How FP&A Pros Build High-Performing Teams through Trust and Problem Solving with Jesse Mishler
In this episode of FP&A Tomorrow, host Paul Barnhurst welcomes Jesse Mishler to explore what it takes to build a thriving FP&A function grounded in purpose, people development, and strategic problem-solving. From military discipline to corporate finance leadership, Jesse offers a rare blend of operational rigor and emotional intelligence. His reflections on transforming real estate spaces, empowering teams, and navigating financial complexity will resonate with finance professionals and leaders alike. This episode dives into the evolving role of finance in shaping organizational culture, driving performance, and making workspaces more human-centered and impactful.
Jesse Mishler serves as Senior Vice President of FP&A at Carr Properties, where he oversees corporate forecasting, executive reporting, and strategic financial planning. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran with over two decades of experience, Jesse brings a mission-driven mindset to FP&A leadership. He is known for building high-performing, people-first finance teams, championing cross-functional collaboration, and implementing innovative planning tools like JEDOX to drive operational efficiency. With a master’s in real estate from Georgetown University and a passion for continuous learning, Jesse’s leadership reflects both financial precision and personal authenticity.
Expect to Learn:
How military principles like integrity and resilience translate to corporate leadership.
What makes FP&A a strategic hub, not just a back-office function.
Why developing people is one of the most fulfilling aspects of leadership.
Key operational metrics in commercial real estate and how they guide decision-making.
The power of curiosity in becoming a better business partner.
Here are a few quotes from the episode:
"FP&A should be the hub of the company, connecting insights, strategy, and communication across the business." - Jesse Mishler
"The most rewarding part of my job is seeing others grow and surpass even their own expectations."- Jesse Mishler
"Sometimes the most impactful help you can offer takes less than five minutes, it starts with listening." - Jesse Mishler
Jesse shared powerful insights into how leadership, resilience, and curiosity can shape a successful FP&A career. He highlighted the importance of problem-solving over perfection, the value of building trust through authentic actions, and the transformational impact of investing in people. From leveraging real estate finance to fostering team growth, Jesse’s advice offers practical, inspiring takeaways for finance professionals aiming to elevate their strategic influence and lead with integrity and empathy.
Corporate Finance Institute:
You know the numbers. Now it’s time to own the story.
The new FP&A Professional (FPAP) Certification from CFI is built for finance professionals who want to lead with insight-not just report the data.
Learn more at: https://corporatefinancialinstitute.pxf.io/c/6003589/3067930/23723
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LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessemishler/
Company - https://www.carrprop.com/
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Earn Your CPE Credit
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
[03:58] - What Makes Great FP&A
[06:05] - Lessons from the Marines
[09:01] - FP&A as a Problem Solver
[12:36] - Why Real Estate Finance
[15:23] - Key Metrics in Real Estate
[18:41] - Choosing & Using JEDOX
[22:54] - Developing People in FP&A
[30:41] - Leadership & Trust
[36:26] - No.1 Technical FP&A Skills
[41:02] - Favorite Hobby
[47:08] - Closing Advice: Be Curious
Full Show Transcript
[00:01:18] Hello, everyone. Welcome to FP&A tomorrow, where we delve into the world of financial planning and analysis, examining its current state and future prospects. I'm your host, Paul Barnhurst, aka the FP&A Guy, and I'll be guiding you through the evolving landscape of FP&A. And for each week, we're joined by thought leaders, industry experts, and practitioners who share their insights and experiences. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting your journey in FP&A, this show has something for everyone. This week, I'm thrilled to welcome to the show Jesse Mishler. Jesse, welcome to the show.
[00:01:58] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Thanks, Paul. It's great to be here. I'm looking forward to this.
[00:02:01] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. I'm really excited to have you. I know it's been a long time coming, as you welcomed a new grandson to the family. So we. We rescheduled things a little later, and I'm sure it's been a busy time for you.
[00:02:14] Guest: Jesse Mishler: It has, I appreciate that. I still think I'm far too young to be a grandfather, but I appreciate it, you know, nonetheless.
[00:02:20] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Don't we all as we get older? And you said I was like, you know, just the other day, my wife and I took my daughter to therapy. And the therapist, you know, she's young enough to be our daughter, and it just kind of hits you, like, when did we get this old?
[00:02:34] Guest: Jesse Mishler: When did this happen? My wife and I, our test has been when we tell people we're grandparents. If they don't act shocked and surprised, we're deeply hurt. We're expecting everyone to say, "That's impossible.
[00:02:45] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, that's what you want, right? Uh, I get it. Fun world we live in. It's exciting. But yeah, it's amazing how quickly it goes. All right, so a little bit about Jesse I'm going to go ahead and read your background here. So Jesse is the senior vice president of FP&A at Carr Properties, where he leads the company's financial planning, long-term forecasting, executive investor reporting and analytical activities of the company. With over 20 years of extensive corporate finance and leadership experience. Jesse has a broad background in FP&A investor reporting across public, private, and international markets, strategic analysis, ERP system implementations, capital raising, project management, and business process optimization. Prior to joining Carr Properties, Jesse served as a consulting manager at Real Foundations and as finance director at Car America Realty Corporation. Jesse is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and received his master's in real estate from Georgetown University. So, as I mentioned, I'm thrilled to have you here. I love the background, and I like to start every interview with this question. How would you describe great FP&A?
