EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.
Insights
Discover the insights you need to make better decisions today, to shape the future with confidence.
See more
Highlights
Attractiveness surveys
Why Europe’s confidence persists despite investment at a nine-year low
15 May 2025Julie Teigland
Services
EY helps clients create long-term value for all stakeholders. Enabled by data and technology, our services and solutions provide trust through assurance and help clients transform, grow and operate.
- See All
- 1||About EY-Parthenon
- 2||About EY-Parthenon
Spotlight
Industries
Discover how EY insights and services are helping to reframe the future of your industry.
See more
Case studies
About us
At EY, our purpose is building a better working world. The insights and services we provide help to create long-term value for clients, people and society, and to build trust in the capital markets.
See more
Top news
Press release
09 Apr 2025Emile Abu-Shakra
Recent Searches
Trending
-
How a license to lead can transform human potential in an AI world
Learn more about the EY AI Sentiment Index Study and unlock key insights to lead in the AI era.
09 Apr 2025 AI -
How will your decisions today shape the future for generations to come?
Discover how shifts in demographics and tech reshape priorities, urging new models for growth through innovative organizational strategies. Read more.
16 Jan 2025 Innovation Realized -
Amid disruption, how can legal departments innovate with confidence?
To play a more strategic and impactful role, legal departments must evolve. Explore the 2025 EY Law Study and learn how.
09 Apr 2025 Law
How finance leaders in mission-driven organizations can create value
In this episode of the Better Finance: CFO Insights podcast, Wassia Kamon, CFO of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, talks about how finance leaders in mission-driven organizations can create value.
Related topics
In this episode of the Better Finance: CFO Insights podcast, host Myles Corson interviews Wassia Kamon, CFO of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE). Wassia discusses how finance leaders in mission-driven organizations can create value for entrepreneurs through open communication and strategic financial planning.
Wassia emphasizes that value creation for entrepreneurs should be measured not just in financial terms but also in creating long-term sustainable growth. She also elaborates on the importance of finance leaders helping entrepreneurs carry out their vision while aligning on the balance sheet.
Additionally, Wassia reflects on how crucial communication and collaboration within the finance team is, advocating for a culture of transparency and continuous learning. She also emphasizes the value of developing her finance teams into business partners who can positively influence other areas of the organization.
Key takeaways:
- Recognize the unique challenges and rewards of working in a mission-driven organization.
- Discover how finance teams can leverage communication and collaboration to foster a culture of transparency and continuous learning.
- Explore the need for digital transformation to be aligned between finance functions and overall business objectives.
- Understand how finance leaders can leverage social networks to build their personal brands effectively.
For your convenience, full text transcript of this podcast is also available.
Wassia Kamon
Being a finance leader in that not-for-profit space is helping those social entrepreneurs, those companies, those mission-driven organizations; yes, they're long on vision, but how do we align the balance sheet to sustain that vision?Myles Corson
That was Wassia Kamon, CFO of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs. I’m Myles Corson from Ernst & Young, host of the EY Better Finance podcast. In this series, we explore the changing dynamics of the business world and what it means for finance leaders of today and tomorrow, by sharing insights from global leaders on key topics affecting the world of corporate finance. In this episode, we’ll be discussing Wassia’s unique approach to driving impact within a mission-driven organization.She'll be sharing insights on how finance leaders can empower entrepreneurs to achieve sustainable, long-term growth. We’ll also explore the important role of communication and collaboration within finance teams, with a particular focus on the importance of transparency and continuous learning in developing them into more effective business partners. So, without further ado, let’s get started. So Wassia, great to have you. Thank you for joining us on the EY Better Finance podcast.
Kamon
Thanks for having me.Corson
Well, let's kick off. Can you share a little bit about yourself and how you ended up where you are today?Kamon
Sure. I initially started in accounting. I wanted to be in actuarial science, but then after the first statistic class, I was like, what was I thinking? And then, I just fell in love with accounting, did tax during college, then PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit, didn't like that side, and straightly came to now corporate finance and accounting.I started at a very growing company. It was a technology and manufacturing company, where I was nine years. And I grew from staff accountant all the way to controller. I started the financial planning and analysis (FP&A) functions there. And from there, I was like, wow, I really like the FP&A side of things. And I went from there to a more FP&A-focused role; I was 100% FP&A for a couple years and that allowed me then to qualify for vice president (VP) of finance and accounting because then I understood both the accounting side being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), but also the FP&A side, which eventually led me to where I am now as chief financial officer (CFO) of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE).
