CEO Coaching International Podcast

Is Your CFO Actually a "CF-No"? How to Find True Strategic Financial Leadership with Jerry Vance and Scott Crawford

Guests: Jerry Vance, the Founder and Managing Partner of Preferred CFO, and Scott Crawford, a Partner at Preferred CFO focused on client prioritization and new business development. Overview: A CEO who's led their company past the "I'll Do Everything" stage needs a true financial strategist at their side to stop surviving and start scaling. But the CEO also needs clarity on what kind of financial expertise their company truly needs at various stages of growth. Paying a full-time CFO to act like a glorified bookkeeper isn't going to accelerate your trajectory. And a "CF-No" who builds a moat around your cash might not share the CEO's bold vision for BIG.  On today's show, Jerry Vance and Scott Crawford explore the state of the fractional CFO industry and why forecasting and five-year planning are strategic leadership tools, not just accounting exercises.

Why You Need a Data Strategy to Anchor Your AI Strategy with Tim Kreytak and Jason Breazeale

Guests: Tim Kreytak, CEO and Co-Founder of Ironside, one of North America's leading analytics and data consulting firms and a multiple Inc. 5000 honoree. Jason Breazeale, Vice President of Technology at Burn Boot Camp, a rapidly growing fitness franchise with nearly 400 locations. Overview: Yes, your company needs to be using AI. But before you start buying subscriptions and upgrading your tech stack, you need to understand what actually drives successful AI integrations: a bedrock of solid data. Without clean, accessible, and trusted data, even the most advanced AI tools will fail to deliver results. On today's show, Tim Kreytak and Jason Breazeale discuss why you need BIG data mastery before AI can help your company Make BIG Happen.

Jose Vergara on Why AI is a Leadership Challenge, Not Just a Technology Project

Guest: Jose Vergara, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Jose is a seasoned CEO, president, and operator with deep experience leading organizations across public companies, private equity-backed businesses, family-owned firms, founder-led companies, and partner-owned enterprises. Quick Background: If AI was just a technical problem, the solutions would be simple. Upgrade your tech stack. Hire the best AI experts. Buy more bandwidth. But the true challenge of AI is how it challenges leadership. CEOs who feel the need to "do something" often sacrifice identity and trust for speed. And in their haste, they fail to communicate a clear vision that reduces employees' anxiety around AI and transforms the company's culture. On today's show, Jose Vergara discusses how his 5-step AI roadmap for CEOs can help companies embrace AI, improve productivity, and Make BIG Happen.

Randy Wootton Shares the Hard-Earned Secrets of Successful CEOs

Guest: Randy Wootton, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Randy is a seasoned executive, board member, and advisor with more than two decades of experience leading companies through strategic inflection points, turnarounds, and technology shifts. Randy served 8 years in the Navy before taking senior leadership roles at companies including Microsoft and Salesforce, and working as the CEO of public and private equity-backed companies including Rocket Fuel. Quick Background: No one pauses your climb up the corporate ladder to teach you how to be a great CEO. And yet, once you do earn the BIG job, every decision carries weight, and every mistake gets more expensive. CEOs who accelerate through leadership growing pains often lean on experienced mentors, coaches, and peer groups for expertise that helps them avoid common mistakes and Make BIG Happen. On today's show, Randy Wootton shares the hard-earned secrets of success he's gathered over a career that took him from the cockpit of a Navy jet to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley.

Why a "Healthy" CEO Is the New Competitive Advantage with Dr. Jeff Graham

Guest: Dr. Jeff Graham, a physician and the Chief Medical Officer at Wild Health, where he works with high performers to help them extend not just their lifespan but their healthspan as well. Overview: If you ran your business the way many CEOs manage their health, you'd have to call an emergency board meeting immediately. The same successful CEOs who lead with precise data and dashboards often rely on "gut feel" when it comes to their own biology. Or, worse, they brush aside stress, exhaustion, and that funny feeling in their chest as just part of the job.  On today's show, Dr. Jeff Graham explains why CEOs who want to perform at a high level over decades need to treat their health as a measurable, optimizable operating system. He also discusses how "precision medicine," recovery, and adaptability can help leaders stay mentally sharp, improve their health, and keep Making BIG Happen.