CEO Mindset for Finance Pros to Scale Firms, Avoid Failure & Replace Technical Focus - Chris Ortega
In this episode of FP&A Today, host Paul Barnhurst, aka The FP&A Guy, welcomes Christopher Ortega for a candid conversation about the evolution of finance and building a business from the ground up. From basketball analogies to real-world advice, this episode blends personal experience with professional insight. Chris opens up about what it takes to grow a consulting business, how to handle setbacks, and why financial professionals need to think beyond spreadsheets and become true business partners.
Christopher Ortega is the CEO and founder of Fresh FP&A, a financial strategy firm that supports small and mid-sized businesses with fractional CFO services. With more than 20 years in accounting, FP&A, and finance leadership, Chris has built a career around driving growth, navigating acquisitions, and helping organizations build financial clarity. He’s worked with global companies, led finance teams through complex M&A deals, and now channels that experience into helping others succeed
Expect to Learn:
Why FP&A needs to evolve from reporting to a real business partnership
How Chris shifted his mindset from CFO to CEO
The importance of focusing on the right industries instead of trying to serve everyone
Why failing early became one of his greatest learning tools
What to do before you land your first paid client
Here are a few quotes from the episode:
"You either win or you learn. You only lose if you don’t learn." - Christopher Ortega
"To scale, I had to stop thinking like a CFO and start thinking like a CEO." - Christopher Ortega
"Sales and marketing taught me more about business than any finance book." - Christopher Ortega
Christopher shared valuable insights on evolving from a technical finance role to a strategic business partner, the mindset shift required to grow from CFO to CEO, and the power of narrowing your focus in business. His advice on embracing failure, building with purpose, and putting impact before income offers meaningful takeaways for anyone looking to lead with confidence in the finance world.
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For CPE credit, please go to earmarkcpe.com, listen to the episode, download the app, answer a few questions, and earn your CPE certification. To earn education credits for the FP&A Certificate, take the quiz on earmark and contact Paul Barnhurst for further details.
In Today’s Episode
[03:14] - What Does Great FP&A Look Like?
[07:21] - Starting the Entrepreneurial Journey
[11:21] - Reflecting on College Memories
[16:36] - Embracing Failure in Finance
[22:11] - Starting Without a Paid Client
[20:23] - Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
[26:08] - Revenue Before Quitting
[37:44] - Dream Boxing Matches
[27:35] - The Hardest Part of Entrepreneurship
[34:18] - Essential Technical Skill for Professionals
[44:30] - Roles in Business: The Football Analogy
Full Show Transcript
[00:01:23] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Hello, everyone. Welcome to FP&A Tomorrow, where we delve into the world of financial planning analysis, examining its current state and future prospects. I'm your host, Paul Barnhurst. Or as some people call me, Magic Johnson. We'll tell you more about that later. Guiding you through the evolving landscape of FP&A eight. Each week, we're joined by thought leaders, industry experts, practitioners, and every so often, we even get somebody like Larry Bird to join the show. So helping us navigate today's complexities and tomorrow's uncertainties. I am thrilled to welcome Chris Ortega to the show. Chris.
[00:01:57] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Welcome, Paul. What's up? Magic Johnson, Larry Bird man 90s flow right now. Thank you for having me, brother.
[00:02:03] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yes. So tell our audience we got to start with. How did I get the nickname of Magic Johnson? You get the nickname of Larry Legend?
[00:02:10] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yes. I remember we were at a conference sometime and this was a couple of years ago, and we were together.
[00:02:16] Host: Paul Barnhurst: For the podcast.
[00:02:17] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah, we were doing it together and it's just, you know, I think the conversation is like how you got two really great financial professionals here right now. And I remember looking at it and I was just like, you know, we're both basketball enthusiasts. And I said, you know, yeah, we got Magic Johnson and we got Larry Bird. And it just kind of stuck with it. So every time we see each other, I know I missed you at the AFP conference earlier this year, but man, I've been, you know, seeing your journey, Paul, seeing the impact that you've had, the the leadership you brought to fresh to FP&A and everything that you're doing, man, and keep leading. And I think that's how it all led to the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird. So anytime I get.
[00:02:54] Host: Paul Barnhurst: A moment, I think you sent a picture. And I remember I responded with, I thought it was.
[00:02:58] Guest: Christopher Ortega: It was a dream team picture.
[00:03:00] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I don't want to be Larry. I want to be John. He's like, you're not Larry. You're magic. And I'm like, wait a second. So.
[00:03:07] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah, that was awesome, dude.
[00:03:09] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. So we're going to start with this first question we ask every guest. From your experience, in your opinion, what does great FP&A look like? Describe that to me.
[00:03:19] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah, I think for me, man, like growing up in a I really like changed the perspective of I mean, that's how I literally named my business when I, I think FP&A went through two different, I would say like chasms. That has kind of gone through. The first initial element of it was definitely the financial planning analysis side of it. Right? Very technical, getting into the analysis, leveraging the tools, doing the modeling. It started from a very technical nature, which came from accountants. Right. Like, accountants were pretty much like, hey, we do the books, we close the numbers. The business wants us to do this analysis. They want us to do this planning. They want us to think about this forecasting. So the inception of FP&A came out of that technical mindset. But for me, when I look back over my 20-plus years in accounting, finance, FP&A, and CFO leadership, it meant something different to me. It meant more. And this is the name that I dropped, fresh FP&A with. It was a financial partnership and advising. That was our version of FP&A because, you know, the technical side, and with the prevalence of technology, I know we'll dive into that here in this conversation.