Corson
Great. Well, that's a fantastic resume, and I'm sure that will resonate with all of our listeners. So, thank you for sharing that. Can you talk a little bit about your current role? And obviously, you know you are a CFO of the finance organization within Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, but then you do work with a number of businesses. So, can you just talk about your current responsibilities?Kamon
Sure. So, as CFO of ACE, I oversee all the financial aspects of the organization, all your accounting — all your reporting, compliance, all that good stuff, which is a lot when you're in a not-for-profit organization. What ACE does overall is providing small business loans at affordable rates in underserved communities pretty much all over the state of Georgia.And so, in that role, we are able to partner with different organizations who really want to drive impact and really revitalize a lot of communities because small businesses are really the backbones of communities here all over America. And so, we are so happy to be able to partner with them in that sense.
Corson
So, with that background, we talk a lot on the podcast around the role of finance in creating value. Again, you very tangibly, with the companies you're investing in, see that opportunity to create value and also in what you do internally with your finance organization. So, can you talk about how you think about value creation in those two dimensions and what it means to you?Kamon
So, being in a mission-driven organization is quite different than being in a for-profit organization because you're not only trying to make sure everything's aligned financially for the long term, but you're also trying to align resources so that you are sustainable in reaching that mission and really delivering on the incredible vision and mission of the company.As a finance leader, you have different stakeholders who want different things, right? You typically have the same board reporting and things like that, but you're also reporting to the funders, the donors, the federal government, if they give you money, the government agencies as well and the fact that we are a lending institution, so we're providing loans.
I'm also involved very closely with the CEO and the director of lending on how do we optimize our portfolio, right? Because yes, we have a mission, but what are some other things that we can do to mitigate risk? And ACE has been great providing coaching to the business owners that come in to get loans and it's not just here's a loan, bye, bye. But yes, it also helps with impact, but also risk mitigation of the portfolio.
So, being a finance leader, yes, there is always finance and accounting and compliance, but how do we partner with other parts of the business that is especially lending for us, so that we are sustainable, so we have the resources we need to keep funding those loans and grow our impact.
Corson
Fantastic. So, your part of the business model is obviously you want the organizations you're investing in to be successful. So, how do you do that in practice? What support do you provide to them?Kamon
ACE, as a whole, we have a team of business advisors. So, we have in-house program people are assigned to different loans and they are involved, like from the time we signed the loans, it's like, yes, you're going to keep in touch with the people who borrowed — our borrowers. We also get, in the which is quite typical in the industry, access to their financial statements to see how they're doing.But there's a whole thing about how do you project your growth. For example, right now, there're inflationary pressures. There is changing the administration. What is it going to mean for a lot of the industries we serving, for example, people in retail, how would they be impacted? Does it mean that we have to change how we underwrite loans for them.
So, being able to understand and connect the dots is very important because it's not just how do you account for expenses and financial reporting, but thinking forward — when I see something in the news, what does it mean for us? And start those conversations as early as possible.
Because when you sign a loan, it's for three, four years. And if it defaults or if something goes wrong, ouch, right. So, making sure that we understand where should we grow, what kind of businesses should we go after in terms of lending, what kind of industry should we go after, how can we optimize our portfolio around industry that could be safer now versus others — all these are conversations that I'm involved with.
