Fiona Nuwamanya

Say YES. Yes to teamwork. Yes to briefs. Yes to ideas. Yes invitations to rooms. Yes to collaborations. Yes to hard conversations. Say yes! Thank you to all the people that make it all work.

Several years ago, I took a CFO gig at a PE portco thinking the company just needed an upgrade. Turns out, they needed a replacement after the last CFO had taken his own l*fe. Of course, no one told me that beforehand but it portended of things to come. The whole situation was not as advertised. I knew something was off when I got there and there was no money in the bank account. The controller was cutting checks, then putting them in her drawer. So week 2 maybe, I sit down with the MD on this deal. Remember it vividly. We were sitting across from each other at the conference table. He told me the company had not paid its management fee. Something like $160k of fees at the time. Naturally, I told him that we didn’t have the funds. I needed every penny to pay vendors to keep the business running. I knew he’d understand. Nope. “Just send the check.” I tried a couple more times to no avail. What could I do? I was brand new. I sent the check. If you’re asking yourself how could this happen? How could they not know the business was out of money? And how could I have taken such a job? Well, the company was hacked before my arrival. They didn’t pay the ransom (4 Bitcoin - like $40k at the time) and lost all their data. Systems down for 3 months. Since they had just closed a few good months, everyone assumed things were still going well. And they assured me as much. When I arrived they were shocked to learn there was no money. In fact, they really didn’t believe me- thought I was mismanaging or something. They were mad at me. I’d been there two weeks! Turns out the prior CFO had told them, but they didn’t believe him… they just assumed he was doing a bad job. But in reality, they just didn’t like what he had to say. Point is, you never really know what you’re stepping into. I had tried to research the PEG and company. I had met with everyone I could. But in the end, it comes down to whoever has the gold because that is who makes the rules. After being in the seat for 15 months, we successfully turned the company around. There were fierce negotiations with banks, mezz lenders, vendors, customers and of course the PEG. It was stressful. Throughout those months, I often wondered if the prior CFO knew the truth and had just totally lost hope. I had a young family, a newborn, and had just uprooted my family to a new city, states away for this job. This was my first taste of anything other than up&to-the-right professional success. These sorts of situations are so intense. It feels like the whole world depends on making the company successful. But it doesn’t. Remember that when things feel dire; it’s just business. There’s more to life. If I can survive it, so can you.