The Podgress Report

08 | Take Your Wins With You: Transform Your Career with Confidence and Clarity - Meredith Nicklas, CEO, The CFO Solution

• Jen Phillips • Season 1 • Episode 8

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In this edition of The Podgress Report, host Jen Phillips is joined by Meredith Nicklas, CEO, The CFO Solution. This episode is for you if you've ever thought..."I want to spend more of my time at work doing the work that energizes me". It's a masterclass in "helpability". Meredith has a fantastic way of finding the people, resources, and partners in her community to support her career development. 

Meredith is a former CFO and long time finance leader. As the CEO of the CFO Solution, she's taken her skills and passion for partnering with business owners to identify their financial trends, and guiding them towards their goals in a fractional capacity. 

Meredith's shift into solopreneurism after a successful executive stint in corporate finance began with unexpected change. It proves you can successfully begin your "what's next" from your "right now". Meredith's approach to planning and ramping into entrepreneurship is powerful and helped her de-risk her leap. 

In this episode, we talk about embracing the power of "I don't know, but I'll find out", and keeping your cheerleaders close, while muting or muffling your detractors.

99.9% of American businesses are small businesses, and 43% of those are women-owned. I love shining a spotlight on Meredith's endeavor, her decision-making process, and how absolutely incredible it feels to launch. 

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E8 | Take Your Wins With You: Transform Your Career with Confidence and Clarity - Meredith Nicklas, CEO, The CFO Solution

[00:00:00] 

Change Happens (Through You, With You, or To You) 

 

Jen Phillips: Sometimes you want the change to happen, sometimes the change is something that happens to you. maybe you're at a company, you're doing great work, you're excited, or you're not excited. And you find out your role's been eliminated. It's not you, it's business, it's M& A, it's a change in direction, it's not personal.

And in that moment, and the many moments that follow, you have decisions to make. You have things that you need to think through. You have to ask yourself, who am I really? And what do I want? And is that available? It changes in easy. Change especially is not easy when it is not your choice, the change that's happening to you, not with you, not through you, not from you.

And today we're joined by someone who knows that firsthand. She is a former chief financial officer and the current founder of the CFO [00:01:00] solution. She's Meredith Nicholas. She's beginning a major change in her life. And I just can't wait for you to meet her, to hear her story, and to put yourself in her place to think through, Is this something that I can learn from, evolve from, or springboard my own change as a result of?

Meredith, thank you so much for being here. Welcome to the Podcast Report.

Meredith Nicklas: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.

Jen Phillips: Well, I am so excited to have you and I cannot wait to talk to you about everything that's been going on recently with you. But can we first start with a little bit about you? Who is Meredith Nicklaus? 

Welcome Meredith Nicklas, Founder, The CFO Solution

Meredith Nicklas: 

I think first and foremost, I'm a single mom with two teenage boys that are amazing. And so most of my decisions these days, right. Revolve around what's, best for them and how I can best be their mom. But I've always been a very career driven person and wanted to climb the [00:02:00] ladder and be successful.

So, finding the balance between those two has been a challenge. Has always been, one of those tightropes that I think a lot of working moms walk

Jen Phillips: I'm sure that being a single mom and now launching, your own fractional CFO, offering, it, it was a big decision

Meredith Nicklas: huge decision 

Jen Phillips: you probably didn't come to lightly. Yeah.

Meredith Nicklas: Yeah, because I don't you know If I had that second incoming it would make the decision difference, right? Because you have a fallback, but I don't so it definitely had to be very strategic and very calculated on Really where that risk was right how long I could go without?

Jen Phillips: points that steady paycheck that I had world and what is really at risk for my family? Yeah, yeah, but we've jumped way ahead. Let's let's talk a little bit about your background You've got the background in finance [00:03:00] all the way up through the CFO level what?

prompted you to start to think differently about where you wanted to be in the future. 

Meredith Nicklas: so I went to work for Marriott right out of college. They hired me as an assistant controller because my undergrad is in accounting and computer information systems. So joined that company, which frankly, I enjoyed all 15 years that I spent with them. They're an amazing company to work for. 

 In my scope of responsibility and my job title, I worked always out in the hotels. I actually didn't work at headquarters for Marriott. You started as an assistant controller, then a senior assistant controller, and then director of finance at a small hotel.

And then the way you got promoted was to go to a bigger and bigger hotel. So my last property was, this resort out in Tucson, Arizona, the JW Marriott star pass. Which, has 450 rooms. Two golf courses, a spa a membership club, that type of, just all the amenities, right?

 So that was really my last last position with [00:04:00] Marriott. frankly, thought I would retire from Marriott. Loved everything I was doing, but I got approached. With one of those opportunities that you just can't walk away from 

a private equity firm had bought iconic wellness resort located in Tucson called Miraval, and they were looking for a CFO and their whole vision was to take this iconic wellness resort that had been in Tucson for 20 years. Buy resource all around the world, convert them to create this global brand, which sounds amazing. To be brought in on the ground floor, I'm part of that team that builds it. I just thought, how can I, how can I not do this?

