WEBVTT
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[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm Greg Clino, partner at IA Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Be sure to follow, subscribe, and share Daily Influence with someone who could use a little extra positivity today.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And make us part of your Daily routine, whether it's during your commute, on a walk, or an quiet momentous for you, because you're influenced matters.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, I'm Greg Kalino.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Today we're joined by Lynn Karazi, fractional CFO, educator, and creator of guided money tours through data to profit.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Lynn has spent years helping business owners better understand the stories their numbers are telling and more importantly, helping them overcome the hesitation and fear that often surrounded financial decision making.
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[SPEAKER_01]: What makes Lynn's perspective especially powerful is his belief that our business relationship with money often mirrors our personal relationship with it.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Through coaching, teaching, and volunteer work with WWBIC, Lynn and powers leaders to move from avoidance to clarity, from delayed to decisive action.
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[SPEAKER_01]: This conversation is packed with practical insights for business owners, leaders, and anyone looking to make a smarter, more intentional decision with confidence and purpose.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Lynn, welcome to daily influence.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's a pleasure to be here, Greg, and thank you for that very kind introduction.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Lynn, you found more joy in teaching leaders that simply doing the financial work itself.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Take us back, what experiences or moments shaped your journey into becoming both a fractional CFO and an educator focused on helping leaders think differently about money and decision making?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, my career began with as internal auditor for practoring gamble spent 14 years with them in all kinds of accounting and finance roles mostly finance left there to go and one of the thing that realized that PNG was I can have a very very successful career there.
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[SPEAKER_02]: But I wouldn't put my pop prints on anything.
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[SPEAKER_02]: That big company, that big, it's difficult.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I love PNG to go work for ground HEs and really got into the world of numbers and management and begin to really show people how their numbers can actually be used to help them as sales reps, make more money, as distributor partners, how they can make more money, and how the company can actually make more money.
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[SPEAKER_02]: When I left there, I just started working for small businesses.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And I just realized even there,
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[SPEAKER_02]: But unless I really show them what it means to them, why I did it, and how I did it, they would never be able to be to do it themselves.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And then the process of working with the business coach is that find the joy and what you really love doing.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And that turned into that conversation was happening as we were writing a book, my partner and I, and everything just kind of came out into, oh my gosh, we're taking everything that a business owner needs to know.
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[SPEAKER_02]: to get themselves unstuck when it comes to this fear of numbers, the behavior that we wanted to change and went into the stop of wording the numbers.
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[SPEAKER_02]: That's the name of the book.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And I just realized when I look back at my career, what I've done is been in front of an audience, showing them things.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And the actual dedication of the book has been primarily to my dad.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And as I dad always thought that I belonged on the college campus,
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[SPEAKER_01]: But then 45 years later, if you're a LIN teaching, that's wonderful.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And I love that ship from doing the work to empowering others to understand it for themselves because that's really where that influence multiplies.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and the thing about it is when you get into, when you start by financial services, accounting support, financial support,
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[SPEAKER_02]: people buying things they don't even understand.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's like me and marketing, I've squandered thousands of dollars.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Thinking I was working with a good partner for my marketing and realized I was getting nothing for it.
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[SPEAKER_02]: In the results, oh, it just takes time.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It just takes time.
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[SPEAKER_02]: No, it takes a better marketing partner.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And then you find out all the different components of it and it's like yeah, you can't do marketing with just just the SEO management and website team You have to have all these other people on your team.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's the same thing within finance and you know with small business owners in particular They think I get I got the bookkeeper Thank goodness and I got a tax prepared.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Oh my god.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Thank god.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Thank goodness and that is done.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I don't have to worry about that
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[SPEAKER_02]: We, yeah, you do.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because you are the CFO of your business, whether you know it or not, that you have a team or not.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So let's just get you a little more comfortable with all this with the whole world of money management, because it's not just accounting and bookkeeping.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's it's financial literacy.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It is forecasting and looking ahead.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's really diving in and understanding what's driving your results.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And how do I use this information?
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[SPEAKER_02]: They better decisions.
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[SPEAKER_02]: How I've tried to begin my exit plan and my own personal wealth plan.
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[SPEAKER_02]: This was far beyond bookkeeping.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and you said that business owners relationships with money often mirror their personal lives.
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[SPEAKER_01]: That's such a powerful observation.
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[SPEAKER_01]: What are some of the most common patterns or mindsets you see leaders struggle with and how can they begin recognizing those blind spots before they negatively impact their business.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, the biggest thing I hear all the time is.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not a numbers person.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I don't like numbers.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Well, as a matter of fact, yes, you are a numbers person.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Did you ever want to be late?
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[SPEAKER_02]: If not, you are constantly looking at a couple of numbers on your watch and the speedometer of your car and how long it's gonna take you to get there.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Do you just feel like cookies are done?
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[SPEAKER_02]: No, you set the oven for three, 75.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You set the time for eight minutes, not 12 minutes, not six minutes.
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[SPEAKER_02]: But there's, there's a set of numbers that help you run things to know that to have greater confidence that your cookies are going to come out not raw, not burnt or perfect.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And you know, and it'll be when you're driving down the road, guys for a bid, you're 75 miles an hour, that's okay.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Get at the speed limit 70, but when it goes down to 55, and you ignore that sign that says slow down,
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[SPEAKER_02]: The same principle applies to your business.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You're creating hundreds of numbers every single day.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Pay attention to them because not paying attention is going to be very costly.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And this is where I try to break everything that's personal.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It happens in your personal life.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I told my kids once when I managed a team of six people.
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[SPEAKER_02]: They said, I said, man, that believe it or not, you did not come with a set of instructions.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Neither test the group that I manage, you know, that I'm trying to lead.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You got to get to know everybody individually, find out what motivates them, how they want to be recognized, how they don't want to be recognized, how to set boundaries for them, when to give them more, you know, more space.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's the same.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Our business life mirrors our personal, every single day.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And awareness is such an important first step at knowing something and acting on our often two different things we recently had an episode about decision velocity and why leaders postpone important decisions and your work connects beautifully to that conversation.
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[SPEAKER_01]: From your experience, why do so many leaders delay financial decisions, even when they know action is needed?
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[SPEAKER_01]: And what practical framework or habits can help them move from hesitation to confidential?
