Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
Are you ready to take your personal brand and business development to the next level? Then you won't want to miss the exciting new podcast dedicated to helping you tell your story in the most compelling way possible. Join me as I guide you through the process of building a magnetic personal brand, creating valuable relationships, and mastering the art of networking. With my expert tips and practical strategies, you'll be well on your way to 5-star success in both your professional and personal life. Don't wait - start building your 5-STAR BRAND TODAY!
Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
Mastering Healthcare Finance: LaTasha Barnes on Leadership, Impact, and Breaking Barriers
Unlock the secrets to mastering healthcare finance with our insightful conversation featuring LaTasha Barnes, a trailblazer in transforming healthcare organizations. Imagine gaining the financial acumen that could redefine your leadership journey and elevate your impact in this complex industry. From her early days at Big Four audit firms to navigating the intricacies of healthcare finance, LaTasha shares her unique perspective and expertise. Together, we discuss strategies to bridge the gap between operational roles and financial understanding, offering valuable insights for directors and VPs seeking to enhance their careers and contribute more effectively to their organizations.
Explore the intricacies of the healthcare reimbursement landscape and the importance of innovation in care delivery. LaTasha and I dive into the transition from director to vice president roles, shedding light on the nuances of employment contracts and bonus plans. We emphasize the role of mentorship in career growth, highlighting how seasoned guidance can help aspiring leaders navigate common pitfalls. Whether you're grappling with staffing challenges or striving for operational efficiency, our conversation offers actionable strategies and inspirational advice to support your journey in healthcare leadership.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!
Welcome to another episode of Follow the Brand.
Speaker 1:I am your host, grant McGaughan, ceo of 5 Star BDM, a 5 Star personal branding and business development company.
Speaker 1:I want to take you on a journey that takes another deep dive into the world of personal branding and business development, using compelling personal story, business conversations and tips to improve your personal brand. By listening to the Follow the Brand podcast series, you will be able to differentiate yourself from the competition and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make it one that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are. Developing your five-star personal brand is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. If you have any questions for me or my guests, please email me. At. Grantmcgaw spelled M-C-G-A-U-G-H at 5starbdm B for brand, d for development, m for masterscom.
Speaker 1:Now let's begin with our next five-star episode on Follow the Brand. Five-star episode on Follow the Brand. Hello everyone, I am Grant McGaugh, ceo of Five Star BDM, where we help you to build a five-star brand that people will follow, and I want to welcome you back to the Follow Brand Podcast. And today we are diving into something absolutely essential for healthcare leaders financial acumen, and I am happy to welcome back Latasha Barnes, a powerhouse in healthcare finance, who I first met during my NAHSE Florida days, back when she was the CFO at Orlando Health. Now as the owner of L Barnes Consulting in St Petersburg, she's transforming organizations by helping them reimagine their financial strategies and operations. One thing I have learned over the years working with healthcare executives is this understanding the language of business, which is finance, can make or break your leadership journey. Whether you are a director looking to move up or a VP wanting to make a bigger impact, mastering the financial side of healthcare is not just helpful, it is essential. And that's exactly what we're exploring today with LaTosha, and here's the exciting part she's also joining us at the Lead with Impact Vision to Victory workshop this January in Miami, where she will coach our cohort on how to elevate their financial expertise and leadership game. So get ready for some real talk about healthcare finance, leadership development and what it truly takes to succeed in today's complex healthcare environment.
Speaker 1:So let's dive in on the Follow Brand Podcast, where we are building a five-star brand that you can follow. Welcome everyone to the Follow Brand Podcast. I'm your host, grant McGaugh. We're going to go all the way over to St Pete, the other side of Florida. You know I'm over in Miami, florida. So we got the Atlantic and you got the beautiful Tampa Bay over in St Pete. And guess who's there in St Pete with us right now? We got Latasha Barnes. She, you know, I met. We just talked about this.
