🌸Shelley Maley, PHR, GCDF / Career Coach-Gen Y and Z women

𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 / 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 / 𝑱𝒐𝒃 𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕 / 𝑬𝒕𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆 & 𝑺𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉
Have you ever felt confused about your career? Or suffered from workplace burnout? Or perhaps you know which career you'd like to transition to, but you're not sure how to make that happen? Or maybe imposter syndrome is affecting your confidence level?

My personal response to all questions is YES, YES, YES, and YES. I have been in those same shoes myself! 

After years of career-related highs and lows, I created a career coaching business to help people experiencing these same frustrations. With my management and HR experience in higher education, healthcare, and hospitality, I look forward to assisting you with all things career-related.

✨ Career planning
✨ Career management
✨ Job search strategy
✨ Interview preparation
✨ Resume and cover letter consultation
✨ Career assessments and exploration
✨ Salary negotiation coaching
✨ LinkedIn optimization
✨ Personal branding
✨ Confidence coaching
✨ Outplacement coaching
✨ Etiquette and soft skills coaching
✨ Career Development Workshop design and delivery customized for your employees

Check out my daily LinkedIn posts about #mindset, #interviewing, #jobsearching, #resumewriting,  #careerguidance, #etiquettecoaching, #softskillstraining, and #workplaceburnout. 

Let me help you "Dream big, Plan well, and Work happy"! 

𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩, 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨, 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙗𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮.𝙘𝙤𝙢

𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗙𝗠𝗭-𝗧𝗩:
https://www.wfmz.com/video/sunrise-guest-dream-catcher-career-coaching/video_0cc1c757-4f81-5c0d-ad72-5ce11ef89c63.html

TO SCHEDULE A FREE 20-MINUTE CONSULTATION:
https://calendly.com/dreamcatchercareercoachingllc or email me at
dreamcatchercareercoaching@gmail.com.

Clifton Strengths - Empathy * Adaptability * Communication * Deliberative * Developer
MBTI - ESFJ
***Located in the Greater Philadelphia/Lehigh Valley region of PA***

Founder and CEO

Job burn-out. Toxic workplace. Career dissatisfaction. During my assorted careers in hospitality management, sales, and human resources, I’ve been through all of the above. I somehow navigated through each challenge on my own, but it certainly wasn’t easy. After my last transition, I considered hiring a career coach. The more I learned about the services they provide, the more I realized I had the skills, knowledge, and expertise to actually BECOME a career coach. 

Just as I reached this conclusion, an acquaintance approached me with the opportunity to join the Career Development staff at a local college. Talk about serendipity!

After conquering my own career challenges and with my experience from both sides of the hiring desk, I am uniquely qualified to assist you on YOUR career journey. Nothing makes me happier or more fulfilled than seeing others grow, realize their potential and identify their purpose.

Let me help you...
✨Dream Big ✨Plan Well ✨Work Happy

Shelley Maley

Your Finance Progression + Resilience Partner | Helping New Hires and Managers' Transitions in Finance Teams | VP of Finance | Keynote Speaker | 40 Under 40 CPA Practice Advisor

Finance teams should be able to do more strategic work to support the expanding CFO role, and still have a life outside of work. That is what my work is all about.​

Through Wharton Online, workshops, and The Diary of a CFO podcast, I share practical tools to reset how finance teams work so they can think ahead, partner with the business, and avoid burning out in the process.​

The reality is that most finance functions are still built to report, not to lead. That creates blind spots for CEOs, delays decisions for boards, and leaves CFOs without a real pipeline of ready successors.​

Over the last 15+ years, I have led finance teams across manufacturing, technology, pharmaceuticals, and now a nonprofit CDFI. The pattern is the same: strategy stays with the CFO and maybe FP&A, while the rest of the team is stuck in transactions and constant urgency, with very little time or support to actually think like executives.​

What boards and CEOs value is not more reports. They want finance leaders who can spot signals early, frame choices clearly, and influence outcomes, while staying grounded and human in high pressure environments.​

That is how I build and lead teams, and it is the lens I bring to every class, talk, and episode: practical, realistic ways to grow your impact, develop your team, and build a bench of future CFOs without losing yourself in the process.​

If you are building a pipeline of finance leaders or aiming for the CFO seat yourself and want to do it in a more sustainable way, let us connect.​

🌐 WassiaKamon.start.page
📧 Info@WassiaKamon.com

Wassia Kamon, CPA, CMA, MBA

I’ve been watching the Uncle Nearest situation unfold for months.

As a Black woman CFO who reports to a Black woman CEO, this hit close to home for a lot of reasons, but today I want to stay focused on the finance side of the story.