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[SPEAKER_02]: That's a great question.
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[SPEAKER_02]: In fact, it's probably been about three weeks I did a podcast.
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[SPEAKER_02]: on decision-making and really there, we make decisions in three different environments, one it's an emergency.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, these are unavoidable.
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[SPEAKER_02]: When the machine breaks or something happens, the customer comes in, correctly, you know, really upset about something, they need attention and a decision right then and there.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Then there's other decisions that we plan.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You know, like we all make decisions when we're planning a vacation.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I'm planning one right now.
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[SPEAKER_02]: We have, we know what's going to happen kind of each day.
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[SPEAKER_02]: We know about what it's going to cost.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And there's a degree of confidence that we have in saying, we know what we know what to expect.
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[SPEAKER_02]: But as you're talking about, there's all these should-of-scene are seeing coming, but we don't know how to act.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And I think a lot of what paralyzes people a lot is not having any way to kind of know what is the potential outcome
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[SPEAKER_02]: three or four different options, how do you really take the time and make assumptions of how good this can be as B or model it C, how bad could it be, how good it could be, and there you get a sense of is really understanding what is the outcome of the decision.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because we know that it's there, we know we need to hire somebody.
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[SPEAKER_02]: should I hire them now or should I wait a couple of months?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Well, if I wait a few months in sales really kick off, oh my gosh, I'm going to miss sales because I don't have that person, but what can be the impact if I hire them in sales don't come?
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[SPEAKER_02]: That's one of those classic decisions that there's a range and there's a lot of second guessing and a lot of fear of making that decision because of the uncertainty.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Working with your number,
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[SPEAKER_02]: somebody, or maybe having somebody help you do that, it does tell you, yes, I can afford to make this decision and feel pretty good about it.
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[SPEAKER_02]: We all get there sooner or later, we say, okay, you know, when can I retire?
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[SPEAKER_02]: At the end of the day with most decisions, the real question underlying everything is, are we going to be okay?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And that's what people want to know.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Am I going to be okay if I invest in this person, or if I buy this new piece of machinery, because I think my volume is going to grow, or I do anything else.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Am I going to be okay if I do this?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And when somebody wants frame decisions like that with me, it's like, wow, that's powerful.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So now I try to approach people say, okay, our checklist for this is to get an understanding of the range of possibilities so we can answer that very basic question.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_01]: That intentional movement from fear to clarity is something so many listeners are trying to navigate right now.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Can you share a moment where teaching someone to better understand their finances or business numbers created a deeper transformation.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, there's one person in particular, I think that I've had an impact on.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I worked with this one for three years.
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[SPEAKER_02]: She became the president and CEO of her company when Dad suddenly died.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And she's like, then I've done marketing for this company.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I know this business, they actually had two businesses.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And I know what, if you're by, I've never run a business.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I've never run financials.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And I don't know what I'm doing.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And like every call for the first four to first five or six times, we got together.
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[SPEAKER_02]: The question was, Janey, how's your head today?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And if it was good, we talked for an hour and then she cried.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Sometimes if it wasn't good, she would just kind of, because I'm the leader now, I am the face of this company.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I cannot let anybody see me this far, horrible.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Well, they were running two separate business that I did for 30 plus years, two separate businesses out of one P&L.
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[SPEAKER_02]: to very different businesses.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so it took us a while, but we were able to separate the two businesses, monitor the cost, optimize a lot of the operations, create in the other numbers for performance around labor utilization, sales management, hiring, but in all the stuff.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And then after enjoying that for 15 months, she made the hard decision
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[SPEAKER_02]: her passion was not in both of these businesses.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so she decided to shut one of them down.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And this was a hugely emotional decision because that was a business of dad and started.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And she felt incredibly guilty about, you know, saying we're gonna have to close this part of it down.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And but just to be there with her and watch her grow as a leader, as a,
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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, as the CEO of this business and balance of mother and all the responsibilities that she had, her husband eventually came into the business with her and it was just, it was a very cool experience moments like that remind us that influences rarely about information it's about helping people see themselves differently and work through different such scenarios like that.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And after working with somebody for a period of time, you know, my favorite day, this is gonna sound strange was when they say, then we think we have this.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And we had to reach this mutual thing, you know, okay, we're good.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I feel that you've got the foundation in place, you know, what, why you've got a good team who's helping you out now, you know what good performance looks like relative to where you were before.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And you got this.
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[SPEAKER_01]: It's like your child graduating.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Life mirrors business doesn't it.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, sir does you want them to go, but you know what, but just like I tell I don't I don't care where you go, but you are going to go.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And, but you know what, you can always come back, the hot, you know, always be there for you.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And I will every leader has moments where things did not go as planned.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Was there a challenge or failure or financial lesson in your own journey to fundamentally change how you lead teacher guide others today?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Now, there are no what you're getting into.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And because there was a period where I had to very large client at a time.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And one of them was one of them started off.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It was this amazing engagement.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It was working for the company that worked out of a building.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It looked like Hogwarts.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it was this old kind of castle like the experience, the big hall where everybody ate, lunch every day, it was just, it was so fun.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And they knew that it was gonna be a difficult situation to work in.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And after 10 months, I finally had to go say, I'm sorry, I can't do this with you anymore.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And I've done everything that I could to try to put it and play in for them, but there were just so many things that was busted that were wrong.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And ultimately, when the side of the dude could kind of separate and break up,
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's like, they weren't letting me do the work that I was hired to do because there was they had some other old accounting audit issues that we had to take care of.
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[SPEAKER_02]: That's not my forte.
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[SPEAKER_02]: That's not what I want to do.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's not what I enjoy doing.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And I get telling them, no, you need to have some professional people on staff.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You cannot run an organization this side, which is to couple clerks.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And because of that, all the good fun forward-looking financial stuff that the board was asking me to do, why I was hired to do, was in getting done.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Except for the last minute, oh, we got the board meeting in two weeks.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Let's make something up to present to them.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And it's really asking and making sure that you understand the situation that you're getting into.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because I've dedicated a lot of time with them and with this other large client and then when you break up with two great big clients So once or you know, they but the other one closed right about the same time and then you realize, oh I've not paid attention to my business my my pipeline had dried up and so after losing to two good-sized clients There's a period of darkness there where oh, no income coming in
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[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes are greatest lessons at the exact tools we later used others succeed.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, so there's always going to be that not everything works out according to plans.
