In this solo episode, I answer 4 questions from my newsletter subscribers:
Is the climb and reach to CFO worth it?
Do you enjoy the work and people?
Do you have work-life balance?
What helped you get there?
If you’ve got questions about leadership, your team, or growing in your role, the best way to ask is through my newsletter. Subscribe at thediaryofacfo.com.
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 Welcome back to the Diary of a CFO. Today I'm
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 answering questions from my email newsletter
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 subscribers. And one of the questions I asked
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 them was, if we're having coffee and talking
00:00:14 --> 00:00:18 about work, what would you ask me? First of all,
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 thank you so much for all of those who responded
00:00:21 --> 00:00:25 in this episode. I will answer four of the questions
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 here and the rest either in other episodes or
00:00:28 --> 00:00:32 on the newsletter itself. If you're not subscribed
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 yet, you can just go to thediaryofacfo .com.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 Here are the four questions of today. Number
00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 one, is the climb and reach to the CFO worth
00:00:41 --> 00:00:45 it? Number two, do you enjoy the work and the
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 people? Number three, do you have work -life
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 balance? And number four, what helped you get
00:00:51 --> 00:00:56 there? Let's dive in. So first question, is a
00:00:56 --> 00:01:02 climb and reach to CFO worth it? Well, to me,
00:01:02 --> 00:01:06 it absolutely is. Of course, some days are fulfilling,
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 some others are tough. And every day I have to
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 challenge myself to see things differently because
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 as a CFO, it feels like you're playing defense
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 and offense at all times. At the same time, you're
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 trying to support the business growth and you
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 have to minimize risk and say compliance with
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 reporting or dead covenants. You have to grow
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 your staff. You have to develop your staff. You
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 have to make things better for them. At the same
00:01:31 --> 00:01:35 time, you are also participating on other process
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 improvement or system improvement that are organization
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 wide. Because at the end, the goal is to help
00:01:41 --> 00:01:46 everyone be better and be ready for what's ahead.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:50 Be ready for the future as well as how the business
00:01:50 --> 00:01:54 is growing. I do enjoy my role every single day.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 I feel like I have more impact. but also more
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 responsibilities. It can be definitely stressful
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 at times. And for me, the reason it's worth it
00:02:04 --> 00:02:08 is because I wanted to do it, and I did. So if
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 it's not really in your plan, how does it fit
00:02:10 --> 00:02:14 in your own vision board with how you are and
00:02:14 --> 00:02:18 how it fits your aspirations is really something
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 that's very subjective. For me, it's totally
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 worth it because I've always been driven. I was
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 never the one to sit around and wait to be trained.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 Sometimes I felt like others were getting automatic
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 training, especially when we're back in the physical
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 offices, when we're not remote, I should say.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 And I could hear my boss going from cubicle to
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 cubicle, or office to office, and spending extra
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 time at other people's desks, and only coming
00:02:44 --> 00:02:48 by and say, hey, Waseea, and move on. But I didn't
00:02:48 --> 00:02:52 see it as, oh my god. It means that I won't succeed.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 For me, it was like, OK, that's a great opportunity
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 because I'm going to figure it out, and I'm going
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 to write the process and share with the boss.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 And that's a little hack for you. If you're in
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 a situation, you're like... where you feel like
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 you actually need the training to go from point
00:03:05 --> 00:03:09 A to point D, let's say, and you only being shown
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 point A to point B, document point A and point
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 B and say, hey, I know this is not documented
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 elsewhere, but I'm trying to understand this
00:03:16 --> 00:03:20 process. I already have A and B documented. Can
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 you help me with C and D? And you will notice
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 that a person, because they will see where this
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 is going, that is beyond you, and that you're
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 trying to make things bigger for the department,
00:03:30 --> 00:03:34 They will be willing to show you the way, because
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 now you are documenting the process. You're making
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 life easier for them and for others after you.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 So that's a little trick there. But for me, I
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 wasn't the one sitting around. I was always driven,
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 and I've been driven really for my whole life.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:50 I was always a 4 .0 GPA student back in Ivory
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 Coast before I came here at the age of 17 to
00:03:53 --> 00:03:57 the US. To me, math was like one of my favorite
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 subjects. I wasn't just trying to be right. I
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 had a little competition with some of my friends
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 who say, can you finish the two hour test in
00:04:04 --> 00:04:08 30 minutes and still get an A? Yes. That's how
00:04:08 --> 00:04:13 extra I've been. For me, it's absolutely worth
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 it because I wanted to do it one. And number
00:04:16 --> 00:04:20 two, some people looked at me funny when I said
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 I wanted to become a CFO. first within the African
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 community when I came here was all okay you're
00:04:26 --> 00:04:31 gonna be a African braider you're gonna do braids
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 or you have to work out a Walmart try to be manager
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 you know corporate America they don't promote
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 people like us they don't do things like us you
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 are young you are black you're African girl with
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 an accent you won't be able to get there and
00:04:45 --> 00:04:49 then I started to realize I needed to shift the
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 people around me, but also just keep quiet about
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 some of the goals that I had, because people
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 will be looking at me like, mm, I don't see it
00:04:57 --> 00:05:01 in you, because I haven't seen much people like
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 you at certain level. I was driven. I was like,
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 OK, thanks, but I'm still going to do it, especially
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 because now it feels like it's not possible.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 I'm like, on my list. It's going to be done.