[00:04:27] Guest: Christopher Ortega: But the partnership and advising side of what I've done, what my team has done, that's really been the value added. And that unlock has come not only from the finance professionals but from the business. Right? When you look at business people working with finance, right, they don't want a great financial planning and analyst person. They want someone that they can partner with and seek advice on, on how they grow their business, how they make their investments, or how they think about the scale of their businesses. So to me, I think that the evolution is getting away from the financial planning and analysis, which technology right now can do a lot of that, and being the great financial partner and advisor, which is different, right? Paul, I never took a class to say, Chris, how do you be a great financial partner and advisor? Never took a class on that stuff. So that to me I think is the evolution.
[00:05:20] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, I'm there's no class in the NBA or undergrad that, hey, this class, this financial business partnering, you might have a little bit of data visualization, you might have a speaker class, but it's not like it's data storytelling. Right. Those soft skills are just one they're harder to teach and two, they're just not generally what you need for your first job. Right? If you're interviewing an analyst a year out of school, you're looking for somebody. You're looking for somebody who can do a lot of the technical stuff. You're not looking for somebody to have that conversation with the CEO.
[00:05:50] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Absolutely, absolutely. And I think that's the evolution. And, you know, talking about technology. I think that's where we're at right now. You can't go to any podcasts anywhere. I do a lot of conferences, public speaking, and talking with CFOs all across the world. And to me, it's like that skill set of that partnership and advising is something that technology can never replace. It can never replace what it means to know the business and to understand the business, the customers, the markets, the clients, the opportunity, the risks, the challenges. Like to me, that is where that partner and advising aspects become so important.
[00:06:27] Host: Paul Barnhurst: There's the human element and that is there's a human side to that. And until I can figure that out, or at least safe to some level, we won't all get that universal basic income we're hoping for. So you can go box. I can go watch some 90s of Carl and Michael. And if you're not a basketball fan, sorry, you're going to have to endure a little bit of talk in this episode. Just skip it.
[00:06:49] Guest: Christopher Ortega: We're going to tie things to basketball. The whole conversation.
[00:06:53] Host: Paul Barnhurst: We'll get a little bit of boxing in there too. I know I got to ask you that, but, you know, got to make finance fun.
[00:07:00] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yes, definitely.
[00:07:01] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Even though I named mine the Panda guy, maybe I'll change it to the fun guy.
[00:07:05] Guest: Christopher Ortega: The fun? There it is right there, dude. You, you know, take them. Take the fin out of finance and put the fun in there. And now it's fun. It's, you know, there it is. That's a new one, dude.
[00:07:16] Host: Paul Barnhurst: The finance guy. There we go. I don't know, that doesn't quite sound right. All right, so I know you and I both started our business around the same time. We both grew up in FP and for most of our careers. Yeah. What was your impetus? What was the driving factor for you to say? I'm ready to go out on my own full time.
[00:07:33] Guest: Christopher Ortega: You know, this is. And it's awesome. Paul, just first off to acknowledge me and, like, salute to you. And being early in that journey, I remember the conversations. I go back to this and I, I was excited to talk with you here today because I've seen your journey, man, and always been a cheerleader and champion from the very beginning. I remember the first LinkedIn messages that we were exchanging with each other, and it was like I was like, hey man. And for me, the catalyst was, you know, I kind of grew up in finance. Uh, most of my for those that, you know, don't know me, most of my professional background, I would always come in, I would be the first finance hire and I would build shape, scale and exit companies. I I've had the fortunate opportunity of working at three different organizations and helping them go through an acquisition. So I had this last company I was at let our Americas finance help the entire business. We grew to, you know, over $180 million in revenue. We had over 2700 clients across the globe, and we were in about 20 different countries. And I helped that company go through an acquisition with SAP, which for me was like a milestone process to kind of go through. That was a 6 or 7 month due diligence process. I mean, I'm on calls with like sap all across the world. 80 people on the call were talking about sales and use tax. And after that process, Paul, I realized two things. I realized the first thing is I felt like there needed to be a fresh perspective brought to finance. So and the second thing is, it is like, I wanted to take all this experience, all these lessons learned, the failures that I've had and really help SMEs grow with financial clarity and confidence.
[00:09:16] Guest: Christopher Ortega: So for me, I took that leap of faith. After that acquisition, I took that leap of faith and I started fresh and I wanted to give back and help these small to medium sized businesses. Because here's the problem that I found. You have small to medium sized businesses. And for us, we define that as businesses that are between one and about $50 million in annual revenue. They need that strategic level leadership. They need that CFO guidance to help them grow and grow with confidence and scale their business. But they necessarily can't afford a full time CFO. They don't have a business that's ready with the infrastructure set up for a full time CFO, but they need someone with their skills, passions, talents and expertise to help them. And that's exactly what I jumped into. And ever since building the business, this is our fourth year of fresh FP&A we're getting a. I tell my team we're getting our bachelor's degree this year and seeing that impact that it has. Right. And I think that was the catalyst. And ultimately it's living out my initials. Right. Like to share with everybody and be vulnerable. My initials are CEO. So I go back to that. And being young in my life when I'm, you know, I grew up poor single parent background, me and my mom and my sister. I always tell everybody I was a CFO of my household before I was ever a CFO full time or ever, like working with clients. And I wanted to like, live that out. I've always been entrepreneurial. I've always found ways, whether it was selling candy through my locker or shoveling snow.