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[SPEAKER_01]: For business owners who feel overwhelmed by their numbers are disconnected from the financial side of the business, what are two or three practical habits or routines that they can start implementing immediately to become more intentional informed decision makers?
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[SPEAKER_02]: what their financials, what all three financial statements are.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Just to get familiarity with your income statement, your balance sheet, and your cash flow statement.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And I find that so many business owners do not even have that fundamental understanding of what those three things mean, that those three statements are.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And the biggest question that I get to prove that
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[SPEAKER_02]: That to me is almost borders on negligence, but I would say, look, understand your financials, open them up once a week and look at something and ask your accountant or your CPA or whoever does your books for you.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Have them answer a question for you.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Why did our sales go up this much?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Or what happened this year compared to last year?
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[SPEAKER_02]: You know, tell me about this set of expenses.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because now you're asking a question.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And in getting into the habit of just looking and asking, you don't have to be the expert because they're the experts.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You just need to have a little bit of awareness.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So it's not, you know, I tell people with my guy that money tours that you mentioned, the purpose of this is not to make UACFO is to get you to start thinking like a CFO.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And the first thing that a good CFO does is ask different types of questions.
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[SPEAKER_01]: and I appreciate how actionable your approach is because clarity creates confidence and confidence skills leadership.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Well, and for a long time, my website is like, I am a fractional CFO.
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[SPEAKER_02]: What I deliver is confident, financial outcomes.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And that's really what it's about, helping you understand,
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[SPEAKER_02]: your numbers, and use those numbers in a forward looking way to make better, more profit decisions for you.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because if we talk about our numbers, the only thing that those numbers reflect are the decisions and the behaviors that go on in your organization.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Your orbit decisions to behaviors, the decisions to behaviors of your team,
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[SPEAKER_02]: the decisions we behaviors of your suppliers, decisions to behaviors of your customers.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Attent?
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[SPEAKER_01]: And if you get sit down with your younger self, or even with a business owner who feels stuck on certain or intimidated by financial decisions, what advice would you give them about leadership, responsibility, and the power of making intentional choices?
19:37.136 --> 19:43.897
[SPEAKER_01]: And what challenge would you leave our listeners with today to help them create more positive influence in their own business and lives?
19:44.797 --> 19:51.120
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I tend to think of businesses operate from three overlapping circles.
19:52.201 --> 19:56.403
[SPEAKER_02]: One is a circle of, you know, where am I going for strategy?
19:57.223 --> 19:58.624
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, so where are we going?
19:58.644 --> 20:00.625
[SPEAKER_02]: And what do I want to get out of this thing?
20:01.325 --> 20:06.968
[SPEAKER_02]: Because if you once you say that, then the next question becomes, how are we going to do that?
20:08.267 --> 20:09.928
[SPEAKER_02]: which gets you into the other two circles.
20:10.628 --> 20:14.710
[SPEAKER_02]: The other, one of those circles is what kind of capability do we need?
20:15.971 --> 20:19.893
[SPEAKER_02]: So what types of skills do we need on staff?
20:20.053 --> 20:28.497
[SPEAKER_02]: What do we need to do to make sure we have enough capacity to meet customer demand, to make customers happy, to do the things that they do?
20:29.118 --> 20:31.419
[SPEAKER_02]: Then the third circle is your team.
20:32.540 --> 20:34.402
[SPEAKER_02]: is what type of culture are you going to have?
20:35.403 --> 20:49.335
[SPEAKER_02]: And when those circles are not overlapping, you're missing opportunities to get more value out of your business, to get more value out of the people, and to get more value out of the capability that you have.
20:50.676 --> 20:55.641
[SPEAKER_02]: Because you can have the best capability in the world, but your team's not in it.
20:58.684 --> 21:20.540
[SPEAKER_02]: you're you're you're you're missing something there and so it's not just about you know being a good strat you know strategic visionary you have to bring the people along and all of those things need to be looked at from a perspective of constantly what is working what is not working?
21:21.981 --> 21:24.303
[SPEAKER_02]: How do you know things are working or not working?
21:24.503 --> 21:26.264
[SPEAKER_02]: It really comes back to those numbers
21:27.454 --> 21:35.119
[SPEAKER_02]: Because if you've got the right set of measurements, the right set of scorecard, you know, right score cards, you'll know.
21:36.440 --> 21:40.322
[SPEAKER_02]: Your numbers will tell you and pay an attention to them on a trend of basis.
21:40.782 --> 21:48.587
[SPEAKER_02]: You're going to see the patterns that are telling you, are you headed in a direction that's positive for you or what changes do you need to make.
21:48.847 --> 21:51.689
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to now I've come to another scary decision.
21:53.181 --> 21:56.843
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, if I make different decisions, how can I change my trajectory?
21:57.263 --> 21:58.063
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's it.
21:58.283 --> 22:00.544
[SPEAKER_01]: It really does stop avoiding your numbers.
22:01.484 --> 22:02.185
[SPEAKER_01]: That's great.
22:02.325 --> 22:06.046
[SPEAKER_01]: And thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and your perspective today.
22:06.066 --> 22:18.391
[SPEAKER_01]: I think one of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that leadership is not just about making decisions, it's about being willing to face the reality with the numbers and the honesty and the courage and the intention.
22:19.212 --> 22:22.533
[SPEAKER_01]: If our listeners want to get in touch with you, what is the best way to do so?
22:23.708 --> 22:24.910
[SPEAKER_02]: I am on LinkedIn.
22:25.130 --> 22:27.673
[SPEAKER_02]: You can find me at Lynn Carasi, L.I.N.
22:27.854 --> 22:28.515
[SPEAKER_02]: C.O.R.A.
22:28.535 --> 22:28.815
[SPEAKER_02]: Z.I.
22:28.895 --> 22:31.198
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm sure that my name will be somewhere there.
22:31.819 --> 22:35.624
[SPEAKER_02]: My website is data, the number two, the word profit.net.
22:37.373 --> 22:39.855
[SPEAKER_02]: And either one of those places is the best way to get a hold of me.