[00:04:02] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah, that's a great question. I don't think there's necessarily a one-size-fits-all all answer or definition, but at a high level, I think of FP&A as the hub of the company. Right. The hub that, you know, through FP&As financial expertise, insight and knowledge of the business. And, you know, hopefully using effective communication, they're able to provide insights, analysis and recommendations that will help empower the organization to achieve or even exceed its goals.
[00:04:33] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I love to achieve or even exceed his goals. I definitely think that's an area we can help. And the hub. And then, yeah, I think the first people that have acknowledged right up front, look, there are a lot of different ways you can define this. It's not great. FP&A can be different in one company from another. I appreciate that, but as you look back over your career. Can you think of maybe an example where you've seen a great FP&A in action?
[00:04:56] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Excellent question. And since I've, I've been at my, you know, own company or car properties. It's not been my company for, you know, almost 20 years. I hesitate to give a plug for myself, but when I was thinking about this, I thought about the, uh, the FP&A hub Paul, which I think is something you're heavily involved in. And I've been trying to spend more time there. And for me, just seeing all these people who are passionate about FP and who are learning from each other and wanting to grow and become better at their trade. To me, an excellent example of great FP&A because they're, you know, they're doing this on their own time and trying to become better at their job. And to me, that motivates me and gets me excited about the profession.
[00:05:36] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thank you for sharing that. And there's definitely something to be said that, you know, a huge part of great FP&A is trying to make ourselves better, write the best FP&A professionals invest in themselves.
[00:05:49] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Absolutely. I think you know. Never stop learning, right?
[00:05:53] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, right. We all hear it, but when you see it in action or when you really experience it, it's amazing how much you can learn if you're open. You started your career in the Marines. I'm curious, how has that helped you and guided you as you've gone into finance and FP&A kind of that Marine Corps background?
[00:06:14] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah. Thank you. It's funny, when I was in the Marines, my parents and others asked me, how does this translate to anything outside of the Marines if you're not going to be, you know, throwing hand grenades the rest of your life, how will this actually help you? And I found time and time again that what I learned in the Marine Corps translates, you know, to my everyday life over and over again. You know, the Marine Corps, the values they have, their core values are honor, courage and commitment. And that is something, you know, it's not only applicable to Marines. I think it's applicable to everyday life and work and your personal life. Their timeless principles. And you know, as it relates to my career, a few things, you know, stand out for me. One, I can do hard things. It doesn't make me special, but I learned that in the Marines that they put challenges in front of you that seem impossible. And through that, you learn you can do impossible things. You can do hard things. We can all push ourselves much farther than we realize. Don't give up. It's so easy to quit, right? They don't let you quit. And they push you and push you until you learn. Hey, I can go to this next level. I had a place I didn't think I could in your life. Live with honor. Integrity that was drilled into us from day one. And that no task is too big or too small. The details matter. So I draw on that strength that I gained from the Marines whenever. Hey, maybe it's a budget deadline or a board meeting coming up and people will say, you know, there's no way we're going to make this. This is impossible. How do we do this? I draw on that strength and say we can do hard things. Don't quit. And inevitably, we'll get to the other side. So it's it's been incredibly valuable for me.
[00:07:58] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thank you. Well, first, thanks for your service. I mean, I appreciate anyone that serves their country. It's a great sacrifice. And then I really love how you said it's helped you realize you can do hard things that look. I did this in the Marines. They pushed me to my limit. Okay. Board deck. Only a few hours. We can figure this out. May not be perfect, but there's no reason we can't get there.
[00:08:21] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Exactly, exactly. It's not quitting in life. I think showing up and not quitting is huge for everybody.
[00:08:27] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I agree, and sometimes it also, you know, kind of puts things in perspective. Right. Military service. There are some huge things on the line when things go wrong okay. Yeah. A meeting started five minutes late. Is it really that critical in the big scheme of things. And usually the answer is no. But sometimes it feels like it's life, and death is. You're working on it?
[00:08:47] Guest: Jesse Mishler: No, of course, of course it does at the moment. But being able to step back and to your point. See, the bigger picture is very important.
[00:08:55] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. No, I totally agree. So when you and I chatted ahead of time, we talked a little bit, you know, before, uh, recording here today, you mentioned how, in your view, you know, finance and fab is really all about problem solving. Can you elaborate a little bit on that?
[00:09:09] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah, absolutely. I think problem solving is really where a lot of the value creation comes in. Right. Because listen, it's one thing to be able to provide a variance analysis or produce a nice chart or um, you know what, whatever is on your plate that day. But it's entirely another thing to actually figure things out, solve problems, you know, provide recommendations, and move the ball forward. In my opinion, it doesn't matter how good you are at Excel or put it together with a PowerPoint deck if you're not actually solving problems that matter. Um, you know, in my own career sort of things, I realized early on that what has helped me tremendously is, you know, to be the person who says, we'll figure it out. Right. Because so much of what we're presented with, it's a problem that needs to be solved. And there's a thousand reasons why it won't work and why it's not your job and it's someone else's department and you don't know how. But to be the person that says, hey, we're going to figure this out, we'll solve it. Just give us some time, I think is invaluable. I don't know about your experience, but with me, with people who report to me when I present them with something, if I get an answer, that's, hey, I'll figure it out. And five questions, I'll come back and talk to you. It's so refreshing. Right. Versus all the reasons why they can do it or why it can't be done.
