In episode 38 of Everything is Up, Tammera Hollerich welcomes Brooke Lively, a finance guru, author, and founder of Cathedral Capital. Brooke shares her journey and insights into success, discussing her company Cathedral Capital, and the virtual world we live in post-COVID. They also delve into the challenges faced by small business owners in managing the financial and administrative aspects of their business.
Tune in to hear their insightful conversation about success that will inspire you to take things to the next level.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:02:00] Cathedral Capital's Backstory.
[00:09:26] Challenges of Running a Business.
[00:13:32] Balancing Profit and Flexibility.
[00:30:08] From Panic to Profit.
[00:33:24] Family-Owned Business Stakeholders.
[00:38:03] Seventh Book and International Bestseller.
In this episode, Tammera Hollerich and guest, Brook Lively, delve into the concept of profit and emphasize that it extends beyond monetary gain. They explain that profit can take different forms, including financial profit, time profit, and reputational profit. Tammera and Brook also discuss how entrepreneurs should consider their personal goals and values when determining what they want from their business, as it is not always solely about cash.
Additionally, Tammera and Brook discuss the significance of hiring experts and delegating tasks to small business owners. They highlight that small business owners often find themselves overwhelmed with handling every aspect of their business, leaving little time for personal life. While small business owners may possess the intelligence to learn and manage all the financial and operational tasks, it is not an efficient use of their time. Instead, they recommend that small business owners focus on their areas of expertise and delegate other tasks to professionals so they can free up time for themselves and avoid making costly mistakes.
QUOTES
"We bring this expertise to them and we know when to push them and when to say, OK, now's the time to kind of take your foot off the gas a little bit." - Brook Lively
"I had a mentor tell me once and very early on and bless him because he said, ‘If you're not the expert, you go get the expert.’" - Tammera Hollerich
“So I think we tend to look at things through a lens that maybe we don't always have all of the information that we should have had.” - Tammera Hollerich
"So when you're talking about entrepreneurs working all the time when you're talking about hiring the expert to get your time back, that is a form of profit." - Brook Lively
"When you can make decisions with data and with somebody helping you that has the expertise, that has that knowledge that you're talking about, that academic background, You only make the decision once, right?" - Brook Lively
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Tammera Hollerich
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TammeraHollerich
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammerahollerich/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thollerich/
Brooke Lively
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boo.lively.3/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookelively/
WEBSITES
Everything Is Up: https://everything-is-up.simplecast.com/
Tammera Hollerich: https://tammerahollerich.com/
Intro/Outro00:01 - 00:17
Welcome to Everything Is Up, a podcast about the real life stories of people who have created extraordinary levels of success. These are conversations with people who are constantly striving to take things to the next level. And now, here's your host,
Tammera Hollerich00:21 - 00:46
Until everything is up with Tammera, I am ecstatic to have my home girl with me today. Brooke Lively right here from Fort Worth, Texas. So welcome, Brooke. Thank you so much for joining me. I have not had a home person on my show. So you are like this is a treat for me to have a Fort Worth girl.
Brooke Lively00:47 - 00:50
Well, it's a treat to do a Fort Worth show. We should have done this in person.
Tammera Hollerich00:50 - 01:25
We should. Well, you know what? Literally right before I jumped on, I said we could do this in person. Like we are so close. I mean, we're both on the kind of the far west side of town. And I was like, we're like a mile or two away. Yeah. So I'm like, but who knew? Right. Who knew? Until I get you guys on the show. And then it's like, oh, but again, I mean, even from being from Fort Worth, we probably could have just done it in person. It would have been a lot of fun. Yeah. So well, but here we are in virtual world. I think sometimes we live in virtual world these days post COVID. Have you been on virtual a lot since COVID?
Brooke Lively01:25 - 01:34
Actually, my company has always been virtual. So for 12 years, we had zoom accounts before the pandemic.
Tammera Hollerich01:34 - 02:00
Before Zoom was cool, right? Yes, before Zoom was cool. Before Zoom was cool. So, Brooke, your company is Cathedral Capital. You are an author. You are a speaker. You are the finance guru from what I have researched. But when I saw the name of your company, Cathedral Capital, I'm like, there has to be a backstory. Yeah.
