Happy Sunday!

August already? I swear I just blinked and July disappeared.

It was a month full of conversations, clarity, and honestly...a lot of personal reflection. When we wrapped up the month inside the Focused Visionary Accelerator, I asked my clients to share a non-monetary win from July.

We spend so much time celebrating revenue milestones (which I'm all for...I hit my July revenue goal and I'm celebrating that too), but sometimes the biggest wins aren't the ones that show up in your Stripe account.

Sometimes they're the moments where everything suddenly clicks and that was July for me.

If you've been around for a while, you know this year has been one big evolution. I've changed my offers. I've simplified my business. I've gotten really clear on what I want to build.

But even after all of that, something still felt...

Off. Not necessarily bad, just incomplete.

As I started having conversations with clients, coffee chats, and business friends, I realized I wasn't the only one feeling it. So many of us were saying the same thing.

"Something just doesn't feel aligned anymore."

For me, the answer became surprisingly obvious once I stopped trying to ignore it.

I've been in accounting since I was fifteen years old. I have a dual degree in accounting and business.

Before I started my business, I spent years in corporate wearing every hat imaginable. Accounting Manager. Production Manager. Executive Assistant. Sales and Engineering Liaison (all in one role with one company).

I loved it and not because I like being busy, but because I could see how every department connected. I could spot the bottlenecks, understand the numbers, and help people make better decisions because I understood how the entire business worked.

When I started my own business, I naturally leaned into strategy.

And I love strategy.

But somewhere along the way, I quietly left a huge part of my expertise sitting on the shelf.

A colleague said something to me a few months ago that's been playing on repeat in my mind...

She said, "Michelle...you're are a Fractional CFO. You're just not calling yourself one."

My first reaction was to dismiss it.

"I'm a business strategist."

"I'm not a CPA."

"I don't want people to get confused."

And then one day I just asked myself - Who decided that?

Who decided we have to choose one skill, one title, one lane and stay there forever? And the answer was no one aside from the nonsense in the online telling us we have to niche down until we barely recognize ourselves.

But what if the thing that makes you different is the combination of your skills?

That's what I finally realized.

My clients don't just need business strategy.

Many of them also need help understanding their numbers, improving profitability, planning cash flow, and making smarter financial decisions and I'm already inside their business. I already know their goals.

So why wouldn't I help them when I know I can? Why do they need to hire ANOTHER person when it's simply an add on to the work we are already doing?

Sooooo - instead of sending them somewhere else, I'm choosing to fill that gap myself.

That's why you'll start hearing me talk a lot more about profit, cash flow, owner pay, financial modeling, and strategic decision-making.

Not because I'm changing direction. Because I'm finally allowing myself to use all of my expertise.

The beautiful part is that this doesn't change the Focused Visionary Accelerator or any of my strategy and coaching offers.

It actually makes them stronger.

Over the next few weeks I'll be adding more financial planning tools and profit resources, directly into FVA because they're exactly what my clients have been asking for.

For those who want deeper financial analysis or hands-on support, I'll also be offering Fractional CFO and Profit Strategy services as add-ons and stand alone offers to new and existing clients.

Things like financial modeling, profitability analysis, cash flow planning, KPI dashboards, and one of my favorite new services, Before You Invest.

Before you hire someone, buy the software, join the mastermind, or make a major investment, we'll look at the numbers first.

• Can your business support it?
• What's the ROI?
• Is now actually the right time?

Because every investment should make strategic sense, not just emotional sense.

At the end of the day, none of this is really about me becoming a Fractional CFO.

It's about finally giving myself permission to stop pretending I only have one area of genius.

And that's the question I'll leave you with today...

What part of yourself have you been leaving on the shelf because you thought your business had to fit someone else's rules?

And then ask yourself - Who decided it needed to be this way?

If the answer isn't YOU - Maybe it's time to dust it off.

Because your clients don't need a smaller version of you, they need all the best parts of you.

If any part of this email is resonating with you and you want to chat it out - book a coffee chat with me and let's talk. Whether it's about your finances, business strategy or simply figuring out how to tie in alllll of your expertise - please book the call. I want to chat it out with you. Being able to verbally process all of this the past month has been mind blowing clarity for me and I know it can be for you too!

CEO Power Move of the Week:

Speaking of financials...

It's the beginning of a new month, which means it's time to stop guessing and start looking at the facts.

Before you dive into August, spend 20 minutes reviewing July.

Ask yourself:

• How much revenue did I bring in?
• How much did I actually pay myself?
• How much did I spend?
• Was there money left over?

Then ask yourself the question that matters most:

Did I intentionally pay myself...or did I simply take what was left?

Now look ahead.

How much revenue is already secured for August?

Is that enough to pay yourself what you want?

If not, how much more revenue do you need to bring in, and what specific sales activities are you going to take to make that happen?

Don't leave your paycheck up to chance. Plan for it. Build toward it.

Then go make it happen.

Client stories and testimonials

I want to showcase this shout out because Liz and I have only been working together for 6 weeks and in our 6 weeks together, I have pushed back on her A LOT. And hearing "If I let you create these offers - you are going to be miserable in 3 months..."

She was creating based on what everyone else is doing and not at all keeping her in her zone of genius or in a way that was going to show her off as the expert she was. So I made her pause. Which is the absolute last thing a fast action taker wants to hear.
But that pause allowed her brain to think and now she is developing an offer she is going to absolutely LOVE.