Episode 43: You Don’t Need to Scale Like Everyone Else - A CFO’s Take on Aligned Growth

Jennifer Kok sits down with Brooke Koeninger, founder of Scale with Clarity, to talk about leaving corporate during the Great Resignation, rewriting her identity as a working mom turned entrepreneur, and what it really means to build a business that works for you. They get real about burnout, measuring fulfillment (not just profit), and how small tweaks in your numbers can have a major impact.

This episode is a must-listen if you’re a small business owner who:

• Feels stuck in the cycle of chasing growth
• Left (or dreams of leaving) a corporate job to create more freedom, but now feels overwhelmed
• Wants to understand the role of a fractional CFO and how strategic financial insight can help you Scale. 
• Needs a reminder that success is not just about scaling revenue — it’s about building a business that fits your life

Meet our Guest: 

Brooke Koeninger is a Fractional CFO and business strategist who helps purpose-driven entrepreneurs bring clarity to their finances so they can grow in a way that aligns with the life they actually want.

As the founder of Scale with Clarity, Brooke works with product-based and service-based business owners to create financial forecasts, set realistic growth goals, and build profitable businesses—without the burnout. Her signature approach blends financial strategy with mindset and lifestyle alignment, ensuring that business growth doesn’t come at the cost of personal fulfillment.

Links:

Website: www.scalewithclarity.com

Signup for bi-weekly newsletter: www.scalewithclarity.com/newsletter

Instagram: @brookekfinance

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooke-koeninger-2368b35/

Meet Your Host:

Jennifer Kok has been a small business owner for over 25 years and is now a business coach for Women Small Business Owners who are building businesses and building a family and do not want to sacrifice their families or their sanity.

She built her first business while raising young children, eventually turning it into a franchise and selling it successfully two decades later. Jennifer knows firsthand the challenges (and rewards) of building a business and a family at the same time—and today, she uses that experience to help other creative, service-based entrepreneurs do the same.

If you’re ready to move beyond the overwhelm and grow a business that pays you and gives you your life back, check out her free webinar:
3 Keys to a Profitable Business
👉 https://nextwavebusinesscoaching.com/webinar

Learn More about the Earn More…Stress Less Program
https://nextwavebusinesscoaching.com/

✨ Join 100s of creative entrepreneurs who are building smarter, more sustainable businesses—and getting paid (finally).
 It’s your time. Let’s go.

https://nextwavebusinesscoaching.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nextwavewithjen

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nextwavewithjen/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferowenskok

YouTube: http://bit.ly/2M9uX6S

Transcript

Jennifer Kok (00:01.422)
Hey, Brooke, I just love having you on my show. How are you today?

Brooke Koeninger (00:01.994)
Hi. I'm so good. I'm gonna try and like hold back the energy. You know, I've got a lot of words and energy, but I love, I'm good. I'm excited to be here.

Jennifer Kok (00:13.476)
Well, you you and I met a few years ago in a group coaching program and we just clicked. I think we clicked because our golden retrievers are both named Kelly. I mean, what are the odds of that? It did. And you know, I just resonated so much with your journey and your story. You know, you're a mom, you're a wife, you're a business owner, you're wearing all the hats, your kids are in the thick of it. And yeah, and I just feel like you've got

Brooke Koeninger (00:19.788)
I was going to say. If it wasn't that, that solidified it. Absolutely, it solidified it.

Brooke Koeninger (00:37.769)
Which you know.

Jennifer Kok (00:42.528)
such an interesting story. And so I'm so excited that you're on today and I'm excited to dive in.

Brooke Koeninger (00:47.904)
Me too, me too. I'm excited and yes, yes to all of that Jen. Like it's like when you find your people and you find your groups, it's just, makes you feel less alone. So you are one of those. So I appreciate kind of the journey and the relationship we've built since then. Cause it is, it is a journey on this entrepreneurship thing.

Jennifer Kok (01:06.046)
It is a journey and same back at you. it wasn't, mean like you and I in Voxer, you're kind of like my therapist. So I owe you a lot of money, but yeah, here we go. So Brooke, first of all, tell us for those that don't know you, tell us the name of your business and what you do.

Brooke Koeninger (01:10.35)
Same, same. We'll just call it even. about that? Yes. Yes.

