Insights

Jocelyn Singer-Sargent is the founder of Jocelyn Singer-Sargent Consulting, known as "the work whisperer." She's an HR consultant, coach, and speaker based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, dual-credentialed as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a SHRM-certified HR professional. Her practice spans fractional HR leadership, manager training, employee engagement, and coaching for leaders who want to build people strategies that actually work, including her work on building collaboration "from Boomers to Zoomers." In this episode, Jocelyn and Jack dig into how she stumbled into HR from a background in clinical social work, why the "employee handbook" is really a mirror of company culture, and how she built her entire consulting practice on word of mouth with zero family entrepreneurial background to draw on. She also gets into the moment she burned out of corporate HR, slept on the floor with her dogs for six months, and used a borrowed contract template to land her first client. It's a scrappy story from start to finish. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome and Santa Fe fun fact 1:09 Jocelyn's scrappy small town roots 2:46 Growing up in a no entrepreneurs household 6:34 What Jocelyn does for businesses today 9:19 Who her clients are and the 50 employee turning point 11:34 From clinical social work to accidental HR 20:00 Reading a company through its employee handbook 28:24 Burnout, the floor nap era, and starting the business 36:25 Referrals, the dog park network, and speaking engagements 40:07 Scrappy vs sophisticated lightning round Jocelyn Singer-Sargent's Links: Website: http://www.jocelynsingersargent.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-singer-sargent-lcsw-shrm-cp-47399849 Jack Tompkins' Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-tompkins/ Consulting: https://www.pineapplecf.com AI Analyst Product: https://www.pineappleanalyst.ai/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCalnj5yLU0ZH9y_tVl1J4ng

Rob Bankey is the founder of Bankey & Co., a Washington, DC fractional CFO and transaction advisory practice serving growth-stage SaaS, fintech, and AI companies. He led Contactually through its acquisition by Compass and steered Opower through its NYSE IPO before Oracle bought the company, and in 2023 DCA Live named him one of DC's Tech CFO Stars. In this episode, Rob and Jack trace his path from an Arthur Andersen offer that evaporated in the firm's collapse, through Big 4 audit work counting inventory at GM and ConAgra, to law school and a brief stint at the SEC that convinced him he wanted to build things rather than review them after the fact. Rob explains how he ended up running finance at an early-stage startup that eventually IPO'd on the NYSE, why he decided to start his own practice instead of chasing another corporate finance track, and how he thinks about proving ongoing value to clients once the systems are running smoothly ("the trains run on time"). They also get into his golden rule for startup timelines, how he built his ICP through simple word-of-mouth referrals, and a lightning round covering everything from color-coded bookmark folders to how many client inboxes one CFO can realistically manage. Chapters: 0:00 Intro and Scrappy vs Sophisticated 1:43 Growing Up Around the World 7:03 Notre Dame, Japanese, and Landing at Arthur Andersen 10:14 Big 4 Auditing: GM, ConAgra, and the Limits of Audit 13:03 Law School, the SEC, and Finding His Way Back to Finance 17:15 Taking a Startup from First Audit to NYSE IPO 19:45 Starting His Own Fractional CFO Practice 24:59 Proving Value: "The Trains Run on Time" 33:20 Lightning Round: Inside Rob's Office and Inbox 40:55 What's Next and Closing Thoughts Rob Bankey: Website: https://www.bankey.co/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-bankey-3268561/ Jack Tompkins: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-tompkins/ Consulting: https://www.pineapplecf.com AI Analyst Product: https://www.pineappleanalyst.ai/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCalnj5yLU0ZH9y_tVl1J4ng

Most reporting tools only show accounting data. This one shows the whole business. QuickBooks in, financial statements out - that's all most tools give you. Real advisors need more than that. Combines QuickBooks with HubSpot, ad data, and operational data See cash position and pipeline health in one view Works across every client and every data source Built-in AI analyst that understands the full picture One platform instead of a patchwork of tools Try for free - https://www.pineappleanalyst.ai/get-started Learn more - https://pineappleanalyst.ai Questions - support@pineapplecf.com