Speaker 1:I met her about five years ago during an NAHSE or we should call it NAHSE, right it's time when I was on my whirlwind tour trying to make this a statewide chapter and Orlando Health had so many leaders in health care and one of those leaders was LaTosha Martin and she just really man, we connected right away. I always liked talking to her. She was on one of my earliest shows I mean the first year I was doing podcasts and she was on. I said, hey, you know, we need to do something around financial empowerment and understanding what that's all about, and she agreed to be on my show. Here we are three years later and we're going to be joined with a lead, with impact vision to victory workshop in Miami, january 25th, 26th. It's going to be wonderful. She's going to impart her wisdom, her experience, her knowledge to all the different participants. So we want to talk about just a little bit about that and really show people what they're going to gain. So would you like to introduce yourself?
Speaker 2:Sure. First let me just say thank you so much, grant, for having me back on your podcast. I had a fabulous time the first time. I'm really looking forward to the conversation today. I am, as you said, latasha Barnes. I am the owner and principal consultant of L Barnes Consulting here in St Petersburg, florida, formerly of Orlando Health, where I served as the chief financial officer where we met, like you said, and again I'm just so excited to be working with you. Again, I'm so excited for the workshop coming up in January and thank you again for having me.
Speaker 1:Excellent, excellent. So we're going to have a great conversation. Everybody wants to jump right in and if they're not feeling it I know I'm feeling it it's the passion you have around finances and health care. The lifeblood of any business is the finance that kind of runs through there. Share with us some of your you know, your passion for the numbers and how you, you know, really dissect these different things and control your expertise in this area.
Speaker 2:So when I started my journey just in my professional career, I learned pretty quickly. I was working in big four at the time big four audit company and I learned pretty quickly I wanted to work for a company or work with a company that did something, not made something, and so that's how I got started in hospitals and health care in general and obviously you know my degree is in accounting. I'm a certified financial, certified financial, certified public accountant. Health care, finance and really finding ways for organizations to thrive financially and putting their organizations dive into the problems that exist financially but think about it from a holistic approach of how they actually operate and how those operations can impact the financials, and so that's really where I've focused the last probably 10 years in my career is helping hospitals that are in turnaround situations.
Speaker 2:And it's been a lot of fun and it's energizing for me. It's not the normal, typical debits and credits. It's really I like finding a problem. I love audits, so I love solving a problem for a company.
Speaker 1:Well, you know there's a lot of especially when it comes to finance in healthcare operated on small margins compared to certain corporations that operate on double-digit margins, and in healthcare usually it's single digits, so every dollar counts, counts. Now, what our workshops is around is helping our cohort of executives, healthcare executives, to get to that next level, and I have found in my research and a lot of different discussions that the finance and financial acumen is often missing. They just don't get either firm exposure. They just haven't had the experience with how the financial lens when they're doing things in operations operational, as you say, with the other departments that make up a lot of these things. Share with us some of the wisdom that you have found that if you want to impart to some of these different operators that you find that would be beneficial.
Speaker 2:You know, over my career I've seen and really just in general as a financial leader, it's been kind of a one-dimensional approach. It's all about the numbers and so it tends to kind of silo you as a leadership team. If you think about it, you've got your operator, you have your visionary, the CEO, you have your financial person. If you're in healthcare, you've got someone on the clinical side from a nursing perspective. You may have someone on the clinical side from a quality perspective and everybody's got their priorities. And what I have learned and I think what's really made me successful and ultimately the companies that I've worked for are successful is when you look at the problem through a multi-pronged approach. I can't solve alone a P&L problem as a CFO if I don't look to the actual operations of the organization and understand well what are we doing that may be leading to that problem. If I'm seeing low volumes in a hospital, you know no one.