Brooke Koeninger (01:22.017)
So my business is Scale with Clarity. I am a fractional CFO and strategist, I like to say, that helps small businesses. So around six figures and seven figures helps you grow. We look at your numbers as your data set, but we set your goals and kind of track our progress towards it in a nutshell.

Jennifer Kok (01:39.798)
Awesome. And how long have you been building this business?

Brooke Koeninger (01:42.133)
Man, feels like forever. So I left my corporate job in, gosh, exactly four years ago now. I was one of the great resignation. You know, they called that like during COVID and there was this big wave and it just so happened because I'd been thinking about it for a while, but I was one of those that left during COVID. I had little kids and I was like, there's gotta be something that's more in alignment with me. So I started Scale with Clarity four years ago and we can dive any way you want, but it has been a journey since then too of kind of honing in on even what that is for me because it's kind of.

Jennifer Kok (01:52.803)
yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (02:12.242)
know, ebbs and flows and you kind of continue to make the circle a little bit tighter and a little bit tighter, so.

Jennifer Kok (02:18.66)
You know, that's so interesting. All the conversations we've had, I guess I didn't realize you fell into that great resignation bucket. Where were you working? Not, you know, not the name of the company, but what were you doing before? And you said you were in corporate.

Brooke Koeninger (02:24.256)
Yeah. yeah. Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (02:32.093)
So I will just give like kind of the condensed version. We can dig anywhere you want to for that. But I was in the traditional workforce for 20 years before I left and I started in finance. So I kind of followed the path of that was my major and undergrad was finance and accounting and strategy. So I went that way. got my CPA and then I did the MBA thing and I was doing finance for big pump.

public companies for the first 10 years of my career. I pivoted slightly, because that just wasn't it really for me. And I got into consulting because I love the problem base. I love working with different companies. So I did consulting for a while, but that was a ton of travel with young kids. So there was a little bit of like, OK, this still isn't it. So I went in-house with in the media industry, actually, which was local here. And they had an internal consulting firm. So it was more strategy. It was more operations optimization. was integrating. Transformation was the big term.

kind of still is around, but that was what is this company gonna be and how do we make it that going forward? So that was where I was until April of 21 when I jumped ship.

Jennifer Kok (03:34.202)
Okay, so I think we can say probably, is this fair to say that COVID, the great resignation, all of that that was going on bombarding us was probably the launch pad for you to resign and start your own business, but something tells me that wasn't the initial root of it, that you were probably, something was stirring in you prior to that. Is that a fair statement?

Brooke Koeninger (03:46.697)
Yeah. Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (03:52.232)
Yeah, okay.

Brooke Koeninger (03:57.022)
And so I'm just gonna go a little bit on unlike you stop me, because you are hitting on such a passion point of mine, absolutely. I always say, there is 85 % of the women I know, not everyone falls in the same bucket, but that are in the traditional job. Most of them I feel like have, I'll speak for myself, but a lot of people have resonated with this. I outsourced my identity to my job and to being a mom. And so,

For me, my career was my identity. I'm gonna, you know, like I got accolades. If I could just tell what my position was and what company I worked with, that was all you need to know about me because that kind of summed everything up. And then I had kids and I told already I was traveling a lot. So it was this contrast of like, whoa, I don't know that that's what I really want anymore, but I wasn't ready to give that up. But I had kids at home and I wanted to be around more. And I was trying to figure out what is that identity and.

in an effort for that, kind of gave everything to them when I was home, because I would have to travel and I'd want to give the job. And it hit a point, it slowly was burning. You know, I'd said I kind of jumped jobs a little bit. I mean, I tried different industries and stuff and it still wasn't it. And I started turning it inward. was like, that must be, I just, I just am not going to be happy. I just don't know what I want. And I fortunately come from a family that is entrepreneurial. My dad, my parents started a business, a small business when

I was young, so I saw that aspect of small business kind of take a risk on yourself and go after that. I was risk taking in that, where that wasn't crazy to me to kind of try and leave and do what you want. And stuff did hit ahead, you're right. I couldn't articulate that it was like, Brooke, you don't know actually, you're not following what's true in your heart and you're not allowing that ego that says your career is all, you're not letting that kind of say what is an alignment.