Jen Phillips: Right.

When the 10 Year Plan Becomes a 6 Month Plan

Meredith Nicklas: like an amazing opportunity. PE firm said it would be five to 10 years is the, was the plan and the exit strategy.

So I signed on. We started the process of acquiring two other resorts. and then I quickly found out that we were going to be sold to Hyatt. So within six months of this fabulous [00:05:00] new journey I found out that, that five to 10 year plan was a six month plan. So within the the frame of basically 45 days, I handled three transactions, the purchase of two resorts and then the sale of our brand to Hyatt. And I was really the lead. Financial person on the, operation side, handling all the due diligence, all the integration, like all of it. So I found myself working. more than I should have 20 hours a day, seven days a week, not sleeping. And it really took a toll on my health. 

And then what got better than that is of course, as acquisitions go, Hyatt decided six months after that, the brand team that came with the Mirabal brand, we were redundant. And so they eliminated our positions. So I was about one of five people that were given notice. But I, I need to say that that's how these things go, right? And Hyatt

Jen Phillips: Right.

Meredith Nicklas: very professionally and the way you expect them to handle it. So there's, there's no ill will. I'm bummed, [00:06:00] right?

That, that adventure that I thought I was signing up for didn't happen the way it did, but I learned a ton in those six months. Both professionally and personally, I think, right. Cause I also learned that, No company is going to set limits for you. You need to set your own limits about how much you can put in before it really affects your health. When Hyatt gave me my notice, I was. Like you said, having to make some decisions about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. So I found a position with Brightview Landscapes out on the east coast. So I moved my family from Tucson to Northern Virginia. Never lived east of the Mississippi before that.

 Ironically, since Mariel's headquarters are in D. C., The whole time I worked for Marriott, I had no desire to work at headquarters because I didn't want to live in the D. C. area. yet here I am living in the D. C. area, not working for Marriott. But started with Brightview as a regional vice president of finance for the first three years, it was fabulous. And then we went through some [00:07:00] reorganization, which a lot of organizations do, particularly new companies, right? 

Brightview had really just to be in 2014 with the merger of two other large landscaping companies. Went public in So a lot of change, a lot of let's figure it out. Let's adjust as we need to. So the reorganization changed my job considerably and what I was responsible for. That was really right when COVID started.

 

Not Only Was My Job Changing; Life As We Knew It Was, Too

Meredith Nicklas: not only was my job changing, but life as we knew it was changing as well. I spent three years working in a job where I didn't feel necessarily that all of my talents and skills were being utilized. And so while yes, I was getting the paycheck I wasn't fulfilled in what I was doing. I started doing some consulting on the side writing some models for my first client for some of her projects. Incidentally it was through a contact that I had made through Marival. So coming full circle back to hospitality. And then last fall, Some things with [00:08:00] reorganization at Brightview led me to believe that maybe it was time so I made the decision to leave in December and I started looking at new opportunities.

I interviewed for a couple of CFO jobs, one in particular I was pretty far down the road with. They admitted that it was going to be more than 40 hours a week they wanted me back in the office five days. 

And I just thought where my kids are and having been able to be home with them for the last four years, That that was working well. And I just couldn't see that being the right fit for my family anymore. into that full time corporate grind every day I had always talked about making my consulting business a full time gig. And the whole idea on the side business while I was in corporate was to build this runway, I had enough put away that could sustain me that I could leave my corporate job and launch this business. 

the way that I left my corporate job really gave me that runway. So I said, well, what am I waiting for? So, I took [00:09:00] the leap in February is when I made the decision. I called the recruiter that was managing that at CFO job I was interviewing for. And I said, listen, I, I don't think this is the right fit for me. And I went all in on building this business. So here I am

So Here You Are...On The Runway

Jen Phillips: So here you are. you, held a job that you realized this isn't actually utilizing in a way that feels really fulfilling to me, my full skill set and this is a recurring theme for a lot of the conversations I've been having recently, where many really high performing people are in jobs.

that are asking them to do less than their talent has, queued up for them. So under utilizing their innate, superpowers and you, you also touched on it, but, but didn't really vocalize it, but I'm going to vocalize it. if you don't want to talk about it, we can leave it right there.

I [00:10:00] think there was also a bit of feeling because you're not utilizing your superpowers. Undervalued. I'm having this conversation as a recurring theme so I think it's easy for me to hear around the corner on that one. When you feel undervalued, you can't overcome that by just continuing to go in every day. It will always be there eroding your soul.

Meredith Nicklas: Absolutely. And that's the way I felt. I think that's why at this point I was like, listen, I, I shouldn't do this any longer. It's not good for me

Jen Phillips: And if it's not good for you, it's not good for, right, your health. But then as the center of your family. It's also not good for your family. The bigger leap the scarier leap Which is which is probably half of us at least are going through some version of this at some degree of Dissatisfaction So for those of us that are going through it [00:11:00] You it feels more scary to stay in than to take the leap.

