The Fractional C-Suite Retreat
 

The Fractional C-Suite Retreat

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Joseph Frost, Co-Founder of yorCMO, hosts this exclusive retreat for executives to unwind and hear from their peers about new opportunities and innovations in the C-Suite.

Episodes

Impactful Fractional Professionals - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 013

Tuesday Feb 15, 2022

Tuesday Feb 15, 2022

Greg McDonough is the Managing Partner at Blackburn Capital Advisors. He’s also the host of the podcast “The Impactful Leadership show”. He sits down with host Joseph Frost to talk about the importance of fractional professionals and how they can help companies grow and manage tasks.

 

Takeaways

  • There’s a tremendous amount of resources available to c-suite executives right now that hasn’t been explored to its fullest potential.
  • Build a team around you that is full of experts in areas you aren’t as well versed in. This will help in your time of need and free you up to focus on the bigger picture.
  • To build the trust between you and your clients is incredibly important.
  • Build trust with your clients by starting on a smaller project for them. Then overtime, keep seeing if they have any other work you can help them with.
  • Being able to relate to the client is important. It helps them to connect with you and also makes it more likely they will hire you for your services.
  • Use a bad experience as a life lesson. You can use the bad experience to help you understand how to avoid that mistake again.
  • Make sure to manage the expectations and that they are agreed upon. You don’t want to end up giving too much of your time away when you have other clients. 

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

4:27 “The way I built trust with my clients is by identifying a very small initial project.  It could be a financial analysis, it could be work on PPP. There's a handful of things that I sort of dive into initially that I scope, it's small, it's a handful of hours with a work , there's a value proposition at the end for the client. And we execute on that. And when I deliver it very quickly, it turns into another conversation around what other opportunities  they're seeing or struggling with or things that are on their desks that they may want to take off their desks.”



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Trust and Flexibility - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 012

Tuesday Feb 08, 2022

Tuesday Feb 08, 2022

Jennifer Zick is the Founder and CEO at Authentic Brand. Being a fractional professional requires walking the line between supporting your client and telling them what they need to change, and Jennifer sees how all of this works. She sits down with host Joseph Frost to talk about some of the latest innovations she sees in the c-suite. 

 

Takeaways 

  • Executives are getting caught up in the minor details of the marketing standpoint and not focusing on the big picture and the fundamentals. 
  • It’s important to know who your company matters to and why your company matters to them. 
  • Don’t focus on pitching yourself. Focusing on how you can help your customers and that will lead to your pitch.
  • As a fractional professional, you want to support your clients but you also have to tell them the truth if something isn’t working. 
  • There are plenty of forums for CEOs but there isn’t much out there for integrators as the second in command.
  • You have to make sure you are managing expectations properly when you are a fractional professional, you still have a responsibility to your company. 
  • Make sure that the company you are going to work with already has an operating system in place. It makes it easier to be on the same level with them and know where to go from where they currently are.

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

05:46 “I say there's two questions to ask. It's who do we want to matter to and why should we matter to them? And then how do we intersect their world in a way that's meaningful and relevant. And when we get to that point of intersecting their world, instead of then what do we pitch them, it's how do we help them?”



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Navigating the Digital Space - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 011

Tuesday Feb 01, 2022

Tuesday Feb 01, 2022

Scott Belt is the President and Founder at Impact CFO Services. He has over 20 years of business experience and has the proven ability to build strong teams. He joins host Joseph Frost to sit down and talk about some innovations that are up and coming in the world of c-suite executives. 

 

Takeaways 

  • Everything has changed since the pandemic started. Businesses went virtual and it was hard for some to adapt, but you need to learn to live in this new world. 
  • You can be ahead of the competition if you really dedicate yourself to mastering the new way of doing work. 
  • You have to be able to pivot to the online space. All work is being done virtually now and if you can’t keep up with that you won’t see success. 
  • Having a strong balance sheet can help your business survive even the most difficult economic downturns. 
  • Entrepreneurs don’t see risks. It’s the job of the CFO to show them the risk and make sure they are aware of all the challenges. 
  • Using bookkeeping, you can see where a company is going to be heading and then you can see what you need to help them with. 
  • Marketing and sales is the lifeblood of every business. They bring in the revenue and they keep the company going. 

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

2:45 “If you can take advantage of the new world and the new way of doing business, you can be very successful because there is a percentage out there that can't, or won't, or has decided to just give up trying. And that is where the opportunities really lie is to take over those companies or to take over that space.”




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Decentralized Leadership - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 010

Tuesday Jan 25, 2022

Tuesday Jan 25, 2022

Brian Smith is the founder of IA Business Advisors an internationally recognized business advisory, consulting, and coaching company. He is also the best-selling author of the "The I in Team Series" and most recently of the "Individual Advantages; Be the I in Team” books, where he shares his knowledge of creating great leaders.