Speaker 2:It's kind of funny to think of when you think of a hospital and as a business and you don't have the volumes because people aren't sick or whatever the case may be. It's not that I'm wishing that someone is sick, but that's our service, it's taking care of sick people. So when they aren't coming through the door, the question is not a financial question, it's do we have bad quality? Do we not get patients in and out of the ED fast enough? If we don't, how can we fix that? Do we not treat them well, are we not nice? And so therefore they don't? How can we fix that? Do we not treat them well, are we not nice? And so therefore, they don't want to come see us. They don't want to come to us for care, they want to go down the street to the hospital that takes better care of them, just as a person. So it's more than I'm spending too much money or I'm not making enough revenue.
Speaker 2:Where, where is the? What is the actual problem that's leading to the output that we see of lower revenue or lower net income? And how do we then approach that holistically, that that to me and I think it's where thinking that way and and and using that as my leverage with an operator earns me so much capital from a relationship standpoint, because if I can approach the scenario through their lens, they understand I'm not just trying to cut services or make money, it's. How do we under, how do we attack the problem that you're confronting as a clinician, that you're having as a physician or my quality leader, how do we address that? That ultimately, at the end of the day, that's going to create money down the line or revenue down the line, and really it's not just for the sake of making money. If you're a nonprofit, you're looking at it from the standpoint of now I have more resources that I can push out into the community or I can provide extra services for our community that we don't provide today.
Speaker 2:So it's really that holistic approach and you know any new. To get back to your question, any new emerging leader think of your area just as a spoke in the wheel. It's just the one of the things that keeps the wheel moving. You can't approach a problem just by approaching it from your lens only and really seek to create those relationships with your fellow operators, because ultimately that's how you're going to be successful. When you have to what I call thrill the hammer down, it has to be about the thing that's important to you. That capital you've earned by being collaborative with your partners helps you to achieve the goal that you ultimately need to achieve in the first place. When you've got to be a little stronger in your approach, they understand where you're coming from. They know it's not you being selfish. That's been my success, I think.
Speaker 1:I think that you put that.
Speaker 1:You've teed up this next question very, very well when it comes to the CFO perspective and I've heard from a lot of and this is all research that I've done over the last three years and talking to a lot of healthcare executives that they want the exposure, they want to understand the conversation in the C-suite and it always comes back to you have to understand the language of business and the language of business is finance and the language of business is finance.
Speaker 1:And if you don't understand finance at that, at that level, it's hard to understand where, where you fit in. So you might put together a proposal. Let's say, and you've got a business plan, everybody you know you get the budget right, you got to write something up, you got to get your budget approved and everyone sees, man, my budget always gets cut, they want me to do more with less and. But not understanding that, what is when you're at the table of the C-suite and, from the CFO lens, what are you seeing that from as a challenge for these operational people or other departments that usually just say you know what? That's the problem. That's why you're not getting what you're seeking.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I actually just had this come up with a client I'm working with now of where it's about tying what the operator is doing to the finances, helping them understand how their actions impact a financial result, because they don't You're right, they don't, they don't understand it from just a pure financial lens. Understand the basics, putting the right metrics or the right performance indicators that relate directly to what they do in front of them and that helps them. That gets the wheels turning. I think, if I'm working with a leader in an imaging space and their business is images for patients, right? So diagnostics, what have you? And if they're not as productive as I would like them to be, multiple scans per hour or for the day.
Speaker 2:Yet they've got all the all these, all these resources engaged to provide this service and they're wondering why are they losing money? Like why, why are they not making money doing this thing? When you break it down to well, you're, you could be getting 20 scans per hour, but you're only doing 10 and you've got the staff to do 20. So let's think about what that means You're spending, you're why to make X when you really should be spending Y to make Y. And it's just kind of breaking it down to as bare bones as you possibly can, but but really putting it in the financial terms that they understand. Are we talking about turnaround time? What does turnaround time mean to you and how quickly do you get patients in and out? Therefore, you can get more patients in the door. Therefore, you generate more revenue that supports the resources you're using.