If you haven’t followed it, here’s what went down:

1️⃣ Uncle Nearest grew fast, with real brand power and revenue in the tens of millions. 

2️⃣ To fuel that growth, they took on a big credit facility mainly backed by whiskey inventory, with total loans crossing the 100 million dollar mark.  

3️⃣ Later, serious questions were raised about the accuracy of the numbers going to the lender, especially around inventory and liabilities. 

4️⃣ The lender sued for default and a court put the business into receivership. 

5️⃣ The founders then sued their former CFO, accusing him of overstating inventory, hiding obligations, and abusing his control over systems and equity. 

The legal process is still ongoing, but the damage to the company and the founders is already very real.  

From a finance perspective, here’s what this really shows:  

💡One role had too much control 
 
The CFO sat at the center of the numbers, the systems, and the lender relationship.

💡 Growth moved faster than the control environment  

Revenues, loans, and valuation all scaled. 
The control framework and governance did not keep pace.

💡 “I have a CFO” was enough
 
This part is uncomfortable, because it’s common. 

The real risk isn’t “not having a CFO."

The risk is assuming that having someone with that title automatically means your finance house is in order.  

💭 So what does a healthier system actually look like as a company grows? 

Very roughly:  

> Early on  

✅️ A bookkeeper or outsourced accounting to keep the records straight.  

✅️ A tax CPA to file and keep you compliant.  

> As you grow into multiple eight figures in revenue  

 ✅️ A controller or strong senior accountant who owns the close, reconciliations, and the integrity of the numbers. 

✅️ A finance lead or CFO who focuses on forecasting, cash runway, and investor conversations.  

> Once you’re in the 50–100M+ or structured‑debt territory, your team should include:
 
✅️ A CFO  

✅️ A controller 
  
✅️ A treasury function that manages cash, liquidity, covenants, and collateral reporting, with clear rules and shared control around borrowing and lender communications.  

✅️ An internal audit or a risk and controls function that tests whether your processes work the way you think they do, and has a direct line to the board or audit committee, not just to the CFO.  

If you work in finance or accounting, this may sound obvious.

It is not obvious to many people outside our world. 

A lot of founders, like in the case of Uncle Nearest, genuinely believe:

“I hired a CFO, so finance is handled.”  

So, if you’re a founder and you’re not sure whether your current finance setup fits the size and risks of your business, I’m always happy to be a sounding board.

Feel free to DM me.

CFO | Helping leaders build high‑performing finance teams in a high‑pressure world, without losing themselves | Wharton Online Guest Faculty

Most finance updates are technically correct but practically useless.
I’ve seen it countless times in CEO and board updates:

“Cash on hand is X.”
“Revenue is up Y% vs last quarter.”
“Expenses are up Z% vs last year.”

The numbers are right.

The deck or dashboard might be flawless. 

But people walk away thinking, “Okay, now what?”

After leading accounting and FP&A for over a decade, here’s what I’ve found actually helps:

1️⃣ For each metric, write down the questions or concerns it naturally raises.

Cash:
→ When are we going to run out of cash? 
→ Do we need to raise more money?
​
Revenue and Net Income:
→ Are we on track for the plan?
→ Will we get our bonus?

Expenses
→ Is our cost base getting out of control?
→ Do we need to cut or slow down?
​
2️⃣ When you share the metric, add one simple sentence that answers one of those questions.

Cash on hand is X.
→ At this pace, we have about [...] months before cash gets tight.
​
Revenue is up Y% vs last quarter.
→ That keeps us roughly on track for the plan, so we don’t need to change our targets yet.

Expenses are up Z% vs last year.
→ If we don’t change something, we’re likely to breach our margin targets or a bank covenant around [month/year].
​
Same numbers.
Different level of impact.
Because now the update actually helps people decide what to do next.

This is powerful on its own.
But it’s even more powerful when it scales.

The real cherry on top is when your entire team does this too, not just you.

Hitting publish on this episode felt uncomfortable in a way I did not expect.

It is much easier to talk about frameworks and best practices than it is to talk honestly about the hard seasons of a career.

In this solo episode of The Diary of a CFO Podcast, I open up about my 15‑year journey from staff accountant to CFO, including:

✅  The roles that came with more stress before more pay

✅  The decision to step out of people management and take a pay cut

✅  Being told I was “not strategic enough” despite being a CPA, CMA with an MBA

✅  Trying to grow a big career while raising little kids and staying present as a caregiver

If you’re in accounting or finance and you feel like you’re doing everything “right” but still not moving fast enough, this episode will give you a practical sense of what to focus on next.