[00:10:36] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. I totally agree. That attitude of look, we'll figure it out. And you know, there's always that balance. There's times when you may have too much on your plate and say, look, we gotta adjust something or change something, but they have that conversation with you instead, I can't do it because of this and this, and there's just no good answer there. And our date is terrible. It's like, okay, I didn't ask you to come give me 50 problems. I asked you to help me find a solution.
[00:10:59] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Exactly. And I'll be right there with you, and I'll work with you on it. And you know, we'll solve it together. But. But don't lead with no lead with you. We'll figure it out.
[00:11:08] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, it's kind of like when you partner with the business, they. When you lead with. No, you just withdraw from that emotional bank account, as I like to say. And at some point you're going to be in a negative balance if you keep saying no. So lead with look, there's some challenges with that option. We think there are some other things we may be able to do or whatever it is, but try to lead in such a way that you're helping them realize, I'm here to solve the problem, not just be the know police, as we're often called.
[00:11:35] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Exactly, exactly. And those problems. And if you reframe them as opportunities. I think it changes your whole perspective and ultimately the outcome.
[00:11:44] Host: Paul Barnhurst: No, I agree, I was interviewing somebody the other day and I think you'll appreciate this if I, as I mentioned, you know, how do you hold so-and-so accountable? I think what sells was I asked a guy and he goes, don't look at it as holding them accountable. I look at it as how do we help them achieve their targets and our targets? And I love the way he reframed that, because it really is. You're still there's still an accountability element. But he's like, that's not how I view it. I view it as the shared goal of how do we achieve it? And accountability is just an outcome of achieving that. And that really struck me as I hadn't quite thought of it quite that way.
[00:12:18] Guest: Jesse Mishler: No, that's a great way to frame it. How can I help you win?
[00:12:22] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, exactly. Everybody wants to win. If you tell someone, hey, I'm here to help you win, they're going to be a lot happier than. Hey, I'm here to, uh, say no, because that's what we do in finance.
[00:12:32] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Right? I'm here to give you a task. Ask for something and say no.
[00:12:36] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. So you've spent a good part of your career in the real estate property industry. I love what you like about that industry? What's kept you kind of in that industry so long?
[00:12:47] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah. And one thing about real estate that I really, um, find valuable is outside. Outside of finance. Just real estate specifically is, you know, seeing an area transformed is very rewarding, right? To go to see a city block, perhaps it's a, you know, a neighborhood that's lacking in opportunities and maybe there's, you know, high crime or whatever. And to be able to transform that one block and create space where people can live, work and thrive is very rewarding. Part of my job. I mean, I'm not the guy building the buildings, obviously, or even selecting the locations, but I do take pride in being part of that team that is able to, again, transform a block, block by block and ultimately hopefully transform a city.
[00:13:35] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Now that's really cool. And I'm sure there's times you've driven by different projects and been like, ah, I was involved in that. And you can see it come together. And there must be an aspect that's very rewarding when you're able to look at it. And okay, that made that area of the city or that town or wherever it may be better.
[00:13:53] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Absolutely. And then on a micro level, just the buildings themselves. You know, we asked ourselves post-Covid, right. So everyone's used to working from home. They like being at home. They have all their amenities. How do we make our buildings a place where it's better than their home? Right. If they said, how am I? I have all the food and drink that I want. I have all these, you know, all the creature comforts. How can we create spaces that are as good or better than someone's home, a place they want to be, a place where you know they can thrive and be the best version of themselves while at work. And so we've really worked hard, you know, over the last few years to, to transform our buildings into places where people can, can really thrive.
[00:14:37] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. But that's really cool. And I love that you guys have kind of taken that challenge of how do we help people want to be at work, right? Want to be in your properties?
[00:14:47] Guest: Jesse Mishler: As I said, it's not just, you know, I think in the past, people thought of it as this box where you just go and work versus, you know, a place that has clean air, for example, you know, breathe clean air. There's been studies that make people more productive. Right. There's great fitness. There's great amenities, food and beverage, etc. a place people want to be.
[00:15:07] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. No, I've worked with some companies where they definitely have some of those things that make me want to be there more than others. Oh for sure, for sure. I do know what you're talking about. And so, you know, I've been with car properties for 20 years. I'm curious, what are some of the key operational metrics you like to look at as you're kind of assessing the health of, you know, the real estate industry? What are those key things you're looking at?