22:40.155 --> 23:01.153
[SPEAKER_02]: I'd love to have a direct message with somebody, you know, love to offer anybody the the opportunity just let let's just chat about your business and what's going on or if I've said something here that picture you're interested a little bit, I'd love to share more because you know, in doing this having been the corporate finance person who's turned into the entrepreneur and owner of my own business.
23:01.733 --> 23:03.355
[SPEAKER_02]: I know exactly what you're dealing with.
23:03.975 --> 23:09.378
[SPEAKER_02]: I, you know, and we always talk about the owner of roller coaster, but that's not true.
23:09.398 --> 23:11.959
[SPEAKER_02]: It is every ride at the carnival.
23:13.020 --> 23:16.541
[SPEAKER_02]: We go from the roller coaster to the scrambler to the tilt to world.
23:16.982 --> 23:20.944
[SPEAKER_02]: You get on the ferris wheel and you say, I can do this for a little while.
23:20.964 --> 23:29.188
[SPEAKER_02]: I want to go out the bumper cars now because I want to go kick somebody's butt now and then again, business meets personal.
23:34.378 --> 23:41.143
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for sharing that analogy Lynn, we'll put your information to show notes and thanks for joining us for sharing your stories and advice today.
23:41.184 --> 23:42.224
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm grateful for you.
23:42.825 --> 23:43.746
[SPEAKER_02]: It's been my pleasure.
23:43.766 --> 23:45.667
[SPEAKER_02]: This has been a great conversation.
23:46.047 --> 23:50.431
[SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, just let love a opportunity to chat with any of your listeners.
23:51.011 --> 23:51.312
[SPEAKER_01]: Great.
23:51.352 --> 23:55.515
[SPEAKER_01]: And for all listeners, maybe your next step is not making the perfect decision.
23:55.595 --> 24:03.522
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe it's simply making the next responsible one small and intentional actions create momentum and momentum creates influence.
24:04.142 --> 24:09.584
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for joining us today on daily influence at today's conversation brought you insight and inspiration.
24:10.064 --> 24:14.125
[SPEAKER_01]: Please share with someone who could use a little positivity today until next time.
24:14.946 --> 24:22.528
[SPEAKER_01]: Remember that every interaction, every choice, and every decision is an opportunity to positively influence the people around you.
24:23.148 --> 24:27.170
[SPEAKER_01]: Stay inspired and keep having a positive, responsible influence.
24:27.490 --> 24:27.850
[SPEAKER_01]: Bye bye.
00:10.213 --> 00:13.674
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
00:14.114 --> 00:19.316
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
00:19.756 --> 00:27.239
[SPEAKER_00]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
00:27.608 --> 00:31.971
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm Greg Clino, partner at IA Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
00:32.292 --> 00:38.717
[SPEAKER_01]: Be sure to follow, subscribe, and share Daily Influence with someone who could use a little extra positivity today.
00:38.997 --> 00:46.583
[SPEAKER_01]: And make us part of your Daily routine, whether it's during your commute, on a walk, or an quiet momentous for you, because you're influenced matters.
00:48.685 --> 00:50.926
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, I'm Greg Kalino.
00:51.326 --> 00:59.809
[SPEAKER_01]: Today we're joined by Lynn Karazi, fractional CFO, educator, and creator of guided money tours through data to profit.
01:00.169 --> 01:13.174
[SPEAKER_01]: Lynn has spent years helping business owners better understand the stories their numbers are telling and more importantly, helping them overcome the hesitation and fear that often surrounded financial decision making.
01:13.654 --> 01:23.139
[SPEAKER_01]: What makes Lynn's perspective especially powerful is his belief that our business relationship with money often mirrors our personal relationship with it.
01:23.399 --> 01:34.504
[SPEAKER_01]: Through coaching, teaching, and volunteer work with WWBIC, Lynn and powers leaders to move from avoidance to clarity, from delayed to decisive action.
01:34.884 --> 01:44.389
[SPEAKER_01]: This conversation is packed with practical insights for business owners, leaders, and anyone looking to make a smarter, more intentional decision with confidence and purpose.
01:44.869 --> 01:46.590
[SPEAKER_01]: Lynn, welcome to daily influence.
01:47.111 --> 01:50.973
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a pleasure to be here, Greg, and thank you for that very kind introduction.
01:51.857 --> 01:57.063
[SPEAKER_01]: Lynn, you found more joy in teaching leaders that simply doing the financial work itself.
01:57.304 --> 02:09.058
[SPEAKER_01]: Take us back, what experiences or moments shaped your journey into becoming both a fractional CFO and an educator focused on helping leaders think differently about money and decision making?
02:09.502 --> 02:27.515
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, my career began with as internal auditor for practoring gamble spent 14 years with them in all kinds of accounting and finance roles mostly finance left there to go and one of the thing that realized that PNG was I can have a very very successful career there.
02:28.717 --> 02:31.138
[SPEAKER_02]: But I wouldn't put my pop prints on anything.
02:31.818 --> 02:33.959
[SPEAKER_02]: That big company, that big, it's difficult.
02:34.499 --> 02:51.325
[SPEAKER_02]: I love PNG to go work for ground HEs and really got into the world of numbers and management and begin to really show people how their numbers can actually be used to help them as sales reps, make more money, as distributor partners, how they can make more money, and how the company can actually make more money.
02:51.805 --> 02:54.126
[SPEAKER_02]: When I left there, I just started working for small businesses.
02:54.986 --> 02:56.546
[SPEAKER_02]: And I just realized even there,
02:59.260 --> 03:06.385
[SPEAKER_02]: But unless I really show them what it means to them, why I did it, and how I did it, they would never be able to be to do it themselves.
03:07.086 --> 03:12.270
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the process of working with the business coach is that find the joy and what you really love doing.
03:13.530 --> 03:26.260
[SPEAKER_02]: And that turned into that conversation was happening as we were writing a book, my partner and I, and everything just kind of came out into, oh my gosh, we're taking everything that a business owner needs to know.
03:27.363 --> 03:35.425
[SPEAKER_02]: to get themselves unstuck when it comes to this fear of numbers, the behavior that we wanted to change and went into the stop of wording the numbers.
03:35.445 --> 03:36.386
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the name of the book.