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 For me, it's great to be here first because I
00:05:16 --> 00:05:17 wanted to do it too because people acted like
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 I couldn't do it. I'm like, huh, that's my one
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 of my favorite way to prove people wrong is like,
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 ooh, I did it. And then number three, because
00:05:26 --> 00:05:30 I always felt like I could do more. I felt like
00:05:30 --> 00:05:35 I had the potential to do it. It wasn't that,
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 oh, I just want to do it and I don't feel like
00:05:37 --> 00:05:41 I can. Like I always felt like it was in me and
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 that. being able to operate at this level will
00:05:44 --> 00:05:49 allow me to really unleash my potential, really
00:05:49 --> 00:05:53 be operating within the realm of potential, my
00:05:53 --> 00:05:57 full potential. So I see it as something that's
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 absolutely worth it, but then it comes back to
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 you. Why do you want the role? Is it a part of
00:06:03 --> 00:06:08 status, influence, purpose? Because... Knowing
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 that I can do something and being able to do
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 it is incredibly fulfilling. Is a CFO worth it
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 for you? If you are wondering whether this path
00:06:16 --> 00:06:20 is right for you, start by asking what kind of
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 impact do I want to have? How does it fit with
00:06:23 --> 00:06:27 my overall vision, with my overall view of things,
00:06:27 --> 00:06:28 with things that I want to do, the rooms I want
00:06:28 --> 00:06:32 to be in, the places that I want to visit? For
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 me, one more thing is it shouldn't be just about
00:06:35 --> 00:06:39 compensation or money. because I realized that
00:06:39 --> 00:06:43 there is a big gap between personal finance and
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 being good at personal finance and actually doing
00:06:46 --> 00:06:50 the role of the CFO of working in finance. The
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 reason I say that is because sometimes if you
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 are not satisfied or content or you don't find
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 a way to live within your mean, when you are
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 let's say at a hundred K per year, it will still
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 be difficult for you to do it even when you have
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 more money. I know it's hard to understand is
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 that, oh, because you have money, you say that.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:13 No, my car is a 2014 Toyota Highlander. I had
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 it for 11 years and my daughter is 11 years.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 So you can see about when that car came into
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 my life, right? Because I needed a bigger vehicle
00:07:22 --> 00:07:26 to be able to put in two car seats and a double
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 stroller because my kids are back to back. They're
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 only 17 months apart. So daughter born 2014 and
00:07:31 --> 00:07:35 my son in 2015. So need to be a vehicle. i'm
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 still in the same car others will say oh you're
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 cfo now you can afford a bigger vehicle, but
00:07:40 --> 00:07:44 for me I want financial freedom instead of having
00:07:44 --> 00:07:48 an extra thousand dollars of car payment for
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 me I could save that one thousand dollars and
00:07:50 --> 00:07:54 go on vacation cash because that's 12 000 dollars
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 can get you a good vacation and that's just the
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 way i'm thinking about personal finance I guess
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 I got this advice too for my first cfo she was
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 like To live your best life here in America,
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 you have to live below your means. And I've kept
00:08:08 --> 00:08:13 that with me. And so I don't do this role necessarily
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 because I want to have the money. It's way more
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 than that. And the reason it's way more than
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 that is because I've trained myself to be disciplined
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 with my personal finances where I don't resent
00:08:25 --> 00:08:29 what I do, like I have to do it for the money.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 There are other things around it, so it makes
00:08:32 --> 00:08:36 it even better. When money is not an issue for
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 you to do the work that you want to do, I'm telling
00:08:39 --> 00:08:43 you, it's a great place to be in. That's for
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 this first question about, is it worth it? Is
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 it worth it to become a CFO? For me, absolutely.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:52 Now, next question. Do you enjoy the work and
00:08:52 --> 00:08:56 the people? Absolutely. I feel like as a CFO,
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 I'm the bridge between functions and leadership,
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 and it's incredibly rewarding. It's not always
00:09:01 --> 00:09:05 easy, but I'm enjoying the ride. As far as the
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 people, I'm just very fortunate to be at ACE
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 because I think that our founder, Grace Fritz,
00:09:10 --> 00:09:13 has created such a great culture. Because a lot
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 of times, it's tone at the top. I can say that
00:09:16 --> 00:09:21 I never felt home like I feel home at ACE. And
00:09:21 --> 00:09:25 so, yes, I do enjoy it. I do enjoy working with
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 my accounting team, making them more strategic.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 If you talk to them, they'll probably tell you,
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 oh, Waseea is a lot. And I remember a couple
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 of weeks ago, I was talking with my AP manager
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 and it was after we had two new people joining
00:09:39 --> 00:09:43 our team. She said, Waseea, guess what I told
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 them? I said, okay, tell me more. She said, I
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 told the new people, Waseea is nice. Waseea smiles.