🎧 Listen now Apple Podcasts & Spotify

And after you listen or read this article, I would love to hear:
👉 Which lesson resonated with you the most right now?

View newsletter: The Diary of a CFO Recap

Many finance professionals want to become CFO but have no clear picture of what the real path looks like from staff accountant to the C‑suite. This so

Open article: My 15-Year Journey from Staff Accountant to CFO: The Parts Most People Don’t See by Wassia Kamon, CPA, CMA, MBA • 3 min read

My 15-Year Journey from Staff Accountant to CFO: The Parts Most People Don’t See

Budgets are the corporate version of "This is the year I eat clean and work out five times a week."

Then it's a long day in January. 
You're exhausted. 
Someone says "Let's just grab burgers." 

You hesitate for half a second. 

But next thing you know, you're in the drive-through, window down, telling yourself this one doesn't count.

Budgets work the same way!

It's the "just this once" effect.

One skipped workout. 
One extra headcount. 
One exception for a customer. 
One project outside the plan.

Each one feels small. 
Each one is defensible. But, they add up fast. 

And by March, the budget on paper and the way money is actually moving look nothing alike.

Sound familiar?

Next month, I'm running a free webinar titled:
"Why Most Budgets Fail by March"

I'll unpack this with Michael Keller, Procurement Director at Vertice.

If that resonates, save your spot 👇

https://lnkd.in/eyKpDgpV

I watched a former employer celebrate record EBITDA for years. Then the acquisition offer came in.

And it was so low that leadership was baffled.

I wasn't. In fact, I was surprised they were surprised.

At the time, I was the controller, so I was close enough to the numbers to see what the buyers saw.

𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐃𝐀. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬.

Cash is what they stress test.
Cash is how they set the price.
Cash is the proof that the business actually works.

When companies fail, it's not because EBITDA dropped. 
It's because they ran out of cash.

This is what I wish more leaders understood.

𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.

Cash is the result of operating decisions made across the entire company. 

Pricing. Contracts. Invoicing. Delivery. Collections. Purchasing. Inventory. Hiring. Customer retention.

So can a CFO improve cash flow? Absolutely.

But not by staring at bank balances or building pretty dashboards.

The CFO improves cash by designing an operating system that makes cash predictable, protects liquidity, and forces decisions early before risk becomes a crisis.

But a CFO can't do it alone. 
They need buy-in from the rest of the executive team.
And yet, when things go wrong, they usually get blamed.

Knowing that, here's what's worked for me since becoming a CFO:

1️⃣ Build robust cash flow forecasting

A weekly 13-week view, plus a monthly 12–18 month view tied directly to debt covenants and liquidity limits.

2️⃣ Talk about cash constantly

Yes, you’ll sound like a broken record. 
Make sure everyone knows the constraints, the fast-moving levers, and that cash is a routine conversation, not a crisis one.

3️⃣ Educate your non-finance stakeholders

Keep repeating that high EBITDA is not a cash cushion, and a signed contract is not money in the bank.

I know EBITDA gets the applause. 
But cash is what keeps the business alive.

I saw what happens when a company ignores cash.
Now I make sure mine doesn't.

What's worked for you?

Finance executive working on cash flow analysis at a conference table

AI won’t fix a weak finance function.
It will expose it.

What really separates the teams that will win in 2026 isn’t who experiments with the most tools. It’s who:

✅ Redesigns workflows so work actually moves faster and smarter, not just “more automated”

✅ Invests in judgment, business acumen, and storytelling, not just dashboards

✅ Think about AI as a practical partner, not a magic solution.

On January 28, I’m going live with Paul Barnhurst  for a LinkedIn Live: 
Closing the Skills Gap: How to Build Finance Teams Ready for the AI Era.

If you lead a finance team (or want to), this session is for you.
📅 January 28
🕒 12:30pm MT / 2:30pm ET
🔗 Save your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eaFQVZBS

🔁Share this finance leader who should be in the room with us!

Your team isn’t resisting change.
They’re playing defense.

I’ve been leading finance teams and system implementations for over a decade, and this only clicked for me about five months ago after talking with Michael L. High, on The Diary of a CFO Podcast.

For years, I got frustrated when people pushed back on new processes and system changes with the infamous: 

“𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐭.”

On the podcast, I asked Mike what he thought the ideal makeup of a finance team looked like.

To paraphrase, he said to think about it like a soccer team.

💡 Not everyone is supposed to play offense.
💡 Some people are built to push things forward.
💡 Some are built to protect what already works.
💡 And some are built to connect the two.