Brooke Lively02:00 - 04:32
Okay, cool. There is a backstory. And I have to say, it's one of those, those things that I needed a company name really fast. And when I graduated, when I when I finished grad school, I went to work for a hedge fund, and I thought I was going to start a hedge fund. And so we're like, ooh, Cathedral Capital would be a great name of a hedge fund. And I had been living on Cathedral Avenue, and I had had there's this hike in Colorado up to Cathedral Lake, and so Cathedral was really special to me, and Cathedral Capital just made sense, right, for this hedge fund. And so I bought the URL, ended up not starting the hedge fund, and then I needed to start this company, and I needed a company name like yesterday. I was like, well, I got this URL, I'll just use that until I come up with something better. Yeah. And 12 years later? 12 years later, here we are. So we actually just went through a rebrand. And we're using our URL is calf cap. So we're just calling ourselves calf cap all the time, because everyone thinks I'm going to loan them money. Ah, I'm not loaning anybody money. Yeah, I was gonna say, I'm gonna help you make more money. But yeah. So it's, it's really all about a hike I took one time up to Cathedral Lake. And I've done it a few times. And the first time I did it with one of my friends, I didn't make it. Oh, I stopped, like, literally about 350 yards from the lake. Oh, no. I had no idea. And the next time I went, I went with my sister who had done the hike a lot and was very experienced. And she knew when to push me. She knew when to let me rest. She could tell me what was coming up. And with her help, I made it. And we're fractional CFOs. That's kind of what we do for our clients. We bring this expertise to them and we know when to push them and when to say, OK, now's the time to kind of take your foot off the gas a little bit. And this is what you're going to see coming up. And this is what we need to prepare for. And this is what we need to do to help them get to their destination. And so that the name worked really well for what we did.
Tammera Hollerich04:32 - 05:30
Yeah, I mean, it's perfect, actually. And it has significant meaning. I think, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of business owners, there's something that is personal, I think sometimes, or there is a backstory to how the name emerged, or something like that. And interestingly enough, I think Almost every single time I've had this conversation with a CEO or, you know, an owner of a company, It fit, it fit, it worked, it was, you know, and it had meaning. So I think that brings a lot to the table. So as a fractional CFO, and I understand fractional CFOs, but I'm not so sure the audience does. So can you explain fractional CFO for us so that we have a good understanding of what Brooke does?
Brooke Lively05:31 - 06:49
Absolutely. So, you know, big companies have CFOs. They are these bright people with this incredible financial skill set that set the strategy for the company. How are we going to get from A to Z? Here's the thing. They cost upwards of 200, $250,000 a year. And if you look at the U.S. economy, it really is driven by small businesses. Small businesses are the backbone. They create the vast majority of jobs. They are the vast majority of everything in the U.S. economy. And they're too small to be able to afford this expertise. So what we do is I sit on that $200, $250,000 salary. And then I let a number of businesses have access to that skill set, that expertise, so that those small businesses can have the same advantages as those big corporations out there.
Tammera Hollerich06:49 - 08:56
Yeah, so I think I read here recently that right now in the US 67% of revenue is driven by a small business. So, and that we've got 67% of business I mean it's like right in that 65 67% range where jobs, revenue, businesses in like the number like, I think, you know, with the emergence of Amazon, and Walmart, right, kind of our two monsters. Outside of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Google, Amazon, you know, Apple, and what was my fourth one, I think I said the other day, I said, Apple, Google, Amazon, there's a fourth one. Facebook, like Facebook, right? Yeah, the beasts in the four horsemen of the apocalypse, I call them, because they're so big, right? And with the emergence of Amazon kind of almost unseating Walmart to a certain degree from, you know, the electronic side versus the brick and mortar side, you know, you look at those two employers, small businesses still outrun them. Collectively, right? And I don't think a lot of, I don't think a lot of Americans know that. So, you know, when we talk shop small businesses, you know, it's to support those small businesses that are always going to be here, normally with the best customer service. Right? They typically have the better customer service. And typically you have a relationship with them, where you don't have a relationship with Amazon. And I think that that's what I hear you saying as a fractional CFO, you are able to go into small businesses and multiples of them and build that relationship to help them then, not that they can compete with Walmart and Amazon, but they can have the same advantages, I think.
Brooke Lively08:56 - 09:35
Yeah, and we really do. We go in and we partner with those owners, not, you know, we don't take equity in their company, but we partner with them in the truest sense. Like, you know, we want to help. We want to be there with you. We want to walk this path with you. And we want to help and we want to give you some skills that you probably don't have because in my experience and in I'm guessing you found the same thing. I haven't met a lot of people who started or own a business because they wanted to run a business.