[00:15:31] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Sure. I mean, there's a number of metrics that we look at. Um, you know, in my role on assessing the health of the business on a consolidated basis, you know, which is different from, say, our investments team. They're sure they're evaluating individual deals. Right. But in my role, I look at things like our same store NOI or net operating income growth, as well as our FFO growth, our funds from operations. Look at that. You know, sequentially versus budget versus our forecast. Is the business growing very focused on our debt metrics, or is our leverage look like we are appropriately levered and then unique to commercial real estate. Right. Looking at our customers. They are referred to as tenants by many companies. We prefer customer concentration. You know, do we have too many say co-working companies or retail IT etc.. Looking at the industry, the location of Vacation. And then also, you know, we're very focused on our margins, right. Looking at our bottom line and seeing how we can be more efficient. How can we have more of our revenue drop to our bottom line? I mean, there's so much that can go on and on. Our least percentage. Our occupancy percentage. But, I think the ones I mentioned are the key kind of core metrics that we focus on.
[00:16:51] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And not surprised to hear you say always trying to be more efficient and figure out how you can get those margins up. Right. I think that's true no matter what industry you're in, we all like to have a healthy margin.
[00:17:05] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Of course. Of course. There's always, always someone saying it can't just be better. Why aren't they? Why aren't they as good as, you know, this pure competitor or this other building? And that's always the challenge.
[00:17:15] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yep. And yeah, I say you appreciate it and see it in a different light when it's your own business. Having, you know, done that the last few years is looking at it going, oh, I need that number to be higher. Now I really appreciate what they were telling me.
[00:17:30] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Exactly, exactly. And I think that should be, you know, a fun project where you can get creative in how we do this? You know, there's many, many ways to come at it and there's always a solution.
[00:17:42] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, there's a lot of creativity in FP&A an opportunity to develop different solutions. And that's one of the things I've always enjoyed about it.
[00:17:51] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah, absolutely. It's um, yeah, it's one of the misconceptions, right, is that it's just you're just crunching numbers, but it's much more than that.
[00:17:59] Host: Paul Barnhurst: The idea that we're bean counters or whatever you want to call it, right. We've all heard the jokes, especially if you started in accounting and work your way up. I did not start in accounting, but I've heard all the accounting jokes. Oh, yeah?
[00:18:12] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Me too.
[00:18:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, I'm sure you have. So, you know, we talk about solutions. You know, one of things in FP&A that everybody struggles with is, hey, do I build everything in Excel. Do I use a tool? When do I go? How do I manage all this? And now one thing we know is data isn't decreasing. It's only increasing every time we turn around. You know, more complexity, more challenges. I know a car. You guys decided to implement JEDOX. That's, you know, the tool you decided to use. I just love to look at. How did you guys end up with JEDOX? How's that been? How is that going to help you as a company?
[00:18:46] Guest: Jesse Mishler: So we went through a very, you know, extensive process where we tried to evaluate all the best tools that are available. We probably spent too much time evaluating, but we were a little risk averse. But after that long process, you know, there's so many great companies out there, as you know, and so many great tools. It makes the decision difficult. But we ended up selecting docs and, you know, there were a few drivers behind that. Um, one just it's a very powerful and flexible tool with Excel like features. So we're a heavy Excel shop and uh, it gave, you know, our people comfort knowing it still sort of felt like they were in an Excel platform, but not right. Something that's far more, more powerful and robust. JEDOX is a highly flexible tool for building, you know, bespoke planning models. The learning curve was not too steep. And, you know, to my surprise, it was able to integrate with all of our systems. So our ERP system, we used JD Edwards our budgeting and forecasting tools. I don't know if you've ever been in the experience where a salesperson comes in and tells you our, you know, tool X can do this, this and this and only find out later once you've purchased it. Not that they were lying, but it wasn't as simple perhaps, as they presented it. And the realities have been very different. Yeah. And I have to say, with Jada, we presented all the different tools that we use. And some are very unique to real estate. And I was somewhat suspicious that it would actually work, that they would integrate successfully, and they did it seamlessly. We were very impressed with that, and every tool that we used can now integrate with docs, so it makes our planning that much more accurate, efficient. We can trust the data and we're not spending the time that we were previously.
[00:20:45] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. And that's one of the time is a big one right.
[00:20:49] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Absolutely. You know, I mean it's saved us so much time where we can focus on more, you know, value creation related work versus doing these ten Excel workbooks all tied to each other and where's the error. And yeah. So I mean but again going back to that kind of Excel look and feel that that has made it easy for us to integrate. Mhm. Um you know their customer service has, has been, has been excellent. We call them probably way too much. You know what about this. And they've been so great about working with us to come up with different ideas and solutions to any problem we've presented. So I can't say enough good things about it. They continue to evolve as well. They're introducing, you know, an AI component that, you know, we frankly don't fully understand yet, but we're in the early stages of trying to digest that and see how we can use that in a car. But yeah, it's been an amazing, you know, tool for us and has helped take us to the next level.
[00:21:51] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's great. And I'm glad it's worked out. And that's really what you want. Sounds like you really did your homework. As you said. I may have spent too much time in the evaluation phase, but I'd rather spend too much than too little and fail in implementation. Right. You because that that's a lot more painful to fail that implementation than to be a month or two late.
[00:22:11] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Oh, exactly. Exactly. Especially when you're, you know, your CFO or perhaps your board is skeptical about spending those dollars. Right. Do we really need to spend this? We really need this tool. And you sell it on the fact that you do. And the last thing you want is to make the wrong decision and, uh, have to go back and eat some humble pie and say, either we're not using it or we need a different tool. Now, that's thankfully not been the case.