[00:10:50] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Or I could see you being the guy selling candy at your locker in school. That doesn't surprise me.
[00:10:55] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah, I was, you know, I was being late. I would have the good thing with the teachers, Paul, and be like, hey, I'm gonna be late. But, like, here's the reason why.
[00:11:01] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So here's your Snickers. Keep quiet.
[00:11:04] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah. Yeah. So I think that was the catalyst for me, man. And building is just, you know, taking that leap of faith, wanting to make that impact and really help these SMEs grow with financial clarity and confidence. I think that was all the things that led me to start fresh. And I.
[00:11:20] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Love it. My favorite memory so far as you look at your first four years, you're coming up on your bachelor's. What was that best sorority party? No, I'm kidding.
[00:11:30] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I would say for me, man, I think everybody talks about all the great things that happen. I want to share where I learned the most and I failed. Right. To me, I think the biggest failure that I've had over the last four years in building my business is that I started too early and I had a great time. And this is a great friend of ours, Carl Simon. Carl Simon like he's a great colleague of our Carl is awesome, great guy, great mentor, great person to to go connect with. And early in the business I really like. I was like, man, we want to work with all SMEs, like we just want to. I was very broad in our strategy. Right? I was very broad. We would work with professional services, we work with pharma clients. We had a very diverse portfolio. And then I realized I spread my team too thin over our experience. And I remember having to pivot back down and say, and this is where Carl told me at the beginning. He's like, Chris, listen, the riches are in the niches. And I didn't believe that at first. I was like, well, I don't want to niche down too early. I'll miss out on opportunities. I don't want to niche down. I wish I would have taken that advice earlier to niche down, to really get specific in the industries that we wanted to focus on, which for us are software and technology, retail and e-commerce.
[00:12:50] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Professional services and not for profits are our core verticals. And I really wish I would have taken that advice in that insight earlier in the business. I think we would have more velocity because that boils everything down, right? It refines our messaging. It refines the clients. We want to talk about the pains we want to solve, the solutions we want to provide, and ultimately the value we want to bring. So I think for me, looking back over the last four years and of course there's been wins, there's been new verticals that we've opened up, there's international expansion that we've had like a lot of the wins. But for me, understanding that the riches are in the niches and building the business and really getting sharpened, focus on the core pains, frustrations and opportunities and those solutions and services and products that you want to turn pain to productivity, to create value. That to me is what it took me. I unlocked that probably about 1824 months ago. Two years ago is where I really started to click on that. So that to me is, I think, the biggest unlock that I've had over the last four years, because now it's really sharpening our value proposition. It's sharpening our go to market. It sharpens our messaging. It's sharpening. Everything about the business was funneled through that. So I think to me that's the biggest lesson learned I've had over the last four years. Paul, what about you, man?
[00:14:12] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I will tell you, but I want to just kind of comment on that because there's two things I love that I learned. So I'm 20. I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm open about that. I did a two year mission. Right. So we have a mission president. My first mission president was a super successful guy. I started if we ever had King Beef jerky as a kid. That was his company. He had several other large companies. You know, he was a billionaire, and he's sitting in front of all of us. And I'm 19, 20 at the time listening to him. He goes, does he calls us elders because, you know, you've seen the name tags of anyone who's seen a missionary, surprising that name tag to those elders. I want you to know I've never had a failure because I've never had a failure in my life. And I'm looking. I'm like, you're full of. That's correct. You're giving me the exact look. And he goes, I've only had a learning experience. Oh.
[00:14:57] Guest: Christopher Ortega: That's it.
[00:14:59] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's it. And that's it. I worked at a summer camp and they had these seven keys to success. I only remember one of them. Failure leads to success. Yep, yep. And I don't know, that's exactly how I'd phrase it, but that idea. I love that idea. Now I understand what he was talking about at the time. I'm looking at him going, what are you talking about? You know, a 20 year old kid. You have to learn. And the more you learn, you just realize nothing wrong with failing. In fact, you need to do it because that's how you learn. That's how you grow. That's how you learn that. Oh, niching down makes sense. I have a better value proposition. I know who to go after. And the second part that fits with Niching down is manager. My. My strategy is about closing doors. If you don't need down, you don't know what doors to close. Who to say no to. And I'm sure you've learned that early on. You probably said yes to everybody. That was one of the hardest things to learn. Like, oh, it's money, I'll do it. And now it's like, you know, I had this company approach me. That's a learning platform and a community and a training. And they wanted me to do a webinar, do you know, work with them. And they kept trying to push me and I'm like, I don't think this really fits. And they're like, oh, come back to you. I'm like, doesn't fit my business at all. Like, sure. Could I do it with the money? Be decent? Yeah, but it's just a distraction.