Tammera Hollerich09:35 - 09:38
Oh, no, no. That was never the intent, right?
Brooke Lively09:38 - 09:47
No, they started it because they had a love of a product or service or they were really good at something. and they wanted to bring that out into the world.
Tammera Hollerich09:47 - 09:53
Or provide a service for the community, right? Or bring that service to the community because it was lacking in that community.
Brooke Lively09:53 - 10:01
Yeah, there's something out there and then all of a sudden there's this business stuff that has to happen.
Tammera Hollerich10:01 - 10:02
Yeah.
Brooke Lively10:02 - 10:17
There's this financial stuff. Employees. Payroll. HR stuff. There's payroll. There's like all this other stuff that they're just really not prepared for and while they're smart enough to learn it, that's not a good use of their time.
Tammera Hollerich10:17 - 10:39
Exactly, exactly. It can be very time consuming, which then stops you from generating revenue. Those non-revenue generating tasks that have to be done. Yeah, I had a mentor tell me once and very early on and bless, bless him because he said, if you're not the expert, you go get the expert.
Brooke Lively10:39 - 10:50
Right. And I talk all the time. And this is the analogy that people understand. We don't want a surgeon emptying bedpans.
Tammera Hollerich10:50 - 10:56
Oh, so true. And you're right, something that we can relate to.
Brooke Lively10:56 - 11:36
Right. So if you are the expert, if you are the surgeon, at whatever it is, please don't empty the bedpans in your business. So true. That's not your area of expertise. And, you know, let's hire the surgeon for that thing. And that's what we are. We're financial surgeons. You know, we come in and we can give you that, that help, that expertise, that advice, so that you make faster, better decisions that, you know, drives more profit in your business.
Tammera Hollerich11:37 - 12:41
Well, that and you're not making mistakes that cost too dearly. And I know way too many small business owners that have not taken this advice. And they make a lot of mistakes that cost them a tremendous amount of time. a tremendous amount of time, like your business could be probably five years ahead of where it is right now had you had the surgeon that you needed when you needed that surgeon at that time. Right. I was that girl before I found my mentor, I was that girl, like I was like, and I'm just that's transparent, guys, I made that mistake. That's why I know how valuable this advice is, that Brooke is kind of getting you guys. I mean, especially if you are a small business owner, and you are trying to be the end all be all like it, you don't have a life. I mean, that's the one thing I have found with small business owners is they are doing it all. And they don't really have a life.
Brooke Lively12:41 - 14:42
And in you were talking about time, and I mentioned profit, and I want to define profit. Profit isn't about money. It can be it there, there is financial profit in your business. But there can also be time profit. There's reputational profit. Like, what are you getting from your business? Are you getting money? Are you getting the time? Are you getting flexibility? A lot of people started their business that they could have flexibility that they didn't have in a job. Are you, you know, do you want to be well known as the expert? Okay, that's your reputation, right? What is it that you want from your business? It's not always simply cash. So when you're talking about entrepreneurs working all the time, when you're talking about hiring the expert to get your time back, that is a form of profit. Oh, absolutely. You people need to realize that and understand how you want to balance your profit. You know, I had a client in upstate New York. And it was fascinating, because it was a husband wife combo. She did all the financial, she kind of ran the backside of the business and, and he ran the front. They happened to be attorneys. And he wanted more time profit, he wanted more time with the family, he wanted the ability to travel, he didn't want to be stuck in the office so much. She wanted cash profit, And so when I started talking about trading off the kinds of profit that we were going to trade, some cash profit for some time profit, he's like, yes, yes, yes. And she was like, yeah. And it was fascinating to work through that with them to get them on the same page.
Tammera Hollerich14:42 - 15:54
Yeah, and you figure a husband and wife combination, the conversations that had to happen Outside of even your expertise for them to be able to work through that, but not many. not many business owners have any of those conversations. I jokingly tell young entrepreneurs when I ask the question, I'm like, why are you wanting to start a business? Start mentoring younger entrepreneurs in any business field. And I'll get, well, I just want to work half days. And I'm like, OK, well, as a startup like if you're starting I'm like you can work half days you just have to figure out which 12 hours of that half day it's going to be because it is a lot of work and there is a trade-off right if you're if you're wanting cash flow there is some time that has to go into it and vice versa right so um yeah it's an interesting conversation to have because entrepreneurs small business owners um are the most hard working people I know.