Corson
Great example of connecting the dots, the commercial understanding and what's happening in the market environment. That's really helpful. You mentioned this point about Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs being a mission-driven organization, but your background and your history were in the for-profit sectors as you mentioned. How has being in the not-for-profit sector changed your perception of the role of finance?Kamon
Oh gosh. In so many ways. Working in a for-profit versus a not-for-profit, there's a lot of differences. So first, your priorities are different. For-profit, you focus on maximizing shareholders' wealth. You do it by billing profitability. Focus on the bottom line. If the investors are happy, you know CEO gets a good package, everybody's happy. Not-for-profit, it's about maximizing impact.So now, the stakeholders' expectations are different. You answering to foundation that are founding you to be able to do the work that you do, you are answering to the government, which has a lot of extra requirements that I didn't expect. So, for example, when I was in the for-profit, when you had one financial audit, you were done — maybe an internal audit.
In not-for-profit, if you receive over US$750,000 from the federal government, you have to do a single audit. You have to have a statement of expenditure of financial award (SEFA). And when I joined, I was like, what is this? And I'm a CPA, but I passed it like over 12 years ago. What is restricted revenue, unrestricted revenue? So, FP&A is more complicated, right? Because you have different funds that you're dealing with. And a lot of things are complicated.
But one thing that really resonates with me is knowing the impact that the organization is making as a whole. I feel like I have a higher sense of purpose of achievement in what I do, even though I'm not directly in the trenches because accounting is still accounting — debits, credits; budget is still budget.
But to be able to see some of the entrepreneurs coming and saying, when I first came from my first one at ACE, I was barely making US$10 an hour and I needed a loan and they gave me a loan and now I have a wealth management team working for me and three, four restaurants later. So, you get to see the growth and the jobs created in parts of rural Georgia in different places. And it's really great.
Corson
That's wonderful and I can hear it in your voice with the impact it has on you personally and the sense of purpose aligned to that mission. I'm sure, again, in your team, there are people that are very motivated by achieving the mission outcomes. And one of the things we always talk about a lot is developing talent.So again, I'm sure you have a very motivated team, but can you talk about some of the things that you do to make sure your team is ready with the mindsets and the skill sets for what they need to be taking on currently, but also what you need to be preparing for in the future?
Kamon
For me, it's a lot of communication and making them understand what finance should be like. So, I attended a conference, I think it was last year in California for Opportunity Finance Network (OFN). And one of the speakers said, “I'm a social entrepreneur.” She started a foundation, her not-for-profit, and she said, “but I understand I'm often long on vision but short on balance sheet.”And that resonated with me as a finance person to understand that being a finance leader in that not-for-profit space is helping those social entrepreneurs, those companies, those mission-driven organizations; yes, they're long on vision, but how do we align the balance sheet to sustain that vision? And that's what I try to get my team to understand.
And it comes with a lot of communication about the work that we do, about what being a business partner means for the rest of the organization, how when we not doing this, it affects the other places this way. So, I started doing learning sessions, where I have lenders coming to our finance meeting and teach them a little bit more about the product because to me it's important to understand the business, right? Still, beyond the numbers.
I do have skip level one-on-ones with my direct reports' direct reports, and so, trying to have that communication and that open dialogue about how are we solving problems. When we see something in the news, what does it mean for us? So, the team can also start connecting the dots because, to me, executive leadership starts way before you have that executive title.
And the earlier you can start developing that view, that strategic mindset that okay, how is this going to affect that? Or how are we going to go from A to Z the best you will be in your career, right? And the more value you add in your organization too, because now you're not just doing one thing, you start thinking like an executive, even though you’re an accounts payable (AP), even though you’re just an FP&A analyst, like the earlier you start doing that, the better off you are and the quicker you are able to respond to requests better, right? Because you don't need a lot of back and forth because you understand the context behind a lot of the things that are being asked.
So, for me, it's a lot of communication, a lot of education, whether formally or informally, but definitely making sure the team is in tune with the business.
Corson
Fantastic. Well, and again, I love your example about business partnering and bringing other parts of the business into your finance meeting and building those connections. I think that's really powerful. Are there other ways that you think about creating that effective business partnership when you're working with your team?Kamon
Again, back to communication and understanding what matters most, right? Because we all have deadlines that we can’t miss, for example, debt covenant reporting, one example, or the budget, because you cannot say I'll delay the budget and the board meeting is you, it is coming soon.So, it's like I really need to do this before that. For me, it's understanding why we are doing some of those things and making sure the team has access to those rooms where those decisions are being made. So, that's very important to me. So, even if I have somebody reporting maybe two levels down, I will connect with them, for example. And I'm like, you can ask me your question.