[00:22:35] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. When you invest a bunch of money whenever you have to go back and say, we didn't get an ROI, that's never a fun position to be in. I don't, I don't care what it is.
[00:22:43] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah, exactly, exactly.
[00:22:45] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So I want to shift gears. When we chatted, one of the things you mentioned that you love doing is developing people. That's something you've really enjoyed in your job. What is it that you enjoy about developing those you work with? Why is that been something that's been such a key part of your career?
[00:23:02] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Listen, I, I enjoy a, I enjoy, you know, have enjoyed building models and all the things that go into that, that, that part of what we do. But I found over time that really, um, the most rewarding part of my job has been seeing someone come in, you know, learn, grow, move from. How do I say it? Following orders. Right. You have a new employee. Come in. Sure. To do it, they have to go back to my Marine Corps days. They salute and say yes, sir and do it right. And to see the progression from someone going from that space to, you know, seeing them grasp the concept, but then coming back to me and saying, well, you told me XYZ, why aren't we doing ABC? And here's an idea I have and we can make this better. And to watch that process unfold to me is just, I don't know, it's very, very rewarding. I think part of it might be in my DNA. So my dad was a professor at the University of Minnesota, and I think maybe I inherited that from him, that satisfaction of seeing the light bulb moment when someone grasps a concept and builds on it. I was sending someone recently, I'm at the stage of my career now where people are, you know, getting younger and younger. I'm getting older and I'm teaching them, but they're also teaching me. And that to me is just, you know, so rewarding.
[00:24:27] 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.
[00:25:31] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I love that, and I think one thing you mentioned there is those light bulb moments. Not much beats that. Those are some of the best moments in life when you just see somebody get something or accomplish something at work or personal. There's just something rewarding when you help people achieve.
[00:25:50] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Absolutely. Well, sad. I mean, it's like, yeah, like a proud, proud parent, right. And, uh, and to see them, you know, get, get passionate about it and want to do it better and come up with new ideas. It's energizing for everyone, I think.
[00:26:06] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. Well, it's much easier to manage than the people that aren't performing, that aren't doing things and that you're struggling to figure out how to motivate them versus people you can help guide and that want to be successful. Makes it makes their jobs a lot easier.
[00:26:21] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Absolutely. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more.
[00:26:24] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So, you know, you mentioned a lot of people you have worked with have gone on to have very successful careers. Why do you think that is? Is there something maybe specific that you've done over your career or why that's happened?
[00:26:37] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah, that's a great question. It is not one thing. I guess if I try to simplify it, you know, I think I hope that I encourage people to, to learn and to grow and, uh, and push them to be their best. Right. In other words, I tell people, don't get complacent. Don't get comfortable. You're never we. You are never arriving. We're never done. So, you know, keep pushing yourself. Keep learning. Keep asking questions. Keep growing. And, you know, I think that's been part of the success of people that have worked for me in the past is I don't let them stop. You know, and and you get to that point where it'd be in my best interest to, to keep all those people working for me because they're all the kind of performers. Yeah. But I think one thing I've figured out is don't be afraid to let them go. I tell them, I, you know, my hope for you is you take my job or you go out. You know, we're a relatively flat organization. If I'm if you can't kick me out yet, then you go find another place where you can keep growing and keep betting yourself. I think that's been part of the success I've had in managing people.
[00:27:49] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, I agree. People want to feel like you're there to help them achieve where they want to go. I've worked in situations where they're like, well, no, I can't let you go. You're too good. You can't go over here. You can't do that. And it feels like it. So basically it's about you. That's how it kind of feels. And I know sort of they may be trying to do what's best for the organization. And there's times you can understand it, at least in the short term. But when there's that long term of, well, we just don't want you to move, it's like, okay, is it about, you know, your needs and just getting today's needs met, or is it really about what's best for everybody? Because in the long run, developing people is always best, even though you lose some great people.
[00:28:33] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah, 100, 100% because. Right. It's not fair to them, you know, to try to just keep them, you know, help it make your life better. Right? I think it's our job to just like, again, back to your comment about being a parent. It's our job to help them be the best version of themselves they can be. And, you know, release them and see where it goes from there.
[00:28:53] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. Release and then praise it. They, uh, they do it right.
[00:28:57] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Exactly, exactly.
[00:28:59] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So any advice you'd offer to kind of first time managers for trying to figure out how to manage people? Because I think that's one of the hardest transitions we do in our career. You're all of a sudden this individual contributor, you get promoted because you did a great job on your own and it's like, oh, here's your reward. Figure out something completely different.
[00:29:17] Guest: Jesse Mishler: That's so true. No you're right. It's really hard to transition from being a high performing doer, right? Being a manager. And not everyone is meant to be a manager or leader. People. Right. That's one of the challenges I've seen in my career is this person's a great performer. That's to promote him to your manager. And either it's not what they want or they're not very good at it, which that's okay. Everyone has their strengths right. Mhm. You know, but the advice I've given to people who are new in a leadership position is, I think first and foremost to stay humble. I don't let it go to your head. Um and that's the time you know, humility I think can be, uh, confused with, you know, being meek or not being a strong leader. And I believe strongly that you can be humble and strong at the same time, but they're not mutually exclusive.