Brooke Lively15:54 - 16:32
Oh, like, are like when they talk about minimum wage, we don't make minimum wage. Not even close. Yeah. Far beyond that. But you know, I was the person that said I wanted flexibility. And my deal was I was going to work four days a week or three weeks a month. That didn't happen. I mean, I'm getting closer to it now. But I've got a team of 20. And it's a huge difference. Yeah, it makes a huge difference. But yeah, I mean, you have all these plans when you start the business, not really the way it goes.
Tammera Hollerich16:32 - 21:29
Well, it's interesting, because I think, like, even for myself, I was looking through a lens as an employee or as somebody that worked for a company, I was looking through a lens at the owner from a completely different lens than what I should have been looking at it from, right? Because there's a couple of different lenses, right? I'm looking at it as, oh my God, the guy's driving a nice car and he's here half days, but like, that's what I want. But what I didn't see is the other half that he went home, he was also working at home. Like I didn't have that lens to look at things. And I didn't have a mentor. I come from, you know, my dad was in the military. My mom was a school teacher. I had no entrepreneurs in my family. I was the first. And so I didn't have any guidance. I didn't have any I had no, no one to actually give me the hey, this is what you do, this is what you don't do. I had to find that and I didn't find it right away. Like I said, you know, it wasn't until later, when I got a little bit smarter about getting a mentor that somebody that could go like, why, what are you doing that for? Like, you know what I mean? So I think we tend to look at things through a lens that maybe we don't always have all of the information that we should have had. That's why I think having an expert that works through this. And so I'm like, I'm really glad that we, you know, we're getting this chance to chat. So everybody on the, the whole audience knows that I'm a big dog person. I have got six dogs, 40 chickens, like I am like the- 40? Wait, wait, wait, 40? 40 chickens, yes. What do you do with all those eggs? 39 chickens, actually. One disappeared. I have no idea where she went. That was a raccoon. Maybe a raccoon, maybe a hawk, I don't know, but just totally disparate. So 39. What do you do with the eggs? So there's a sign out in front of the office. Yeah, we sell fresh eggs. People walk in all the time grabbing eggs. Okay, that's good to know. Yeah, get fresh eggs almost daily. Right now I've got 20. 20 of them are at laying age. um the other 20 i have 10 babies they're probably two months now so they're they're about yay big so they're they're sweet and then i've got some teenagers they're just little assholes so they like they just yeah they will not stay in the run like they're just little assholes right now so um and they're probably i I think one of them has started to lay because I had a little fairy egg. It's about yay big, so adorable. And so like they are right at laying age, which is nice because my hens that normally lay during the summer will go molt and then they will not lay in the winter. And so these, I did this from a timing perspective, so I would have fresh eggs in the winter as well. So, you know, light has a lot to do with people don't realize that, you know, they molt, they don't lay when they molt, if they're sick, they don't molt, they don't lay, you know, and in the winter when there's not as much light, they don't lay as often either. So, So my chickens, I never thought I would be a bird person, but I will go out there. I have, I bought this little house behind my office building and it's got this huge backyard. So I put the chickens, the chickens are here at the office. And so it's really a lot of fun because I will just, you know, have one of those very stressful moments. And I'm like, I'll be back. And they're like, she's out with the chickens. I'll just go out. I'm like, I'll go find the babies. It's like decompress and then go back and solve a problem. But yeah, it's just chickens. There's the balloon company has When we had ice maquette in here, there was a kitten that had kind of curled up trying to stay warm. And I had come in to check the buildings because we had some pipes break during that and turn off the water and all that. And there was this kitten. And so picked up the kitten. It lives at the balloon building. Well, it doesn't really live at the balloon building anymore. It lives at the house now. But yeah, so there's cats that kind of help with the mice issue that come with the chicken issue. And the cats. So the cats kind of control the population around the property now. But it's, you know, we have, I can focus on business and you know, you talk about that profitability, being able to just kind of walk out and go be in my happy space with my animals. So I say that all the circle around to Millie. Yes. So you have a Millie. So tell us about Millie.
Brooke Lively21:29 - 21:38
Millie's at my feet. She's, well, I said that she picked her head up. Millie is my two year old golden retriever.
Tammera Hollerich21:38 - 21:40
Nice. How did you get Millie?