00:09:49 --> 00:09:53 She means business. I was like, oh my God, that
00:09:53 --> 00:09:56 makes me scared of me. But again, for me, I really
00:09:56 --> 00:10:00 want to elevate the team. It hurts me when I
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 see potential not be fully realized. So I want
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 them to grow. And yes, my standards could be
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 high, but I want them to think beyond what they
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 do every day. So for example, whether it's a
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 bank reconciliation, I know it's part of the
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 month in checklists and you say check, I check
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 the bank. My next question will be how does that
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 balance compared to the balance of the prior
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 month? Do you think we're having issues in liquidity?
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 So moving from I just did it to what does it
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 mean? What to do with that information now? It's
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 things that I really enjoy doing and I'm grateful
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 that I work with a team that's receptive to grow
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 and that appreciate to have a CFO that really
00:10:41 --> 00:10:45 want to invest in their success on the personal
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 level, but also in technology, trying to remove
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 all the roadblocks and getting them to be the
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 best they can be really where they are. So I
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 do enjoy what I do, the work that I do, the people
00:10:55 --> 00:10:59 I work with, my peers, my buddy, my COO, Shannon
00:10:59 --> 00:11:03 Stewart. My CEO, Martina, she's the bomb. She's
00:11:03 --> 00:11:07 just a great person to work with. So really enjoy
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 my peers here and what I do. Now, next question.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:15 Do you have work -life balance? I get that one
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 a lot, especially because I'm still active on
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 LinkedIn. I'm doing this podcast and we know
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 the CFRL is no joke. You've probably read some
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 job descriptions. Now for me, I don't believe
00:11:25 --> 00:11:29 in work -life balance. I believe in work -life
00:11:29 --> 00:11:33 harmony. where your work and your life come together
00:11:33 --> 00:11:36 for you to have a rewarding and fulfilling life.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:40 I'm not about work -life balance. I'm more about
00:11:40 --> 00:11:44 work -life harmony. For example, what I learned
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 on the job allows me to do other things that
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 fulfill me, because I don't believe that fulfillment
00:11:50 --> 00:11:54 all come from one place. I also understand and
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 came to realize that really corporate America
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 was not built for you to be fulfilled. It was
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 built to maximize shareholders' wealth. And so
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 trying to get all your accomplishments, all your
00:12:05 --> 00:12:09 fulfillment out of your work, to me is a recipe
00:12:09 --> 00:12:13 for burnout and disappointment. It's that work
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 -life harmony that allowed me to be my best self.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 So when I learned more about accounting finance,
00:12:18 --> 00:12:22 for example, I volunteered with the SBA as a
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 score volunteer, and that is to provide free
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 mentoring to small business owners. And one of
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 the business owners I was able to mentor had
00:12:30 --> 00:12:34 a lash salon. She was doing lashes, and I was
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 able to give her advice for free. We're meeting
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 one hour a week. or even sometimes 30 minutes
00:12:40 --> 00:12:44 every other week just to check on her and allow
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 her to grow her business. It just feels great
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 to be able to help in that way. Similarly, now
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 I'm on the board of HOPE, an organization that
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 helps single parents complete their education
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 degree. And I've been a treasurer for almost
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 three years. I work on the budget, the strategic
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 plan with the COO. I do it. Free because I'm
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 able to have a job that pays me so I can do other
00:13:06 --> 00:13:10 things with that knowledge to really drive things
00:13:10 --> 00:13:14 that gives me again energy and fulfillment and
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 so I'm able to learn from what I do at Hope bring
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 it to ace because both are not -for -profit organization
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 and I'm able to also learn from ace and bring
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 it to hope and in return it make things better
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 both at work and in the lives of people, because
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 really at Hope, for example, we have participants
00:13:32 --> 00:13:36 that come in, sometimes is former stay at home
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 mom that divorced and now need to go back and
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 get an education. We had one that graduated not
00:13:42 --> 00:13:45 too long ago and shared her beautiful story at
00:13:45 --> 00:13:51 our gala we did in March. And she said that she
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 went to the grocery store and her daughter wanted
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 carrots. And she said, I didn't have the $1 to
00:13:57 --> 00:14:01 buy her carrots. Now she was living in the suburbs,
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 in the Atlanta area, in Buford. If you know this
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 area, you know it's a very nice area. But she
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 had to let go because she had been to stay at
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 home for 10 years. She had to start over. Now