 

Takeaways 

  • The biggest opportunity for c-suites is getting in touch with what their company actually is. They need to be a few steps ahead of the curve. 
  • Small businesses who struggle to afford someone at a c-suite level don’t have the same opportunities that those at the c-suite level know are possible.
  • A c-suite professional will look at things in the long term and not just what is going to happen in the next 30 days or 60 days. They will be a few cycles ahead of where you are now.
  • Decentralized leadership is where decision making is delegated by top level management to individuals within a company
  • A fractional professional is a great advocate for changing things up. They will bring a new perspective to your business and can help you grow.
  • It’s a lot more cost effective for small companies to hire fractional professionals than it is to hire a full time c-suite executive.
  • It’s important when hiring someone to understand how they work by using an assessment like Kolbe. This will help you understand how they work and the best way to provide feedback to that employee. 

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

1:30 “A lot of C-suite people have blinders on. They only see what's in their lane and in the old days, we could almost do that. But the way that society has grown, the way that we've become a three dimensional society where we have to know more, we have to be more in touch, two or three steps away from ourselves.” 



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Partnering For Success - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 009

Tuesday Jan 18, 2022

Tuesday Jan 18, 2022

Nelson Tepfer is the Managing partner at ProCFO Partners. He knows what it takes to help a  business increase their revenue and isn’t afraid to branch out into different areas. He sits down with host Joseph Frost to talk about some of the biggest innovations that c-suite are looking at today.

 

Takeaways 

  • The biggest opportunity right now for c-suites is expanding beyond a traditional role and more collaboration with others. 
  • Fractional professionals are great at rolling up their sleeves and doing the work that other full time c-suite executives are too busy for.
  • Bringing in a different perspective is one of the many positives about a fractional professional. They have worked with many different companies and know what strategies work and what doesn’t.
  • It is the CFO’s job to help the finance and accounting departments grow and they help build a framework for financial management. 
  • There’s plenty of extra resources that a fractional professional can bring with them from company to company. 
  • Always look for someone who is a fit with you as opposed to someone who’s been in your industry before. 
  • Working with a company that has more CFOs can help develop a better process for your company.

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

20:03 “​​Always look for someone who's a fit with you, as opposed to somebody who's been in your industry. I think that that is so crucial. From the client side, they just look at it as If you haven't been in this industry, how are you going to know certain aspects of this? The advantage to having a large team as we do have now more than 30 CFOs, we've been in just about every industry imaginable. And probably some of you may not have come across all that often as well, but we've been across so many different industries that we have the industry knowledge on our team.”





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Marketing Framework - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 008

Tuesday Jan 11, 2022

Tuesday Jan 11, 2022

Mark Scrimenti has over 15 years of leadership experience in ecommerce, and he is the Fractional CEO at Vivid Path Consulting. He sits down with host Joseph Frost to talk about what some innovations and new ideas are for fractional professionals, such as making sure that you have a repeatable process in place to scale your business.

 

Takeaways 

  • You need to know your customers. You can have a great service or product but no one is going to buy if you aren’t marketing it to the right people. 
  • You need to apply the right framework to your business. You want to be able to adapt to changes in your business but you also want a nice structure as well. 
  • Listening to your customers is incredibly important. They are the ones who will give you honest feedback which can help grow your business to a higher level than before. 
  • You need repeatable processes if you want to scale your business. Otherwise you will not be able to grow your business model to the height you want.
  • It’s good to set “rocks” or goals for your team. It motivates them to focus on a good project and help to develop the company. 
  • Communication is key. You need to have good communication with your company as that will help develop a positive work culture. 
  • It’s important for fractional professionals to be aligned with the people who will be hiring them, which are typically CEOs.

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

2:21 “I think everybody pays lip service to being customer-focused. Everybody says, yeah, we talk to our customers regularly, but I question that, are you really talking to your customers regularly? And more importantly, are you listening to them? And what are they telling you? If you talk to your customers, you really listen to them. They're going to tell you how to grow your business. They're going to give you innovation opportunities for optimization




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Outsourcing the Solution - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 007

Tuesday Jan 04, 2022

Tuesday Jan 04, 2022

Rob Copenhaver is the President at OSX Sales Solution and has been working in that industry for 30 years. He’s a Sales Xceleration Certified Sales Leader, and also an IMA Certified Management Accountant. Rob joins host Joseph Frost to discuss new innovations that are going on in the c-suite and what a fractional professional brings to a company, such as the reduction in risks. 

 

Takeaways 

  • The biggest opportunity for fractional professionals is that the landscape is constantly changing so they have more chances to get into different areas than ever before.
  • You want to sell products to solve problems, not sell to push products. Everything you sell should have a purpose to it.  
  • You should bring in an expert to your company who knows more about certain areas than you might yourself. It brings a new area of expertise in and allows you to focus on things in your wheelhouse. 
  • You want to make sure that your website is up to date and it looks professional but not too sales-like. 
  • You need to have a clear plan in place when it comes to your company. You can’t change from google ad words to SEO or keep changing your logo color. 
  • You want to incentivize the sales team because motivating that team can drive more and more sales.
  • The top criteria for hiring a fractional professional is that you have to be willing to make a change. 

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

2:34 “Some of the things that I can see when I walk into companies is when entrepreneurs start their company, they start it because they're experts in their industry. They know what the problems are. They develop a product that fits a niche and solves a problem and it works great and they can go out and they can sell, start to add a couple people. A lot of times it's tough for CEOs and founders to realize the landscape has changed from when they were doing. And they get frustrated."