Alison Jeffrey is the founder of Alison Jeffrey Consulting, a fundraising strategy practice working exclusively with nonprofits. After 25+ years in the sector, including years spent in-house, she left a permanent role five years ago to build a boutique consulting practice, working deeply with about 15 clients instead of chasing volume. On this episode, Alison and Jack dig into what it actually means to ask people for money for a living, from six-figure stethoscopes to the emotional weight behind a $10,000 ask. Alison shares the story of engraving a $100 stethoscope for a billionaire donor (and the handwritten note that came back), why she thinks "philanthropy is self-care," and how she built a practice around being the strategist in the room, not just the person who closes the gift. Jack and Alison also get into a lightning round of scrappy vs sophisticated questions covering everything from grades in school to her minimalist home office. Chapters: 0:00 Sophisticated or scrappy: Alison's 80-20 rule 2:15 Uncle Joe and the Glasgow china shop 5:52 The engraved stethoscope story 11:24 Growing up in a political but non-entrepreneurial family 13:12 The COVID balcony story that still gets brought up at home 16:00 Setting strategy vs doing the solicitation herself 18:13 Why fundraising isn't really a sales process 24:19 Quitting her job, losing her father, and landing her first client 30:25 Becoming known as the strategist, not just the fundraiser 32:41 Lightning round: scrappy vs sophisticated Alison Jeffrey's links: Website: https://www.alisonjeffrey.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonjeffrey/ Jack Tompkins' links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-tompkins/ Consulting: https://www.pineapplecf.com AI Analyst Product: https://www.pineappleanalyst.ai/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCalnj5yLU0ZH9y_tVl1J4ng

Oscar Casanova is the founder of Eververdant Growth Partners, a fractional CFO advisory firm helping lower middle-market business owners make sharper financial decisions. Before starting his own firm, Oscar closed over $30 billion in deals across Goldman Sachs, high-growth startups, and Shopify - and he brings that same rigor to the small businesses that make up the backbone of the economy. In this episode, Jack and Oscar dig into Oscar's journey from growing up in Mexico to landing at Goldman Sachs on his fifth application attempt, why he walked away from the corporate path to build something of his own, and the "operating system" mindset he uses to run his life and his firm. They also get into how he actually wins clients (hint: it is not by chasing outcomes), what makes someone coachable, and a full lightning round of scrappy versus sophisticated questions. Oscar lands the verdict for himself by the end - you will have to listen to find out which side he falls on. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome and fun fact of the day 1:02 Scrappy or sophisticated - Oscar's answer 1:45 Growing up in Mexico and coaching basketball 5:01 What Eververdant Growth Partners does today 5:38 Leaving Mexico for the US in 2011 8:20 Scrappy rapid fire - Tupperware and the four meals 11:23 The "operating system" for life and fitness 12:00 Getting into Goldman Sachs on the fifth try 17:47 Finding Eververdant's first clients through curiosity 23:39 Surrendering the outcome instead of chasing it 30:10 Earning trust as a CFO advisor 35:04 Lightning round - office, inbox, and airport habits 40:04 Final scrappy versus sophisticated verdict Oscar Casanova: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscar-casanova-c/ Eververdant Growth Partners: https://eververdantgrowthpartners.com Jack Tompkins: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-tompkins/ Consulting: https://www.pineapplecf.com AI Analyst Product: https://www.pineappleanalyst.ai/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCalnj5yLU0ZH9y_tVl1J4ng

