Is there a better way to build a company, lead a team, and create something that lasts?
I've spent twenty years building, acquiring, and turning around companies — from a financial analyst desk to the CEO chair of a $70M+ platform. In one weekend I built two AI platforms with 30+ tools because I was tired of watching business owners fly blind. The lessons here come from real operations: payroll crunches, acquisition rescues, team building, AI deployment, and the conviction that excellence and efficiency are values of our Creator.
When I joined CHE in 2023 and became an owner in 2024, I stepped into a 25-year-old company with deep roots and real potential — but also legacy systems, inherited culture, and the weight of 'how we've always done it.' Every day since has been an exercise in asking the question. Some days the better way is a new AI workflow. Some days it's a harder conversation. The question doesn't care about comfort — it cares about truth.
At a recent company meeting, my general manager of construction quoted the ITABWODI principle to the team. I didn't prompt it. He'd internalized it and was using it to challenge his own department. That's when you know it's working — not when you say it, but when they say it back.
I decided in 2002 to think like a CFO before I had the title. The title came because the posture came first. Don't wait for permission to think strategically. Start now.
Before you change anything, map how money moves. How do you sell? How do you process? When is it recorded? In what systems? The answers reveal everything.
SWOT is dead. Identify headwinds — what blocks your team from performing at their best. Rank by impact and solvability. Pick the top 3. Attack those. Everything else waits.
Most people obsess over revenue and profit. But cash problems, margin erosion, and growth constraints all show up on the balance sheet first. Start there.
Every person, every technology, every process should justify its existence. Not to be cold — to be intentional. When you know the ROI of everything, you invest more in what works.
I took CHE from $4M to $750K in working capital — freeing $3.25M in cash without growing revenue. Collect faster. Pay on time (not early). Bill immediately. Get deposits.
Before anything gets my time: (1) Is this mine to carry? (2) Does this move a current priority forward? (3) What am I saying no to if I say yes? (4) ITABWODI? If it doesn't pass all four, it doesn't get my energy.
The elder mandate from Scripture, applied to business leadership. Know your people beyond their titles. Feed them with development, not just direction. Lead by casting vision and going first. Protect them from unnecessary stress and bad decisions.
CHE's $700K waste reduction initiative wasn't just about margin — it was about faithful management of what was entrusted to us. When materials get wasted, that's poor stewardship. When time gets wasted, same thing. ITABWODI demands better.
Business is a tool for mission. Money is a tool for blessing. Financial clarity is what frees a leader to do both well. That's why I built Operational CFO — not as a fintech product with a mission bolted on, but because the mission IS the product. Build it with excellence. Make it genuinely useful. Trust that when leaders have real financial clarity, the good ones will use it to bless others.
Most business owners fly blind on their finances — not because they're bad at business, but because they're great at something other than finance. Coming to a tool for help isn't defeat — it's wisdom. Awareness is the most powerful thing a leader can have. When you're aware, you ask better questions, lead your team, and make decisions that honor both your mission and your people.
The people ARE the return. If you destroy the humans to generate the returns, you've destroyed the thing you were building for. Excellence and efficiency are values of our Creator. The emptiness comes when we pursue them for ourselves instead of for others.
The reframe that became ITABWODI — and the operating posture behind every company I've run since.
I was 22, halfway through my MBA, running a $2.5M food services operation for a university that didn't really want to be in the food business. Somewhere in the middle of that, I realized Campbell wasn't a food system at all — it was an education system that happened to run food. That reframe is the reason I'm a CEO today.
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The ITABWODI philosophy applied to business operations. 18 free tools, AI advisor, and Academy courses — all from real operating experience.