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Mastering Technology - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 006

Tuesday Dec 28, 2021

Tuesday Dec 28, 2021

Bentley Davis, Fractional CTO, comes from a technology background and is an expert at building mobile and web applications. After spending 20 years in the hospitality industry, he decided that he wanted to own his company and left the industry. He worked for a few different start ups and learned so many valuable lessons and skills along the way. Bentley joins host Joseph Frost to discuss new innovations for c-suite executives and how technology can be extremely beneficial for them.

 

 

Takeaways: 

  • One of the biggest opportunities for c-suite executives now is to enable their team with the most up to date technology. 
  • When it comes to technology, on Twitter the No Code community is actually pretty helpful and always provides ideas for medium and small sized businesses.
  • There are plenty of tools that fractional professionals can use to properly utilize technology without having to hire a developer.
  • Hiring a fractional professional can provide fresh insight to your company because they work with so many different companies they see what works and what doesn’t.
  • It’s important for new companies to find their product market fit and to know their customer base. You want to have your market research done before hiring a fractional c-suite executive.
  • Go with the technology that works the best for what the company is trying to do. They might be comfortable with it right away but you should let them know if something works better.
  • You should work with people that fit in with your values of a company. Working with someone whose only motivation is profit isn’t going to end well.

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

7:45 “Sometimes it helps to have someone who doesn't work for that agency or that group, to kind of look at it from a slightly different angle… I might not necessarily know more than them, but I have a different level of experience. And also if someone's been working in a single company for several years, they don't have the opportunity you and I have, we're working with several companies that we can bring the best of the best of the solutions and technologies in.”



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A Rock and a Plan - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 005

Tuesday Dec 21, 2021

Tuesday Dec 21, 2021

Sharon Means, Fractional Integrator/COO at Entrepreneurial Advisory Institute, has been a CPA for over 30 years. She helps to keep companies on track with their goals and has proven expertise in driving efficiency and productivity through evaluation of financial management systems. She joins host Joseph Frost to discuss what life is like in the c-suite and what some new opportunities are for fractional professionals.

 

Takeaways 

  • With the Great Resignation period that we are going through right now, it’s actually a good time to find people that are looking for work that can better suit your company and move the needle in the right direction.
  • There is a lot more opportunity for people to shift into different roles or jobs now because of how everyone is looking for new work opportunities.
  • You can use EOS tools to better understand what roles work better for people to put them in the best position to succeed.
  • When a fractional professional comes in, it’s not that they are coming in to hold people accountable but rather be more cooperative and encourage positive discourse. 
  • You need a three year plan or a five year plan when it comes to a company. That is one thing companies think isn’t important but it puts a deadline on goals and helps motivate employees to achieve them.
  • You want to make sure that everyone you hire represents your core values and is a fit in your company, that goes for fractional professionals as well.
  • A fractional person can help a company that is bogged down and get them moving again. Some fresh insight can really help get things going again.

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

12:58 “The first thing that I try to do is lead with how can I help you? What can we do for you? I think that that builds trust.

And then we eventually get to a place where we're holding leadership meetings that are very candid and fluid. We have some nice discourse with people agreeing, not agreeing, but getting to a good result.” 



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The Fractional Innovator - Fractional C-Suite Retreat - Episode # 004

Tuesday Dec 14, 2021

Tuesday Dec 14, 2021

With over 8 years of experience with high-technology and business, today’s guest has worked with some of the largest media technology companies in Europe and the U.S. Mo Hossain is now the Fractional CTO at Data Up. Mo joins host Joseph Frost, to discuss ways that those in the C-suite can be more innovative, such as having companies hire multiple fractional professionals to get more advice on their company.

 

 

Takeaways 

  • The biggest thing that most C-suites are missing out on right now is that they don’t have enough knowledge in the different areas of their business. 
  • Technology is improving and changing so dramatically that it’s extremely important to stay up to date on it so you can help all your customers better. 
  • It’s a good idea for businesses to have a few different fractional professionals come in and evaluate how they are doing things, that way you get a variety of input and advice.
  • Hiring a full time CTO would cost a lot of money, whereas hiring a fractional person to do that would be cheaper and they get projects and plans done faster.
  • User experience improvements is something that a CTO could get involved in and find the best way to handle it. 
  • Because of the changes in social media and it becoming more and more prominent, fractional professionals are having to learn these skills to better help others understand it.
  • You need to take notice of where the trends are in your industry and adapt to them, otherwise you will be behind. 

 

 

Quote of the Show:

 

5:31 “A lot of times the way a business has taken the approach of having advisors. I think that's another great way of handling this. Like, okay, these are my board of advisors, whether it's another, you know, maybe technical person or some experience with that kind of say, okay, well that thing, you know, maybe it could come up, we could do something in a little different way because I'm not going to say that I'm always right.

I'm not, I think that's okay. It's because we don't have, we don't always know everything that we need to know potentially in the moment that we need it. Right. So having another expertise, another person coming in from a different angle, I think is always really interesting.”



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