And you're right, COVID hit and it kind of forced it out because I had a two year old at the time who couldn't go to daycare. I had a kindergartner who was trying to do remote school and then a third grader. And I was still trying to keep my life separate and then have my job in here, this office still, and pretend that I didn't have kids in the background and something had to give. And I had been thinking about it before then because here's the other thing I want to say and stop me if I'm going too deep into this is I would come home.

Jennifer Kok (05:59.29)
Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (06:18.837)
The thing that I knew was I would come home from my job and it was a position that other people, by all accounts, would be like, that sounds awesome. I was working in a, it was a network that a lot of people, like shows on air that everyone loved and I was the chief of staff at the time for that network and it was an awesomely creative group that was different from finance for me. So I was like stretching into that area and I still was like, I would come home, my husband would be like, how was your day? And I'd be like,

fine. It was this total like monotone, not awesome and not energizing and it was just fine. And I was like, I don't want the next 20 or 50 years because I don't believe I ever actually want to retire. I'm not working so that it can be done and do something different. I want my life to just feel fulfilled. And what is that? And so it was kind of this burning thing, but absolutely COVID hit and I was like, this isn't it.

This can't be it and I've got to bet on myself. I don't know what it is, but I've got to bet on myself and explore. And back to my parents kind of starting a small business when I was growing up, was like, I know that entrepreneurs wear multiple hats. And I'm used to working at big companies that have a big, huge budget and they're literally millions of dollars to consultants to come in and try different things. And I'm like, there are so many businesses that I think small tweaks.

for a much smaller dollar amount could make huge impact to them from a percentage basis. And I was like, I want to try and take that problem solving aspect that companies are spending to grow fractions of the billions of dollars and see what an impact I can make on small businesses. And thank goodness I had a husband that has the traditional job still and loves it. So he falls in that category of ones that love it. So I could take that risk, but.

Yeah, it came to a head in April of 21, but it had been a burning for a couple years of like, this just isn't it. So I'll pause there.

Jennifer Kok (08:17.796)
You know, that is just so powerful that most of us don't have time to sit there and think about what that, you were chasing something. You were chasing some kind of fulfillment, some type of joy. And I'm not saying, you know, life was miserable. I'm just saying you wanted more. That wasn't, it didn't sit right with you. And when I think back to my corporate career, you know, I loved my corporate career. It was a great job. And you know, from the outside looking in,

Brooke Koeninger (08:26.41)
Yeah. Yeah.

Jennifer Kok (08:45.034)
I was on the fast track and I was moving on up, but that meant I had to move my family every couple of years and it didn't sit right with me. And for some people, it's great. That's the thing that I think is so refreshing about talking with you is we all need to choose what works for us. Like let's stop comparing or shaming people that are doing it this way or doing it that way. It doesn't matter. If you want to work full time and travel in corporate life and go for it, go for it.

Brooke Koeninger (08:49.415)
Yeah. Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (09:01.022)
Yeah. Yep.

Brooke Koeninger (09:09.789)
Yeah. know what?

Jennifer Kok (09:13.75)
We should be applauding you. But for you, there was something missing. And I give you kudos for listening to that, enter. And maybe we should just thank COVID for coming around because maybe that's what kind of boosted you to take this leap of faith in yourself.

Brooke Koeninger (09:17.033)
Thank you.

Brooke Koeninger (09:22.92)
Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (09:29.354)
It's so crazy the 180 or the like kind of the dark and the light side of that too, because obviously we don't, COVID was horrible in so many ways, but what it did, at least for me, and I know a lot of people, it forced you to pause. Like I couldn't go anywhere. had, and some people started businesses out of that, because they're like, I'm gonna create content, know, things that you couldn't even imagine. But for me, I had to kind of sit here and be like, in the busyness of life with kids and a busy career, you can just kind of, you get on autopilot and you go, go, go. And when you're forced to stop and be like,

Jennifer Kok (09:35.618)
Right. Right.