[00:16:10] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Paul, that's a real man, I think. And you're right, like, early on in building the business and even in your career. Right. For those people in your career, I would say definitely early in your career, say yes, man. Like, from a career perspective, learn as much as possible that failure to learn is a huge unlock. And here's the thing, Paul, like most people were and most finance professionals, right. Speaking to the audience. Right. Most finance professionals failure's like, nah, that's like.
[00:16:39] Host: Paul Barnhurst: We're by nature, most of us.
[00:16:41] Guest: Christopher Ortega: We're so risk averse. And I love where your mentor, uh, your person that led your mission said that I had the same thing. Man, I think failure, if I was just to add, failure is the first step of the learning process, right? Like, I failed, and I. I was doing an art. I forgot what magazine it was. But they asked me, they like, what's one thing that if you can go back and tell any 20 year old or tell your 20 year old self, it was that I was like, I would fail more. And I said that to him and they were like, dude, that's the most counterintuitive thing. And I said, here's the reason why every time that I fail, if there's only two stages of life, you either win or you learn. You only fail or lose if you don't learn. So that process of failure is the first step of the learning process. And for me like everybody, right. Whether you're in finance and a CFO, everybody going back and listen to that man. Like that's the unlock. That's the true ROI, which is to me, not return on investment.
[00:17:43] Guest: Christopher Ortega: That's the return on the impact that you're going to have. Like that to me, is where you get real ROI in your life, real ROI in your business, and real ROI that you can provide to people. Because now, because you've gone through those failures. Right? I get a lot of people that reach out to me on LinkedIn and they go speak and they're like, Chris, I want to start my fractional CFO business. And I'm like, man, all the failures I had, I get excited to just walk them through and say, hey, man, here's all the things that I wish I would have learned four years ago before I even started. Now that has weight, now that has value, now that has impact that that can make. But it all started because I was willing to take that leap of faith to fail. Right. You got to put yourself in position and at the end of the day, now here's the thing. Don't make those career limiting failures. Don't do those things. I'm not advocating this. Hey, I'll go out and fail right now.
[00:18:34] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Don't be stupid.
[00:18:35] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Don't be stupid. Right. But like yeah don't don't. Don't go out and do something wild and crazy. Right. But also take those opportunities to look at it and say, man, I know, I tell somebody fresh DNA can completely fail tomorrow, right? But the thing that I've learned throughout that entire process, that doesn't make my skill set, that doesn't make my life, that doesn't make my mindset any less valuable because I had all that learning through it. And that's just part of the process. I mean, you're building a great business that's just you're going to fail. You're going to make a mistake, man. Nobody's perfect. Right? You're going to make those mistakes. Take those opportunities as like, yes, I made a mistake. How do I learn? How do I grow? How do I continue? And here's the number one. Here's the people that are going from good to great. How did I learn? How do I grow? But here's what takes you to greatness, right? How can I take all that and help someone else so they don't have to go through that? That truly to me is like greatness of people and this is what you do. This is what other great people is like, man, I went through this so you don't have to go through this, right? That to me is the win, man.
[00:19:46] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. That's really the next level is helping others learn and benefiting society. I'm a huge believer in the principle of servant leadership. The best way to be, you know, the best way to be a leader. And you know, I have people all the time, just like you asking me about business. And I always have been because I was like, how do I grow my fractional CFO business? I don't have any clients. I'm the wrong person to ask. Like my business, I quickly pivoted away from consulting. I mean, I do have one, but yeah, I spend half an hour updating a report form every month because they built the model and they don't want someone else to do it. You know, that type of thing. It's so, you know, I'm curious first. You've given some great advice, but if I ask you to give two pieces of advice to somebody who's listening, they're working in FPA. They're thinking, I'm going to make that jump. I want to take that risk and start my own business. What's the two pieces of advice you'd give them.
[00:20:34] Guest: Christopher Ortega: The first thing you have to do is you have to understand, like a lot of people want to make that jump, whether it can be jump in, starting their business or jump into another industry, into another career. Maybe you're moving out of FP and you want to go. The first thing that you have to think about when you make that jump is what pain and frustrations and opportunities are you going to be solving, right? I think so many people go into it and they're like, I want to go do this, but it's like, okay, look, look back over your experience. Like, what is that core experience that you've had? What are you passionate about? Right. What is that passion that fueled you? The second thing is, if you're making that leap, whether you're starting your own business or moving in for your career, going after that credential is, what is this going to bring to you that is going to be valuable for other people, right? Like, how is this going to create value? To many financial professionals, we pride ourselves on our technical skills. We pride ourselves on all the different alphabet credentials you can get. But at the end of the day, if that's not providing value, like how is that creating value for others, whether that's in your life, your team, your business that you support. So those will be the two things that really solidify what I am passionate about? And I would give a third golden nugget for people if you're going to start your business. Right. And this may sound counterintuitive and wild because it's like, how is the CFO saying this right is do not let the first paid opportunity stop you from starting.