Meredith Nicklas: Yeah. You definitely get to that point, where you just, you can't see the path forward and in the place you're at.

Jen Phillips: Right.

Meredith Nicklas: you've got to do something different.

Jen Phillips: Yeah. You were trying on through the process of interviewing, trying on these other organizations to say, is it just the organization or is it more than that? I think that's a really important step.

I went through that step myself and I know a lot of people that I'm talking to also went through that. Kind of trying on other organizations for size through the interview process or through exploration conversations. What did that feel like 

Assessing "What's Next" Opportunties for Fit

Meredith Nicklas: So you always wonder, is it greener on the other side? just this work environment that doesn't fit for me? So when you're interviewing with other companies, you try to ask those questions. Okay. And it's interesting to think about the questions I asked when I, like, when I got the Brightview job, the kind of questions I was asking them during the [00:12:00] interview to find out their culture and their work style and then the questions I was asking the companies I was interviewing after I left Brightview. Because you take all of your experiences and you're like, I learned something at that organization. So now I'm going to ask a different kind of question in my interviews and private equity is a great example, right?

After working for that private equity firm that had owned Marival, I learned a lot, like I said, in those six months, that was my first experience with a private equity firm. And as I interviewed with other companies were owned by private I started asking more pointed questions based on my experience with that one.

And what you learn is that not all firms are created equal. You need to vet that out about what kind of private equity firm they are what they expect of their leaders, particularly finance leaders. Because I think find often in private equity finance people. dare I say, are the most abused. It just, as you go through transactions, right? That's where the volume of the work [00:13:00] to. diligence is 90 finance related, and so you just end up working insane amount of hours. So it has changed how I evaluate companies, the things I'm looking for. And I guess frankly, the different point in my life, right?

And the of life I want to lead changes the questions you ask the company too. I could honestly say just the corporate culture in general has changed. There is more conversation and discussion about this work life balance. And what does that mean? As where 15, years ago, asking about whether you could work hybrid or, if you could leave at five o'clock to go to your child's soccer game, if that was taboo, right?

I mean, when I first started working it was understood that you put in a 10 hour day. Whereas now it's a lot more flexible, right?

And it's more about getting the work done versus the hours you're putting in.

Jen Phillips: . Well, I think it varies. 

I do believe that varies pretty [00:14:00] wildly, but you can, and you should, Ask the questions you learn so much about the culture just in asking the question and the right time to ask the question is in the interview process or in the exploration process because you are doing exactly what the company is doing, which is assessing for fit

you knew what gave you energy in the finance, jobs to be done. But you also learned what took your energy, what was depleting you. And you made some of that, your boundaries in your assessing what I'm going to do going forward.

You built that runway for yourself through starting a gradual entry into consulting which I think is very, very smart. Would you recommend that as an approach for people that are thinking about this at the very, very beginning?

Get You A Runway

 

Meredith Nicklas: listen, nothing, nothing is built overnight. so if you plan and build that runway in, there's less pressure for it for you to feel like it has to [00:15:00] happen overnight you still need to be pushed and motivated to go and drive and build the but at least you know that the world's not going to end next week. 

Jen Phillips: So you have, the client that you're working with as you're getting ready to make your exit. 

Meredith Nicklas: And, and been operating under that, business entity but really deciding to do something with it and grow it ultimately didn't, happen until I decided that I wanted to follow my passion. And like you mentioned before is what gives me energy in my job versus what doesn't. When I really thought about what I enjoyed about what I do, it is the fact that I have worked in the business with operators. That I sat with branch managers or hotel general managers and help them understand how the numbers can help drive business decisions and affect the growth and the health of the business. 

That's what gives me energy, when that department head at the hotel has that aha [00:16:00] moment Oh, that's why. Why we use this metric that gets me excited. Know, the, having to interpret the corporate strategy down to the operators is less fun. So that didn't give me as much energy. So when I think about that, that drove me more towards this consulting business, because now I get to do that with business owners multiple business owners, right. And

Jen Phillips: right.

Meredith Nicklas: of industries and business, That's what made me excited about launching this business.

 

Jen Phillips: whether or not you're working for yourself or for multiple customers under your own wrapper, or you're working within the doors of a company. When you can really assess what are the jobs that people in my line of work do and how much of them are part of my role and go this is a mismatch.

This is really tilted in a way that I'm never going to feel energized it takes so much pressure off to go, wow. It's not that I [00:17:00] don't have what it takes to do this role It's that the role doesn't have enough of what gives me energy to interest me

Meredith Nicklas: Yeah, exactly.

Jen Phillips: So you've built a role now that has Enough of what gives you energy not only the interest you but to use your superpowers

Meredith Nicklas: Yes. And that feels amazing.

Jen Phillips: And that feels amazing, but I want to talk to you about some of the other things that come with being a solopreneur, like selling, like selling, because that really wasn't part of what you had really, it wasn't part of what you had to do. You had to sell in ideas, but this is actually selling services, which I think is maybe different on the face of it, but you're learning.