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 fast forward, she's a registered nurse. She has
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 her own place. And she's able to afford all the
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 carrots. But hope was there in that bridge to
00:14:21 --> 00:14:25 provide assistance for rent, assistance for childcare,
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 also with groceries and other programs we have
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 wrapped around services. And to see that growth,
00:14:31 --> 00:14:35 I mean, it's so rewarding, so fulfilling to do
00:14:35 --> 00:14:39 that. And to me, that's what part of work -life
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 harmony is about. Because I don't think that
00:14:42 --> 00:14:46 you can completely turn off work. and just spending
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 time with your family, or turn off what you're
00:14:48 --> 00:14:52 going on in your family and do work. Like, you're
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 not a switch. To me, you're a human being. I
00:14:54 --> 00:14:57 try to have my life optimized so I don't show
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 up grumpy at work, and I try to have my work
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 optimized so I don't show up grumpy when I'm
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 having dinner with my family, because those things
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 will spill over. If you listen to the episode
00:15:07 --> 00:15:11 I had with Cindy Wilson, the former CFO of Kickstarter,
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 she said it's so beautiful. She said leadership
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 is her lifestyle. And so to me, it's about being
00:15:16 --> 00:15:21 disciplined with the choices that I make in my
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 life, if I can say, and my work. And that means
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 having and maintaining the right standards and
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 the right boundaries. Yes, I'm incredibly disciplined
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 with all these things. The only thing I think
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 in my life that I'm not disciplined with is fitness
00:15:34 --> 00:15:39 and food. But everything else, I'm good. So for
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 example, I think the choice of your spouse is
00:15:41 --> 00:15:45 important. I was willing to stay single. My parents
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 were divorced, and I was like, if I don't find
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 the right guy, I'm going to stay single. I was
00:15:49 --> 00:15:53 always driven. I was always ambitious. And I
00:15:53 --> 00:15:56 knew if I was going to marry, it would have to
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 be with someone that's secure with themselves,
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 that can be a true partner when we're raising
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 kids, because I'm not going to shrink or dim
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 my light to make somebody else feel better. And
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 so when I met my husband, we'll be married now
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 15 years. He was like, yes. I can do this. And
00:16:10 --> 00:16:14 so he's my best friend, my supporter. Love him
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 so much. He supports me in whatever I'm doing,
00:16:17 --> 00:16:20 whatever ventures I'm getting or troubles I'm
00:16:20 --> 00:16:24 getting myself into. I cook, he cleans. I drop
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 off the kids in the morning. He helps with the
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 homework when they come in the afternoon. So
00:16:28 --> 00:16:32 we are a true team. Again, that concept of work
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 life harmony, because sometimes we think of work
00:16:34 --> 00:16:38 life balance and we think, oh, I can work. 40
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 hours, 20 hours, then I'll be fine because I
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 have all this time for other things, but you
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 could work 20 hours a week, but if you have the
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 wrong spouse, you will still feel miserable.
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 If you have so much chaos in your home, you will
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 still feel miserable even if you work 20 hours
00:16:54 --> 00:16:59 a week. It's really that idea of work -life harmony.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:03 And so just like at life, I was disciplined and
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 thank God for my husband at work. I know I cannot
00:17:06 --> 00:17:10 do 80 hours a week. And so I block my time. I
00:17:10 --> 00:17:13 let people know ahead of time, I'm gonna be off.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 When I'm off, even if I see a text or a notification,
00:17:16 --> 00:17:22 I do not respond because the reality is you train
00:17:22 --> 00:17:26 people to treat you a certain way. Because I've
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 seen people who are not director, don't even
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 get to the CFO, and they work so many hours.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 Now, it is fine the first few years of your career
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 when you're young and you don't have much responsibilities.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:42 I did that. I did that. I worked long hours when
00:17:42 --> 00:17:47 I was like 22, 23, 24, 25, 26. But then you have
00:17:47 --> 00:17:51 to be careful not to make it a habit. Otherwise,
00:17:51 --> 00:17:54 you will always feel burnout. overworked and
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 underpaid, regardless of the company you work
00:17:56 --> 00:18:00 for, regardless of the boss you have, regardless
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 of your title, whether you are analyst or CFO,
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 you will always feel that way if you don't know
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 how to set boundaries because unconsciously you
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 are training people to treat you that way. And
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 so, again, this has worked for me for quite some
00:18:14 --> 00:18:17 years now. I block my time in the morning. Now
00:18:17 --> 00:18:19 I'm starting to block my time in the evening.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:22 because sometimes I'm in so many meetings, I'm
00:18:22 --> 00:18:25 like, okay, let me call that time to do it. And
00:18:25 --> 00:18:29 I oftentimes show offline. I actually turn my
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 status on Teams as offline, even though I'm still
00:18:32 --> 00:18:35 working, but I don't want to be disturbed, right?