[00:22:11] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Right. Let me play that back again. A lot of people are like, well, I don't want to start my new business because I don't have any paid people. That's the worst mindset to have, right? Go out, find like, here's the great thing, go test out your network. Right? When I start fresh for the second client, I'll get to the story of the first client. The second client I had, we did a proof of value, period. It was 90 days and I said, hey, 90 days. I want to go through this process. Here's what we're going to do. I want to see if this is the work that I want to do, if I'm passionate about it. That first element is two if I'm actually creating value. And three, if we get out of this 90 days and I'm passionate about the work, I've created value. Now I'm like, okay, now I can get into how I can monetize this, right? But I would have never gone through that process, that POV period, if I was like, straight to monetization is like, pay me for this. What you're going to do. It's backwards. You want to prove those. You want to validate, to say, I'm passionate about. Here's the thing. You get a paid client that you're not passionate about, the work that you're doing, you're not really creating value, and they're paying you for that. That now gets to be where it's like, do I continue on to do now? It's not work Now it's work. Now it's like, man, I gotta do this. I gotta wake up and I'm like, I'm not passionate about this work.
[00:23:36] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I know I'm not creating value. I know I can do more, but they're paying me. So I feel like I have to do this right. Go through and go through that POV period. The best thing you can do is go to your network and say, hey, here are the things I'm passionate about, right? Do you know anybody in your network that I could reach out to connect with or learn from? Right. Find you maybe one of those two of those people walking through that period doesn't have to be 90 days. For me, it was a quarter because I want to give a nice three months of love, is this what I wanted to do once I got out of that process you have validated? Yes, I'm passionate about this. I validated my service because creating value between someone and I've also validated and said, like, if you've done a great job and done those things, the conversation monetization becomes a no brainer. It's like, yeah, we love working with you. We love working with your team. The value of creating our business is there. Then it's just an economic conversation. You've checked all those boxes. Now you can scale, right? That's that ability to be able to do it. So I think those are those three things, man. Find the things that you're passionate about and really know those things. Know it intimately. The second thing is, find that value that you're creating with someone. And the third element to it. Once you've done that, do not let monetization stop you from going through that process. That's my piece, man.
[00:25:02] Host: Paul Barnhurst: And now a brief message from our sponsor. You know the numbers. Now it's time to own the story. The new FP&A professional certification from CFI is built for finance professionals who want to lead with insight, not just report the data. With FPAP, you'll learn how to build real-world forecast models, analyze performance with precision, and design dashboards that drive strategic conversations. You'll sharpen your Excel skills, unlock the power of tools like Power BI and Power Query, and master the workflows top FP&A teams use every day. Whether you're supporting growth, evaluating projects, or presenting to the CFO. FPAP gives you the practical skills and a strategic edge to step into bigger roles, ready to lead where it counts. Build the skills. Own the strategy. Learn more at CFI. Go to the Corporate Finance Institute.
[00:26:07] Guest: Christopher Ortega: It.
[00:26:08] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You want to know how much revenue I generated before I, uh, put in my notice? Outside of working for companies, I, you know, when I left the company and just still helping them out. How much revenue do you think I generated?
[00:26:18] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Paul, you're a superstar so easily. Minimum $1 million, dude.
[00:26:22] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Minimum 150 bucks. My wife was like, what are we doing?
[00:26:28] Guest: Christopher Ortega: For before I took the leap of faith full time like I was, I had a full time job and I was helping my friends and their businesses. I was helping them get access to capital. I was helping them with light-like fundraising that they were doing. I was helping them with investor presentations, like I was doing this as a side hustle, right? Like and that moment where, you know, I had that acquisition and I went through some other stuff and I took that leap of faith. I was like, yeah, I'm gonna confidently walk into this. So and that's the thing, man. As financial professionals, we always think about ROI in a sense of like, here's my time, here's my energy, here's my effort. Here's how that translates to dollars. Right? Change it. No no no no don't think about that. Right. Think about the impact of the return on the impact. Right. If you're doing all that stuff right, you're solving problems. You're creating value. You found your passion. You're doing all this stuff. I can tell you, man. Money, all the other things are going to come to that. What? That's what you need to validate is that return on impact first.
[00:27:34] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Well said. So I'm sure we have lots of people out there thinking, hey, do I rip the cord? Do I do this? And let's talk about some brutal truth. The most challenging thing over these last four years. What's been the hardest part?
[00:27:49] Guest: Christopher Ortega: The hardest thing for me is I had to stop thinking like a CFO and start thinking like a CEO. It's been the hardest thing. Paul is like, I spent over 20 plus years in finance, accounting, and I've been in this to build a successful business. And this is anything whether you build a fractional CFO business, a software business, a professional services, a retail business, that has been the hardest thing for me to break that mindset shift, right, is like, I have to think like a CEO, I have to think about scale, right? The hardest technical problem I've had is scale. Is scalability, right? Like coming on into the business. Uh, you know, we operate, uh, including myself. There are for other fractional CFOs, part of fresh FP and overall, there's about 40 people inside the entire organization. Most of our employees are all going to be client facing. So they're servicing the clients that we have all across the globe, uh, which is 40 plus clients that we have across the globe that we provide fractional CFO and advisory service to, that has been the biggest challenge is the scale aspect of it. But you can't think about building a business to scale from finance. You can't just always think about it from a finance perspective. Right. I had to think about scale.