Brooke Koeninger (09:58.611)
Do I love this? Sometimes it catches up to you on a vacation or something when you finally stop, but then you're just like, you're close to burnt, you're like just in recovery mode during the vacation. So to have that prolonged period of like, I need to pause. And I was like, this isn't it. And this is what I do credit my parents because they've taken those risks. And no, that wasn't like starting the business wasn't like, great, our life is awesome now, but.

that muscle about being like, it's caused conflicts sometimes with my husband because he's like, can we just be like, be happy? But I'm like, there is a life and a world and a job where I am not always like great, but I am given energy by it. I am like excited about waking up. And certainly there's aspects of it that I don't. But what I love about what you said too is I think so much in well schooling, certainly the traditional path I followed, but now even

starting your own business. There's so much out there that's like follow this framework and this will be it or especially in my line of work, you know, from a finance perspective grow X amount and that's going to get you the next thing. But the heart of it is and what has been my whole journey is like it's the most it is the deepest amount of therapy you could possibly do because you have to figure out what you like. It's so unique for everyone. And that's where I like starting with clients. And I feel like everyone should is like that journey when you first start out of like and it's always changing probably to is like

What do you like? What is fulfilling to you? What are your goals? Is it your individual and your family? And you said to like, someone turned me on to this values exercise. And I used to like, again, my brain is like numbers and black and white. And so was like value. Okay. It was so eye opening because I didn't even know my values. So you said to like, you don't want to travel with your family. And I feel like some people love that. Some people don't. And there's no right or wrong, but it's like, get to know yourself as opposed to what people say you should, you know, like this is the path to happiness or

In my traditional job, what I got used to was getting, you know, you quarterly feedback. So it's like, here's what you need to work on and to get to the next step. So it kind of shuts down that internal view of like, what do I want? What do I want to improve on? So like, I like what you said too, the path to success and happiness and starting your business and growing it in a way that you want is so unique for everyone. So you've got to really tap into that, which has been the hardest part for me over the last couple of years.

Jennifer Kok (12:14.08)
absolutely. I mean, when you become an entrepreneur, there's so much personal development that goes with it. And sometimes outsiders, like my husband, will look at me and it's like, what book are you reading? Like, what even is that? Yeah. But we need to do that because we become the personal brand and it becomes, you know, like I think the word identity that you mentioned earlier is so sharp and powerful.

Brooke Koeninger (12:19.075)
Yes. Yes.

Brooke Koeninger (12:24.079)
Yes, I mean, yes.

Brooke Koeninger (12:35.291)
Yeah.

Jennifer Kok (12:38.81)
You know, what is our identity? Are we known as, I used to be known as the cookie lady when I owned the cookie and cupcake business. Well, and people said to me after I sold that business, you're going to struggle because your identity was a cookie lady. But thankfully I was ready to transition at that time. So I didn't struggle when I lost that identity. But I think you're right. It's very hard to really go internal, look at where we're, you know, what we want, what.

Brooke Koeninger (12:41.755)
Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (12:49.285)
Yeah, yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (12:56.017)
Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (13:01.964)
Yeah.

Jennifer Kok (13:07.652)
does our lifestyle look like and how do we contribute? So let's talk about that a little bit. You and I have talked about this before where when you leave corporate life and you start your own business, all of a sudden the metrics become very different. You know, we had a boss and you your quarterly review and you got your 3 % raise and you got your 10 % bonus and everything was very numbers driven, very task oriented, very accomplishment oriented. Well then you move into entrepreneurship where one month you got a great month and the next month it's like crickets.

Brooke Koeninger (13:07.803)
Yes. Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (13:26.791)
Yeah. Yes.

Brooke Koeninger (13:34.843)
Yep.

Jennifer Kok (13:36.384)
And if we aren't working on that personal development, we can start to really beat ourselves up. And you and I have kind of talked about this before. So as you started building out your business, how did you keep yourself going during those initial months, years, where you felt like you were just talking into a black hole and nobody was responding? And how do we overcome this result-oriented approach? Any thoughts on that?

Brooke Koeninger (13:40.552)
Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (13:45.498)
Yep.

Brooke Koeninger (14:01.607)
I, yeah, yeah, a lot. And I want to start by being like, this is coming from a place of still working through it, still going, but at least I always say awareness is the first step. So it's like, you get dragged into those highs and lows and you think that is it. Like, I'm never going to work in this business or, my gosh, the business is going to be perfect forever. And so kind of doing that enough, you take this awareness of like, okay, like I'm going to ride it. So, so still in it too. and

So many things, like you said. So stepping out, I always say the first, you can have a very clear idea of what you want your business to be, whether it's service-based, whether it's a product-based, similar to me, I want to help small businesses, I want to do functionally what I've done before. the first phase of, sorry, pause, mute, sorry, my phone. The first phase of starting a business in your...

first six figures or first year, whatever it may be. It is so much about what is your energy, small little baby tests. And of course I can say like, let's, you the frameworks that's gonna work to your business and you know, what like numbers you want. But I wanna start with like the energy and what you like because you can grow a business around what resonates with you. But it's those micro tests of like, do I like this client? Do I like this specific service?