00:18:35 --> 00:18:38 And I want to show also the right signal. I don't
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 do it all the time, but. We're in finance and
00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 accounting, we know how we can get. So back to
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 the questions, Wasia, do you have work -life
00:18:45 --> 00:18:48 balance? My answer is this is not applicable.
00:18:48 --> 00:18:53 I do have work -life harmony. I have a job I
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 love, the people I truly enjoy working with,
00:18:55 --> 00:18:58 where I feel I'm actually operating within my
00:18:58 --> 00:19:01 full potential. It allows me to do this podcast.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 And that tells you I'm not working 100 hours
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 a week, right? Because I have time to do this,
00:19:05 --> 00:19:09 to do speaking, to coach, and also, most importantly,
00:19:09 --> 00:19:13 to enjoy my kids and spend quality time with
00:19:13 --> 00:19:17 my whole family. Now, next question. What helped
00:19:17 --> 00:19:23 you get there? My first answer is always, thank
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 you, God. for allowing me to be at the right
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 place at the right time with the right people.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:33 And now I am actually very intentional of being
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 in the right places and connecting with the right
00:19:35 --> 00:19:39 people. The second thing is I always had a clear
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 vision of what success looks like for me. And
00:19:42 --> 00:19:45 I've been doing this a little more of spending
00:19:45 --> 00:19:48 more time with myself. I've actually scheduled
00:19:48 --> 00:19:52 a self -retreat where I would just meet me. In
00:19:52 --> 00:19:56 the month of November, I'm going to book an hotel
00:19:56 --> 00:20:00 room not too far from my house and just spend
00:20:00 --> 00:20:04 one or two nights there to reflect. So I think
00:20:04 --> 00:20:07 having that clear vision of success have been
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 so important to me because, you know, life goes
00:20:09 --> 00:20:12 bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, and you don't realize
00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 three months have gone by, a year has gone by.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 Look at 2025 already. If you don't take time
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 to really define what success will look like
00:20:20 --> 00:20:24 for you, then you'll be distracted by the success
00:20:24 --> 00:20:27 of others. You'll see others on social media
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 and say, man, I'm behind. You'll hear some advice
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 and get, oh, maybe I should recalculate my route
00:20:32 --> 00:20:36 and do this and do that. You end up being aimless.
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 And so not having a clear vision of I'm going
00:20:38 --> 00:20:41 to do this and this and this, of course, being
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 flexible along the way, but having that vision
00:20:44 --> 00:20:47 of what success looks like for me. Not necessarily
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 in terms of role or title. I didn't know what
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 the different steps I'll go to become a CF. I
00:20:51 --> 00:20:54 didn't know I'll do FPNA at some point and be
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 controlled. I didn't know all these things. I
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 just wanted to have this. Having flexibility
00:20:58 --> 00:21:01 in between, but really having that clear vision
00:21:01 --> 00:21:04 of success for you, for me was all about work
00:21:04 --> 00:21:08 -life harmony. I love numbers. I love a certain
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 type of discipline. And so bringing all this
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 together was very important to me. The third
00:21:13 --> 00:21:16 thing is I worked hard for a long time. You cannot
00:21:16 --> 00:21:20 hack yourself into success. There is no shortcut.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 I saw a survey of Gen Z. How much money do you
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 think you're going to make? A million dollars.