And I will train them, and I will make them understand what is that process about, how should we be thinking about it, whether I'm meeting with vendor funders, making sure they understand why your student request comes to them and allowing them to come along because some things you have to be exposed to, to understand.
There's really no shortcut to that. You can't just take, yes, they have personal development. We support them in taking courses and attending conferences and things like that. But at the end of the day, it's really that exposure that will really accelerate the learning and you being a better business partner.
Corson
Great example and again I don't know your business, particularly in terms of the tenure of your people, but one of the things we talk a lot about as finance leaders is the issues around availability of talent in the market right now. So, are there any things in terms of hiring and onboarding that you think about to be successful that you could share?Kamon
I'm very slow to hire because I don't like firing. For me, hiring, I do spend a lot of time. I have technical questions listed that I want the team to ask around to make sure we bring the right talent in. And once they get in, to me, onboarding is so important because if they don't feel that welcome, we're here to help you; we want you to succeed early on, they would likely to leave and there are studies showing that. If you're not good on your onboarding, people will likely leave.So, before somebody starts, I already have the first two weeks of their calendar booked, like they know what they're going to do from when they start a day to the end with boss, for breaks, for lunch, everything. Who are they going to meet with? Because I want them to have a structure and be able to come up to speed faster. One thing I also started doing, about one or two years ago, was actually recording trainings. So, when somebody is training, we'll record the training and save it on the server.
So, it's not just a boring document of process and procedure, but it's in actual conversations and now with artificial intelligence (AI), you can even transform that transcript into an actual policy and procedures into a good standing operating procedure (SOP), so you have two things that is working for you, a video, but also something for reading because people learn different ways.
So, making sure they have the videos, they have the SOPs, they have the schedules, they know who they going to meet with. Again, and it's not just how you're going to do something in accounting or in FP&A, but it's how are you going to support the overall business.
Corson
That's great and going back to the point about being a mission-driven organization. I would imagine the importance of cultural fit; alignment is even more important. So, are there any particular aspects of your culture that you think are particularly important in your success?Kamon
I think it's we are like all hands-on deck — very transparent. We are all in this together throughout the company. ACE has great people. Seriously, this is one of the best teams I have worked with. Everybody is very transparent. We are here for work; there is no like um office politics where people go in the back.They're trying to fight for that promotion, and they will do whatever they need to do to get there. It's very refreshing because, again, working for a mission-driven organization, to me, you have a higher sense of purpose, which really helps in what we do every day.
Corson
Great to hear. So, let's also just talk a little bit about some of the technology and the digital transformation aspects, which are so important for all finance leaders. I would be interested in your views on digital transformation and what impact it's having on your organization.Kamon
So, I know when people think about digital transformation, they think about, oh, we have to implement a new piece of software, it's going to be a new system. But digital transformation really starts with redefining how finance will better support the business. Because the reality is often our finance and accounting teams are behind on the business. We're behind in technology. We cannot keep up with what the business is doing.Sometimes, we don't even know where, okay, so sales and some products will be having great ideas and nobody from finance knows and we're like, how are we going to record this? How are we going to make sure it happens? So, we typically behind on that. But to me, it start with redefining the core of the organization.
How are your people thinking about themselves, the work they do? How about the systems, the processes behind it? So, once you have your people understanding, okay, I'm going to improve this, it is going to help the business this way, it's easier to see then the roadblocks, the bottlenecks in your processes and then you can find a system that will align with solving the real solution.
Otherwise, it's almost like you are basically trying to treat the symptoms instead of doing that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and understanding the root cause of the problem.