Brooke Lively21:45 - 23:05
I put my siblings through hell. Oh, geez. They had given me my last dog for for a birthday. And I lost Katie after, you know, 13 years. And I was like, All right, I'm ready for a dog. I'm like, I need a dog. And it was, you know, tail end of the pandemic. dogs were hard to come by, golden retrievers, even more so. So I, I was looking for dogs, my dog trainer was looking for dogs. And I finally gave it to my brother and sister. And they're like, Okay, my brother's like, I'm going to get you an English cream. I'm like, No, no, no, I want it to be a three or a four. And he's going, Wait, what? When is that? Goldens come in a color range and I want a three or a four on a scale of 10. My sister's like, no, no, no, we want a red one. I'm like, no, no, no, I don't want an eight or a nine. I want a three or a four, please. Wow. I got to tell you, my sister-in-law somehow found Millie in Oklahoma and I got her for Christmas.
Tammera Hollerich23:05 - 26:12
Oh, that's so exciting. Now you've had her since she was a puppy. I have. Oh, see, I love having them as puppies. I do. You know, it's funny. I have six dogs. Three of them I have traveled across the country to get because I have three Japanese chins and a lot of people don't even know what that is. But they're little there. I mean, I think I have twins, Batman and Joker, and Batman weighs like four and a half pounds and Joker weighs like three and a half. I mean, why Batman and Joker and not Batman and Robin? Oh, well, because Robin's just a stupid name for a dog. So it was Joker. Besides that, he has a teardrop on his eye, right, right below his eye. And Joker just fits better. So yeah, so Joker just fit better. But yeah, Batman and Joker. and they are sweet as all i mean they are the most they think they're cats i think so they they're up on everything all the time and i mean they're itty bitty they um i went to boise idaho to find them i know of all places boise idaho so batman joker buzzy idaho ninja my other japanese chan from seattle so like kind of all over and then um We have a blue healer that my husband thinks is his dog will let him keep thinking that but it's the dog right seen as mine. She comes to the office every day like Xena is mine so and she's a year old so she's literally just kind of a hot mess and then. Zeus, Zeus is, well I was told, let's just put it this way, I babysat, I was dog sitting my sister's neighbor's dog in an emergency to go to San Antonio and me and this dog, I think I cried more when I had to give the dog back. The next morning she calls and goes, come get your dog. I was like, I'm on my way. But she said it was a Maltipoo. He is, he is, he's a miniature golden doodle. He's got real short legs. But have you done the DNA testing? I have not, but I think I'm going to because he they say he was a like a multi poop. But I mean, most of the multiples I see are like this big. This is like I can put him on my hip like a two year old and walk around the office. Yeah, he's big. So he's got to be a miniature golden doodle. But that's a good idea. I really need to do that. And then, of course, the newest addition is a Tweenie. that somebody dumped in our parking lot at the back of the building on Memorial Day weekend. I never thought I would ever be in love with a Chihuahua-Dachshund mix. She is chunky. She really needs to get on the treadmill. She's, she's really, I mean, she came along, I fed her, she is now chunk, but her name is Chiweenie because nobody wanted to give her a name. And my brother who raises dachshunds, he goes, Chiweenie is a dog. It's not a name. I'm like, well, her name's now Chiweenie.
Brooke Lively26:13 - 26:15
Her name's Chewini.
Tammera Hollerich26:15 - 26:25
And she comes with a dog named Puppy. Yeah, I was gonna say, if it comes when it's called, it's got a name. Yep. So have you always been a big dog person?
Brooke Lively26:25 - 27:26
Um, no, I yeah, like, we didn't really have dogs growing up. My sister, my sister got a dog. And my parents really didn't want dogs. I had I had a dog for a hot minute. and it ran away and we could never find it. But so my sister wanted a dog and she went to the library. This is back, you know, before the internet. And so she went to the library. She did this entire report, sat my parents down. So she was like 12. So I was already out of the house because she's a lot younger than I am. Maybe she was 10. Yeah, she's probably 10. So she had gone to the library. She had done an entire report. She sat them down and she presented her case, daughter of an attorney, about why she wanted a dog and what dog she wanted. And even went so far as to say, I want a female golden retriever because the females bark less than the males.
Tammera Hollerich27:26 - 27:29
She pleaded her case well.