Do I, does this marketing strategy, do I wanna do online selling or do I wanna do a brick and mortar? know, like there's, how do I wanna go to market? There's so many different ways and you can find all the books that'll tell you the startup, but I always feel like those first, getting to the first six figures in a business is micro tests and you've gotta measure your own energy, your own happiness level. And that for me was like, okay, I like this. And it separates success from a test. So what I mean by that is like when it didn't work,

And I still struggle with this. Sometimes you and I talk all the time. So by the way, as a side note, find your people. That's a huge thing. But when it doesn't work, I would be like, I chose the wrong thing or like this is I've spent months, know, two months developing this and it's not going to work. if I reframe it as like this is the test and now I've learned and now it's the next thing, just kind of like you do in business anyways. But when it's about yourself, it can feel so personal. It can feel so much like you're failing or whatever. And so I always like to say so.

Jennifer Kok (16:04.13)
Right, yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (16:26.468)
long-winded way of saying those first six figures, you are testing and proving out very small microtests of what you like and what the market is going to take from what you want to deliver. And once you get to that point, then we can talk about growth in the metrics, I think, in other ways. Does that resonate for you too? Is that?

Jennifer Kok (16:42.286)
You know what? I love that mind reframe because you're saying, let's test it out, which it's true. You're right. It's a test. And every company, whether they're a bazillion dollar company or a $10,000 startup, is testing. We're always testing. But for some reason, like you said, it becomes personal as entrepreneurs, as our baby. And so we focus so heavy on the results. So yes, I love that mindset reframe. And the other thing I always tell my clients too is, wins look differently.

You know, if we get so focused on the dollars and we get so focused on the number of clients or the, you know, the conversion rate of every discovery call or whatever it is, we can lose the big picture wins, which are the impact you're making, how you might be just changing somebody's day, you know, the joy that you're bringing into someone's life. You know, usually when we go into business, we're trying to solve a problem or help somebody. And I think we underestimate the impact of that because we're

Brooke Koeninger (17:22.351)
Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (17:27.812)
Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (17:34.565)
Yep.

Brooke Koeninger (17:39.994)
Yeah.

Jennifer Kok (17:40.0)
used to it, right? We've been talking this lingo for 20 years, whatever, and we have to realize that somebody might be watching that's a few steps behind us, and that could be all the difference between them making their business work or not work.

Brooke Koeninger (17:49.336)
Yeah. And it'll come around in like six months. You never know what you're saying six months later or a year later they're going to come back. And we've now been at this long. You've kind of seen that evolution too of like that's what's going to happen. So, and the other thing too, Jen, you were touched. Like it's these micro tests, but it's also, it's what are you? So, so many of my clients are saying, you you reach a certain goal, whether it's your first six figures, your second six figures, you're at seven, you know, whatever it is.

Jennifer Kok (17:57.827)
Yes.

Brooke Koeninger (18:17.669)
And you're like, now I'm gonna grow to the next amount. But without the pause, and this is where you, me, kind of bringing on an advisor that's pivoted from let's forward look is like, what do you wanna grow and why? And so a lot of my clients just are ready to get to that next revenue level. But what that means is you've gotta bring on more employees or you've gotta launch a new product or service. And is that actually what you want? Like, why are you in business? And it's that next level. And that's what the...

you know, kind of introspective work and what are you doing? And at every point when you get to this, this next milestone is why are you doing that? You know, and is it really growth to your point? Do you want to grow more? you having an impact that you love and you're able to have like a work-life balance that's great? Like maybe that's it. And maybe your kids are young and for the next five years, that's what you want to do. And then you want to grow. So it's always checking in on that and like, what are we actually working towards and what are we doing? And then we, at least in my line of business,

we back into what does that look like from the numbers and what makes sense on how to grow and how do we make that happen. But it's starting with like why actually you in business and what are your actual personal goals? Your business should support that. It shouldn't be the other way around, which I think is what often ends up happening.