Cris D'Annunzio believes the greatest enemy of performance isn't failure, it's drift. He's the founder of Mettle & Method, and his resume reads like four different careers stitched together: NFL player, Wall Street broker, Hollywood actor, and high performance sales coach. Along the way he built "The Standard," a philosophy built on a simple idea: everything decays without deliberate maintenance, so you measure where you are, set a standard, and defend it every single day. In this episode, Cris walks through an incredible family story that starts with his grandfather surviving a concentration camp in Italy and ending up as a NYC parks gardener, an 18 month cold calling grind on Wall Street where he dialed the phone 250 times a day for 18 straight months, and the honest, sometimes uncomfortable difference between chasing goals and defending standards. He also talks about his work with The CFO Project, training bookkeepers and accountants to become advisors who help small businesses survive past the five year mark. Chapters: 0:00 Scrappy or sophisticated: Cris weighs in 1:49 Immigrant roots and a hard beginning 6:07 What Cris does today 7:16 His grandfather's story from Naples to Brooklyn 14:43 From the NFL to Wall Street 19:36 250 dials a day for 18 months 24:13 Building "The Standard" 26:26 Goals versus standards 39:00 The one thing that makes a high performer 45:06 Lightning round: scrappy vs sophisticated 47:56 Replayer, The CFO Project, and closing thoughts Cris D'Annunzio's Links: Mettle & Method: https://www.mettleandmethod.com The CFO Project: https://cfoproject.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cris-d-annunzio/ Jack Tompkins' Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-tompkins/ Pineapple Consulting Firm: https://www.pineapplecf.com Pineapple Analyst AI: https://www.pineappleanalyst.ai YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCalnj5yLU0ZH9y_tVl1J4ng

A bookkeeper client in South Carolina found a way to raise prices that clients were genuinely happy to pay. Here's how one custom dashboard changed his whole business. When a competitor started targeting his exact client base, he needed a way to stand out. This is what he did instead of a price war. Built a custom dashboard for every client in one place Turned it into three tiers - bookkeeping, bookkeeping plus dashboards, and full advising Fended off a direct competitor going after the same market Grew so fast he had to hire five new employees Clients voluntarily upgraded to higher priced packages Zero client churn since rolling out the dashboards Try for free - https://www.pineappleanalyst.ai/get-started Learn more - https://pineappleanalyst.ai Questions - support@pineapplecf.com

Mark Dunaway spent 30+ years leading finance and operations for some of the country's top residential homebuilders - and then walked away from all of it to build a fractional CFO market from scratch on the Gulf Coast. As Area President and Fractional CFO for FocusCFO, he covers coastal Alabama and Pensacola, FL, a territory with zero prior FocusCFO presence and a market that often can't distinguish a CFO from a CPA. In this episode, Mark unpacks what strategic financial leadership actually looks like for small businesses, why hope is not a strategy, and how he's doing it all the old-fashioned way: five to seven face-to-face meetings a week. We cover Mark's path from a Baptist minister's son in southeastern Kentucky to bagging groceries, doing a six-hour solo Sunday radio show, and eventually running divisions for some of the largest homebuilders in the country. Along the way, he learned that great CFOs don't just live in spreadsheets - they have to understand the field, the bank's perspective, and the owner's vision all at once. If you're a small business owner trying to figure out whether you need a CPA, a bookkeeper, or something more, this episode is the clearest explanation you'll find. Chapters: 0:00:00 Intro and Mobile Mardi Gras Fun Fact 0:01:23 From Kentucky to the Coast: Mark's Background 0:02:57 What Fractional CFOs Do (and the Three-Headed Monster) 0:07:38 CFO Mindset vs. Accounting: Two Different Worlds 0:12:31 First Jobs: Bagging Groceries and a Six-Hour Radio Show 0:18:54 Building FocusCFO's Gulf Coast Market from Scratch 0:24:11 CFO vs. CPA: Keeping the Plates Spinning 0:27:18 Breaking Goals into Weekly Wins - Hope Is Not a Strategy 0:30:56 Finance's Role in Sales Strategy 0:33:05 Lightning Round: Scrappy vs. Sophisticated Connect with Mark Dunaway: Mark's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-dunaway/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-tompkins/ https://www.pineapplecf.com https://www.pineappleanalyst.ai/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCalnj5yLU0ZH9y_tVl1J4ng