It's actually quite similar. Let's talk a little bit about what is it like shifting into solopreneurism and some of the ancillary things you have to do how do [00:18:00] you, how do you adjust? How do you get the support you need where you might discover, Oh, I have gaps in these areas.

Meredith Nicklas: that's a great, great path to go down. Because I think probably most people that start out on their entrepreneur or their solopreneurship, probably the bookkeeping and the finance side of it is what's scary. And that's like,

Jen Phillips: Right.

Meredith Nicklas: but yeah, absolutely. the selling myself, the marketing myself, even how to package myself.

That was, well, I've, I've worked with sales leaders my entire career, so I understand. The process in the backend and I've supported them with numbers and statistics and data. I'm not the one sitting down with a customer and saying, Hey, sign on the dotted line because we're

Jen Phillips: Right.

Meredith Nicklas: And I've had to learn how to do that.

And it's absolutely working a muscle that I've honestly never worked. So I've reached out to certainly some of those sales leaders I've worked with in the past just for their advice.

Investing in Accelerators

Meredith Nicklas: But more importantly, I joined a coaching program that is specifically designed for women [00:19:00] leaving their executive roles to move into a consulting business.

And where that has really helped me is to think about it differently, how I package my services, how I talk to people, and how I sell myself. But even as I launched into those kind of warm outreach and this cold outreach and the networking that I'm doing

One: I found that a lot of people don't know what a fractional CFO is, so I'm doing probably more educating than selling and what that got me thinking about is that 

if I just provide value in my conversations with people, that that's going to give them the connection to see they could really use someone like me in their business. Just showing my expertise and my knowledge. sell me versus doing a hard sell on everyone I meet.

Jen Phillips: I think it's two bits because, as you said, not everyone understands what a fractional CFO actually does, and so education, and then the second bit is [00:20:00] that, yeah, bring value because it is your natural superpower. And it's a big gap for those of us that it's not what we do day in and day out. How have you worked on making it easy to understand what it is that you're that a fractional CFO does.

And what does a fractional CFO do? Okay.

Be Clear: Where Do You (Services, Products, Expertise) Fit In

Meredith Nicklas: I think makes it a little easier for, for a lot of people to understand where I fit in. Because a lot of people ask me if I do bookkeeping, I don't do bookkeeping and I'm not a CPA, so I don't do your taxes, 

So what do I do? So if you think of your business's finance like a house

, the bookkeeper is like your housekeeper. Their job is to keep everything clean and tidy. 

CPA's role is like the inspector. Their job is to make sure everything's up to code. 

Then your CFO comes in and they're like the architect. They make sure that the foundation and the frame are built to suit the business's needs. 

So that's really where I fit in. I, I [00:21:00] would recommend that. Yes, you need a bookkeeper and a CPA first and foremost, but then once you get to the level in business where you need to be more strategic about your finances, that's when you want to bring in a CFO like me. And the fractional piece is right when you're at that level where you're ready to just take that hat off, you probably can't afford a full time CFO.

So the fractional piece is you get to share me with my other clients. now, well, so some people that doesn't sound great. You don't want to share a resource. It makes me way more affordable than a full time CFO. you get the benefits of my experience and my expertise and that lens brought into your business, but at a fraction of the cost. 

So you can bring me into your business, whether it's one day a week, one day a month, that's, that's the conversation we'll have, right?

Based on your needs, how much do I think I need to be inserted in your business? then we'll obviously work out the package based on that.

Jen Phillips: Right. I love that analogy. Because everyone, [00:22:00] everyone can understand it. That's the kind of frame that you need to give to people is make it impossible to be misunderstood in the value that you can deliver and the moment that it makes sense to bring you with your skillset in 

So you said you joined a coaching program that's built for people in that moment that you're in 

I mean, that's a real helpable move and i'm 100 for being helpable But it comes with investment was that easy for you to prioritize that investment or did you have to wrestle with some of that?

Meredith Nicklas: I definitely had to wrestle with it. I evaluated, honestly, two different programs. I was talking to two different coaches and both of them are group coaching programs. both of them came with a significant investment and that's scary when, when you've just left your corporate job and you don't have a steady paycheck and you haven't built the business to a level that sustains you yet. do I really put out that much expense right now But it's like marketing, right? If you put [00:23:00] your money in the right place, it will pay off. So that's how I looked at investing in the program And frankly, both programs I looked at came with some level of guarantee, right?

 Program said, if you follow the plan we guarantee that you'll be able to make your investment back within whatever timeframe, so that gives you that a little bit of security and making that outlay but it was still scary, right?

Cause I mean, to anyone, it would be a significant amount of money,

Jen Phillips: Right. So,

Meredith Nicklas: it.

Jen Phillips: This is a moment where you're saying, I'm not buying myself a building to hang my shingle out, I'm not buying myself equipment, but I am buying myself this construct to help. Accelerate my success and my ability to begin and begin with some strength for those places where he had gaps.