Jennifer Kok (19:29.368)
You know, that's such a refreshing approach because I think society has us trained for, we're always looking for the next. What's the next game? What's the next? What's the next? And we're not content. We're not happy. And we're not looking at the back at the wins. And it's very easy to get in a trap there because when you start to think like that and you're, then you start chasing and now you're working harder. And I've had a few clients say to me, I want to max out my profit. I want to grow and pay myself really well, but I don't want to manage employees.

Brooke Koeninger (19:36.164)
Yep.

Brooke Koeninger (19:58.188)
Yeah.

Jennifer Kok (19:59.81)
And that's OK. But you know what? That is a different path. You're only going to get so far until you have to bring in some other people. know, chat GPT can only do so much for you. But I think it's so powerful and so confident in yourself when you know that. But it is hard to give yourself permission to say, I just want this, and I'm good with this. I want to continue to cultivate it. I want it to grow in a way that's profitable. But I'm not looking to scale.

Brooke Koeninger (20:02.829)
Yep.

Brooke Koeninger (20:06.627)
Seriously,

Brooke Koeninger (20:15.746)
Yeah.

It is.

Brooke Koeninger (20:26.156)
Yeah.

And that's why, like for me, I actually found, I wrote down my 2025 goals in December, which kudos to me, because that is a relatively new thing too. I practice what you preach, right? So I wrote down the 2025 goals and I've been in this season, you and I know, of like, like the last month or so being like, I wish I could do more. And all these ideas, they come as you're an entrepreneur. You're like, so you're always thinking, like there's so many other things you could be doing and ways that you could grow your business. And I went back to that piece of paper and I was like,

Jennifer Kok (20:39.726)
Right.

Brooke Koeninger (20:56.515)
I am almost, I've almost checked them all off already. And what if I just gave myself a chance to just breathe for the next like three to four months? What does that feel like? And what came up for me was like, you can't do that. Like lack of productivity. Why are you just gonna be lazy? Like lazy comes up to me and I'm like, but that's why I left my corporate jobs. Cause I can make those decisions. So one, was writing it down on a piece of paper. And so I can go back to that and be like, I'm actually there. The other thing that's been a struggle for me and I work with a lot of my clients is because I'm,

And I'm naturally numbers driven. That is what shows me success. I'm like, okay, did I make the next thing? And that shouldn't be because I, like you said, I have young kids at home. have, you know, I have a husband that's working crazy too. And I'm like, I want to be present. I want to be fulfilled in each of my days. And so that measuring happiness and measuring fulfillment is so hard because it's not a hard black and white metric, you know? So it's like, you gotta be like, I think this is what it is. Let me see how I'm feeling in the moment. And then

pivot again too, you know, but like that's been the hardest is because it's not like numbers are easy to say, you know, like I know if I've made it or not, but it's like that internal check-in, which is so, so hard.

Jennifer Kok (22:02.895)
Yeah.

Jennifer Kok (22:08.35)
I love that. That inner talk is so brutal. So let's talk about what you have are building. You call yourself a fractional CFO. Can you kind of explain to us what that term is? You know, I love this fractional world we live in. I see it all over them. Fractional marketing, fractional CEO, fractional CFO. And it's very popular. So tell us a little bit about what that means and who it's really meant for.

Brooke Koeninger (22:09.877)
It's.

Brooke Koeninger (22:26.454)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm gonna break it down a little bit, because I feel like CFO and even any of those seats, like you said, fractional, chief marketing, operation, it feels so, at least from my clients or small businesses, it's like, I'm not there. In my mind, it's like a corporate term or whatever, but any of those, but I'll speak to CFO in general and specifically. What that means to me is,

We are working, we are forward looking, and I am your partner and your strategist to say, where do you want to go in your business, just like we've talked about? And when we figure out who you are, what you want, what your goals are, then we layer in the finances underneath and we make sure you're going to get there through your projections, by tracking your cash flows. And we say, is this where you're going to go? Now, I think what some people think about is like, OK, you know, see, and there are some out there, CFOs that are like, you got to grow 20 % every year, you know, or you need your

cash on hand to be, you know, six months of, you know, whatever it may be. And there's certainly benchmarks and metrics we can do, but it starts with what you want. And essentially it's accountability partner to grow there. And so for me, I've chosen the kind of early seven figure businesses that I think I can impact. And I have products for people that are earlier stage, but you could find a CFO for anything. Some focus on investor, like if you want to bring in money and, know, like investors.

