*This episode is a shared episode directly from the host, Natalie Benamou. In This Episode: Are you looking for investors in your business and unsure where to start? Let’s take a walk with Stephanie Sims, founder of Finance-Ability®, former investment banker and finance expert. Stephanie gives her advice and strategies on moving from “shiny object syndrome” to prioritizing your growth strategies. This conversation with host Natalie Benamou and Stephanie Sims shows you how you can start leveragin...
Jul 28, 20210
In this episode… This is a shared episode by Matt Wolach. Matt starts the episode introducing Stephanie, asking where she is today and how she got there. They kick off the show agreeing that raising capital is truly all about sales. People looking for funding need to look at what is right in front of them - creating something of value that clients and future clients will pay them for. One of the mindsets that is super important is that of an investor. And then you ask yourself, “What is the best...
Jul 21, 2021•27 min
In this episode… Andrea begins the episode introducing Stephanie, and asks her exactly what it was that drove her into owning her own business. More specifically, what drove her to Financeability. What gave Stephanie the heart for business? It stemmed from watching her parents who owned their own business. When her parents were ready to retire, they reached out to Stephanie who helped them place value on their business so they could talk about it like the asset it was. Stephanie shares how she h...
Jul 14, 2021•35 min
In this Episode . . . Robbie gets this episode started by asking Stephanie about her leadership journey and when she realized she had a knack for leading. To Stephanie, being a leader is equal parts inspiration and risk/action taking. One must have a bold vision to share with people that will get them excited about doing something. In the same sense, one must also be willing to roll up their own sleeves, dig in and do some work as well. Mentors were important to Stephanie, and among the top of t...
Jul 07, 2021•51 min
In this Episode . . . Stephanie shares that her parents owned a business while she was in high school, but when time came to sell their business and retire, they struggled to find buyers. She realized then that the business was sellable, but they didn’t know how to talk about their business as an investment. For Stephanie, it is fun to see people get excited, but she tries to help when they are frustrated because they see a way to grow but don’t know how to find the money to do it. Most entrepre...
Jun 30, 2021•32 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Natalie Benamou, the Founder & CEO of Herpower2 Lead. Natalie is a strategic thought leader with 30 years of experience creating ‘Blue Ocean’ strategies that help differentiate businesses from the competition and leading organizations. She has served as President of HBA Chicago (Healthcare Business Women's Association) as well as A Heart For Animals, an all volunteer animal rescue that has saved over 3,000 pets. Natalie founded HerCsuite™, an advisory & netw...
Jun 23, 2021•36 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Tara Spalding, the Managing Director of BoomStartup Accelerator. BoomStartup is an accelerator and mentorship-driven angel-stage investment program for startups, which operates as an online technology-driven accelerator, providing entrepreneurs a custom business plan including business maturity guidance, investment preparation, and capital structuring relevant to growth, and investment strategies as well as a curated marketplace for services. Tara is also the founde...
Jun 16, 2021•41 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Ari Palmer Salafia, who’s the Co-Founder & CEO of TaxTaker, a female-founded tax and technology savings company focused on helping put money back into growing companies pockets. Over the course of her career, Ari has helped hundreds of companies save tens of millions of dollars on taxes through R&D tax credits and other specialty government programs. Originally from California, Ari graduated and holds a bachelor degree in Political Science from Loyola Marymo...
Jun 09, 2021•36 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Zachary Eikenberry, a CoFounder, Director and CEO of Hook Security, which uses Psychological Security, or PsySec™, to teach employees how to spot and avoid phishing attacks and create a healthy security-aware culture company wide. Before Hook, Zach was a Founder and the CEO of The NEXT Schools in Greenville, SC. These schools provided entrepreneurial experiences for over 900 students between 2 high schools and a middle school. Zach has over 14 years of startup exper...
Jun 02, 2021•36 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Amy & Adam Fazackerley, Co-Founders of Lay-n-Go, a company that designs and manufactures innovative organizational solutions for life, play, and travel. I’ve interviewed them both individually, so if you haven’t listened to those episodes, add them to your playlist! But today we’re doing something different - and talking to them about what it’s like to work with your spouse day in, day out. Welcome, Adam & Amy! In this episode… Instead of the speed round, th...