Meredith Nicklas: The program is very all encompassing, So one of the first sessions was how to set up your EIN and like to build those basics. Those are things I already knew. [00:24:00] but it was moving to how do you define who your customer is and what your services are and how you package that and how you sell it. Those were absolutely all gaps that I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't know how to talk about it. To. put it in a way that people understand.

Jen Phillips: Right, and that's the most important thing. People either understand or they don't. And once they don't, because we're all trying to absorb all this information that gets thrown at us every day. It just becomes something that's like, well, I don't, I don't get that.

And people have a tendency to mentally move on. I think it's great that you've gotten more comfortable through the program in framing your, why 

you talked to me about an aha moment that you had in talking about yourself which was you are who you say you are. And I thought that was an exciting way to think about recasting your role for your future. 

You Are Who You Say You Are

Meredith Nicklas: Yeah, one of the many great things [00:25:00] about this program is every Wednesday we have a mindset coaching call. literally about how are you feeling and how are you approaching this whole process? She said on a call, it wasn't to me, but to somebody having this, the imposter syndrome. can I really do this? Am I really a solopreneur because I've spent my whole career at the corporation. she made that quote, you are who you say you are. And that just clicked with me. I needed to stop talking about if this works or if I'm successful as a fractional CFO, this is, this is who I am now. I'm not a vice president of finance or chief financial officer at some business or corporation. I am my own business owner and I provide fractional CFO services for my clients. who I am now. and talking about yourself in that difference. Mindset everything, right? It gives you a different energy. A different focus on how you attack the day. lot more confidence too, [00:26:00] and how you approach everything. Even when you're pitching yourself to clients, instead of thinking I'm this new consultant and maybe I can help you, don't really have the background, like, no, I'm, this is who I am.

This is what I do and I can provide value. Absolutely.

Jen Phillips: because for people that are in the moment, Where they are either considering change or they've had a change foisted upon them. They're in the midst of change, whether they chose it or not. It is important to remember every bit of the skills that you have right now to deliver fractional CFO services comes from your many years of experience doing exactly that type of work.

 It can be really easy to feel yeah, like I'm just new in the world. I'm just figuring all this out. And it's not actually true. You're figuring some net new things out. New [00:27:00] muscles, like you said, that you're trying to build where you have some gaps and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

None of us know everything. And the fact that we would expect ourselves to know everything is not reality based thinking,  so you have these gaps that you're trying to fill, but even in your earlier career, every bit of work that you do starts adding to your skill set.

that are available to you to use those skills in new ways or in the same ways, but with a new wrapper around it, either a new company or someone else's company, so I think that's really, important is just to say, say the thing that's true and trust in all of the skills that you've built to this moment.

Meredith Nicklas: I completely agree. It makes a big difference.

Trust in All The Skills That Got You Here

Jen Phillips: So your, expertise and your understanding of what gives you energy and what takes your energy has brought you to this moment where you say, I am a fractional CFO, and this is what I do to deliver value. And you've got [00:28:00] some of that good framing from being helpable. by investing in coaching and Reaching back into and this is really good reaching back into your network for the people that you've worked with in the past that you Know have those skills that you've seen them working and you know, these guys are good at this and let me find out what they say I think that's also really good is lean into your network

Meredith Nicklas: Mm hmm.

Jen Phillips: How did you think through reaching back to those people when you had those moments where you recognize a gap Yeah

Meredith Nicklas: couple of things were part of the process was for us to create this warm outreach list, right? And just reach out to people in your contacts to tell them what you're doing, it wasn't it certainly wasn't that my contact list were ideal clients for me. Because most of my network is in corporate still, right?

So their need for a fractional CFO is pretty limited, but you never know what conversation they're going to be in with somebody else where they're like, I actually know somebody Who could help you with [00:29:00] that, so that was part of it is that just got me reaching back to these people. And it was interesting that in talking to them about what I was doing, particularly to people that have a sales background, while they were like, yeah, I'm excited about what you're doing. 

What are you doing to sell yourself? What are you doing to market yourself? And they just start giving you all these ideas and pointers and you're like, this is why I called you. 

Breaking News: People Want to Help You

Jen Phillips: It's so powerful. I have not found a person who doesn't want to help. People want to help each other. I don't know what it is, but I didn't feel quite that level of people want to help until I started. Asking for help and once you ask for help, it's amazing. The world just rises up to help you That's what i'm finding. Are you finding the same?

Meredith Nicklas: I'm finding the same thing too. And it's so interesting because we're so reluctant to ask for help, I don't know if we feel like it shows a weakness or I don't know why we have that roadblock, [00:30:00] but you're right, once, once you start asking, people are just very free flowing with it. 

And what's interesting, I've always been open to helping people if they came to me and asking for advice. I love doing that and help develop others and grow their leadership so I don't know why I felt like nobody would want to do it for me. But yeah, you're right.

All you have to do is ask and there's all kinds of people out there that will jump on board.

