Episode description

Kevin Rhodes recalls one of the earliest lessons in his finance career. “I wanted to understand the business,” he tells us, describing his decision to ride along with a Waste Management truck crew. Clipboard in hand, he meticulously recorded stop distances, tonnage collected, and time spent at each location. By the end of the week, he had compiled a customer-by-customer profitability analysis. The results were clear—routes with clustered stops were highly profitable, while distant, scattered pickups drained resources. When he shared his findings, leadership encouraged him to gather more data. The insights led to an initiative that incentivized sales teams to densify routes, improving efficiency and making Rhodes’s business unit one of the most profitable in the region. The approach became a company-wide standard.

This hands-on, data-driven mindset has shaped Rhodes’s leadership across multiple CFO roles. After earning his MBA at Babson College—while working full-time and supporting a growing family—he stepped into his first CFO position at age 32. Since then, he has focused on transforming finance functions beyond traditional reporting, using analytics to guide resource allocation, operational efficiency, and revenue growth. Now at Extreme Networks, Rhodes applies these principles to simplify complex networking solutions and optimize recurring revenue streams. His career illustrates how finance leaders can drive strategy by immersing themselves in operations, leveraging data insights, and aligning financial decisions with long-term business value.