[00:29:09] Guest: Christopher Ortega: When I think about resources, I have to think about scale. When I think about systems, I have to think about scale when I think about investments in those systems. Right. So that's been like the biggest challenge. And to help that I have great mentors. I have great mentors that have been CEOs of businesses that have taken businesses and scaled them. Um, I've got a great mentor that actually has, uh, he started like a fractional CFO business well before like, fractional CFO was a thing just like 20 years ago. He's a great mentor of mine, and I'm constantly seeing that the biggest challenge I have is I have to think like that, CEO. And here's how that comes together for those in finance and for professionals. When you look at the number of new CEOs that are going into business, it's double digits, those coming from the office of the CFO. Right. Most of the time it was like the sales, it was the marketing professionals. But over the last 5 to 10 years, that jump from CFO to CEO sees the C-suite jump. You're seeing more CFOs do that, and they listen. Here's a reality for all those FP&A and finance professionals. They didn't make that jump because they're great in their Excel formulas and they're doing this great model.
[00:30:27] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm not sure because they use some product. Come on Chris.
[00:30:30] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Right right right. They made that jump because they thought they're a CFO that thinks like a CEO. Ceos think like the business. They look at the business first. They look at the financials as important, but they're looking after their clients. They're thinking about their markets. They're thinking about the opportunities. They're thinking about the challenges. They're bringing this all together. So that mindset shift, whether you're, you know, in your earlier career, later in your career, thinking about how do I think the CEO mindset and build that into, like, my business acumen, my the way that I work with the business, the way I communicate, the way I collaborate and the way that I build connections, those CFOs that are getting into that sweet seat, that's exactly what they're doing. Now, don't get me wrong, they're technical skill sets. Yes, but here's the reality. Here's the hard truth. You started the conversation with the hard truth for everybody. Here's the hard truth. You heard it from me. I know it's going to be wild, but I can tell you, business professionals, CEOs, people they do not care about how cool your technical skills are. They don't. They're not going to be like, oh, my God. Like, I can tell you, in 20 plus years, I've never had a CEO, owner, or founder ever come back to me and say, Chris, that financial model that you put together that had those sales changing with those different scenarios as I was talking, oh my God, that was amazing.
[00:31:59] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That index match was the best. Chris.
[00:32:02] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah, yeah. Index match. Well, some of the stuff I've done in PowerBI has been amazing. But they expect that out of you that that's not going to that's not going to get you a particular babyface. Yeah. It's expected out of you. But what do you bring? How are you a great communicator? How do you collaborate across the business? How do you build connections? And the number one thing, how do you bring clarity for operations? That CFO, that is where you get those like the business dialed in with it. Now here's the thing. The technical skills. Yes, continue to develop. Those continue to grow. But I can tell you confidently you're going to get to a stage in your career and a seat at that table and a voice in that room where nobody cares about that. It's like, what are you doing to speak my language? How can you collaborate with me to get something done? How can you bring clarity so I can understand it? And how do you bring the connection of where I'm at to where I want to go? That is what. And this goes full circle, right? That is where AI and technology will never replace that. It will never be able to replace that context, that experience, that failure that you've had, that learning, that ability that you've gathered. It'll never replace that. To me, that is the gold mine. If I'm placing a bet in the future and you give me the ball right now. Paul, Paul, you gave me the ball and I'm about to shoot that three net. That's where we're going to net that right there.
[00:33:37] Host: Paul Barnhurst: No, something tells me I wouldn't stand a chance with you on the court. I don't play. I can't remember the last time I played. A shot of basketball now and I got on it did.
[00:33:46] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I don't I don't do it either, Paul. I don't mean these kids nowadays, man I go sit on my treadmill and look at my email for 30 minutes on the treadmill. Man.
[00:33:54] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm a treadmill guy, but I do it at home.
[00:33:56] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Nice.
[00:33:57] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So, all right, in the interest of time, because we spent a lot of time before we jumped into the show, as Chris knows on basketball. Yeah. And we do have a question for you on basketball coming up here in a minute. So are you ready Larry Legend.
[00:34:10] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Let's go.
[00:34:11] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Magic. We're gonna move to our FPGA section. So these are kind of quick quick answers. We ask guests similar questions every time on these. First one, what's the number one technical skill we need to master is for professionals.
[00:34:23] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Listening to the business and translating that to AI prompts.
[00:34:28] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I love it. We're starting to see more AI answers. What's the number one soft skill?
[00:34:32] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Number one soft skill. Uh, translating complexity to clarity for the business. For them. Understand complexity to clarity.
[00:34:40] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Communication, communication I love it. And you know when you say complexity to clarity. One of my favorite quotes is that complex is easy. Simple is hard.
[00:34:50] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Oh, that's a gold nugget right there, man. That's fire.
[00:34:53] Host: Paul Barnhurst: And it's really true. When you first start to learn the technical skills of Excel, you try to create a bunch of complex formulas. Yep. And then you realize nobody understands them anyway and nobody cares. Yeah. And then you're like, oh, how can I make this simple for them and for me?
[00:35:10] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Man.
[00:35:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: We've all been there. All right. If Excel removed one feature to feature tomorrow, which one would cause you the most panic?
[00:35:21] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I would say the integration that it has with power BI. Absolutely.
[00:35:26] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. So what would you do if that happened? You'd have to shut down. I'm just kidding.