03:36.866 --> 03:45.148
[SPEAKER_02]: And I just realized when I look back at my career, what I've done is been in front of an audience, showing them things.
03:45.809 --> 03:49.610
[SPEAKER_02]: And the actual dedication of the book has been primarily to my dad.
03:50.210 --> 03:53.191
[SPEAKER_02]: And as I dad always thought that I belonged on the college campus,
03:53.931 --> 03:58.636
[SPEAKER_01]: But then 45 years later, if you're a LIN teaching, that's wonderful.
03:58.656 --> 04:06.845
[SPEAKER_01]: And I love that ship from doing the work to empowering others to understand it for themselves because that's really where that influence multiplies.
04:07.085 --> 04:14.233
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and the thing about it is when you get into, when you start by financial services, accounting support, financial support,
04:15.014 --> 04:17.075
[SPEAKER_02]: people buying things they don't even understand.
04:17.655 --> 04:20.236
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like me and marketing, I've squandered thousands of dollars.
04:20.876 --> 04:25.398
[SPEAKER_02]: Thinking I was working with a good partner for my marketing and realized I was getting nothing for it.
04:26.338 --> 04:28.439
[SPEAKER_02]: In the results, oh, it just takes time.
04:28.479 --> 04:29.179
[SPEAKER_02]: It just takes time.
04:29.439 --> 04:31.260
[SPEAKER_02]: No, it takes a better marketing partner.
04:31.920 --> 04:40.808
[SPEAKER_02]: And then you find out all the different components of it and it's like yeah, you can't do marketing with just just the SEO management and website team You have to have all these other people on your team.
04:41.228 --> 04:50.416
[SPEAKER_02]: It's the same thing within finance and you know with small business owners in particular They think I get I got the bookkeeper Thank goodness and I got a tax prepared.
04:50.656 --> 04:51.177
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh my god.
04:51.237 --> 04:51.777
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank god.
04:51.997 --> 04:53.359
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank goodness and that is done.
04:53.539 --> 04:54.520
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't have to worry about that
04:55.140 --> 04:55.841
[SPEAKER_02]: We, yeah, you do.
04:56.541 --> 05:04.307
[SPEAKER_02]: Because you are the CFO of your business, whether you know it or not, that you have a team or not.
05:04.767 --> 05:11.652
[SPEAKER_02]: So let's just get you a little more comfortable with all this with the whole world of money management, because it's not just accounting and bookkeeping.
05:12.723 --> 05:14.984
[SPEAKER_02]: It's it's financial literacy.
05:15.524 --> 05:18.026
[SPEAKER_02]: It is forecasting and looking ahead.
05:18.106 --> 05:21.107
[SPEAKER_02]: It's really diving in and understanding what's driving your results.
05:21.147 --> 05:23.548
[SPEAKER_02]: And how do I use this information?
05:23.568 --> 05:24.549
[SPEAKER_02]: They better decisions.
05:25.069 --> 05:29.191
[SPEAKER_02]: How I've tried to begin my exit plan and my own personal wealth plan.
05:29.431 --> 05:31.132
[SPEAKER_02]: This was far beyond bookkeeping.
05:32.262 --> 05:37.427
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and you said that business owners relationships with money often mirror their personal lives.
05:37.527 --> 05:39.729
[SPEAKER_01]: That's such a powerful observation.
05:40.390 --> 05:50.819
[SPEAKER_01]: What are some of the most common patterns or mindsets you see leaders struggle with and how can they begin recognizing those blind spots before they negatively impact their business.
05:51.600 --> 05:53.622
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, the biggest thing I hear all the time is.
05:54.935 --> 05:55.996
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not a numbers person.
05:56.356 --> 05:57.577
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I don't like numbers.
05:58.078 --> 06:00.880
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, as a matter of fact, yes, you are a numbers person.
06:01.321 --> 06:03.202
[SPEAKER_02]: Did you ever want to be late?
06:03.923 --> 06:11.850
[SPEAKER_02]: If not, you are constantly looking at a couple of numbers on your watch and the speedometer of your car and how long it's gonna take you to get there.
06:12.370 --> 06:14.712
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you just feel like cookies are done?
06:15.113 --> 06:17.555
[SPEAKER_02]: No, you set the oven for three, 75.
06:17.615 --> 06:21.078
[SPEAKER_02]: You set the time for eight minutes, not 12 minutes, not six minutes.
06:21.618 --> 06:30.180
[SPEAKER_02]: But there's, there's a set of numbers that help you run things to know that to have greater confidence that your cookies are going to come out not raw, not burnt or perfect.
06:31.120 --> 06:36.582
[SPEAKER_02]: And you know, and it'll be when you're driving down the road, guys for a bid, you're 75 miles an hour, that's okay.
06:37.202 --> 06:44.164
[SPEAKER_02]: Get at the speed limit 70, but when it goes down to 55, and you ignore that sign that says slow down,
06:49.360 --> 06:51.400
[SPEAKER_02]: The same principle applies to your business.
06:51.640 --> 06:54.101
[SPEAKER_02]: You're creating hundreds of numbers every single day.
06:55.461 --> 06:59.642
[SPEAKER_02]: Pay attention to them because not paying attention is going to be very costly.
07:01.382 --> 07:04.863
[SPEAKER_02]: And this is where I try to break everything that's personal.
07:04.943 --> 07:06.283
[SPEAKER_02]: It happens in your personal life.
07:06.743 --> 07:09.864
[SPEAKER_02]: I told my kids once when I managed a team of six people.
07:09.904 --> 07:15.405
[SPEAKER_02]: They said, I said, man, that believe it or not, you did not come with a set of instructions.
07:16.385 --> 07:20.248
[SPEAKER_02]: Neither test the group that I manage, you know, that I'm trying to lead.
07:20.808 --> 07:32.035
[SPEAKER_02]: You got to get to know everybody individually, find out what motivates them, how they want to be recognized, how they don't want to be recognized, how to set boundaries for them, when to give them more, you know, more space.
07:32.955 --> 07:33.576
[SPEAKER_02]: It's the same.
07:33.636 --> 07:36.958
[SPEAKER_02]: Our business life mirrors our personal, every single day.