The most important part of leadership is making sure you have the right mix of roles on your team.

That’s when it clicked.

The problem wasn’t that people didn’t want to change.

It was that we didn’t have enough people in midfield and offense to help change actually make it through.

So now, when I put a team together for a project, I look beyond skills and knowledge and pay more attention to how each person naturally shows up.

 ✅ Who is offense?
 ✅ Who is midfield?
 ✅ Who is defense?

I wish I had understood this a lot earlier.
But better late than never!

Why “Resistance to Change” Is Often a Team Design Problem

On paper, a first‑time CFO has “made it.”
In reality, many lie awake at night replaying board meetings, wondering when someone will notice the gaps they feel inside.
​
In my conversation with former divisional CFO and mentor to first‑time CFOs Kevin Appleby, that tension came up again and again. 

You get the title, the seat at the table, the visibility,
but not a new brain, not a new nervous system,
and definitely not a neat manual for what to do next.
​
You’re suddenly the person who has to:

- Tell the uncomfortable truth about risk, cash, and broken models, even when no one wants to hear it

- Turn messy reality into a forward‑looking story your board and CEO can act on

- Lead a finance team that’s expected to partner the business, while you are still working out what the role really demands of you
​
Meanwhile, you’re carrying questions you don’t say out loud:

- “Am I the only one who feels this unprepared?”

- “What if they realise how much I am still figuring out?”

- “What exactly should I focus on in these first few months?”
​
In this episode of The Diary of a CFO, Kevin and I dig into:

✅ Why you will never feel 100% ready for the CFO seat, and why that is normal

✅ What actually changes when you move from finance leader to CFO

✅ The real difference between a good finance team and a great one

✅ How to shift from reporting the numbers to truly partnering the business

✅ Imposter syndrome, risk, and being where the buck stops

✅ How to think about the kind of CFO you want to be, so you stop trying to be great at all forty five skills at once.

🎧 Episode: The First‑Time CFO Playbook with Kevin Appleby is now live!
Listen here: https://lnkd.in/eHAxAYZQ

I’d love to hear from you in the comments:

What’s something your current role expects from you that no exam or training ever covered?
​

This episode is brought to you by insightsoftware. Join us February 19th at 1PM ETFebruary 19th at 1PM ET for a webinar titled: Beyond the AI Hype: Bu

Open article: The First‑Time CFO Playbook: The First 90 Days, Imposter Syndrome and Leading the Business by Wassia Kamon, CPA, CMA, MBA • 3 min read

The First‑Time CFO Playbook: The First 90 Days, Imposter Syndrome and Leading the Business

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Brand partnership • CFO | Helping leaders build high‑performing finance teams in a high‑pressure world, without losing themselves | Wharton Online Guest Faculty

First Wednesday of 2026 and I cleared my inbox to zero, resisted my Cheetos, and I’m still Zen.

Who is this person?! 👀 

Our COO, Shanon, says it’ll only last a few days.
I’m thinking more like 3–6 months. 

Time will tell 😅

How are YOU holding up?

First work week of 2026. How are you holding up?

I'm super excited to be sharing the stage with one of my favorite people on LinkedIn, Paul Barnhurst!!!

We’ll share how AI is reshaping FP&A and controllership roles, and practical steps you can take to upskill your team in 2026.

We go live on Jan 28 on LinkedIn, so register now so you don’t miss it ⤵️

Is your finance team ready for 2026? Join us January 28 for a #LinkedInLive session with Wassia Kamon, CPA, CMA, MBA (The Diary of a CFO Podcast) and Paul Barnhurst (The FP&A Guy) as we tackle the #1 question on every CFO's mind: How do we equip our finance teams for what's next?

Here's the reality: Technology is evolving faster than ever, but your team's success isn't just about adopting the latest AI tools. It's about combining modern capabilities with uniquely human strengths.

In this session, you'll discover:
- How to build essential skills in data analytics, AI-driven insights, and advanced ERP management
- Why business acumen and storytelling remain your team's competitive edge
- Practical strategies to turn AI from buzzword to business advantage

Whether you're leading a team of three or thirty, this conversation will provide you with actionable insights to help your finance professionals move beyond tactical reporting and into strategic partnership.

Mark your calendar: January 28 📅 and drop a comment or question below if you're joining us, or tag a finance leader who needs to see this.

#FPnA #FinanceTransformation #CFO #FinanceLeadership #AIinFinance #TeamDevelopment

Jenny Wyttenbach, M.Ed., Danielle A. Schmitz and 189 other attendees

Closing the Skills Gap: How To Build Finance Teams Ready for the AI Era

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