Corson
That's such a great articulation and I think, again, that focus on what is the outcome you're trying to achieve and then what is the right tool or the right medicine to.Kamon
Yes.Corson
Do you have any examples of in what way you've been able to take a particular problem and apply maybe even a very cost-effective fix in your organization? Because, again, you had that understanding of this was the problem and therefore it doesn't necessarily need a big investment in a technology platform because actually it was a relatively simple solution.Kamon
There was one instance, it was at another not-for-profit before I joined ACE, and there was a particular process that was very cumbersome, how we were allocating money. And the whole process took a lot of time. But what we found out is the people spending the money did not necessarily understand the compliance behind it.So, sometimes, you have like, oh, finance is doing this, finance is against us or we can't do this or we can't do that. When in fact, it was just a matter of educating them on how things needed to be done. Once we're all aligned in understanding that we were working together to get this solved, then it was easier to say, “Okay, now that we know what's needed and we've been suffering, what solution will help us do it better?” Because when you don't have that alignment, that buy-in, initially, it doesn't matter what you're trying to implement, it's not going to work.
And I had that mistake earlier in my career when I implemented my first FP&A software. I was all in, oh, I'm going to prove myself. The rest of the team didn't want to help. I was like, I can do it myself and I got approval to hire a financial analyst. So, Wassia here, accounting manager is going to show off. She's going to implement this FP&A solution; it is going to be great. We did, nobody wanted to use it, and I was like, oh, they're against me.
What's wrong with these people? They don't understand. So, I'm trying to use logic, and this is how it's going to be. The solutions have already been implemented, but because I didn't socialize the change, I didn't get the alignment ahead of time. Now, I had a solution nobody wanted to use. What was I going to do? It's like, okay, we're not going to use it. Cute. We're still going to use this old system.
And it was much harder to get buy-in afterwards and get them to say, “Can you try one thing or here is how it's going to help. This could have been done earlier.” Now, I usually do pilot testing, like trying to run, okay, how this module may change, or one particular process being automated at the time, but I learned it the hard way, I learned it the hard way. I was heartbroken.
Corson
Well, all I could say is you're not alone, right? All of our data and the research shows, again, that that's where people do fall over consistently and you're not getting the engagement piece right, and transformations fall over so often because leaders don't get the human engagement aspects right. You can have the best technology in the world, but if your people are resistant to it, because they don't understand why it's going to benefit them, it’s-Kamon
Useless.Corson
Uh, Fantastic. Next, what I want to talk about, Wassia, is communication, right? It's such an important skill for finance leaders and a real differentiator and obviously you're wonderfully articulate, very high energy and so a great communicator, but specifically, you have a very strong brand on social media. You're very active, you're very out there, so I'd love you to share how that came about and why you felt it was important for your role?Kamon
I started being active in LinkedIn, I think it was in 2020 around 2022. Time flies. I can't believe we are in 2025, but it was around 2022, and I started posting on LinkedIn in 2022, but a year before that, because it took me a year before feeling comfortable posting online, anything online, not just LinkedIn, but writing articles for other publications as well because you don't want to have all your eggs in one basket.So, one year ago, it was 2021, we're coming right after the COVID-19 pandemic, everybody was rethinking their careers and I came across a personal branding course. And in that, I was like, okay, let me see what's going on. Because at the time I was like, I didn't know what I was doing wrong, right? I had all the letters behind my name. I have more letters behind my name that in my name myself, CMA, CPA, Master of Business Administration (MBA), all that. But I didn't see myself growing much in my career.
So, I was like, what is it that I'm missing? And so, I took that course because I was like, I need to think outside the box. I'm taking a personal branding course as a finance person and in it, she said, “I know you're great at your work every day, but if I Google you, what will I find? Because people will ‘Google you and LinkedIn you’ before they work with you, whether it's an interview like the one we are having, whether it's for a job, whether it's just working right.
If you go into a work meeting tomorrow, ask how many people on that call looked you up on LinkedIn at least once since working with you. You'll be surprised, and these are the digital first impressions in today's world and these are also the main differentiators when people go and apply for jobs or start to building their network because so many of it with AI; it's through relationships.
It's no longer you're going to drop your resume somewhere and you are going to see something. That's when I got my why I need to be involved because she said if you're going to be in the workforce for the next 30 years, you need to be online. Unless you're retiring in the next 10 years, you need to be online.
