GrowCFO Show

We’ve mentioned Susanna Serrano-Davey’s upcoming book in previous episodes of the podcast. It’s finally available to buy. Podcast host Kevin Appleby thought it was only right to spend an episode with Susana to discover what “I Wish I Had Known” is all about. The book draws on Susana’s 30 years of experience and covers all those things she wishes she had known ab...

 Andy Bass is the Managing Director at BassClusker Consulting. He helps organizations to overcome their limits to growth by tapping into their unique – often hidden – resources. The limits can be external – for example, competitors are learning fast and making it hard for you to stand out. Or they may be internal – for example, you know what the business needs to do, but although your people...

Scott Bly is the CFO of Seattle-based International Parking Management. He is an entrepreneurial CFO with a passion for helping small business owners articulate and realize their vision. Scott joins the GrowCFO Show to talk about values. In particular, the importance of aligning personal and company values. When it comes to company values, there is no “one size fits all” approach. Ever...

Gary Cokins is an internationally recognized expert, speaker, and author in performance improvement systems and advanced cost management. He believes that many organizations are far from where they want and need to be to improve performance, and they apply intuition, rather than hard data, when making decisions. Gary explains why Enterprise performance management (EPM) provides a portfolio of mana...

Chris Roling is the CFO at Coinme. He has 25 years of commercial and private equity experience having served in board, CEO, COO, and CFO positions with a number of global public and private companies . His previous experience is deeply rooted in venture capital, making him an expert on the current state of investor funding and how to acquire it in a bear market. Chris provides some great insights...

They tell you never to meet your heroes. So did Kevin Appleby make a mistake inviting Laura Vanderkam on to the GrowCFO Show? You will have to listen to the episode and make up your own mind about that! Kevin recommends Laura’s book “168 Hours” every time he runs a module 3 workshop on GrowCFO’s Future CFO Programme. It’s essential reading if you need to find a few ex...

Do you want to be a great finance business partner? If so, you’re in luck! In this episode, Oliver Deacon joins Kevin Appleby and gives us some great tips that will help improve your relationship with your colleagues in the rest of the business. Oliver Deacon is a member of the GrowCFO Mentoring team. He runs the GrowCFO Business Partnering Boot Camps and is a former FD at Microsoft. One of...

100 Episodes of the GrowCFO Show, that’s 2 years’ worth of podcast episodes. Dan Wells, founder and CEO of GrowCFO joins regular podcast host Kevin Appleby to celebrate the milestone, reflect back on the last two years and talk about some new exciting developments in GrowCFO. Dan and Kevin both choose their favourite episodes of the GrowCFO Show. Dan decided on episode 95 where Catheri...

Alex Budak joins the GrowCFO show on the same day that his new book “Becoming a Changemaker” is published. Quite a coup for the podcast! The book is an excellent read for anyone wanting to become a changemaker, in particular for finance leaders wanting to enhance their ability to be a catalyst for change. As a faculty member at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Alex created and te...

Jeremy Foster is an unusual CFO, he isn’t an accountant and doesn’t have a finance background. His origins are in sales and marketing. He changed course following an MBA at Notre Dame and has subsequently become a highly successful finance leader with strong strategic capabilities and significant M&A experience. Jeremy has been instrumental in multiple equity rounds, debt recaps, a...

Danielle Keeven has had quite a journey to get to her current role as VP of Finance at paddle.com. She has crossed the globe and changed industry sectors. She has gone from roles in large multinationals to working in high-growth startups. Danielle shares her experiences with Kevin Appleby on this week’s GrowCFO Show. Originally working in the Caribbean for large US multinationals such as Mar...

The role of a finance transformation leader is a complex one. It requires someone with great technical skills, as well as strong people skills. A successful finance transformation leader must be able to manage and motivate their team, while also being able to communicate effectively with other members of the organization. Toni Betts, group finance director at The Travel Chapter is one of those suc...