Speaker 2:So it's really breaking it down to what they're doing operationally and then tying it to a financial element that they can understand. They may not understand what the whole P&L says. If I'm talking to my chief operating officer, you know then it's a higher level conversation, but it still is kind of getting bare bones to how you know not having these 10 beds on this unit open because we can't get them open fast enough. They're on the construction. Whatever the case may be, how not having them open impacts our financials, because we said in our budget we were going to have these beds open by X. So it's it's breaking it down to something that they truly can relate to their day to day business. I think is the is a very useful tool in getting non-financial leaders to understand finances. Let's talk.
Speaker 1:Let's unpack that a little bit, because I know that that is a sticking point for a lot of people. They might have went to business school, they might have MBAs, they might have went through that course, but then, as they got into industry, they're doing what they do, whether it's imaging, it's radiology, it's the whole operational aspects, it's the marketing aspects, but you're doing the work, not understanding, or maybe just not. You know, you might have a cursory understanding of the financial conversation that takes place, but fine. But being able to communicate that's what I find is the communication. Yeah, um, how do you speak? You know, finance to the business, to to the, ultimately to the C-suite that you're working with and having that conversation. Now, what advice would you give to, let's just say, someone who's a director or maybe they're a newly promoted VP to up their game when it comes to financial acumen at the level of a board, if they need to hear from them?
Speaker 2:You know, I have, over the years, worked especially with our leaders who are getting their advanced degrees.
Speaker 2:Part of their education is some type of financial project.
Speaker 2:They always come to me and they want to sit down with me and help them understand finances. I, um, and what I learned through that is not not dumbing it down, and that's probably such a terrible phrase, but not dumbing it down is also necessary so that they do learn the financial acumen. And so, um, I would suggest truly sitting down with your senior leader whoever that your senior financial leader is and having them literally walk you through a financial statement, walk you through, um, the KP the key performance indicators that you, as a, an executive leader, use and teach you what they mean. Now, you won't learn it all in one fell swoop, but you know it could be an exercise of maybe, uh, as, as the leader, you receive the information and you, as an exercise, try to take those concepts and the learnings that you gained from that session with your finance leader and try to try to do it yourself, basically, like practice. Basically, uh, maybe have them present, like I love having leaders, you present to me your financial information.
Speaker 2:Let me help critique that. Let me help you, um, let me help you enhance that knowledge a little more. And as they continue to practice, as they continue to uh, to dive into that information on a on a day to day or month to month basis, that acumen will grow. Like you're not going to learn it in one go, um. And then, as the leader, obviously, um, maybe parsing out the pieces that really are the most relevant are are a good first step, and then you can grow that knowledge to more of that global high level, board level, senior corporate leader, level of expertise or knowledge that you know there that would be presented to them. Um, I think that could be a good first step. Just talk to your finance leader and have them just walk you through it, give you the access. You seek out the information, try to decipher it yourself, maybe present to your senior leader and have them critique. You have them help. You just continue to get better and better.
Speaker 1:I think that's one of the reasons why we're going to have this workshop is that we're going to have a simulation board, simulations of what that conversation truly is like, and that you have to work with your team. We're going to have different teams. We have a cohort of about 40 individuals. We'll break that down into about teams of five or six people. Everyone will have a role and not in their traditional role. Maybe you were in marketing, but maybe you're going to be the technology leader. You're going to be the finance leader, you're going to be the CEO at the table. Have those conversations. Now your piece. You're going to be coaching us that first day, coaching everyone that's there to start to begin to understand these kinds of conversations, to up their game, because people are looking for career advancement and having this in their toolkit, to have this kind of skill set that you like. You know I didn't expect you to know this type of thing, right? Because you're an operations person. Wow, you understand some of these nuances in the financial world and why you can get some of these things done, and it makes good sense. It's good business, right, when you're speaking the language of business. Talk to us a little bit more about some success stories that you've had with certain leaders that they came to you and they weren't really up to snuff with their financial acumen, but then over time they were able to then deliver different presentations and that type of thing at a high level, ready to elevate your brand with five-star impact.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Final Brand Podcast, your gateway to exceptional personal growth and innovative business strategies. Join me as I unveil the insider strategies of industry pioneers and branding experts. Discover how to supercharge your business development. Harness the power of AI for growth and sculpt a personal brand that stands out in the crowd. Transform ambition into achievement. Explore more at FirestarBDMcom for a wealth of resources. Ignite your journey with our brave brand blueprint and begin crafting your standout Firestar teacher today.