I'm like, I started counting the decades I had. I was like, okay, I guess that's me, let me start and so what helped me was from when I took that course, I was like, okay, how do I post on LinkedIn? So, I took a of couple courses, a couple of guides on LinkedIn. And I was like, okay, now I feel ready.
So, that was a year before I felt ready to hit post and you still feel awkward, believe it or not, even after 26,000 followers to hit post. But I go back to why I'm doing it because my current and future bosses, peers, business partners, who go and check it and be like that hmm, is somebody I want to work with. They know what they're doing.
So, that's what keeps me going and even with the responsibilities I have now is building a system that allows me to do it, and I just released a book called, Stop Overthinking LinkedIn, that I started working last year on when I became CFO and people were like, Wassia, how do you see your post? I'm like, okay, here's how you do it.
Here's a system. You have to figure out what you want to be known for. So, let's say I want to be known for leadership development, for communication, leading change. That's three things I can post once a week, and I'll have three posts in a week. And then I can post a fourth thing about life, like the other time I posted about how I still have my Christmas tree in early February. I'm holding on to Christmas.
But that could be something fun, right? Seventy-five percent about what you want to be known for; 25% about your personality. And so, what it does, it allows you to not start from scratch, which is what a lot of people don't realize. And for me, I already know what I want to be known for. So, I'll have four posts that will be scheduled on Tuesdays, and then on Fridays, I started my podcast, The Diary of the CFO.
So, I don't need to think about what I'm going to post. I just think the episode, I summarize it, that's my second post. And so, that's how I show up twice a week online and with the podcast, it also allows me to network because I'm able to do those two things at the same time because you still need to network even beyond the post, you have to network, you have to network and that is also part of building your brand.
So, that's how I've been able to still show up even as I grew in my career. And I think it also helped me because for this role, I didn't apply for it. A recruiter reached out to me through LinkedIn. And it was the same thing for my first VP role; they reached out to me through LinkedIn. So, LinkedIn is good, but I think people often overthink it and don't post. They often want to be perfect when it's better to just do it. So, those are some of the things that really helped me.
Corson
That's great. It's a wonderful articulation of why people should get involved and do something, and I love your point around the personal brand, but also the communication tool. And I think the leader, particularly for your teams, to see the authentic you, to your point, in the element of personality being communicated, I think is really powerful and I know it's those kind of posts, the photos and connecting with the team members that get the most interaction on the engagement.Kamon
Yes, you do because through our daily work, it can be boring. You need something else. Finance is a serious field. Finance is a very serious field, and for me, it's always how do you find fun in what you do every day? Otherwise, you'll be drained. So, what are some of the things that help your energy like keep you excited about the work you do, and communication is big for me because English is my second language.So, I did Toastmasters. I did a lot of things to be able to be a better communicator, which I didn't realize would help me as I grew in my leadership roles because I was just doing it because English is my second language. I need to be a better speaker. I need to improve how I talk, how I can be more concise because rambling is too complicated when it's not your first language.
You need to be to the point. But I realized it also helped me in finance now because when you think about AI, a lot of those things are being automated. But how you do storytelling, how do you convey those ideas is so important and really building those communication skills really helped me.
Corson
Just in wrapping up, if you had any recommendations for other finance leaders that are listening on using social media for internal or external communications, what would be one or two key takeaways or suggestions?Kamon
You need to show up. You need to show up beyond your day-to-day role. Even if it's posting once a month on LinkedIn or writing an article, the rest of the world has to know that you're great at what you do, and they need to know it before you need them to know about it. CFOs today have the shortest tenure ever really because it used to be, a CFO could be in a role for six years.Now it's like three years. So, if all you do is your day-to-day, when you may have to leave because you have to, or sometimes, because you want to, depending on what's going on, you want to have a network and a presence that allows you to do it smoothly and easier.
So, it's to me, it's better to start thinking in those terms and realize that beyond your company, beyond the things that you do, you should build other avenues to make sure that you building your career with options and not just dead ends. And we don't often think about it that way.
It's just a way to add options to your career and not just dead ends if all you do is just day-to-day. The other things too that I realized were incredibly fulfilling in the process is other people are learning from you. Maybe you're not spending a lot of time with every single person on your team, but when they see your posts, they're learning from you.