00:21:27 --> 00:21:31 Now, okay. You're going to have to do a lot of
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 work before you get there, right? But for me,
00:21:33 --> 00:21:37 I worked hard for a very long time. My vacations
00:21:37 --> 00:21:41 were modest. I remember When I got out of school
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 and I wanted to be a CPA, I told my husband I
00:21:43 --> 00:21:46 cannot get pregnant for the next two years. Because
00:21:46 --> 00:21:49 back then, when you were taking the CPA, you
00:21:49 --> 00:21:53 had an 18 months window between the time you
00:21:53 --> 00:21:57 passed the first test to the last one. And so
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 I was like, OK, no babies during this time. I
00:22:00 --> 00:22:03 will wake up in the morning, I will study from
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 five to six a .m., and I'm not an early bird,
00:22:05 --> 00:22:09 so it tells you how much extra work I was willing
00:22:09 --> 00:22:12 to do for this. Sometimes it will be after month
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 -end, but after work, even if I ended at 6 p
00:22:14 --> 00:22:17 .m., I will make a point of either going to the
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 food court at the mall or a Whole Food Market,
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 they had tables at a time, and I could sit there
00:22:23 --> 00:22:26 and do some studying. I will squeeze some studying
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 on my lunch break while I'm doing two, three
00:22:28 --> 00:22:31 -people jobs. I worked hard for a long time.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:34 Same for my CMA, same for my MBA. Now people
00:22:34 --> 00:22:36 see all these letters and like, oh, you did it
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 in like three years. No, it took me like eight,
00:22:38 --> 00:22:41 nine years to get all of them. But I worked hard
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 for a long time and I did them because somebody
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 said, you need to do it or CMA, you need to do
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 it. And then when I was tired of doing all these
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50 things, that's when I sat down and reflected
00:22:50 --> 00:22:53 a little more about, okay, what else do I need?
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 Because all these certifications are not working.
00:22:55 --> 00:22:58 You can hear that in other episodes. But the
00:22:58 --> 00:23:01 reality is you have to work hard for a long time
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 because that's how you will know how to work
00:23:03 --> 00:23:07 smart. There is no shortcuts to that. Of course,
00:23:07 --> 00:23:10 it helps to have mentors and sponsors and people
00:23:10 --> 00:23:12 speaking to your life. Certain things you have
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 to experience for yourself and you have to be
00:23:14 --> 00:23:17 willing to put in the work. I will say give yourself
00:23:17 --> 00:23:20 a deadline of I'm not going to do this for X
00:23:20 --> 00:23:23 amount of years because it's unsustainable. You
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 have to enjoy your life. But I did work hard
00:23:26 --> 00:23:30 for a long time. And so now when I think about
00:23:30 --> 00:23:33 accounting and finance, I did AP, I did AR, I
00:23:33 --> 00:23:36 did payroll, I did treasury, I did inventory
00:23:36 --> 00:23:40 management, I did FP &A, I did taxes, I did some
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 supply chain, helping with procurement, helping
00:23:42 --> 00:23:45 with HR, 401k audit. The list goes on because
00:23:45 --> 00:23:49 I've done so, so many things. because I wanted
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 to touch all these different things. Now, you
00:23:50 --> 00:23:53 don't have to do this, but you have to be willing
00:23:53 --> 00:23:56 to put in the work. Whatever you do, do it at
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 100%. The fourth thing, so the first thing was,
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 thank God for being in the right place at the
00:24:01 --> 00:24:03 right time, and now I'm more intentional about
00:24:03 --> 00:24:06 surrounding myself with the right people. Number
00:24:06 --> 00:24:08 two, I have a clear vision of what success looks
00:24:08 --> 00:24:13 like for me. Three, I worked hard for a long
00:24:13 --> 00:24:16 time, so now I know how to work smart. And then
00:24:16 --> 00:24:21 number four, I was not afraid of investing in
00:24:21 --> 00:24:25 me, meaning I was not afraid of paying for things
00:24:25 --> 00:24:29 like courses, certifications, executive coaching,
00:24:29 --> 00:24:32 even when my company would not pay for it or
00:24:32 --> 00:24:35 reimburse me in full. I know sometimes we feel
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37 like, oh, the company is not paying for it. I'm
00:24:37 --> 00:24:41 not going to do it. No, I'm still going to do
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 it because I know it's important. How do I get
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 into speaking? Because I realized that when you
00:24:46 --> 00:24:49 speak at a conference, you go there for free.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:54 OK? So that was a nice way for me. The companies
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 are going to pay for it. OK, maybe I need to
00:24:56 --> 00:24:59 be on some panel. They will usually waive your
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 registration fee, probably pay for your hotel,
00:25:01 --> 00:25:05 but you will at least get something waived. But
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 that's just something. Otherwise, again, back