Brooke Lively27:29 - 27:59
Oh, yeah. And my parents kind of looked at each other and were like, we don't think we have a leg to stand on. So my sister got a dog. And everybody fell in love with the dog. Everybody fell in love with the dog. She went to college. When she went to college, I moved home and went to grad school. So, you know, I loved that dog. And that dog died about the time I finished grad school. And that was when I got Katie.
Tammera Hollerich28:00 - 30:11
And now I have Millie. And now you have Millie. That's exciting. You know, I was a cat person when I was young, like as a kid. And now I'm like, I don't know about cats. I can tolerate them. And they have a purpose, like to kill the mice in the chicken coop. But I mean, I am just I, I at some point along the line, I went from maybe it was because growing up, we had St. Bernard's. So we had big, I mean, like big, big dogs growing up. And my brother had a Cocker Spaniel once, I think. He didn't like that dog. Baron Von Puckerbutt was its name. And I really did not a big, big fan of that dog. But so Baron, but I mean, we always had like really great big dogs growing up. And I think maybe that's where I just kind of tied away because they were, I mean, they were big, and they would knock you over. I mean, just like, big, big. And so my parents, my mom had Somebody had dumped a Japanese chin in the Kroger parking lot on the way west loop. Okay. And my dad, I guess, had gone over there, they picked up and it was really old. And so they kept it till it died. My mom was like, what kind of dog is this? Well, after that, then my mom was like, I have to have a Japanese chin. And so my dad had gotten her one and they ended up breeding it once. And out of that litter of puppies, there were like three. And I ended up with Samurai. And this was back 2000, 2002, 3, 4, somewhere in that range. And it had to be 2004 because he died in 14 and he was 10. So But at that, I mean, that point, I was like hooked on that breed. And now I've got this eclectic group that I just love all of them. So now I'm just like, okay, I'm just a dog person now. So that's how it is, just a dog person. So, so you have got, you are an author, you have written several books. We're gonna open it. Amazon bestseller. Yep. International bestseller. International bestseller, even better. So give us the titles of the books, because I know you've written more than one.
Brooke Lively30:11 - 31:13
I have. I've written, I don't know, six. I've got like a seventh coming out soon. But the one that I like the most is this one. It's From Panic to Profit. How funny, I've got one of my advanced reader copies here, even though it's been out for two years. But it's called From Panic to Profit. And it's how six key numbers can make a six figure difference in your business. And it really is, you know, back to that thing that most entrepreneurs don't start their business because they want to run a business. And there's usually some apprehension around the numbers. And this book is about what are those numbers that you should be looking at. And it's simple and it's easy. It's what I call kitchen table English. Nice. These are the numbers you need to look at. This is how you find them. This is why you look at them. This is what they tell you.
Tammera Hollerich31:13 - 32:16
Okay, so where can we get the book? Oh, Amazon, of course. OK, so Amazon, you guys are going to want to look for Brooke Lively, all of the books that she has written. But, you know, obviously, if this is her favorite, I'm reading it next. So you guys know I'm a big fan of read the books that get you where you need to be. So I can't wait to get my hands on that. Brooke, we're very excited. So to be respectful of your time, I know how busy you are, and so I really want to close out by doing just a little quiz on some trivia for you. And I like to call this, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? You know, after the show. I may not be, we'll see. I was going to say, you're smart. So I think you've got this. We're going to have some quizzes here, some financial quizzes, because you are the financial guru. So we're going to do some financial quiz here. So here is question number one. What is the primary goal of financial management in a corporation?
Brooke Lively32:16 - 32:24
All right. Well, in a corporation or a small business?
Tammera Hollerich32:24 - 32:25
In a corporation.
Brooke Lively32:25 - 32:38
Good catch. So in a corporation, I'm going to say financial management is all about harnessing your resources and making good use of your resources.
Tammera Hollerich32:38 - 32:59
Yeah, so in a corporation, there were two answers right here. One is resource allocation, which I thought was probably where you've got the other one is shareholder profitability, which in a corporation, it's all about the shareholders where it's different in a small business, right?
Brooke Lively32:59 - 33:40
Yes, and no. Okay. Because if you think about it, it's, it's more a little bit more about stakeholders than shareholders. Because, you know, stakeholders are the people who own the business, right? I mean, a shareholder are people who own the business. Stakeholders are people who have an interest in the business. Interest in it, right. So, you know, your family is a stakeholder in that business. They have an interest in it. And I think in a small business, the stakeholders become a little bit more important than they are in a corporation.