[00:30:09] Host: Paul Barnhurst: The best leaders are humble. I believe there are exceptions, maybe, but I think on the whole, your best leaders are humble.
[00:30:16] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Absolutely, yes. I tell them to stay humble. Um, you know, try to listen more than you speak, you know, set clear goals for your teams, make sure they understand your direction. And building trust, I think, is key, right? For people to really go above and beyond. They have to trust you. They have to trust that, you know, you know what you're talking about, that you're have your best interest.
[00:30:41] Host: Paul Barnhurst: And so what are some of the things you can do to earn their trust? Because you talk about how that's really a key, right. Great leaders need to earn the trust of their team. How do you earn their trust? What are the things you've done that have helped you earn? Earn the trust of those who work for you?
[00:30:57] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah, a few things come to mind, right? I think first, I mean, they just need to know you're competent, right? That you know. Idea. No, I think we've all been in positions where maybe there's someone in a, you know, senior role to us, and we're not quite sure they know what's going on.
[00:31:12] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You wonder who they know or how they got there. Yeah.
[00:31:16] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Exactly. So I think first they have to know, okay, you have an understanding of the situation. At least you know what you're talking about. And then I think beyond that right. They have to know that you care. You care about them. And when I say care, I don't just mean care how productive they are. Obviously productivity is important, but beyond that you care about them as human beings, that you see them for who they are. And they're unique individuals that also have lives, you know, outside of the office and, well, there's, you know, lines there that get blurry. You want to understand that, hey, I know you're a person and you have personal challenges and we're here to work. But there's also, you know, your life outside of work and that you care about them and their growth professionally and personally. So I think, you know. Yeah. Competency. Caring. Um, and just kind of, you know, being authentic, they can see you in action. You know, I mean, one thing that really impressed me at my company, um, early on is we were getting ready for a board meeting, and we were just running behind, and there was a lot to get done and something as simple as just putting the materials together. I saw my boss and our CFO come out and start punching holes in paper and making binders. And to me, that I developed even more trust and appreciation for him at that time. Like, he doesn't have to do this. He could just yell at us, why aren't we done? Right. But instead he came out and said, ah, what are we doing? We got binders to make. Let's all roll up our sleeves and make binders together. And I mean, that was years ago, and I still remember it. Right? So that kind of behavior of being authentic and demonstrating we're all in this together. Even though I may be. I'm at this level. Speaks volumes.
[00:33:03] Host: Paul Barnhurst: We all have a huge appreciation when we see that senior leader that will get their hands dirty with the rest of us when needed. Like, if they're prices, they're just not up there from the front telling everybody to go work. And then, you know, sitting back and relaxing, they're the first one with the shovel or whatever it may be. They're there at the front saying, let me demonstrate how we get through this together.
[00:33:23] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah. No, 100%. I mean, I can't say it as artfully as many have before me, but, you know, people aren't always just following your words, right? It's your actions. Authenticity repeated over and over again. People see it and you can't fake that.
[00:33:37] Host: Paul Barnhurst: People notice when you're what you're doing, even when you don't think they are. They notice.
[00:33:42] Guest: Jesse Mishler: No 100%.
[00:33:43] Host: Paul Barnhurst: And if you don't believe that, just wait til you have kids, right?
[00:33:48] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Oh, that's so true. That's so true. They're watching all the time.
[00:33:54] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, they definitely are. And listening. But that's another story. All right. So last question I'm going to ask before we kind of move into our standard sections where we have a few questions we go through, you know, as you look back over your career, is there maybe one specific experience you could share of watching someone to develop that went on to great success, or maybe a story, maybe they struggled at first or whatever, but is there something that comes to mind that maybe you could share with us from as you look back over your career?
[00:34:21] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah, I mean, there's not one particular story I think that stands out, and I don't want to necessarily name any names, but sure.
[00:34:28] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, no name, all the names. This person was really good at first and then that was good.
[00:34:33] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Exactly. Don't hire this person. Here's their name. Okay. No, but it is one of the through lines through my career that I've been, you know, most proud of. I've had people who started me, as you know, junior analysts and associates that, you know, are running their own companies today or serving as principals in very highly successful companies. And, you know, we stay in touch. And it's very rewarding for me to think that I had some small part to play in their success. You know, our HR director pulled me aside not too long ago and asked me, you know, Jesse, to make sure you're still happy here and engaged and, you know, are you? Does it bother you at all that there's some people that have worked for you that are now, you know, running their own company somewhere and couldn't be further from the truth? I'm elated. I'm thrilled. I mean, I'm happy to see their success. And why wouldn't that be right? I think that's if I can look back at my career and think of, you know, that I have a successful career. It'd be seeing, you know, how many people who I had the opportunity to lead went on to have amazing, successful careers and, um, yeah, that's that's what I can hope for.
[00:35:43] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Well, you know, I say, as I've listened to you talk about it, I can see why they've been successful. You put it clear to me you put your team first and you focus on helping them achieve things. And that's a sign of a great leader. So I'm not surprised to hear you say you've seen a lot of people be successful, and you take a great satisfaction in that versus the type that, oh, why are they being better than me?