[00:35:32] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I wouldn't shut down, but it would cause a lot of disruption. And people would be upset because they wouldn't be getting their weekly or their monthly scorecards. And they would they would not have a pulse on their business. And they here's the thing. If that stopped, they would start emailing me and my team all the questions that they needed to ask that all of our dashboard reporting, all the information we give themselves served on their phone, that's exactly what would happen that next day.
[00:35:55] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. I love it. So is that power BI integration. All right. This is a fun one. I'm curious to see where you go with this. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about FP&A. What are you changing?
[00:36:08] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Damn, that's a good one, Paul. If I can change one thing, I would change that. We would learn the business and be more strategic in how we start our processes and move to tactical, then start being tactical and try to go strategic. I would have finance professionals perfect the art form of sales and marketers who start strategically and work down tactically, then us going tactical to strategic. That would accelerate everything. The value we can do, the value we can bring, everything. I would, I would change that magic wand, start strategy, work down the tactical.
[00:36:52] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Right. So all you finance you know, leadership programs where you spend three years through the people to sales first, then bring them back to finance.
[00:36:59] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:37:01] Host: Paul Barnhurst: They're out there going what are these guys talking about?
[00:37:03] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Give them like a I think there's a show that I like to watch where it's like, uh, people are thrown out in the wilderness and they just get, like, a knife. It's like I forgot what it's called. Like it's some show.
[00:37:14] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I know what you're talking about. Like the survival shows?
[00:37:16] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah, it's like the survivor show. They're just thrown out in the wilderness, and they just. They just got a knife, right? That strategy, the tactics.
[00:37:24] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That you'll survive. You're like, I'll kill whatever I need to. Just let me live. All right, so here's the get to know you section. These are some, uh, personalized questions for you. Okay. First one, if you could enter the boxing ring. I know you're a boxer with any boxer, living or dead. Who are you gonna box and why?
[00:37:44] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Oh, man. Okay, so I got my top three. I would love to have a first person. I would love to watch a whole boxing match. Muhammad Ali I would love to watch him one day when he's training for either, um, Larry Holmes or, uh, shout out George Foreman. Shout out.
[00:38:03] Host: Paul Barnhurst: To. I knew you were going to say George. I was like.
[00:38:05] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I would love to see him train for that because that was incredible. That's who I will watch. The second person that I would love to have a sparring session with. They're actually. I mean, they're still alive, right? Floyd Mayweather. Like the defense and just what he's brought to boxing. And to have a sparring session to see how his mind works in boxing. I love to do that. Um, and the third person likes best for best. If I had to have a fight and I was at my best and my physical prime, and we were the same weight classes and I had to fight this person, it would probably be, I would say Rocky Marciano, Rocky Marciano. I mean, his record, what he brought to boxing. Uh, what he did.
[00:38:50] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Was like 90 something and one, if I remember. What was his record? Yeah. 97 one, wasn't it?
[00:38:55] Guest: Christopher Ortega: He was 52, 52 and oh, I think I think he was.
[00:38:59] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Oh, okay. I'm thinking of a different guy then. But yeah, I knew trainer Murphy was undefeated if there was one loss in there. There's not many defeated boxers.
[00:39:05] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Not too many. I would, so that's who I would want to fight. Uh, Muhammad Ali is who I want to see. Who I would love to have a sparring competition with. And just to see how the brain works. Floyd Mayweather junior. That'd be my boxing. Uh, my boxing.
[00:39:18] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Right there. Well, we covered one of your passions. We'll cover another here in a minute. I know boxing. All right. If you could have one song played every time you go up on stage, what's going to be your theme song?
[00:39:29] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Um. Superstar by Lupe Fiasco. If you are what you say, you are a superstar. Then have no fear. The crowd is here. The lights are on and they.
[00:39:44] Speaker3: Want to shout.
[00:39:46] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Lupe Fiasco superstar.
[00:39:48] Host: Paul Barnhurst: And who says finance people don't have fun? Try to top. Chris and I are mostly just Chris. I'm just here for entertainment.
[00:39:55] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I mean, when I. When I hear superstar, I think of you, Paul. Like that Lupe Fiasco superstar, bro.
[00:40:00] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right, well, now we know you're just kissing up, but thank you. I'll take it. Indiana Pacers. This is being filmed before the Big Game seven will be released after.
[00:40:12] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yes.
[00:40:12] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So a couple questions. Okay. First, who's winning Sunday? Are you still riding your pacers?
[00:40:17] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I'm going with the Pacers. The score is, uh, 110 to 102 Indiana Pacers game series. We win and it goes crazy in downtown Indianapolis. I'm going with my Pacers.
[00:40:30] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You'll be downtown with them.
[00:40:31] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Okay.
[00:40:32] Host: Paul Barnhurst: If they win it. I figured as much. No turning over cars though okay.
[00:40:35] Guest: Christopher Ortega: If we win on Sunday. Okay. If we win on Sunday, Paul I'm just going to do a disclaimer because it's going to come out. Guys. Hey, I'm sorry I'm in the news because I was, uh, downtown streaking through the quad. I'm sorry you saw Chris Ortega with his fresh FP and running through the quad streaking. I'm sorry, I made a mistake. Uh, that was a lesson learned. Opportunity.
[00:40:57] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Oh, man. Anyone who listened to this episode is gonna be like, what does this have to do with that DNA?
