This isn't what the intention was, right? Like you get very focused on your why that you might miss just how big something can be. Exactly. And, you know, that comes with the growth mindset, the open-mindedness. You know, sometimes when you're just so tunnel-visioned and you just focused on achieving a particular goal with a particular method it keeps you away from seeing other possibilities right what the flip side to that is bad too right like because if you not laser focused on the end either then you might miss the milestone so there definitely has to be a middle ground i think the yeah definitely i like that middle ground right and remember even from my answer to you on the s&p's right you'd see my mindset is all about balancing structure and flexibility but that is a hard line it is a hard line to follow if you're not it's approaching it with curiosity like what can this is there like if we get and maybe that that is the growth mindset right because if we're fixed on something but what is the middle ground mindset right like meaning because at the end of the day i've seen the same situation with founders where they don't get to the end goal because they change too often, right? So it's like there has to be, or maybe it's about who's on the team, right? Like maybe it's about the players on the team too, right? It's interesting, right? A founder's journey can be, it's a hard one, you know? Like to be a founder, to be an entrepreneur is hard. And while you may have a team, it's interesting how it can still be lonely. Right? Yes, absolutely. Because the risk and reward, you know, lies with you. The risk and reward absolutely lies with you. But, you know, I think I would use the growth of this broadcast as an example. You know, what a great time to use as an example, having clocked 10,000 subscribers just two days ago. and think about the growth that has been achieved, you know, from inception until now. So if you look at the early days of the podcast, you know, I was using a platform called StreamYard. And, you know, I was always curious about how can we improve, how can we improve. And over time, I discovered, yeah, I was using a certain, you know, number of tools. another tool called Opus Leaps that tool helps you to cut your long form content into short clips I discovered it wasn't giving me the image quality the video quality that I wanted it doesn't export your videos in 4k quality so why am I paying so much money for this thing I started doing my research discovered I needed to buy a 4k camera right so i did research got the best brand on the market which is logitech and of course i saw the improvements uh with the video quality and what else i had to move from stream yard to a platform called readerside and with readerside boom the quality game changed you know you could produce your long form and your short form content you know with the 4k quality they they kept on you know improving on the technological features even the ai features on the platform and i'm like okay these are the guys that get the kind of person that i am you know i am a progressive i have i have an elderly friend you know who comes to my place he's always saying well anytime i come to your house, you know, something has changed. There's a positive improvement, you know, and that's, you know, the kind of person that I am. So we started with sharing stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things as a motto. And some people were like, I don't like the idea of being called an ordinary person. I'm like, okay, don't worry. And we changed the motto to sharing the stories of extraordinary people and dissecting hot topics because I discovered it's not just about the stories of these people. These people were coming to share education. Absolutely. We pivoted, you know, just keep strategizing. And at some point, people got to know me almost, you know, were identifying me with, you know, with interviewing people in combat sports because I do, aside from being a chartered accountant, a finance guy, I do have a background in martial arts. I used to trade taekwondo, karate And of course I do mixed martial arts I've had guys from the UFC On this show I've had the president of the BKFC That's been a fighting championship on this show as well But I thought to myself You are way more than martial arts You are a businessman You are a finance professional And you're very vast Investor style So what did I do? I rebranded again I was strategizing to speaking with business leaders like yourself, speaking with, you know, health practitioners, doctors, speaking with guys in AI tech and basically more focused, more on business, business, business. And now here we are. So over time, you just need to, as a founder, you know, change the goalposts over time. And that's what brings, you know, that growth. because if you just focus on a particular pathway, it's difficult to achieve accelerated growth, rather. But then, you know, there's a structure already. But, you know, when you keep welcoming ideas, new ideas and new possibilities, you know, people tell me, oh, why don't you do this? Why don't you? There's so many things people have told me. And I say, okay, based on the structure, I just try to incorporate it, incorporate it. And here we go, 10K subscribers. Thank you, guys. Your feedback. You know, CheapTail has actually helped, you know, to achieve this level of growth. So for me, you know, it's about finding that