Speaker 2:I actually I'm in my last full-time role. I had a young lady in her practicum for her master's in business, and so this harkens back to what I said earlier, where I come to me and they want me to teach them things right. So she was given kind of a strict assignment where it dealt with putting together a contract for service services that the hospital will be providing, sort of like health screenings, things like that, so not where they come to the hospital, but what she had to do was put together the fee schedule. She had to understand how to price out the service, what basis, basis to use, et cetera, and she as a clinician literally she would tell me I have no clue, like I don't know what to do, and she's so nervous because she doesn't want to mess it up, right, so I took some time to just explain to her how you might even come up with the fee schedule. Let's think about how much time is involved with what you're going to be doing Like. Think about the people who are going to be providing the service. How much do they make an hour? How much time will they be spending with each patient for these screenings? And then, of course, there's a markup element to that from a revenue and bottom line perspective.
Speaker 2:So, teaching her about markup and how much is probably too much. What's reasonable? What makes sense? What do we need to make off of providing the service so that it makes it worth it for us to do other than the aspect of it being a community service? Let me just caveat that we're talking about healthcare here, but so I took the time to work with her on that and she was able to get all the necessary elements from the potential client, how much volume we thought we would see Then she could put together.
Speaker 2:Well, how much time would that entail? What complement of people will we need to provide the service? Do all the calculations and come up with fees for the different types of service that we would provide, including the markup, and tell me, you know. So what is this business going to net us at the end of the day? Is it going to be you know? How much will we make off providing this particular service for this client? And so, from beginning to end, she put it all together, and when I when I say she was, I mean I had notes, obviously- nothing will ever be perfect.
Speaker 2:But at the end of the day, she was so overjoyed that she did it because she was again, in her words, clueless.
Speaker 2:She understands but does not understand, and so I mean I think she just felt so proud of herself for being able to have to negotiate the contract, necessarily. But she needed to come up with the fee schedule and she did, and it was something that I don't think in a million years she thought she'd ever be able to do. And the next year when she because it became an annual service that the client provided then she, um, she did it the year after that and understood how you know to think about inflation, like how costs risen for us. Then we have to think about how we may have to increase the markup that we um, that we add, that we calculate to keep us at least whole Right. So it was a really great experience for her and I just love helping. So it felt great for me too. I love it when, like, the light bulb goes off yeah, especially someone who is non-financial at all Like when that light bulb goes off, it's awesome.
Speaker 1:It is. It is because some people are very good in their technical skill set of what they do, but outside of that realm, but this is the type of thing that actually helped you to attain the goal that you're looking to attain. Right, but you're just not that, uh, savvy, or just not been exposed to it. What is that financial conversation exactly? Throw this at you, because now we're doing a workshop, there's an investment, an investment in yourself, that has to take place and I've heard this term in health care and I love it too, because a lot of people talk about all right, but they talk about return on invested capital r-r-r-o-i-c. Return on invested capital. So talk to our audience that are interested in being a part of our cohort. That's going to take place at Miami Dade College Medical Campus January 25th 26th. If they have an investment of capital, whether it were from $500 to $800, what do you think that's going to look like from your end?