[00:36:05] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Right, right. I mean, it's human nature. It's easy to do. Right? But it's to step back and look at the big picture and it's rewarding.
[00:36:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Uh, well, thank you for sharing that. I really appreciate that. And I think people can learn a lot there from what you've shared around leadership and just developing people. All right. So this is our FP&A section. These are some questions we ask everybody. So first one what is the number one technical skill that FP&A professionals should master.
[00:36:33] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Number one technical skill. Even with all of the new tools out there, with AI, with everything. If a person starting their career today were to ask them that question, I would say Master Excel. And I know forever. We tried. We tried to get away from it. I've been in so many, you know, seminars and. Read literature and listen to podcasts where people say, you got to get away from Excel. I don't know if we're ever going to completely get away from it. And I think being able to build a strong financial model in Excel is key to someone's success. I mean, there's obviously so much more that one can learn. Sure. But to me, that's the foundation.
[00:37:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. And you and a lot excel in financial modeling are number one. And number two most often answers. So I'm not surprised to hear you mention both of them. What about soft skills?
[00:37:23] Guest: Jesse Mishler: So I think you know it's communication right. I think communication is both, you know, verbal and nonverbal. No matter how good you are at building that model and working in Excel, if that doesn't translate to providing your board of directors, your investors, whoever your audience is with actionable, you know, material that they can digest and understand, it's a low value. Right. So to me it's communication. That's a tough one I don't know. Let's see. There's one feature because my answer was going to be if they took Excel away I would panic. Yeah.
[00:37:59] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Well yeah I think the tool went away for sure.
[00:38:02] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah. Yeah. This is going to be maybe not the most impressive answer because as I've evolved in my career, I'm, I'm, I personally am in Excel less and less. Um, you know, I'm reviewing models, but, uh, again, I'm even embarrassed to say it because I don't think it's that high a tool or a function. But I like the X lookup feature. I just use it a lot. It's flexible. It's easy to use. Most of the models are things that I've, you know, built recently. Um, those are few and far between. I found myself using the, the, the X lookup for its flexibility. And yeah, I know that's not the most high speed answer, but it's.
[00:38:41] Host: Paul Barnhurst: No.
[00:38:41] Guest: Jesse Mishler: It's good.
[00:38:42] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm a big fan of that. That function. And everybody has a different answer. We get some, uh, all kinds. That's the. That's the fun of it. I never know how somebody's gonna answer that question. That's what I like about these. All right. What is the biggest misconception you think people have about FP?
[00:39:00] Guest: Jesse Mishler: And I think there are there are many a few that come to mind would be that it's a, you know, it's a back office function. Right? You're just back there crunching numbers and not contributing, uh, you know, to revenue creation, to adding value to the company that you're either just crunching numbers, finding ways to to cut costs or, you know, um, preparing budgets. Maybe that's, you know, that would be the highlight of my thing as well. The only time they look forward is when it's budget time. Otherwise they're just looking back and, you know, again, crunching numbers and trying to take things away from me.
[00:39:38] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yes. Take things away. That's definitely one that, uh, unfortunately we have a reputation of doing and unfortunately I've had to do a few times, but that's definitely not the job.
[00:39:49] Guest: Jesse Mishler: No, no, not at all. I think one more that comes to mind is that it's boring, you know? Oh, you know, what does Jesse do? He's the Excel, you know, quasi accountant numbers guy. I don't really know, you know. Um, I mean, it's such a funny story. When my kids were younger, they had, you know, brought your parents to work or school, rather, you know, and we have in our community, we have neighbors that are FBI agents and, you know, various interesting professions. And sure, I asked my daughters if they wanted me to attend that event at their school. In no uncertain terms. They said, no, wait, what do you do? Like you're just like, work in Excel or something and like, no, thanks, you know? Um, so I think even in my own family, there's misconceptions about the nature of the job.
[00:40:33] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. No, I, I fear if I asked my daughter what I did, I'm not sure what the answer would be. Although I don't do as much of the work in Excel and PHP and today it's a lot more to talk about. So it is definitely different, but.
[00:40:46] Guest: Jesse Mishler: It should invite you to her school event.
[00:40:48] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm sure we'll find out hopefully one day. Yeah, yeah, I might get that. Yeah. No, dad, all you do is talk. That's boring stuff. All right, so now we have a section. We're just gonna take a couple minutes to get to know you a little bit more. Kind of. On a personal level, what's a favorite hobby or passion? What do you like to do in your spare time?
[00:41:07] Guest: Jesse Mishler: It's kind of a nerdy, weird answer, but I like to run. I like to jog. Um, you know, just to get out and be by myself and and run.
[00:41:16] Host: Paul Barnhurst: The reason I was late was I was picking up a run this morning.
[00:41:21] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Yeah. There you go. Hopefully it was you who did not clear your head. It does for me. So I like to do, you know, running events that push my limits. And I use the term run slash jog because I'm not fast, but I'm training for another marathon right now. I like those endurance testing events. I've done some Tough Mudders. Mutters. Things were harkening back to what I was saying about the Marines. Can I do this? Pushing myself to my limits and also when I'm running is when I do my best thinking. I mean, I come back from runs and have ideas about work. You know, how can I change what I said in this meeting? Or, you know, personal matters? It's when I do my most sort of meditative, you know, thinking.