way of balancing the flexibility and the structure. You know, the structure stays, you know, the same. But, you know, when you're cheaping that flexibility over time and, you know, having this beat-sized adjustments over time. Yeah, we're still trying to achieve, you know, that goal. and what was the goal I set out to achieve? If you look at Spotify, the podcast is under the category self-help. So my two major goals when I started out was education and inspiration. So if I can educate people and inspire people, I think my work here is well done. And I think you would agree with me that those are the two things I brought you here to do and you're doing them indirectly. Well, I wanted to touch base on, you know, there's a really good friend of mine that I met in Techstars. I hope he hears this podcast because he'll definitely get the reference. Wow. But when we met, I told him that my goal in life was to have an extraordinary life, right? Wow, are you on the podcast that said how to share the stories of extraordinary people? Tell me. There was a question that was posed, I believe it was yesterday, in a conversation, which is like, what are one of the things that you would give women in business, right? Or minority-owned businesses or anyone that's like, you know, right now trying to build something, what would you do? What would you say? And what I would say is stop playing small, right? And realize that you are, you were meant to have an extraordinary life. When we block our blessings or, you know, there's another really good friend of mine that says when we hug our gifts by not sharing them with the world right we're not only affecting our own path in life but someone else's right like your story of how you built something or how you got there or what you've done to get to where you are now may inspire someone else or it may help someone not make that same mistake like you don't know how someone's going to take what you have to say or how life-changing it is. I think that what needs to happen is that we can't undervalue it, right? I think a lot of times we don't want to share our experience or our stories, right? And I'm like, no, I feel like we need to share more. We need to talk about the challenges that we've had and not just the wins, right? Some of the losses. I think we go around saying that I'm a two-time founder. I think it's true. We're nine times we've had nine different companies right like who would have thought i owned a skateboard shop at some point right things that you do right experiences that you've had that have shaped who we are today right like all of those bits and pieces are part of living that extraordinary life right like just again the not playing small right sharing your stories is so important right you just never know who you're gonna touch you know i i am actually literally in the business of sharing stories of extraordinary people. So there you go. Bring your referrals because I'll take it upon myself, you know, to share the series of extraordinary people and dissect hot topics, relevant hot topics, important hot topics, you know, and I hope we only grow from here. Yeah. Cheers to the next milestone of the KE Incomment. Yes. Whoa. You know, you've actually made waves both in finance and tech. And of course, you talked about being a woman, you know, in this male-dominated world. So what has been your experience navigating, you know, these male-dominated industries, especially as a Hispanic woman? And how are you paying it forward? I think my experience hasn't been typical because I live in a multicultural area, right? I live in the heart of Miami. Lucky you. Lucky you. Yeah. I want to be like you when I grow up. I will honor the fact that that is not everyone's experience, but speaking from my own experience, I don't, maybe, maybe it's also a confidence thing, right? Or maybe not, not so much a confidence thing, but a resilience and determination to share what we have to offer, right? That it doesn't, I've had very, very, I have nothing but beautiful things to say about the experiences that I've had. And I have heard for a lot of female founders in particular, particularly in the cohort we were in, there was a lot of Latin American culture and the experience wasn't the same. Right. And I think. What is important for women, for women, for business owners, for any type of diver, you cannot you cannot not focus on what it is that you're trying to build. Right. Like you cannot play small and you have to show up with the energy of what I am bringing is going to change the world. I am I am producing something. I am building something. I am bringing something to the table that is going to change the landscape that we're in now. And if you can keep that top of mind, then your outcome will be more successful. Right. I'm not saying that you don't have hiccups and pitfalls and that they're not challenging. They absolutely are. But if you keep your mindset of what you're bringing to the table, then you can overcome those challenges. Fantastic. We know you're a very, very busy woman and members of your team will come and ship you off the table very soon. Before you guys shipped off the table, are you able to give us a quick, you know, brief story? I said it. Of a female entrepreneur whose story of utilizing smart financial strategy is actually transformational and inspirational. I'm sure I can. Of course, now I'm drawing a blank under pressure. Okay. Before you give