May 26, 2021•35 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Jamie Easton, the founder of The Uptick - a weekly dose of financial market smarts! Jamie has nearly 20 years of professional experience in the financial services industry, including Managing Director at Evercore, a premier, independent, global investment banking advisory firm. At Evercore, she not only founded the equities business in 2010, but was also recognized by Institutional Investor Magazine as the top ranked IR professional in her peer group. Jamie began he...
May 12, 2021•37 min
In this episode, you will hear how Amy felt her scariest ask was how to get started in business, how to get started in manufacturing, where do you go? It’s hard to go overseas, share your ideas and not know anyone not to mention hand over a prototype and negotiate dollars and all the major details. After stepping on loose Legos drove her over the edge, she brainstormed on how does one clean, corrale, and pick up after them without having to throw them all in buckets. Her advice to others wanting...
Apr 28, 2021•36 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Spencer Montgomery, the Founder of Uinta Crypto Consulting, a cryptocurrency training and mentoring program. He has been providing Bitcoin and cryptocurrency consulting and training for over 4 years. Spencer has spoken to over 3000 people and has influenced over 5 million of crypto investing. Spencer personally turned $13k into over $1.2M in 18 months back in 2017 and more impressively, sold in early 2018 protecting his earnings. He has helped many friends and famil...
Apr 21, 2021•34 min
Adam Fazackerley is the COO and Co-Founder of Lay-n-Go, LLC. Fazackerley started his career at UUNET Technologies. He went on to found concept2creations, LLC, a corporate design company focused on building brands and producing every aspect of their digital / print marketing strategies. He worked as an Associate with Osborn Capital and later went on to co-found Fortify.vc. Both firms were focused on early-stage technology fund investing in Mid-Atlantic, Silicon Valley, and talent-rich technology ...
Apr 07, 2021•49 min
A 20-year finance industry veteran, podcaster, writer, and speaker, George is working to help people get better at money and life so they can live how they want. He spent 10 years with a Fortune 100 company as an advisor as well as in leadership positions where he impacted thousands of people and developed training curriculums. George is the President of Financial Consulting Professionals, the Founder and Chief Community Officer of Money Alignment Academy, and the host of the Money Savage podcas...
Mar 31, 2021•41 min
Sean O’Brien, is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Overline, an Atlanta-based seed-stage venture capital fund that he runs with his partner, Michael Cohn. Sean has been in the investment business for nearly 30 years, with roles in investment banking, hedge fund management, corporate development and venture capital. He is an All-Star Mentor in the Techstars network, a mentor in the Endeavor network, and an advisor to a number of startups. Sean received his degree from NYU and lives in the Atlant...
Mar 17, 2021•35 min
Robert is a Speaker, Author, Leadership Trainer, and Executive Coach who integrates a heart-centered, result-oriented and transformational leadership approach to being effective. He’s a serial entrepreneur including having founded and led two training industry success stories with over one million graduates of high-impact experiential learning seminars. In this episode… Robert White talks about how he found a sense of purpose during a time of need turned out to be life-changing. A previous “no” ...
Mar 03, 2021•45 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Kim Raath, the co-founder and CEO of Topl , an ESG technology company with a purpose-built blockchain that empowers businesses to prove and monetize ethical and sustainable practices. Before university, Kim worked in 18 developing countries to rebuild and strengthen communities by implementing innovative forms of technology. She has since given numerous talks about how technical innovation empowers communities to improve quality of life and access to opportunities. ...
Feb 24, 2021•44 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to two-time founder Katy Campbell. Katy is currently working with Porsche Digital to develop new startups across various ecosystems. Katy is also running "formation", a startup school for founders who identify as womxn, or as part of a minority group. She was also leading the brand and communication team at APX, the early-stage VC from Axel Springer and Porsche. Driven by her passion for mental wellbeing and diversity, Katy is working closely with boards globally to ma...
Feb 10, 2021•49 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Greg Head, the CEO of Scaling Point and the founder of Gregslist. Greg Head is a 30-year software industry veteran who was part of the startup-to-scale journeys of three different software companies in the CRM industry, including one IPO. He is now an active mentor, advisor, consultant, and speaker helping founders of early-stage software startups all over the world. At Scaling Point, Greg works with startup tech founders on positioning strategy, product-market fit,...