[00:41:03] Guest: Christopher Ortega: They're gonna be like, what? What is happening? To do? It has. It has everything to do with it.
[00:41:09] Host: Paul Barnhurst: What are they? Yeah. All right. Favorite moment from the playoffs so far?
[00:41:15] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Favorite moment for the playoffs, man. Haliburton with his clutch shots. I mean you name you pick one of his clutch shots at the end. I think his game was one of the OKC games.
[00:41:25] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's what I figured you were going.
[00:41:26] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Horrible game the entire game. I think you look at it we were only we were up when he won that game for 15 seconds. We played our worst to be at the game in the 15.
[00:41:36] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You were up for 3/10 of one second.
[00:41:38] Guest: Christopher Ortega: 3/10 of one second. There it is, Paul. Yeah. And for him to hit that shot, I think it set the whole tone of what we thought the series was going to be. Absolutely. My favorite moment in the series and the whole playoff so far.
[00:41:50] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Perfect. I love it. All right. So we're going to move to wrap up here. Going to ask for one piece of advice. And then just the best way for somebody to contact you. Learn more. If you could offer one piece of advice for professionals to be a better business partner today, If there's one thing they should do, what is it?
[00:42:07] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I'll give you the unlock. And this is. We talked about failure. We talked about starting your business. All the great conversation we had, the first piece of advice I would give you right to start building that mindset that is going to futureproof. You build more value. Listen. Take it. Go partner. Go find your sales and marketing professionals in your business, in your team. Ask them this one question. What are the frustrations, opportunities or challenges that you see in the sales and marketing organization? And here's the most important element. How can I help and support you in solving them? I have partnered with more sales and marketing professionals throughout my entire career. I have learned the most about business. I've learned the most about sales. I've learned the most about communicating value. I've learned the most about collaboration. You will unlock so many of the soft skills that we talked about. So many of those CFOs have moved to that CEO perspective. Go learn from the masters of value creation, communication and understanding business markets and clients. Go learn. Go get you learn in the business. And here's another golden nugget. Go get you a great sales and sales or marketing mentor and help them translate. How do you translate complexity to clarity? How do you build a great value prop? How do you communicate with the business? How do you collaborate? That is a superpower. That's the advice I would give. Go learn from the sales and marketers. Help them find projects where you can help them be successful and you'll learn. And here's also, you'll have a lot of fun. You'll have a lot of fun.
[00:43:57] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So I went to a CFO conference. Steve Young was the key keynote speaker and he was comparing.
[00:44:03] Guest: Christopher Ortega: The quarterback, Steve Younger.
[00:44:04] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, yeah Steve Young. Yep. And he shared the experience. He was comparing, you know, business to football. And you know what position he assigned to sales. Who they were on the field.
[00:44:17] Guest: Christopher Ortega: They were the wide receivers.
[00:44:19] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yep. He goes because they're the divas. But you need him.
[00:44:22] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Yeah yeah.
[00:44:23] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. He said the finance guys are your offensive linemen. Finance is there in the trenches there.
[00:44:30] Guest: Christopher Ortega: So the quarterback was the CEO finance the offensive lineman. What's the running back? Is that an operation?
[00:44:35] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I don't remember if he got that far in the analogy, but I would think operations makes a lot of sense.
[00:44:40] Guest: Christopher Ortega: I would say from running back as operations, sales, wide receivers, finance, offensive line, CEO, quarterback. Um, and then you got air. That is the water people there making sure everybody's okay.
[00:44:53] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I just say they're that slot receiver. They're not the kicker. You gotta have them. They can really help you out from time to time. But yeah, you know they're mostly just sitting on the sidelines.
[00:45:01] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Definitely. And the IT people are the field goal people because they get you the wins to get the points up on the board.
[00:45:07] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. Well, if someone wants to learn more about you, Chris, I know you got to run here, but what's the best way for them to do that?
[00:45:13] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Um, connect with me on LinkedIn. Just type in Chris Ortega or type in a fresh CFO. I'm all throughout LinkedIn. I do answer my LinkedIn messages. I don't have a bot that does that. If you want to learn more about Fresh Anna, check us out at WW dot fresh. F e s h f as in Frank P as in Paul A is in apple.com. Check us out. We work with all kinds of SMBs to help them grow with financial clarity and confidence. Yep. So connect with me on LinkedIn. Visit our website to learn more about fresh DNA and the value that we provide.
[00:45:49] Host: Paul Barnhurst: A perfect thank you so much for joining me, Chris, and let me know if you need me to bail you out on Monday.
[00:45:55] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Absolutely, man. If the Pacers win I'm just apologizing in advance. Paul, you're going to get a message from me and say, man, dude, like I need. I need some help, man. I need some financial pockets and, uh, advisory to get me out of here.
[00:46:07] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. Thank you so much, Chris. Real pleasure. I really enjoyed having you on.
[00:46:12] Guest: Christopher Ortega: Thank you. Paul.
[00:46:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thanks for listening to FP&A tomorrow. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a five star rating and a review on your podcast platform of choice. This allows us to continue to bring you great guests from around the globe. As a reminder, you can earn CPE credit by going to earmarkcpe.com, downloading the app, taking a short quiz, and getting your CPE certificate to earn continuing education credits for the FPAC certification. Take the quiz on earmark and contact me the show host, for further details.