07:38.450 --> 07:54.532
[SPEAKER_01]: And awareness is such an important first step at knowing something and acting on our often two different things we recently had an episode about decision velocity and why leaders postpone important decisions and your work connects beautifully to that conversation.
07:55.192 --> 08:02.378
[SPEAKER_01]: From your experience, why do so many leaders delay financial decisions, even when they know action is needed?
08:02.939 --> 08:08.704
[SPEAKER_01]: And what practical framework or habits can help them move from hesitation to confidential?
08:09.505 --> 08:10.525
[SPEAKER_02]: That's a great question.
08:10.545 --> 08:13.508
[SPEAKER_02]: In fact, it's probably been about three weeks I did a podcast.
08:13.828 --> 08:19.976
[SPEAKER_02]: on decision-making and really there, we make decisions in three different environments, one it's an emergency.
08:20.436 --> 08:21.738
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, these are unavoidable.
08:21.778 --> 08:31.429
[SPEAKER_02]: When the machine breaks or something happens, the customer comes in, correctly, you know, really upset about something, they need attention and a decision right then and there.
08:31.729 --> 08:33.431
[SPEAKER_02]: Then there's other decisions that we plan.
08:33.932 --> 08:37.455
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, like we all make decisions when we're planning a vacation.
08:37.475 --> 08:38.395
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm planning one right now.
08:38.455 --> 08:40.677
[SPEAKER_02]: We have, we know what's going to happen kind of each day.
08:40.717 --> 08:42.058
[SPEAKER_02]: We know about what it's going to cost.
08:42.098 --> 08:47.042
[SPEAKER_02]: And there's a degree of confidence that we have in saying, we know what we know what to expect.
08:47.342 --> 08:54.107
[SPEAKER_02]: But as you're talking about, there's all these should-of-scene are seeing coming, but we don't know how to act.
08:54.607 --> 09:01.612
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think a lot of what paralyzes people a lot is not having any way to kind of know what is the potential outcome
09:02.913 --> 09:21.506
[SPEAKER_02]: three or four different options, how do you really take the time and make assumptions of how good this can be as B or model it C, how bad could it be, how good it could be, and there you get a sense of is really understanding what is the outcome of the decision.
09:22.346 --> 09:24.648
[SPEAKER_02]: Because we know that it's there, we know we need to hire somebody.
09:25.367 --> 09:29.208
[SPEAKER_02]: should I hire them now or should I wait a couple of months?
09:29.228 --> 09:38.472
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, if I wait a few months in sales really kick off, oh my gosh, I'm going to miss sales because I don't have that person, but what can be the impact if I hire them in sales don't come?
09:39.572 --> 09:49.496
[SPEAKER_02]: That's one of those classic decisions that there's a range and there's a lot of second guessing and a lot of fear of making that decision because of the uncertainty.
09:50.596 --> 09:51.737
[SPEAKER_02]: Working with your number,
09:52.572 --> 10:00.534
[SPEAKER_02]: somebody, or maybe having somebody help you do that, it does tell you, yes, I can afford to make this decision and feel pretty good about it.
10:01.115 --> 10:04.996
[SPEAKER_02]: We all get there sooner or later, we say, okay, you know, when can I retire?
10:06.276 --> 10:12.358
[SPEAKER_02]: At the end of the day with most decisions, the real question underlying everything is, are we going to be okay?
10:13.879 --> 10:15.120
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's what people want to know.
10:15.380 --> 10:23.844
[SPEAKER_02]: Am I going to be okay if I invest in this person, or if I buy this new piece of machinery, because I think my volume is going to grow, or I do anything else.
10:24.524 --> 10:25.965
[SPEAKER_02]: Am I going to be okay if I do this?
10:27.566 --> 10:32.909
[SPEAKER_02]: And when somebody wants frame decisions like that with me, it's like, wow, that's powerful.
10:33.789 --> 10:41.193
[SPEAKER_02]: So now I try to approach people say, okay, our checklist for this is to get an understanding of the range of possibilities so we can answer that very basic question.
10:42.407 --> 10:42.687
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
10:42.727 --> 10:49.753
[SPEAKER_01]: That intentional movement from fear to clarity is something so many listeners are trying to navigate right now.
10:50.233 --> 10:58.079
[SPEAKER_01]: Can you share a moment where teaching someone to better understand their finances or business numbers created a deeper transformation.
11:08.065 --> 11:12.627
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, there's one person in particular, I think that I've had an impact on.
11:13.187 --> 11:16.269
[SPEAKER_02]: I worked with this one for three years.
11:17.129 --> 11:21.711
[SPEAKER_02]: She became the president and CEO of her company when Dad suddenly died.
11:22.972 --> 11:25.913
[SPEAKER_02]: And she's like, then I've done marketing for this company.
11:25.953 --> 11:28.454
[SPEAKER_02]: I know this business, they actually had two businesses.
11:29.615 --> 11:32.336
[SPEAKER_02]: And I know what, if you're by, I've never run a business.
11:32.436 --> 11:33.617
[SPEAKER_02]: I've never run financials.
11:34.677 --> 11:36.678
[SPEAKER_02]: And I don't know what I'm doing.
11:37.754 --> 11:41.555
[SPEAKER_02]: And like every call for the first four to first five or six times, we got together.
11:41.595 --> 11:43.116
[SPEAKER_02]: The question was, Janey, how's your head today?
11:43.956 --> 11:48.018
[SPEAKER_02]: And if it was good, we talked for an hour and then she cried.
11:48.558 --> 11:54.500
[SPEAKER_02]: Sometimes if it wasn't good, she would just kind of, because I'm the leader now, I am the face of this company.
11:54.600 --> 11:56.961
[SPEAKER_02]: I cannot let anybody see me this far, horrible.
11:57.862 --> 12:03.584
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, they were running two separate business that I did for 30 plus years, two separate businesses out of one P&L.
12:04.805 --> 12:06.246
[SPEAKER_02]: to very different businesses.
12:07.027 --> 12:23.722
[SPEAKER_02]: And so it took us a while, but we were able to separate the two businesses, monitor the cost, optimize a lot of the operations, create in the other numbers for performance around labor utilization, sales management, hiring, but in all the stuff.