Are you in control of your own life, or are the demands of all the other things around you taking over? Too much pressure at work to have a personal life? Perhaps you aren’t feeling fulfilled? If any of that describes you then it’s time to take control back and make decisions that benefit you and not just your organisation. In this episode, Catherine Clark joins us to talk about the im...

Self-awareness is key for well-being. When you know yourself well, you can make better decisions and thrive in all areas of your life – including your career. As a finance leader, it’s important to be self-aware so that you can set realistic goals and healthily manage stress. In this episode, Susana Serrano-Davey, our very own Executive Coach & Mentor at GrowCFO joins Kevin Appleby...

CFOs and finance leaders are under more pressure than ever before. They are responsible for ensuring the financial stability of their company, and often have to make tough decisions that can impact the bottom line. This high level of responsibility can take a toll, and many CFOs and finance leaders find themselves struggling with burnout. In this episode, Leanne Spencer, an award-winning entrepren...

As a CFO in a fast-growing business, you have a lot on your plate. You are responsible for ensuring that the company is making money and growing at a healthy rate. But what if you could take your career to the next level by having a mentor? A mentor can help you learn new skills, make important connections, and give you guidance when it comes to difficult decisions. Ian Simpkin specialises in ment...

One of the biggest challenges of financial modelling is creating models that are accurate and realistic. Financial modellers need to have a good understanding of all of the different formulas and functions in order to create an accurate model. Many people, even experienced modellers, use less than 5% of the functions available. Excel models need to be properly structured too so that others can eas...

It’s no secret that boardroom experience is important for aspiring CFOs. But what happens when you don’t have access to boardrooms? How can you overcome this obstacle and get the experience you need? In this episode Dan Wells, founder and CEO of GrowCFO, joins Kevin Appleby to discuss the launch of GrowCFO’s Virtual Boardroom. Over 80% of aspiring and first-time finance leaders h...

As finance leaders, we are always looking for ways to help our businesses grow. But in order to grow, we need to have a clear strategy in place. Without a strategy, it’s difficult to set goals and measure progress. And without communication, it’s impossible to get everyone on the same page. That’s where strategy software comes in. Strategy software helps you document your strateg...

How Can CFOs Use the P = Potential – Interference Formula to Boost Team Performance? CFO Julian O’Neill uses the principle of Performance = Potential – Interference (P = P – I) to unlock greater productivity and mindset shifts in his finance team. By identifying and reducing internal and external interference — from negative thoughts to environmental distractions — finance leaders can help teams p...

Do you have a strategy? If so, congratulations – you’re ahead of the curve. Many businesses don’t take the time to develop a strategy, and as a result, they struggle to achieve their goals. But having a strategy is only half the battle; the other half is making sure that your strategy is executed properly. In this blog post, we’ll talk about how to close the strategy execution ga...

Strategy is the backbone of any successful business. Without a strategy in place, it can be difficult to make decisions and achieve your goals. Many CEOs try to implement the strategy on their own, but this can be difficult if you don’t have the right tools and resources. In this episode, we will discuss how to embed strategy in your business and make sure that it is a part of everything tha...

How Did Jimmy Vassilas Go from Big 4 Auditor to CFO of SantéVet? Jimmy Vassilas’ journey from audit to CFO is anything but linear. In this episode of The GrowCFO Show, he shares how strategic horizontal moves, international assignments, and a deep focus on tech shaped his career. From qualifying as a Canadian Chartered Accountant at Deloitte to rising through Autodesk into CFO roles at Receipt Ban...

Richard Haywood left school at 18 and started work as a trainee accountant in a manufacturing business. He studied for the ACCA qualification on day-release. His route to qualification took 5 years and he moved to become a financial controller in the record industry at a time of huge change from vinyl to CD. His challenge, keep his manufacturing unit viable and one of the last vinyl production fac...

Many people gain experience by changing jobs and moving between organisations. Tony Fossey took the opposite approach and forged his early career rising through the ranks in a single company. He joined Halliburton, part of civil engineering giant KBR when he left school in 1976 and remained in KBR for the next 29 years. Tony took advantage of the size of the organisation he joined to get a wide ra...