Tammera Hollerich33:40 - 34:07
Well, yeah, because in a corporation, I think the shareholders, they are looking at one thing. And that is the profitability, bottom line, right? Is that profitability with a small family owned business. A lot of it too has to do with the succession plan. Like, yes, it has to be profitable, but are we leaving this for our children? Are we building it for our children? Yeah, I think there's a lot more things to consider.
Brooke Lively34:07 - 34:29
Even that couple I was talking about, neither one of their children is going to take over that business, but he was willing to trade cash for time. Mm hmm. Right. Was willing for it to be less profitable. To be able to spend more time with his family, and that's a decision that as a small business he could make. Right.
Tammera Hollerich34:29 - 34:49
He didn't have to worry. It doesn't go very well. Right. Yeah. I was going to say that it's a completely different thing. OK, so here's our next question. What financial concept reflects the proportion of a company's debt to its total capital and is often used to assess financial leverage?
Brooke Lively34:52 - 34:57
Well, to total capital, so, you know, there's debt to equity.
Tammera Hollerich34:57 - 35:03
That's what the straight answer is, but I know there's more to it than that. Okay. That's why I picked that question.
Brooke Lively35:03 - 35:09
Yeah, we're going to go with debt to equity.
Tammera Hollerich35:09 - 35:11
But I know that there's more to it, right?
Brooke Lively35:12 - 35:57
You can look at all kinds of things when you're looking at a company. You wanna look at things like a debt coverage ratio. How much cash do they have? Can they cover the debt? You wanna look at, there are just so many things when you're looking at debt and the profitability of a company. There are some companies that don't take on debt and that's, that really hamstrings them and slows down growth and is not in the best interest of the company. There are other companies that take on too much debt. So debt is something to be used judiciously.
Tammera Hollerich35:57 - 36:46
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because, you know, I would think taking on debt. I mean, so I don't even know that I've told our audiences, but I decided to go back to get my master's to get my MBA. And so I'm like kind of in the middle of that whole process. I don't know what I was thinking, but thinking I just needed to have this education, I guess. I don't know. So, but it's been very interesting because my, even my husband was like, what are you thinking? You do not have time for this. And I'm like, I don't know, but it's been really interesting because I have picked up things that I did instinctively as a business owner, but I didn't know the academia behind what I was doing that I now understand. I'm like, oh, that's why that didn't work. Like, it's really interesting when you're like, oh, well, damn, I should have known that a long time ago.
Brooke Lively36:46 - 37:54
Right. And that's the thing with entrepreneurs. And I say this constantly to my clients. I'm like, you guys are running your business on gut instinct. And your gut instinct is really pretty good. But the problem with running a business on gut instinct is that you make the decision at three in the afternoon. And then you're eating dinner with your family. And you're thinking about that decision again, and you're questioning it. And you make the decision all over again. And then you wake up at 3am. and you make the decision again then. And then you're with a client at 10 o'clock the next day, and you're talking to them and making the decision in your head. And when you can make decisions with data and with somebody helping you that has the expertise, that has that knowledge that you're talking about, that academic background, You only make the decision once, right? Yes, you don't have to do all that second guessing. So you become so much more efficient and you get to sleep.
Tammera Hollerich37:56 - 38:32
I mean, who doesn't want to be able to sleep? Right. Exactly. Well, guys, I am being respectful of Brooke. Brooke, I know how busy you are, and I'm excited to hear you have a seventh book coming out. Congratulations and congratulations on your international bestseller. That's very exciting. And what an accomplishment. So I, you know, as being my Fort Worth person today. I'm so proud, so proud, so proud, so proud. So thank you for joining me today. Everybody, Brooke Lively with Cathedral Capital out of Fort Worth, Texas. Can we reach you on LinkedIn?
Brooke Lively38:33 - 38:35
Oh, you can always find me on LinkedIn.
Tammera Hollerich38:35 - 38:57
Absolutely. Fabulous. You can find her on LinkedIn. You know she's an Amazon bestseller, so you can find her on Amazon. Make sure you guys all go out and get her most recent book and be looking for her next one. Everybody, this is Tammera with Everything is Up and Brooke Lively with Cathedral Capital. Thank you, Brooke, so much. I really enjoyed our time together today. Thank you, Tammera. You bet. Have a good one.
Intro/Outro38:59 - 39:11
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