[00:42:02] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thank you for that, I appreciate it, and I can relate. I've, uh, I've run some marathons and I haven't done a Tough Mudder, but I've, you know, got the opportunity to challenge myself. And it's a great way to do it.
[00:42:14] Guest: Jesse Mishler: You're too smart to do a Tough Mudder. My wife's like what's wrong with you. Why why why do you do it. Find something else. Like why. Why are you crawling under barbed wire and through fire? There's better ways to prove herself.
[00:42:26] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You know what one person loves? Another person thinks they're crazy. So we all. There's. There's something out there for all of us. The beauty of this world. Exactly. All right. If you could have any superpower, what would you have? What would you pick?
[00:42:41] Guest: Jesse Mishler: That is probably your most difficult question to answer because it's thinking about all the superpowers out there. I think maybe the ability to, um, to heal people. I would say either physical or mental illness. You know, me personally, without going too deep, I've, I've had far too many, you know, friends, family members that have passed away. In my opinion, you know, far too early from battling various diseases. I've had people that I know care about that have been really, you know, destroyed by mental illness. So I think, you know, the ability to bring healing to someone's life, be that physical or mental. It would be an incredible superpower to have that.
[00:43:23] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That one touched me. Having lost family members to mental health issues and, you know, seeing the pain of where they just feel hopeless and you want to be able to help them so that. Exactly. That would be amazing to be able to do that. And there are ways we can help. Unfortunately, sometimes it's not enough. We'd love to be able to just take that bird 100%.
[00:43:44] Guest: Jesse Mishler: It's. I've had the same, you know, similar situations in my family. And it's a helpless feeling. And we can only do what we can do.
[00:43:50] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yep. After all of it, it's tough to watch. You know, you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy, let alone someone close to you.
[00:43:59] Guest: Jesse Mishler: That's what I would do.
[00:44:00] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I thank you for that answer. I really like that one that touched me deeply because I can relate a lot to what you were saying there on a very personal level. All right. So we got one more kind of question. Learn a little bit more about you. Then we'll wrap up here. So we just got about 2 or 3 minutes left. All right. So if you could have any job in the world for one week, it could be a specific job or a person's job. Up to you. What job would you have? What are you picking?
[00:44:26] Guest: Jesse Mishler: So I'm not saying this to win points with my wife, but I would pick her job. She ties this kind of tie into my previous answer. She's a mental health therapist. She's a counselor.
[00:44:37] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Are.
[00:44:37] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Okay. She focuses primarily on people with trauma. And, you know, well, I think my job is important, and I enjoy it. You know, sometimes I will compare and contrast. I'll talk about my day and she'll talk about hers. And I think, you know, I see firsthand how she is really helping people, you know, recover their sense of well-being, find hope, heal marriages, you know, heal relationships. I think it's got to be such amazing, rewarding work. Challenging. But, uh, I told myself, you never put your head on the pillow at the end of the day and think, what did I do today to make the world better? How did I contribute? You just know that you did. And so I would probably, uh, try her profession.
[00:45:17] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Great. Great answer. I'm sure she'll, uh, she'll appreciate that one. I hope she listens this long. Right.
[00:45:24] Guest: Jesse Mishler: Exactly. That's just about all. Yeah.
[00:45:27] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. You know. So, last question before we let you go here, if you could offer any advice to our audience to be a better business partner today. Better a business partner. What would be that kind of parting advice you'd give them?
[00:45:42] Guest: Jesse Mishler: I think the most important thing would be to be curious, to be curious, to ask questions. You know, get out from behind your desk, get to know the other business units in your company. Learn about their challenges. Um, that was something that took me a long time to learn. In my career, I was glued to my desk because it was always too much work and not enough time, and someone pulled me aside once and said, like, it was embarrassing. They said, do you know that person's name over there? And I couldn't answer the question. So it was just so in my own financial bubble. And so being curious, trying to understand what other business units are doing, and what other people are doing will help. I believe one becomes a better business partner because you learn about what you know, what's going on in operations, what's going on in, you know, air. And sometimes I find how much value we can add with something that takes less than five minutes of our time, right? I was asking our HR, you know, leader about a challenge she was facing, and she said, this file I have or I have to put in this payroll information and all these mistakes. And I looked at it and everything was hard coded and and just doing it very simple, you know, adding a few formulas. It took me two minutes, but for her, it was like I had done the most amazing thing, right? How did you know how to do that? It's incredible. You saved me hours of time. So just by asking questions, being curious, I think can really help become a better business partner.
[00:47:08] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Great. That is. I would 100% agree. Be curious about how you learn the business. All right. So we'll go ahead and put your contact information in the show notes. You know your LinkedIn profile. So if anyone wants to reach out and I just want to close by saying thank you I really enjoyed chatting with you. I think it was a great conversation. And I can tell you all you really care about your staff, and I think there's something that everybody can learn from this interview. So thank you so much, Jessie. I really appreciate the time.
[00:47:38] Guest: Jesse Mishler: No thank you, Paul. I appreciate you having me on the show. I've really enjoyed it.
[00:47:42] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Oh good. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
[00:47:44] 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.