 

Jen Phillips: It's been one of the more striking things as I go along and meet a ton of new people And they say how can I help i'm getting good. I i'm getting a little bit of a standard answer here on how people can help I also don't understand the reluctance to ask for help.

I really don't. it's one of those really great benefits for having taken a step back and thinking through what is important to me. And apparently it's also working for you to say, Hey, I don't know what limited me before for asking for help, but never again, will I be limited by that?

 

Meredith Nicklas: just in building my network too, particularly in what I do, I [00:31:00] can't be everything to my clients. There are areas for specialty like taxes, right? That I, I am not experiencing. So what I've found in building my network, it's not just about trying to find potential clients, but trying to find potential partners. That I can utilize their expertise for my clients, whether it's bringing them in or just me being able to ask their advice. I mean, I was on the phone yesterday with a banker, a commercial banker, and she's going to be instrumental in helping my clients because I can go to her and say, well, if they need to get a loan, what is it that the bankers are looking at right now?

What's important? So then I can coach them. I guess my point is asking for help in every way, right? Not just those people that you've known forever and you know, like you and are willing to help that even strangers that you just met,

Jen Phillips: Yes.

Meredith Nicklas: event, they're happy to pitch in and help too.

Community Happens When You Open Your Mind and Your Mouth

Jen Phillips: That's what I'm finding as well. The idea of community is You think that the community has to be a defined [00:32:00] place where you go that somebody has said? This is the community for but the truth is Community is as soon as you open up your mind and your mouth to say here's what I'm looking for Is there anyone you know who?

I have found that the support is there and it becomes like this network that just immediately lifts you up that it's not like you've built the new neural pathways for that to happen. You've just opened the valve to something that was already there.

Meredith Nicklas: We met, we met in that way.

You're right. We absolutely did. Yeah.

 

Being Helpable is a Superpower

Jen Phillips: the lesson here is being helpable is a superpower and help isn't only the immediate obvious thing, can I have your business? Help is also, Hey, I'm trying to learn this thing. Do you know somebody that's really good at this? Or do you have three people you would recommend that I reach out to?

Or I have a person that I know needs this. It's not really a service I deliver, but I'm looking for people that can help this [00:33:00] person. Cause I care, Whether or not they're a customer or just someone I know, I want to help them be successful. So to help accelerate you, you have joined coaching and really put your network to work for you and been more open about what your network is.

What right now sitting here making traction happen, what's the biggest lesson learned or the biggest bit of advice that you have for people listening here that are in that moment where they know change is needed, but they don't know exactly what to 

do. What would you recommend they do to get ready to make a big change?

Meredith Nicklas: realize that. Looking back on your track record will dictate your leap into this, this new space. I finally came to the realization like, look, I've always been successful [00:34:00] at every job I went into because I work hard and I have a drive. There's no reason to believe that those won't translate into this new job. why question whether I can make it or not? Because I've always been successful in my career. I will continue to be, even if it's a different career.

 

Jen Phillips: Do you think that advice differs for people who may be earlier in their career?

Meredith Nicklas: Well, yeah, because maybe they don't, they don't have as many wins. Behind them to, to count on. But I think take whatever wins you do have. there's huge value in spending time in businesses that have been around for a while and have established processes and can show they can successfully grow a business. You learn so much from that. I mean, everything I know is from the corporations I worked with before, right? And how they, the things they did right. And frankly, the things they did wrong. I learned those things too, is here's how not to go about something, 

Jen Phillips: for folks with a fair bit of experience, yes, absolutely. [00:35:00] It is what skills and wins have I stacked and letting your past results bolster your belief in your ability to generate those future results for yourself. Totally agree there for folks younger in their career.

Meredith Nicklas: Look at what you do have as a win, and find ways to bring that into, and stand on those wins in whatever the next leap is. But make it a reality based step, And encourage them to look at what those wins are and see if there's, there's somewhere else that getting a win in makes you more well rounded, And broadens your experience. So choose that next step to build something, right? And know that you can achieve it because you, you've won in the past,

It is really evaluating. Is there something I'm excited by that gives me energy, but I don't necessarily have the expertise I love the idea of if you're currently working for a company and there is a way that you can [00:36:00] use the constructs of that current company to get paid, to build, A skill where you have a passion or you think you may have a passion do that Do that or find your next role your next role might not be for yourself alone Maybe you're taking on a stretch role or a new role in a different company but know that this is a gap that I want to explore and be very very thoughtful about choosing a role that allows you to explore that a thousand percent agree

Yeah.

Jen Phillips: Love that how You Easy is it to be helpable?

The Power Of IDK 

Meredith Nicklas: Well, I think that that depends on you, right? And just accepting that you don't know everything. And I honestly, I think that's something I learned very early on in my career is that I don't know all the answers, but I know where to get them. And that means you're helpful, right? You're willing to admit where you have gaps and you are willing to go find the resources to help fill those gaps.

Jen Phillips: Think every high performer i've ever met has the [00:37:00] ability to say I don't know but let me find out Yeah don't don't underestimate yeah,

Meredith Nicklas: that

Jen Phillips: and it's not

Meredith Nicklas: right?