12:24.682 --> 12:29.186
[SPEAKER_02]: And then after enjoying that for 15 months, she made the hard decision
12:30.567 --> 12:33.368
[SPEAKER_02]: her passion was not in both of these businesses.
12:34.189 --> 12:35.970
[SPEAKER_02]: And so she decided to shut one of them down.
12:37.070 --> 12:41.372
[SPEAKER_02]: And this was a hugely emotional decision because that was a business of dad and started.
12:42.673 --> 12:50.097
[SPEAKER_02]: And she felt incredibly guilty about, you know, saying we're gonna have to close this part of it down.
12:50.117 --> 12:55.700
[SPEAKER_02]: And but just to be there with her and watch her grow as a leader, as a,
12:59.271 --> 13:22.842
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, as the CEO of this business and balance of mother and all the responsibilities that she had, her husband eventually came into the business with her and it was just, it was a very cool experience moments like that remind us that influences rarely about information it's about helping people see themselves differently and work through different such scenarios like that.
13:23.811 --> 13:31.875
[SPEAKER_02]: And after working with somebody for a period of time, you know, my favorite day, this is gonna sound strange was when they say, then we think we have this.
13:32.515 --> 13:35.736
[SPEAKER_02]: And we had to reach this mutual thing, you know, okay, we're good.
13:36.276 --> 13:47.441
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I feel that you've got the foundation in place, you know, what, why you've got a good team who's helping you out now, you know what good performance looks like relative to where you were before.
13:48.262 --> 13:49.382
[SPEAKER_02]: And you got this.
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[SPEAKER_01]: It's like your child graduating.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Life mirrors business doesn't it.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, sir does you want them to go, but you know what, but just like I tell I don't I don't care where you go, but you are going to go.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And, but you know what, you can always come back, the hot, you know, always be there for you.
14:07.841 --> 14:11.263
[SPEAKER_01]: And I will every leader has moments where things did not go as planned.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Was there a challenge or failure or financial lesson in your own journey to fundamentally change how you lead teacher guide others today?
14:21.809 --> 14:24.731
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, there are no what you're getting into.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And because there was a period where I had to very large client at a time.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And one of them was one of them started off.
14:36.219 --> 14:38.000
[SPEAKER_02]: It was this amazing engagement.
14:38.020 --> 14:42.282
[SPEAKER_02]: It was working for the company that worked out of a building.
14:42.342 --> 14:43.223
[SPEAKER_02]: It looked like Hogwarts.
14:43.703 --> 14:54.849
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it was this old kind of castle like the experience, the big hall where everybody ate, lunch every day, it was just, it was so fun.
14:56.050 --> 14:59.172
[SPEAKER_02]: And they knew that it was gonna be a difficult situation to work in.
15:00.362 --> 15:07.026
[SPEAKER_02]: And after 10 months, I finally had to go say, I'm sorry, I can't do this with you anymore.
15:08.247 --> 15:17.253
[SPEAKER_02]: And I've done everything that I could to try to put it and play in for them, but there were just so many things that was busted that were wrong.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And ultimately, when the side of the dude could kind of separate and break up,
15:24.882 --> 15:35.353
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like, they weren't letting me do the work that I was hired to do because there was they had some other old accounting audit issues that we had to take care of.
15:35.393 --> 15:36.394
[SPEAKER_02]: That's not my forte.
15:36.494 --> 15:37.695
[SPEAKER_02]: That's not what I want to do.
15:37.795 --> 15:38.817
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not what I enjoy doing.
15:39.617 --> 15:44.082
[SPEAKER_02]: And I get telling them, no, you need to have some professional people on staff.
15:44.222 --> 15:47.646
[SPEAKER_02]: You cannot run an organization this side, which is to couple clerks.
15:49.411 --> 15:57.900
[SPEAKER_02]: And because of that, all the good fun forward-looking financial stuff that the board was asking me to do, why I was hired to do, was in getting done.
15:58.200 --> 16:01.043
[SPEAKER_02]: Except for the last minute, oh, we got the board meeting in two weeks.
16:01.083 --> 16:02.705
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's make something up to present to them.
16:03.486 --> 16:08.811
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's really asking and making sure that you understand the situation that you're getting into.
16:09.792 --> 16:35.665
[SPEAKER_02]: Because I've dedicated a lot of time with them and with this other large client and then when you break up with two great big clients So once or you know, they but the other one closed right about the same time and then you realize, oh I've not paid attention to my business my my pipeline had dried up and so after losing to two good-sized clients There's a period of darkness there where oh, no income coming in
16:37.235 --> 16:41.776
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes are greatest lessons at the exact tools we later used others succeed.
16:42.376 --> 16:47.537
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, so there's always going to be that not everything works out according to plans.
16:48.158 --> 17:03.041
[SPEAKER_01]: For business owners who feel overwhelmed by their numbers are disconnected from the financial side of the business, what are two or three practical habits or routines that they can start implementing immediately to become more intentional informed decision makers?
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[SPEAKER_02]: what their financials, what all three financial statements are.
17:12.325 --> 17:19.809
[SPEAKER_02]: Just to get familiarity with your income statement, your balance sheet, and your cash flow statement.
17:20.449 --> 17:28.514
[SPEAKER_02]: And I find that so many business owners do not even have that fundamental understanding of what those three things mean, that those three statements are.
17:29.154 --> 17:31.575
[SPEAKER_02]: And the biggest question that I get to prove that
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[SPEAKER_02]: That to me is almost borders on negligence, but I would say, look, understand your financials, open them up once a week and look at something and ask your accountant or your CPA or whoever does your books for you.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Have them answer a question for you.
17:55.039 --> 17:57.921
[SPEAKER_02]: Why did our sales go up this much?
17:57.941 --> 18:00.763
[SPEAKER_02]: Or what happened this year compared to last year?
18:00.823 --> 18:03.305
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, tell me about this set of expenses.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because now you're asking a question.
18:07.918 --> 18:14.142
[SPEAKER_02]: And in getting into the habit of just looking and asking, you don't have to be the expert because they're the experts.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You just need to have a little bit of awareness.
18:17.564 --> 18:27.991
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's not, you know, I tell people with my guy that money tours that you mentioned, the purpose of this is not to make UACFO is to get you to start thinking like a CFO.
18:28.491 --> 18:32.194
[SPEAKER_02]: And the first thing that a good CFO does is ask different types of questions.