Speaker 2:From my end. I think if I was a participant in this, I would be looking at it from the lens of the value. All the learnings, the diversity of thought that's going to be at the table and the opportunity to stretch yourself in the pursuit of better knowledge that's going to propel your career. You're going to have an opportunity to hear from experts in their field, help you, uh, enhance the skills you already have. You're not a slouch here. These are participants. They know what they're doing.
Speaker 2:The goal here is to just enhance those learnings, help give you leverage and edge over your competitor, your peer, your colleague perhaps that may be vying for a similar job.
Speaker 2:It's an opportunity to really learn other skills over what you do in your day-to-day life. And it's a gosh handheld is the wrong word. It's a very curated session that will help you, as a professional, hone those skills that you most desire, and I think it will also help you understand that success in your career is not just built upon what you actually do, but how well you navigate outside, naturally gifted with doing what you've gone to school for, how you've been trained. It goes back to our conversation of non-financial leaders learning finance. It helps you round out as an executive, when you can understand other facets of your business outside of what you do as a professional. So to me it's not an insignificant amount of money, but the value that's going to be gained is going to be far, far better, far more than the investment that you've made as an individual. And if you had to stick a percentage to it, I'm telling you it's going to be triple digits.
Speaker 1:That's what I want to hear from a CFO around this, and I want our leaders that actually run systems and start to look down at their bench and their pipeline of leadership. Like, hey, we need to sponsor people to go to this because we're going to be stronger for doing it all the way around, because it's getting harder and harder to to to hit the marks that we have. If we have more and more people that are financially savvy and that they're savvy from a leadership perspective and they understand how to get things done, they're going to be more efficient. Yeah, and I think that's what we're ultimately trying to, uh, to get to along the way.
Speaker 1:Now let's talk about this and I want because our leaders really need to understand this and I know you understand this what are the pressing problems in health care? Because you're at these tables and they're, they're, they're just you know, look, I have x, that's all I've got and I gotta do y. Usually y is bigger than x. That's how these tables. What are the major challenges that if you knew these challenges, it's going to help you and your ascension in your career in healthcare.
Speaker 2:In healthcare. I'll say healthcare's been plagued by at least two challenges forever, it seems. Obviously, the reimbursement landscape is as complex as it's ever been. I don't think it's going to get any simpler. I think it's going to continue to be complex. So, as a healthcare leader all the leaders, not just the financial leader but as a healthcare leader, you've got to figure out how do you innovate your care delivery.
Speaker 2:It may cost more initially to invest, speaking of RRIC, cost more initially to invest, speaking of RRIC initially, to invest in those innovations, especially from a technology standpoint. There's fear that that means that people will lose jobs, which I'll tell you the other. The second issue is just a shortage of qualified clinicians. The second issue is just a shortage of qualified clinicians, qualified between physicians, nursing techs. You know it runs the gamut. Covid was not the start of our shortages, our staffing shortages in health care. It just exacerbated it.
Speaker 2:So figuring out ways to make care delivery more innovative, simpler, take less time, can help also lessen the challenges we have on the staffing side. It doesn't mean that people lose jobs, it just means all the people you thought you needed to hire, maybe you don't need to hire them now and you can't get by with what you have and still deliver great care. So yeah, I think that the reimbursement side of the house you talk about the governmental impact that that occurs there I mean most of reimbursement, not most all of reimbursement in the health care setting is all. It's all centered around CMS and how that reimbursement model works. And then you've got your managed care companies that kind of feed off of that and so you have to get really savvy with how you negotiate those contracts with everyone.
Speaker 2:So you can only do so much on the reimbursement side. All you can really do is think through how do you innovate the care delivery experience? And then, what services are you providing? How best can you address the needs in your community through services and are you doing that Because maybe that's your revenue driver providing a service that you haven't been providing? That's much needed in the community, but at the end of the day, figuring out how to deliver that care efficiently, as efficiently as possible, but also effectively shortening those ED wait times you know things like that, like how do you deliver care in an innovative way that gets you to the bottom line you need and still provides the best service that you can for the community?