It was along that line. I've never been a huge fan of the slogan fake it till you make it I think that often hinders people from admitting when there's something they don't know and asking for help when they try to just lean their way through it. Not to say that I haven't ever used that technique. But I, but I, yeah, I would rather lean on raising my hand and saying, I don't know, but I'm willing to go. Okay.

Jen Phillips: I, I, I look at fake it till you make it as you say, I'm not sure, but I'm confident enough in myself and my ability to connect with the right people to get either the answers or the person that can do it. That can solve this problem or this opportunity or address this risk I think that is a again.

These are superpowers That are absolutely needed whether you're working within the doors of a company Or [00:38:00] you're working for yourself The difference with being a solopreneur is you're wearing every single hat Or you're going to dole out that hat and if you're going to delegate there's going to be a cost associated with it And so you get much more thoughtful, as a solopreneur on what you delegate.

Meredith Nicklas: Well, particularly because of the cost of it, when you're first starting out, you want to make sure that you're spending what funds you do have very thoughtfully and that there's a return on it, that you're getting getting value out of what you're paying for.

Jen Phillips: Yeah, that's true of money and it's true of time. We have taken a ton of your time. Speaking of time and I know you had a big milestone

Breaking News: Launching The CFO Solution

Meredith Nicklas: I did 

Jen Phillips: So what happened? 

Meredith Nicklas: I went LinkedIn official I launched my business publicly on LinkedIn. So put out an announcement that I am now officially a business owner and the CFO solution has launched. 

Jen Phillips: Well, first of all congratulations [00:39:00] I've been dying to talk to you about this because I know that you did this and I was just so excited for you and I know that it was something that It's scary. 

Scary, But Not in the way Most People Think

Meredith Nicklas: It was scary, but I think not in the way most people think. They think, well, why are you just putting yourself out there? And I certainly have in my cohort they're scared because of people in their network are going to be like, well, you're not really expected to do that. That didn't really scare me.

Jen Phillips: Right.

Meredith Nicklas: because I'm a numbers person, I feel like writing is not one of my strengths. So what was scary to me is putting this announcement out and Being well done, well phrased and the right story because it's the first glimpse I'm giving everybody about what my business is and who I am, that's probably more than what made me nervous than anything.

I want it to be well done. 

Jen Phillips: So how did you navigate that feeling of this this is a gap and now it has to be, this has to be well done. So I get a smooth entry. 

Meredith Nicklas: Reaching out to my network, talking to [00:40:00] my friends, the people in my cohort and just getting advice and being open about my anxiety, right. And saying, listen, I'm, worried about doing this because I don't know that I can do it well, and I don't want to trip my, my launch. Right. So I got lots of advice.

Of course, everybody recommends to use. AI but I'm also like, but yeah, but I have to put good content in to get better content out and that worried me as well. I had an epiphany, in one of my conversations about outsourcing what you're not good at. And I was like, well, maybe I just need to hire somebody to do it. So one, it takes the anxiety off of me and it's done because all I kept doing was just pushing it out and pushing it out. Cause I was so anxious about it. But ultimately I didn't farm it out. I sat down, I pumped a bunch of data into AI and it gave me an announcement I tweaked to make it sound more like me. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. It was, Well received and it came across the way I wanted it to,

Jen Phillips: Well, I couldn't be more [00:41:00] excited for you because I know it is scary to put yourself out there even though you're running already, you've got, you've got clientele already, but this is a big step I was watching for it and was so excited for you because I saw the immediate support and excitement. What did that feel like?

Meredith Nicklas: Incredible, at the end of the day, I was sitting on the couch with my 15 year old son who's just like, everybody in that age group, very into social media and how many likes they got.

And I was like, look, look, look how many people have And he just laughed at me. He said, congratulations.

Jen Phillips: It's such a great thing to be doing this. You know, you've made decisions to better have connections with your family to be more available to your family and to be including them in this. This is a big leap. Anybody can understand it. You don't have to explain it. And then to see the support coming.

 which I have also experienced and it is absolutely exhilarating when my kids are excited for me. It's really [00:42:00] thrilling. Whereas in my previous role, which it was marketing operations for a software company, nobody really understood in my family what that meant. Sort of like, what is a CFO?

Whereas with this, it's pretty easy to understand. You're taking your show and you're bringing it on the road to help other people with your skills. And that's exciting.

Meredith Nicklas: It's funny that you bring that up 

but it was literally at the end of last school year that my 12 year old, they were having some conversation in the class. And he said, my mom owns her own business. Like for him to understand that, that's, it's pretty cool.

Jen Phillips: It's really cool and I'm so excited for you and thrilled for your continued success I'm inspired by you. So I encourage people to act. As the CEO of you. com the first step financially what is it? What is it that people need to do to go off on their own or to [00:43:00] take some time to recover to start to give themselves some buffer to look for a job

what do they do to first understand their finances?