00:25:07 --> 00:25:10 to personal finance. But how are you investing
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 in yourself? You can't just say, I'm not going
00:25:12 --> 00:25:18 to invest in me because to me, your best investment
00:25:18 --> 00:25:24 is in yourself. Whatever it is. your best investment
00:25:24 --> 00:25:26 in yourself. And I even had a quote that I posted
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29 on LinkedIn a couple years ago that said, your
00:25:29 --> 00:25:33 career is almost like a new venture. Sometimes
00:25:33 --> 00:25:36 you have to invest your own money before other
00:25:36 --> 00:25:39 investors are willing to invest in. Those four
00:25:39 --> 00:25:44 things really combined allow me to realize Not
00:25:44 --> 00:25:47 only things that helped me, but also what makes
00:25:47 --> 00:25:50 people successful in their careers. For me, it's
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52 two words. If you have a pen, you can write it
00:25:52 --> 00:25:55 down now. If you're driving, don't do it. But
00:25:55 --> 00:25:58 to me, it boils down to two things. Positioning
00:25:58 --> 00:26:02 and networking. Positioning is really your credibility
00:26:02 --> 00:26:06 and visibility. And networking with people that
00:26:06 --> 00:26:10 are two to five steps ahead of you or away from
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 you in other... That's why I structured my CFO
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16 bootcamp that way. If you have not heard of it,
00:26:16 --> 00:26:19 you can go to wassiacommand .com. The next cohort
00:26:19 --> 00:26:23 starts August 8th of 2025. By the time I'm doing
00:26:23 --> 00:26:26 this recording. Because you need to work on the
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 right project to gain credibility. You work hard,
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 but you want to work hard on the right project,
00:26:31 --> 00:26:34 not on doing the same thing over and over again
00:26:34 --> 00:26:37 for years. You want to work on the right project,
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 have the right positioning. That's the first
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 level. That's what's going to give you credibility
00:26:41 --> 00:26:44 because you can actually do the things that you're
00:26:44 --> 00:26:46 supposed to do, that you say you can do. And
00:26:46 --> 00:26:49 once you have the outcomes from doing those things,
00:26:50 --> 00:26:53 visibility is what you should work on next so
00:26:53 --> 00:26:56 that you can work more on the first level, credibility.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 So the right project will allow you to have the
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 right visibility if you're working on it, not
00:27:00 --> 00:27:03 just assuming it's going to do the talk for you.
00:27:03 --> 00:27:07 But all of that is amplified by networking, having
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10 the right people, like a sponsor that will help
00:27:10 --> 00:27:13 you be on the right project, like a mentor, personal
00:27:13 --> 00:27:16 board of directors that will speak into you so
00:27:16 --> 00:27:19 you can realize what are those right projects
00:27:19 --> 00:27:23 to start with. And being able to know who are
00:27:23 --> 00:27:26 the people that you should be visible to, the
00:27:26 --> 00:27:30 people that will allow you to amplify your work.
00:27:30 --> 00:27:33 in your organization and also outside of your
00:27:33 --> 00:27:36 organization. So if there was a formula to me,
00:27:36 --> 00:27:40 it will be positioning X networking equal unstoppable
00:27:40 --> 00:27:44 growth. So that is what in a nutshell helped
00:27:44 --> 00:27:47 me get to where I am. I worked hard for a long
00:27:47 --> 00:27:51 time. I wasn't afraid to pay when I needed to.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:53 I became intentional about being in the right
00:27:53 --> 00:27:57 places, hanging out with the right people. Also
00:27:57 --> 00:28:00 having a clear vision of what success looks like
00:28:00 --> 00:28:03 for me. This all allowed me to realize that really,
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 if I was to go back, so if today I'm like, what's
00:28:06 --> 00:28:09 here? What would you tell your younger self?
00:28:09 --> 00:28:12 I would say work on two things, positioning and
00:28:12 --> 00:28:16 networking. But now I realize that if I had been
00:28:16 --> 00:28:20 more intentional and more strategic about my
00:28:20 --> 00:28:23 positioning and networking early on, who knows
00:28:23 --> 00:28:25 where I'll be today, right? Because I do believe
00:28:25 --> 00:28:30 that's what leads to unstoppable growth. I love
00:28:30 --> 00:28:33 this quote by Seneca that said, luck is what
00:28:33 --> 00:28:35 happens when preparation means opportunity. For
00:28:35 --> 00:28:38 me, luck is what happens when positioning meets
00:28:38 --> 00:28:41 networking. And I can give you a simple example.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:45 I get an opportunity to teach a segment of Wharton
00:28:45 --> 00:28:48 Online's first ever FPNA program. Now, here's
00:28:48 --> 00:28:51 how it happened. Positioning. One, when it comes
00:28:51 --> 00:28:55 to credibility, I actually led FPNA. Two, visibility.
00:28:55 --> 00:28:58 I made it visible on LinkedIn. and I also made
00:28:58 --> 00:29:02 it visible on different stages. And I had recently
00:29:02 --> 00:29:06 spoken at the AICPA CFO Conference of 2024, and
00:29:06 --> 00:29:10 the director of the program at Wharton, whom
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 I had connected with about a year or two before
00:29:12 --> 00:29:17 he got that role, noticed. So visibility, credibility,
00:29:18 --> 00:29:21 and now networking with people when they don't
00:29:21 --> 00:29:24 even have the title. that you may be aiming for.