Some focus on specific industries. And the thing I love about Fractionals, we'll talk about that a little bit, is it hits on what I love about kind of where the industry and where kind of work is going in general. It used to be you had to be in this traditional work setting, so this is really like kind of meta brings it all around, but there are so many people that have such amazing skills, and I'll talk specifically also to kind of like with young kids that can't be in this setting. And I think you can take your skill set and

Brooke Koeninger (24:19.925)
when you have a business that is in an earlier stage of growth, they don't need a full time nor can they afford a full time. And so you can tap into these skillsets at a much smaller fractional of the rate, but also you need an hour a week or four hours a week. And so if you can think about what your business wants, there's somebody out there and it doesn't mean you gotta hire, bring them on full time. And the other thing too, to your point is a lot of people are talking like, I don't want employees or I don't wanna manage that. So.

It's kind of like bringing in a contractor that can help you with that too. So I also love that for the aspect of people that are burned out. I'm like, there's such a world, there's so many people that need what you're offering and you're like become a fractional and work with a bunch of clients. So I love it for both of those reasons too, but I know that answers your question.

Jennifer Kok (25:01.529)
Right.

Jennifer Kok (25:05.114)
It does. You and I are both very, you know, we focus heavily on the data tells the story of your business. It doesn't matter if you're super creative and you are an artist or you own a, you know, a product based business. The data tells a story. And a lot of us jump into entrepreneurship and we're so focused on sales, sales, sales, and we're focused on marketing and customers and networking. And at the end of the day, the last thing that gets our attention

Brooke Koeninger (25:18.306)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (25:33.419)
Yeah. Yep.

Jennifer Kok (25:34.466)
as our financials. And that seems like upside down because, and it works for a while, you know, that's what kind of gets us going. And there's just one of you starting a business, can't do everything, but at some point you have to get serious about looking at your numbers. And I know there's a lot of fear around that. You know, I say there's like two camps. There's the avoider who's like, shoot, it's the end of the quarter. And my, you know, my accountant says like, I'll look at my numbers and my fractional CFO says like, I'll look at them. And then there's the obsessor who's like,

Brooke Koeninger (25:40.223)
Yeah. Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (25:50.241)
Yeah, yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (25:55.153)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Brooke Koeninger (26:00.566)
Yep.

Jennifer Kok (26:03.918)
gosh, I can't keep doing all these things, but I can't spend a penny to hire somebody. So bringing in somebody with years of experience, like you have degrees, finance, all the things, can make the difference between being profitable and not being profitable. So tell me kind of who you love to work with. I know you said people that are scaling to seven figures, but if for somebody listening, how do they know that they need a fractional CFO? What are some of the kind of

Brooke Koeninger (26:05.771)
Yes. Yes. Yes.

Brooke Koeninger (26:18.719)
Yeah.

Jennifer Kok (26:32.89)
kinks that are happening or the hiccups that are happening in their everyday business where, you know, having a discovery call with you would make sense.

Brooke Koeninger (26:38.004)
Yeah. Yeah, I think usually so the trajectory that I see is like we talked about. You start a business, you get your first six figures, you're micro testing, you're figuring it out. You might not even have a bookkeeper yet. Then you get to a point where like, I can't keep track of all of this anymore. And it might happen a lot earlier. You bring on a bookkeeper, which is

rear-facing. It's looking at what's already happened and it's more compliance. I got to get my books in order and you have maybe a CPA that's doing your taxes. So everything is kind of like to your point, check the box. And a lot of times it can feel constricting because it's like, just am trying to make sure the IRS doesn't come after me, essentially. And what's starting to happen at that point too, a lot of times is cashflow issues. If you have a seasonal business, it's highs and lows or you're trying to grow, but can I...

bring on a new employee, should I raise my prices? You're thinking of all these things that are happening. And you have an idea of a lot of the businesses, they haven't very clear, they know what their bank balance is. You're looking at it maybe every day, every other day. You're like, I know I gotta make payroll in three days. How am I gonna bring the cash in? But what is not often happening is the forward looking. There's kind of a gray area when you get to that.

multiple six figures into your seven figures. You're looking, you're forward looking, you certainly have goals. You're like, I know I wanna grow by this, I wanna be maybe another salesperson that's gonna grow my business, but you haven't brought it down to that next level, it's still gray. So what you're not doing is saying, how am I actually gonna get there? know, like what does that actually look like in terms of cashflow? When can I actually bring on that salesperson that's gonna help me do this and what am I gonna pay them and what's gonna be that impact? And so when you start...