Speaker 1:very important. Thank you for sharing that. Absolutely. Now talk to me as if I am. I'm a director in a hospital system, I'm a certain department and now I have been promoted um to a vice president level and for the first time I'm looking at I you know, normally, you know you get a promotion, you get a bump in salary and there you go, at certain levels you start to look at actual contracts with bonus plans and you know compensation uh language that you, you know compensation language, that you, you know that he hits certain metrics, that you get certain amounts of money, many different things. And then like, let's just say, you don't hit those metrics. Or you know you leave a company and there's other clauses in there, whether you gain or lose. They've never been exposed to this kind of employment contract. Talk to someone that's never even seen something like so they don't make a mistake, like, oh, that looked great. And they don't even realize they made a mistake and they could have gotten more Right.
Speaker 2:I've been there, done that. I would suggest, first and foremost, for anyone that is seeking growth in their career, whether it's to be a leader of a department or a vice president or a chief financial officer seek out a mentor. Find someone that and they don't necessarily have to be in your actual profession. You just want someone that's been there, that's experienced what you either are experiencing or are striving to experience quite honestly, so you want to move in that space. Find a mentor that can just help guide you, you know, someone that you can bounce those questions off before you have to actually deal with it. And any good mentor is going to be proactive enough to understand, depending upon where you are in your career and what your aspirations are, what questions to even ask of you to help you start to think about those specific scenarios or situations you could find yourself in. And that's how the conversation can be started. That's how you're not blindsided and you can hopefully avoid some of those pitfalls that many of us have made along the way. And it's not foolproof, because we're people and we're going to decide to do what we want to do when we want to do it, and we'll, as my aunt says, take what you want from a person and leave what you don't when they're giving you advice. But I think that can be a very strong and powerful tool in your tool belt as a new or aspiring leader is to have a mentor. Have someone that can help guide you. That's, honestly, how I have been successful in my career. I have always found or had people take an interest. So be on the lookout for people who are showing an interest in you. Don't be shy and cultivate that relationship with the person. They may not have approached you about being their mentee, you being their mentee, but if you are interested in this individual and you can tell they're taking an interest in your career, that's the person that hits your wagon to. If you think they're a good person and can help you and you can learn something from them, hit your wagon to someone that's willing to help take you along the way.
Speaker 2:Um, but you know, if you are already in the scenario you don't have a mentor, um, all is not lost, Um, but seek again. This is still your opportunity to pause because if you've been presented an offer or you find yourself in a situation where it's possible you're going to get this big promotion and you aren't quite, you don't quite know what to ask for or what not to say. Receive the information and just take a pause, Because if it's yours, it's yours. There's nothing you can know, no time, relatively speaking, that you could take to think about something that would change the situation. Just take a beat and then find someone that can maybe help you. Weed through you know the information, Um and and, and it doesn't hurt to ask for what you want, because they can only say no. And if you didn't have it to begin with, so then you haven't lost anything If they do say no, so why not ask?
Speaker 2:That's been, you know, a learning for me in my career, probably over the last 10 years, is just, especially as a female females, female leaders especially we tend to not negotiate, and so I've. I've finally found that voice, probably about 10 years ago, when I had my first um, first executive finance position or offer, and I figured it wouldn't hurt me to ask for something else. They can only say no. I figured it wouldn't hurt me to ask for something else. They can only say no, the offer was fine, but why not ask? Maybe they'll say yes, right, so it just. It never hurts. But find that person to help you navigate the process and find them early, so that when you're faced with the situation, you already know you've got somebody you can go to.
Speaker 1:That's great advice. And I know you have your business. Now You're doing some consulting. Yes, I want you. This is the last question I'm going to ask you, but I really think the audience needs to know, Because now you know, you're not just behold, you know, to one organization you can help a lot of different people with all your different wisdom and experience and expertise. Talk to us a little bit more about your business.