00:29:24 --> 00:29:26 And that's something that we often miss is I
00:29:26 --> 00:29:30 didn't network with him because he was the director
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 of program for that FPNA program at Wharton.
00:29:32 --> 00:29:34 He didn't have that role when we connected years
00:29:34 --> 00:29:38 ago, right? Now he has it. He's in my LinkedIn
00:29:38 --> 00:29:40 feed. He sees some things like, hey, let's talk.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:44 I'm working on this. We talk for 30 minutes and
00:29:44 --> 00:29:48 bam, I got the role. I get to start teaching.
00:29:48 --> 00:29:50 And something that I thought would happen at
00:29:50 --> 00:29:54 age 50, just happened at age 38. So I do believe
00:29:54 --> 00:29:58 that positioning and networking are things that
00:29:58 --> 00:30:01 really make you unstoppable in your career and
00:30:01 --> 00:30:04 really anything in life when you think about
00:30:04 --> 00:30:07 it. That's why I'm so excited about the results
00:30:07 --> 00:30:09 and the success stories I'm starting hearing
00:30:09 --> 00:30:12 from my CFO Boothkin cohort. I have one person
00:30:12 --> 00:30:14 saying, oh, Waseya, I just did some of the things
00:30:14 --> 00:30:17 we talked about, LinkedIn, and now I'm getting
00:30:17 --> 00:30:20 emails about roles that I always wanted to do.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:22 She was always in accounting, now she's getting
00:30:22 --> 00:30:25 FPNA role. And that was, again, positioning,
00:30:25 --> 00:30:27 getting her to understand what is it that you've
00:30:27 --> 00:30:30 been doing that's already FPNA before you have
00:30:30 --> 00:30:33 the title. Who should you be networking with?
00:30:33 --> 00:30:35 What should you be posting about? What should
00:30:35 --> 00:30:38 you be doing to attract those roles? And sure
00:30:38 --> 00:30:40 enough, it's working. So for me, positioning
00:30:40 --> 00:30:43 and networking is everything when it comes to
00:30:43 --> 00:30:47 how you will get to where you want to be. So
00:30:47 --> 00:30:49 that's what helped me get there. I'll say the
00:30:49 --> 00:30:52 positioning networking I learned toward the end
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 of the journey, and that's what I make that about
00:30:53 --> 00:30:56 teaching now. But it worked for me in so many
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58 ways, still working for me in so many ways, and
00:30:58 --> 00:31:02 I cannot recommend it enough. So happy I have
00:31:02 --> 00:31:05 answered the questions that you had submitted
00:31:05 --> 00:31:09 and thank you again to everyone who has these
00:31:09 --> 00:31:12 questions and your questions are exactly why
00:31:12 --> 00:31:15 I do this. I can probably fill in my voice. I'm
00:31:15 --> 00:31:19 excited about doing this, about sharing and helping
00:31:19 --> 00:31:22 others because that's what I, I wish I had at
00:31:22 --> 00:31:25 some point in my career as well. And again, if
00:31:25 --> 00:31:28 you are wondering whether the path to the CFO
00:31:28 --> 00:31:31 is right for you, start by asking. What kind
00:31:31 --> 00:31:35 of impact do I want to have? And how am I being
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37 intentional about showing it, especially in terms
00:31:37 --> 00:31:42 of positioning and networking? If you got questions
00:31:42 --> 00:31:44 you want me to answer, whether it's leadership,
00:31:44 --> 00:31:46 your team, or growing in your role, the best
00:31:46 --> 00:31:49 way to ask is through my newsletter. You can
00:31:49 --> 00:31:53 subscribe at TheDiaryOfACFO .com. And that's
00:31:53 --> 00:31:56 it for today's episode of the Diary of a CFO.
00:31:56 --> 00:31:59 Thank you so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed
00:31:59 --> 00:32:02 the show, don't forget to like, review, subscribe,
00:32:02 --> 00:32:06 and share with others. Our website is thediaryofacfo
00:32:06 --> 00:32:09 .com. That's where you can find all the episodes,
00:32:10 --> 00:32:13 access all the guest profiles, see their bios,
00:32:13 --> 00:32:16 and the social media links. It is also the place
00:32:16 --> 00:32:19 where you can apply to be a guest on the podcast
00:32:19 --> 00:32:21 and have information about how you can sponsor
00:32:21 --> 00:32:24 the show. As always, if there is any topic you
00:32:24 --> 00:32:27 would like me to cover in the future, just email
00:32:27 --> 00:32:31 me at ask at the diary of a CFO .com. Again,
00:32:31 --> 00:32:34 the email is ask at the diary of a CFO .com.
00:32:35 --> 00:32:35 See you soon.