These are other touchpoints to really help the next generation of finance leaders and it's truly rewarding to see some of the mentors and coaches I had over the years coming in. I see them being directors, and they're like, oh, I took your advice and I got this. It's incredibly rewarding. It's incredibly rewarding and so worth it.
Corson
Great and check out your book obviously as well.Kamon
Yes, check out my book.Corson
I know I'm going to be looking at that afterward. You mentioned your own podcast, Wassia – Diary of the CFO. Anything having been doing that for a while that you'd share as final thoughts or reflections of what you've learnt through that would be interesting for our audience?Kamon
Yes, so in speaking, so it's not just CFOs coming up, I also had executive recruiters, executive coaches, so really all the ecosystems of the CFO really and as they grew in their career and there's common things that keep coming back. It's being able to take risks, having the right mentors and surrounding yourself with the people along the way and step up even when you not feel ready.These are the three things that I keep seeing over and over again. And taking risk and stepping up even when you're not ready, I really felt it now in my new role because you have to be able to build things from scratch because people don't want you to do exactly what the former CFO did. They want change. They want you to do something better. So, you can’t just come and expect to have specific roadmaps or files.
The board wants something. How do you adapt to that, right? So, being able to do it throughout your career is really good. It helps you build that executive substance so that then the executive presence on top — almost like the tip of the iceberg is the executive presence — but that executive substance that you will build through that confidence of having been in those trenches, having taken the project, talking to the people to accelerate your learning is really what's going to help.
But to me, it's really that and I'm really grateful because I get to talk to people in a way, oh, I have a podcast. I really always wanted to talk to you. I didn't know how to say it, but I want you on my podcast. So, I'm able to talk to two, three times CFOs and also learn from them, which has been amazing.
Corson
Fantastic. Well, that's a great way to conclude and a wonderful sort of summarization, so, I really appreciate you sharing those insights. Wassia, so just in wrapping up, we love to see a little bit of a rapid-fire section. This gets to know you a little bit better personally. What's one of your all-time favorite quotes and why?Kamon
“Happiness is a choice.” I have it on my board. You probably can’t see my board, but I have happiness is a choice because I came to the US when I was 17 years old from a developing country called Ivory Coast. My first language was French because it was a former French colony.And growing up there, yes, I was considered middle class, but I got to see people living in dumps, in poverty. You have no idea here in the US. People here are broke. They're not poor like poverty — not access to water, electricity. And seeing people in certain conditions who still smile, dance has a positive outlook on life and understand that happiness is truly a choice and it's a choice that you make every day and that's my all-time favorite.
Corson
Very inspiring and you sort of recap on some of the things coming out of the podcast. You mentioned the importance of mentoring. What's one piece of advice that you've been given that's been the most impactful in your career?Kamon
Stop trying to prove yourself. Because it's the proving myself that got me in trouble with the FP&A software what I told you about. Because when you’re trying to prove yourself, you're so focused on you that you have so many blind spots, so many warnings, things that you forget and at the end of the day, even though you have the right potential, the right intention, you tend to do more damage than good.Corson
Great. And then, yeah, we all live in this highly pressurized world of expectations, the pace of change, etcetera, what do you do to maintain wellbeing and balance?Kamon
Food. I don't know that is a good one, that keeps me nice and padded, but I'm a foodie. I like trying different food. I will go online. I will talk to a friend. I have a very diverse group of friends. So, one of my latest endeavors was trying tandoori chicken; it’s an Indian recipe.It didn't come out how it looks in the restaurant, but my friend told me it's not supposed to be red anyway. Yes, I'll probably be the only black person walking into an Indian store looking for Gopi yogurt and grounding ginger and getting my stuff together, but I just love different food — Asian.
I try to do it myself. Sometimes it's working, sometimes it doesn't, but it just helps me relax. It does help me chopping those vegetables, cooking — it just helps me relax and anyway, my husband is not interested in that. So, I have the kitchen to myself and I'm able to just create, I mean it just feels good. And I do eat after I'm done, which my other hobby should be fitness, but it's not, still working on it.