Feb 03, 2021•42 min
Matt Wolach, host of SaaS-Story in the Making, is an entrepreneur, investor, coach, and leader who knows the sales world from the inside out. He has nearly two decades of SaaS sales management experience. His expertise, in particular, lies in crafting a streamlined buyer journey that maximizes conversions at every stage from lead to close. Matt is the creator of The Perfect D.E.A.L. Process which has created growth patterns that led to multiple 8 and 9 figure exits. He uses his experience and th...
Jan 20, 2021•29 min
Today, Stephanie Sims tackles the question “How do I talk about my exit strategy with investors?” Get clear on what kind of business you want before you start trying to grow...otherwise, someone else will choose for you. Today, we’ll cover: What different kinds of businesses you could choose to build How that translates into a different kind of exit strategy Why ultimately, the only exit strategy that matters is the one that’s right for you. Sponsor for this episode... Finance-Ability is a bouti...
Jan 13, 2021•32 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Tiffany Bisconer, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 20 years of experience in the fields of accounting and tax. Tiffany has worked with one of the top 10 Certified Public Accounting and Consulting Firms in the nation and is currently the Director of Acena Consulting focusing on providing specialty tax incentive consulting services. Combining her private industry and public accounting experience, she works with CPA firms and directly with business owners ...
Jan 06, 2021•36 min
Welcome to the final part of our four-part series to tackle the ghosts of your numbers past, present and future. Last week, we talked about the numbers present - your KPIs that will help you make decisions day-to-day. Today, we’ll cover the numbers of your future - your financial forecast/projection/model What is a financial forecast? How will a financial forecast help me run my business? How do I build a financial forecast? Biggest pitfalls to avoid with forecasts I put this series together to ...
Dec 30, 2020•42 min
Today, we continue doing something a little different! Welcome to Part 3 of a four-part series to tackle the ghosts of your numbers past, present, and future. Today we talk about the numbers of your present - the KPIs of your business. KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are: The short term measures of specific actions that move your business forward. Measurements of the small decisions you make every day. Designed to help you quickly access whether you're on target to ultimately reach scale &a...
Dec 23, 2020•39 min
Today, we’re doing something a little different! Welcome to Part 2 of a four-part series where we talk about the Ghost of Numbers past. We take a look at: Why you need to review the past numbers in your business. They provide you the story of how to adjust your current business structure. Where you obtain your financial history and which numbers matter. How using these past numbers helps you make better decisions. The bottom line is learning your numbers helps you become a better decision-maker....
Dec 16, 2020•47 min
Today, we’re doing something a little different! Welcome to Part 1 of a four-part series to tackle the ghosts of your numbers past, present, and future. We take a look at: Some of the biggest reasons entrepreneurs are afraid of their numbers, and how to get past those roadblocks Set the stage for how past, present, and future work together to build your confidence in your own decisions AND accelerate your business growth Give you two frameworks for thinking about your numbers that don't require ...
Dec 09, 2020•42 min
It's Thanksgiving here in the US, and there’s a lot to be grateful for, despite the challenges that everyone is facing this year. I’m grateful for my family and friends, and for the team of experts who help me run my business. I’m also grateful for all of the fascinating investors and entrepreneurs that I’ve had the opportunity to feature on the What’s Your Ask? show. 2020 has been a year of change, and the show is no exception! This week, I’ve got some exciting news about how the show is adapti...
Nov 25, 2020•15 min
Today, I’m excited to talk to Ryan Tansom, entrepreneur, speaker, podcast host, author and the co-founder of Arkona ! In 2014, Ryan helped turn around their family business and then sell it for 8 figures to a local competitor. The growth and exit process was an unexpectedly difficult undertaking, but the lessons that were learned have proven to be invaluable. He took his experience and co-founded Arkona where he created the Intentional Growth 5 Principles and Framework and hosts the popular Life...
Nov 18, 2020•40 min
Melissa Lamson is an executive coach, author of six books, and speaker who has worked on projects in over 40 countries. She has built and run companies both in Europe and the US. For over 20 years she has developed leadership strategy, designed and taught leadership programs for companies like 3M, IKEA, Linkedin, MTV and Space X. Melissa's signature program for women leaders was the most highly attended program at SAP for 10 years. Melissa has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tr...
Oct 28, 2020•38 min