Speaker 2:Sure, thank you. I started my company, l Barnes Consulting, back in 2017. And I left a large healthcare corporation at that point and thought I can, you know, I can impart this wisdom, this information I can help. The goal was to help small businesses navigate the complexities of finances because, as you can imagine, as many of your viewers or listeners know, lots of companies they try to do it all, small businesses try to do it all and they don't really navigate the pitfalls that can happen from a financial perspective, and so that was my goal initially, and so this second iteration I'll call it, my focus has really been more of using the expertise I've gained over the last about 10 years now to help those companies that are in a turnaround situation small, medium, large provide interim chief financial officer leadership.
Speaker 2:I've actually got a client right now, a large client I'm working with right now that are in between CFOs, and I'm just helping to keep the wheels moving. But in true LaTosha fashion, I've got to find a problem to fix, and I found several, so you know. So that's that's really what L Barnes consulting is focused on is helping those companies that are either in a turnaround situation, have a problem to fix, and helping navigate the complexities that that can often bring. So, whether it's implementing processes, policies, it's really diving deep into whatever the problem may be and coming up with some viable solutions and helping them to make some strong financial decisions. But I also work with nonprofits. Still, I've got a couple now in two varying industries one a museum, one a uh organization. That's like a shared services organization, uh, where I'm their fractional chief financial officer as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's been so important. So I see the cfo, the interim cfo that you're doing and I'm curious because now when you do one-on-one coaching with someone, it's like you know what I want to move into, potentially either a CFO role or assistant role or whatever it may be along that track. Will you do that kind of coaching as well?
Speaker 2:I will actually, funny enough, I've been thinking about getting my certification as a coach, my certification as a coach. So, yeah, I am always willing to talk with aspiring individuals, those executives that are already in place or leaders in place looking to maybe take the next step to achieve financial role or a finance executive role. Yeah, definitely happy to do that.
Speaker 1:I'm happy you're coming to Miami in January and imparting your wisdom and knowledge to our cohort. This is invaluable. I'm truly hoping that people weigh this out. You've got to invest in yourself. As we think about this holiday season, that we're going into this minute, we're going to spend money on certain things, but if you've got to ask yourself, what are you gifting yourself, that's going to pay dividends many times over. Yeah, in many different ways. You just talked to that. So thank you for being first on the Follow Brandon Show and second to be with us on the Lead with Impact with Dr Andrea Clark. This is going to be wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Do you have any last party words before we conclude?
Speaker 2:I just want to thank you again for having me on and you are spot on. The Lead with Impact workshop is going to be fabulous and it is absolutely an investment in yourself. There is no better way to grow your career than investing in yourself. We can't wait for others to do it. We've got to find those avenues that enrich us and enrich our knowledge enrich us as a person and as a professional, and I think the workshop is going to be great for that. So I'm looking forward to participate. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there. I think it's going to be an awesome time of learning and growth and connecting, and it's going to be really awesome to see.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to see you Get to let the audience know how to contact you for all that great coaching and your interim CFO work, your fractional CFO work, all that type of a service that you offer.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You can find me on LinkedIn, Latasha Barnes, and you can also find me online at lbarnesconsultingcom.
Speaker 1:This is wonderful and I want to encourage your entire audience to tune in to all the different episodes of Follow Brand at 5 Star BDM. That is the number 5, that's star B, as in brand B in development and inframasterscom. I want to thank you so much again for being on the show. Thank you, thanks for joining us on the Follow Brand Podcast. Big thanks to Full Effect Productions for their incredible support on each and every episode. Now the journey continues on our YouTube channel. Follow Brand TV Series Dive into exclusive interviews, extended content and bonus insights that will fuel your success. Subscribe now and be a part of our growing community sharing and learning together. Explore, engage and elevate at Follow Brand TV series on YouTube. Stay connected, stay inspired. Till next time, we will continue building a five-star brand that you can follow.