Meredith Nicklas: Truly understand what your expenses are in a given month and categorize them. I'm a true Excel nerd, so I have a spreadsheet, and I break down my expenses on here are the mandatory things like my mortgage, that's coming whether I want it to or not. But when you look at things like food, there's a certain amount that's that you have to spend on groceries, but dining out, that's more of an option. So understand the different categories of your monthly expenses and what you can flex and what you can't if you get in a pinch. Then take that out and say, I need at least six months of runway cover those expenses. That's how long I can take off. Or that's how much I need to save up, right?

 Truly understanding it and not just what I think I'm spending in a month, but actually, download your bank transactions, download your credit card transactions, and really [00:44:00] analyze where you're spending your money. So you know what that run rate is and how much runway you need 

Jen Phillips: when I did that many moons ago, I did find a fair bit of zombie spending, unnecessary recurring charges that you can also start to free up 

you are on an incredible journey. You have been through the exhaustion and the exhilaration of having big jobs in corporate. You made a thoughtful decision to take the best of everything you learned from that and leave behind the things that depleted you to some extent and then found that, oh, and a lot more comes with that.

But you've activated your network and invested in growing your network to bolster your success. All of these, I feel, are very sound motions and it, it, it is a really a testament to your pragmatism and your ability to, Break things down to their DNA, which having worked with finance partners, my partners [00:45:00] in my former role are legal and finance, legal and finance, my very best friends.

So I recognize that that is what you want in a sound finance partner is someone that can break things down to their essence, their DNA, and decide what's important. And you have done that for yourself. I'm so thrilled to have met you and have heard your story. Is there anything that we haven't talked about that you think is really important for people who are in that moment of intense change or considering intense change a lesson you've learned or something that maybe you've seen others struggle with 

Meredith Nicklas: I would say find, Find the people find your people, that are going to cheer you on, that are going to support you. If there's those people in your life that are naysayers or doubters, not necessarily remove them from your life, but find a way to kind of meet them. Because they're just detracting from where you want to go and what you need to achieve. full on 100 percent backing of people behind you. and frankly, that sometimes that just means having a [00:46:00] difficult conversation with a loved one, I frankly had that conversation with my mother at one point because she said, you can always go get a job.

You can always go get a job. And I was like, finally, mom, this is my job. This is what I do now. And once she got that, then she's been one of my biggest supporters.

Jen Phillips: That is key you've protected yourself in saying, these are the types of things that I don't want to do at work because they steal my energy. And there are people in our lives that may also have that effect. And it's either limiting the exposure, having those direct conversations.

Or removing it if it's not necessary, even if your family is your family, but if there are people in your life that are not excited for you, why are they in your life?

Meredith Nicklas: Absolutely.

Jen Phillips: Life is hard. Life is hard. If you have the choice of having more cheerleaders around you or detractors, choose the cheerleaders.

Meredith Nicklas: Every day. Every day.

Find Your Cheerleaders. Mute Your Detractors. 

Jen Phillips: [00:47:00] I love it. Meredith? I wish you and the CFO solution, nothing but success, I am excited to see your continued growth. I'm thrilled for your announcement and to see all of the support that you've gotten. And I'm lucky to know you. 

Meredith Nicklas: Thank you.

Jen Phillips: and I thank you.

Oh, thanks. And I so much for sharing what you're learning in the moment you're learning it. We're meeting people where they are, which is in that moment of uncertainty. You have lived through that and are still coming, through some of these uncharted waters. So sharing right now, rather than after it's all solved, is incredibly powerful.

And I appreciate you, for your candor and for being so open to sharing that. 

Meredith Nicklas: Happy to. I enjoyed it.

Here's To Your Progress

Jen Phillips: Wow. Wow. Uh, what a great conversation. It's editing Jen, and I could not appreciate Meredith anymore for sharing her journey with us. And I can't wait to cheer on the CFO solutions growth from my little corner of the internet.[00:48:00] 

What Meredith's path to solopreneurship proves is planning first. And if you can starting your what's next from where you are right now, it's a really powerful way to begin and helps to de risk any leap that you might be considering making.

Also knowing what gives and takes your energy, understanding your superpowers and moving toward a what's next that maximizes your energetic time helps to ensure that you are doing enough of the what gives you energy to make the role, the job, the company makes sense for you for your whole life. Also, we talked a ton about being helpable, embracing the power of, I don't know, and keeping your cheerleaders close.

And muting or muffling your detractors, just so much value in this conversation today, you can connect with Meredith and learn more about the CFO solution. All of the details you need are in this video. Episode's notes, [00:49:00] support the podcast report by subscribing and sharing it with the people that you know, who are considering their own healthy what's next career steps.

Your support helps this podcast grow and helps us get fabulous guests to share their stories, share their research and drop some wisdom. 

And I want to hear from you, what are your career development questions? Have you navigated an uncommon career transformation? Do you have lessons in healthy work that you need to share or you'd like to share?

Leave your feedback by clicking on the link in the episode notes. Together we can help each other and make the workplace a better place as we grow. Until next time, here's to your progress.