18:33.658 --> 18:40.225
[SPEAKER_01]: and I appreciate how actionable your approach is because clarity creates confidence and confidence skills leadership.
18:41.046 --> 18:45.391
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, and for a long time, my website is like, I am a fractional CFO.
18:45.711 --> 18:48.174
[SPEAKER_02]: What I deliver is confident, financial outcomes.
18:49.775 --> 18:52.899
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's really what it's about, helping you understand,
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[SPEAKER_02]: your numbers, and use those numbers in a forward looking way to make better, more profit decisions for you.
19:00.287 --> 19:09.394
[SPEAKER_02]: Because if we talk about our numbers, the only thing that those numbers reflect are the decisions and the behaviors that go on in your organization.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Your orbit decisions to behaviors, the decisions to behaviors of your team,
19:15.812 --> 19:20.533
[SPEAKER_02]: the decisions we behaviors of your suppliers, decisions to behaviors of your customers.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Attent?
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[SPEAKER_01]: And if you get sit down with your younger self, or even with a business owner who feels stuck on certain or intimidated by financial decisions, what advice would you give them about leadership, responsibility, and the power of making intentional choices?
19:37.136 --> 19:43.897
[SPEAKER_01]: And what challenge would you leave our listeners with today to help them create more positive influence in their own business and lives?
19:44.797 --> 19:51.120
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I tend to think of businesses operate from three overlapping circles.
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[SPEAKER_02]: One is a circle of, you know, where am I going for strategy?
19:57.223 --> 19:58.624
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, so where are we going?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And what do I want to get out of this thing?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because if you once you say that, then the next question becomes, how are we going to do that?
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[SPEAKER_02]: which gets you into the other two circles.
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[SPEAKER_02]: The other, one of those circles is what kind of capability do we need?
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[SPEAKER_02]: So what types of skills do we need on staff?
20:20.053 --> 20:28.497
[SPEAKER_02]: What do we need to do to make sure we have enough capacity to meet customer demand, to make customers happy, to do the things that they do?
20:29.118 --> 20:31.419
[SPEAKER_02]: Then the third circle is your team.
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[SPEAKER_02]: is what type of culture are you going to have?
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[SPEAKER_02]: And when those circles are not overlapping, you're missing opportunities to get more value out of your business, to get more value out of the people, and to get more value out of the capability that you have.
20:50.676 --> 20:55.641
[SPEAKER_02]: Because you can have the best capability in the world, but your team's not in it.
20:58.684 --> 21:20.540
[SPEAKER_02]: you're you're you're you're missing something there and so it's not just about you know being a good strat you know strategic visionary you have to bring the people along and all of those things need to be looked at from a perspective of constantly what is working what is not working?
21:21.981 --> 21:24.303
[SPEAKER_02]: How do you know things are working or not working?
21:24.503 --> 21:26.264
[SPEAKER_02]: It really comes back to those numbers
21:27.454 --> 21:35.119
[SPEAKER_02]: Because if you've got the right set of measurements, the right set of scorecard, you know, right score cards, you'll know.
21:36.440 --> 21:40.322
[SPEAKER_02]: Your numbers will tell you and pay an attention to them on a trend of basis.
21:40.782 --> 21:48.587
[SPEAKER_02]: You're going to see the patterns that are telling you, are you headed in a direction that's positive for you or what changes do you need to make.
21:48.847 --> 21:51.689
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to now I've come to another scary decision.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, if I make different decisions, how can I change my trajectory?
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[SPEAKER_02]: So that's it.
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[SPEAKER_01]: It really does stop avoiding your numbers.
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[SPEAKER_01]: That's great.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and your perspective today.
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[SPEAKER_01]: I think one of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that leadership is not just about making decisions, it's about being willing to face the reality with the numbers and the honesty and the courage and the intention.
22:19.212 --> 22:22.533
[SPEAKER_01]: If our listeners want to get in touch with you, what is the best way to do so?
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[SPEAKER_02]: I am on LinkedIn.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You can find me at Lynn Carasi, L.I.N.
22:27.854 --> 22:28.515
[SPEAKER_02]: C.O.R.A.
22:28.535 --> 22:28.815
[SPEAKER_02]: Z.I.
22:28.895 --> 22:31.198
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm sure that my name will be somewhere there.
22:31.819 --> 22:35.624
[SPEAKER_02]: My website is data, the number two, the word profit.net.
22:37.373 --> 22:39.855
[SPEAKER_02]: And either one of those places is the best way to get a hold of me.
22:40.155 --> 23:01.153
[SPEAKER_02]: I'd love to have a direct message with somebody, you know, love to offer anybody the the opportunity just let let's just chat about your business and what's going on or if I've said something here that picture you're interested a little bit, I'd love to share more because you know, in doing this having been the corporate finance person who's turned into the entrepreneur and owner of my own business.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I know exactly what you're dealing with.
23:03.975 --> 23:09.378
[SPEAKER_02]: I, you know, and we always talk about the owner of roller coaster, but that's not true.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It is every ride at the carnival.
23:13.020 --> 23:16.541
[SPEAKER_02]: We go from the roller coaster to the scrambler to the tilt to world.
23:16.982 --> 23:20.944
[SPEAKER_02]: You get on the ferris wheel and you say, I can do this for a little while.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I want to go out the bumper cars now because I want to go kick somebody's butt now and then again, business meets personal.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for sharing that analogy Lynn, we'll put your information to show notes and thanks for joining us for sharing your stories and advice today.
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[SPEAKER_01]: I'm grateful for you.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's been my pleasure.
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[SPEAKER_02]: This has been a great conversation.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, just let love a opportunity to chat with any of your listeners.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Great.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And for all listeners, maybe your next step is not making the perfect decision.
23:55.595 --> 24:03.522
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe it's simply making the next responsible one small and intentional actions create momentum and momentum creates influence.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for joining us today on daily influence at today's conversation brought you insight and inspiration.
24:10.064 --> 24:14.125
[SPEAKER_01]: Please share with someone who could use a little positivity today until next time.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Remember that every interaction, every choice, and every decision is an opportunity to positively influence the people around you.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Stay inspired and keep having a positive, responsible influence.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Bye bye.