us that story, right, let's quickly play the quick fire round. You know, I have five power questions for you. Just very, very quick answers, you know, worthy, if possible. What's a financial tool or tech stack you swear by? Controversial. QuickBooks. Oh, wow. QuickBooks. Okay, it's you. I know. I knew it was going to be controversial, but I feel like... How about zero? QuickBooks or Zero? I'm team QuickBooks still. There are some things I love about Zero. I just feel, at least here in the U.S., Zero is more popular on your side of the pond than it is here. Yeah, that's actually very true. You're correct. Absolutely important. So what's your favorite business book or founder story? Business book? I would... I find it a business book and a life book. I would say Think and Grow Rich. Wow. The one of my favorites. Wow. I said this on, you know, this podcast before, but let me just tell you, Think and Grow Rich was the first book my father ever gifted me. Wow. Yeah, and I honestly, that book actually shaped my life. So, big recommendation to the audience. Go read Think and Grow Rich and thank me later. I'll drop the link in the descriptions as well. Number four, what's the best piece of advice you've ever received as a woman in business? Share your gift. Your story needs to be heard, right? Women have the tendency to show up, or at least in Latin cultures, I'll speak from Latin cultures, we're taught to stay small, right? And I think that that's one thing that definitely needs to change, right? Like show up with your gifts, show up with you, you have to contribute. Keep talking about the change that you want to be. Those times are done, right? Of not. And I think more so is sharing vulnerably, right? Having conversations, true deep conversations about business and life, right? And how they're intertwined. I think that we undervalue that. We no longer live in a world where it's like I, especially as an entrepreneur or business owner, right? Like I work from nine to five. That doesn't happen anymore. Like this is a part of my lifestyle. For seven, I sleep with my laptop. but I think what's interesting is um at least in this phase of my life right I I still work just as hard but I get to choose when and how right yeah so it's a flexibility yeah but that comes over time and it's it's a learned skill it's not you know something that happens right out of the gate so it's an acquired taste absolutely well well so for me i think it's a line between personal and work right and and how that line can be blurred right i think what's important to know that if you take your eye off one the other will suffer right so oftentimes we think we have to work more to produce more to succeed more but if we don't take care of what's in our lives personally, you cannot build a thriving business while your personal life is in chaos. And I've tried that. It doesn't work. It never ends well. It doesn't. But those are the things that we don't talk about. I mean, you do hear people say that you have to work out for your mental health and things like that. But even connection with people that are important to you will help you thrive at work right and we sometimes undervalue that very very true people please take note so number five finish the sentence wealth to me means dash freedom wow i like that like that let's have to get the traits right the character trait i was thinking for you is actually resilience yeah resilience actually keeps you going and going and going and of course you know you are an embodiment of resilience but your story your journey you know has actually benefited a lot from resilience think about what you would be today without that resilience you know you just kept on going to the audience you know or please go get the free guide 16 parts of your business machine on the agile planners website that you know money card is book right fit call even if you think um you know i tell people all the time book a right fit call let's have a conversation if something on this call piques your interest and you want to have a conversation about it please take me up on the offer and book the right fit call you just never know again what impact i may have for you and your business or vice versa maybe you have something impactful for me you know that's what we'll put the call the money woman money cars got your back like a chiropractor uh so wow from me to you you know i feel i feel honored you know having such a highly cerebral and natural business leader uh on the podcast with me today i did not forget that the story if you still have the story in your back you can drop it but if you want to leave it for part two it's fine as well from me to you uh like i always say on the podcast an attitude of gratitude is good attitude and when somebody shares their time with you they share their life uh with you thank you very much for sharing your time your life with me and the audience today a very very big thank you to you love and respect that from the other side of the pond thank you thank you so much for having me and i definitely can't wait for part two wow okay fantastic so guys uh please please monica tell them to go subscribe yes i want to now i'm invested i want to see as these numbers grow and change i mean this is an amazing podcast you have so much to give so much information to share um i i really i can't wait to see as it grows oh thank you very much and of course uh guys can come to yourselves see you soon