You've proven your business model out. You know you can bring in, you know, sales. You're looking now forward and like having those questions about like, what can I afford? When should I bring this on? Should I, you know, like, should I do this new software? Can I afford this? All those type of things. That's when I say it's the optimal time to bring on somebody. And a fractional CFO like myself or anyone else, you can have, you have levels. So I offer different services. Like we can meet once a month. We can do bi-weekly sum. I'm in there week, like we are.

Brooke Koeninger (28:46.535)
I am deep in your books, but it is about looking forward and saying, what does that look like? And we actually map it out. So at a baseline, most CFOs, they're gonna help you say, what is our projections? What does my cash flow look like at a very specific level? What do I have outstanding in my work and process that I haven't built yet so I can expect this cash in? When is it coming in? And so it gives you kind of this, this.

baseline of really what do you make these decisions based off of and a really good CFO is going to bring that back to your goals. They're going to make sure that like, what are your actual goals that you said personally and are we working towards that? So they're going to kind of be that mirror to you. And the last thing I'll say about that is like, because numbers can feel so constricting because you're used to it being like, let me just not get in trouble and I don't have the cash that I want to do now. It's always kind of this like negative feeling.

just like we talked about the personal goals, like how I wrote them down and I'm like, my God, I'm meeting them. And none of those goals, by the way, were financial. They were like projects that I wanted to launch, how I wanted to spend my day, things that I wanted to do. And so when you really get clear on from a projections and a financial standpoint of where you wanna go with some like real strategy behind it, it can be really exciting and freeing because now you have a path to get to that ultimate happiness, the ultimate fulfillment that you want your business to be.

and your business is working for you again and you not for your business. Because one other thing I'll say, I'll get off my horse is, oftentimes you get in this reactive mode of business and you're like, okay, I gotta grow. you and I have talked about this and it's like 85 % of entrepreneurs oftentimes aren't paying yourself as the last thought. It's like, I'm gonna replow this into the business, I'm gonna invest in this, I'm gonna bring another employee, but like.

That's not actually the life that you should be building and why you're in business. You can really, really enjoy this. So I love that the finance aspect can be an unlock and an exciting thing if you're with the right person and you're looking at it the right way and bringing a person on when you're looking at that growth and not after it's been too late. And you're like, now I don't even, I'm way in debt and I don't know how to get out of this.

Jennifer Kok (30:52.904)
my gosh Brooke, that's amazing and I see why you called your business Scale with Clarity because you're helping people be proactive, not reactive. So Brooke, how can listeners get in touch with you? What's the best way to connect with you?

Brooke Koeninger (31:04.168)
So Scale with Clarity is my, excuse me, is the email address or the website. So www.scalewithclarity. am on Instagram. It's Brooke K. Finance because nobody can spell my last name. It's crazy. And I will say I have a newsletter going out. So if you are an early stage entrepreneur, haven't potentially even brought a bookkeeper on yet.

I'm trying to reach and help people who maybe aren't ready for services yet. So I have a bi-weekly newsletter. So go to my website and get signed up for that. And then a podcast is coming. I'm launching it at the end of June that will also touch on a lot of this stuff too. lots of information. Thank you.

Jennifer Kok (31:41.22)
Thank you. I love it. And I will put all those links in the show notes. Thank you for being vulnerable, for sharing your story. And I really feel how you talk about aligning your life and building a business that works for you and aligns with you is something that more of us need to spend some time kind of marinating on, journaling about. And I hope people listening will take the time to do that. So thank you so much for sharing. It's been awesome having you.

Brooke Koeninger (31:50.496)
Yeah.

Brooke Koeninger (32:02.245)
I hope so too. Thank you for having me. This is great. I love this. I love this. Thank you.

Jennifer Kok (32:15.962)
Good stuff, now hold on.