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977: Unlocking Rep Performance for Sales Success in Tech | David Freeman, CFO, Starburst

Joining Intel Corp. in 1999 as a recent college graduate, David Freeman began his finance career as part of the tech giant’s plus-size finance team that supported various business groups. Looking back, Freeman finds that few aspects of the tech giant’s business were more influential in shaping his early career years than the company’s direct…
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973: Cultivating Relationships, Spearheading Change | Alejandro Castro, CFO, Onx

It was during a 9-year tenure at food giant Conagra Brands that Alejandro Castro became involved in a companywide initiative that would forever alter his approach to leadership and strategic thinking. Born and raised in Mexico, Castro had begun his professional voyage at Price Waterhouse, where he launched a public accounting career from the accounting…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:50:17)
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972: Recalibrating Your Strategic Lens | Rachel Stack, CFO, Cologix, Inc.

Not unlike that of many of her CFO peers, Rachel Stack's journey toward becoming a CFO has been punctuated by pivotal transactions. No single example of this turns out to have been more complicated or rich with lessons than what Stack refers to simply as "the take-private of Zayo." However, before the path forward for…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:42:47)
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970: Growing in Good Company | Dennis Johnson, CFO, Qlik

It's an all-too-familiar tale among the ranks of senior finance executives: A private equity firm acquires a company, reshuffles the finance team, and reserves the top finance spot for one of its own portfolio CFOs. At Qlik, though, this story had a less familiar ending—or at least one that did not include a portfolio CFO.…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:48:03)
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969: The Human Equation in Finance | Elizabeth Mann, CFO, Verisk

Elizabeth Mann began her career as a mathematician in academia, spending a decade in the field. Her initial plan had been to become a professor, on a path that would start with a Ph.D. and a postdoc. However, something was missing. Eager to engage more directly with the world at large, she pivoted her career…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:46:10)
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967: Leading With a Customer Mind-Set | Karen Walker, CFO, Sysdig

Like many of her CFO peers, Karen Walker had an early career that was guided by abundant opportunities surrounding finance-driven decision-making within organizations. It was a path that often led Walker to engage more closely with sales and operations, as was the case at CNET Networks, where she tells us that she recognized the limitations…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:47:41)
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965: Removing Complexity for Strategic Success | Emma Brown, CFO, Medius

For Emma Brown, it was as though she had just removed the sword from the fabled stone, a moment that would challenge the inclination to persistently question her own judgment when it came to business. As is often the case, Brown’s moment of insight occurred in a high-pressure situation. Faced with poor financial visibility and…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:55:20)
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947: Finding Pathways to Innovation | Teresa Chia, CFO, Vertafore

Among the different career phases that Teresa Chia credits with having helped to advance her down the CFO path, there is little question that Phase 2 was the most formative. Still, how she came to enter this phase had little to do with career ambitions—or at least her own career ambitions. The second phase of…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:50:53)
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945: Achieving a Management Rapport | Doug Lindroth, CFO, Tealium

Doug Lindroth tells us that he is not likely to forget the day that Google filed its S-1 registration statement simply because it was on the same one that semiconductor distributor Memec filed its own S-1. Back in June 2004, Lindroth was CFO of Memec when the firm’s management opted to file a registration statement…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:56:46)
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936: Where the Puck Is Headed | Michelle Hook, CFO, Portillo’s

It was late 2020 when Michelle Hook ended 17 years of fruitful career-building at Domino's to accept a CFO appointment at fast casual restaurant chain Portillo’s.   “The two things that I was looking for were to be passionate about a new brand and to feel a culture fit,” recalls Hook, who adds that she…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:57:49)
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933: When Transparency Drives Profits | Charly Kevers, CFO, Carta

When Charly Kevers took his mentor’s advice and swapped a corporate development role at Hewlett-Packard for a tour of duty as a director of HP’s investor relations arm, he looked forward to tackling a variety of IR requisites, including crafting the messaging that follows a change at the top. Two years and four HP CEOs…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:53:26)
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926: Distinguishing the “What” from the “How” | Dallas Clement, President and CFO, Cox Enterprises

As listeners to our podcast well know, one of our favorite queries for finance executives who have had a lengthy tenure in one place is, "What kept you there?" It may go without saying that something with the word “opportunity” in it is perhaps the most popular response. Still, for certain finance leaders—and especially those…
Listen to the Episode Below (1:00:27)
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