Career Growth Advice from Tana Kramer, Fractional CFO and Business Strategist | Career Tips for Women Entrepreneurs

2B Bolder Podcast – Episode 140
Featuring Tana Kramer

Episode Title: #140 Money Myths and Fractional CFOs: Tana Kramer's Entrepreneurial Wisdom

Host: Mary Killelea
Guest: Tana Kramer


Mary Killelea (Host): Hi there, my name is Mary Killelea. Welcome to the 2B Bolder podcast, providing career insights for the next generation of women in business and tech. 2B Bolder was created out of my love for technology and marketing, my desire to bring together like-minded women, and my hope to be a great role model and source of inspiration for my two girls and other young women like you. Encouraging you guys to show up and to be bolder and to know that anything you guys dream of, it's totally possible. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation.

Hi there. Today's guest knows that profitability isn't just about the numbers. It's about designing a business that works for your life, not the other way around. Tanya Kramer is the founder of TK Solutions and a profitable strategist who empowers women entrepreneurs to grow sustainable, profitable businesses with intention. From her early days working with her father's smalltown glass shop to managing complex financial operations for powerhouse brands, Tanya has seen firsthand what works and what gets in the way. And when it comes to building a financially healthy business, she's pretty smart at it. She's known for her ability to streamline chaos, boost efficiency, and help her clients align their business strategy with their lifestyle goals. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the financial side of entrepreneurship, like so many of us have, you're going to want to stay tuned for this. Okay, Tanya, great to have you here. I love the topic. Thank you.

Tana Kramer (Guest): Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Mary Killelea: Okay, so part of the show is I always like to tell people kind of where you are or how you got to where you are today because not everyone's path is linear. So tell us about how you started and you know working at your dad's shop how that kind of formed maybe some of your early career path choices maybe.

Tana Kramer: Yeah, I always tell people that I have been like a support to the business owner for as long as I can remember because when I was answering phones at the glass shop on my summer break, I was like eight. I'm like I can't believe he let me answer the phones. But apparently I did a good job. Then later on in, you know, even in my childhood, I was a nanny to entrepreneurs while I worked a full-time job and went to college because I could spend lots of plates and I, again, I loved that family and I wanted them to be able to do what they needed to do. And then fast forward, I graduated from Arizona State University, management degree. I remember when I was like, I have to go work for $9 an hour for a minute. I don't really understand this. Like, how did I go to college and I'm only making $9 an hour? But I like moving up the chain a little bit. I went to collections of all the places. Like that is a crazy place to spend your like your first real job. But I learned pretty quickly that the corporate lifestyle was too tricky because it didn't have enough impact and it was a lot of what I'm going to call minutia. And so I went and I started working for a startup bank. So I got my first taste of startup life where everyone wears 17 hats and you all just like to get in and get your hands dirty. I worked for another business owner who had like five businesses and I helped him navigate all of the different real estate and the hot dog place and the glass company, which is again funny, different glass company. Then, you know, over the course of time I worked for franchisers, worked for a concrete company for a while, worked for an apparel company, and then I worked for an influencer. And I remember when I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is growing and their goals are crazy." Like they wanted 100 people to like to report to me. And I was like, "No, no, thank you, no, no, no. This is not aligned with my life plan." And so that's when I actually started my own business. I was like, I love helping entrepreneurs, but I want to be able to have a little bit more say in what's happening and, you know, so it can match my life. At the time I was launching my middle child. And so there was like this ticker on not only launching her, but the one right behind her. I was like, "Oh my gosh, I need to be able to be present. They're about to leave my house." So yeah, I just decided I could bring the skill set that I had learned over the course of time into businesses that I was really, really passionate about what they were doing. And so now at this point that's women entrepreneurs, typically professional service providers earning between one and five million in revenue and they're like they've got a lot of the business figured out and now they're ready for that next layer of financial strategy and how do I make sure we're profitable? How do I create decision-m tools and so now I get to do that for I do have what I'm going to call a boutique accounting firm. I have no desire to have 150 clients either. I'm like, I want to be able to be in it with the business owners. And so, I only take a handful and then we've got some that we like, you know, do some just basic bookkeeping or some basic consulting, but I love to like get my hands into a couple of different businesses and really operate as their fractional CFO and just make sure that they have like a calm sense of foundation in the area of finance as they grow their rocket ship.

Mary Killelea: I love the breadth of variety in your background and I love that you clearly can articulate who you serve and what your boundaries are because I think that the key to success in whether you're working for someone else or whether you're working for yourself is knowing yourself enough to claim your space. So kudos to you. Alight, so we talked a little bit about who you serve and your background. Now, what services do you offer?

Tana Kramer: Yeah. So, everything always starts out with what I call the financial wellness assessment and I like to like get into your books and figure out should you be making decisions based on the reports that you're currently being given because right sometimes there's like things hidden in there and so I like to make sure that like the baseline is really good. So, that's always my first step and so I do that for people who only hire me for that one thing. Also, depending on what level of work that needs to be done there, I will do 90-day engagements. Then depending on, you know, if I have space in that sort of bucket of the handful that I'm really immersed in, then I do offer an outsourced accounting team. I have a bookkeeper or a couple bookkeepers and some other folks on my team so we can sort of support the whole finance function. Then I also just know half day half day consulting sessions. So somebody's like hey I just want to build out a budget and think about things in the future we get together for four hours and we figure out how to get that you know built for you. So I try to meet people where they are.

Mary Killelea: I love that. And I think people like you are needed so great now because everyone well I shouldn't say everyone. Lots of people are getting laid off. Lots of people are either later in life going I am done with corporate. I'm not going back. I'm going to start my I'm not ready to retire but I'm going to go start my own business or I'm going to start monetizing a hobby of mine. But a lot of people don't think about it as a business or the financial arm of it because they just follow what they love or what they want to build. So I think what do you see as one of the biggest trips or like hangups or challenges that most entrepreneurs overlook?

Tana Kramer: Looking at their numbers is definitely going to be the biggest thing and see because a lot of times people think they're going to remember but I will tell you the best of us do not remember like we remember it a certain way right and then when you turn out. People have a tendency to like to spend that money. Oh yeah, earmarked for this, but I spent it on this and I'm still thinking about how I'm going to spend it. And before you know it, they spent that same dollar three times, right? So memories are deceiving. So there's you got to do something about tracking to make sure that what you think you remember is truly what happened. And again, this is not even like a memory problem as much as everybody thinks, oh yeah, I've got my pulse on that. And I think that it's important to, you know, make sure that that's what your financial statements are going to say because at the end of the year, you're going to pay taxes on what your financial statement said, not what you remember. And so just to ground like ground what's actually happening with what you think. And again, sometimes you're really positively surprised. But I think like having a routine I look at, you know, somebody's doing my bookkeeping or I'm doing my bookkeeping and we're looking at how the business is doing, periodically is really key. So, if that's monthly for you, great. If that's quarterly for you, great. If that's annually, that's not often enough.

Mary Killelea: That's so great. So I want to kind of go back a little bit into your career. Was there a moment in your own career where you felt stuck or unsure and how did you move through it? Because today you've built a successful business and I think some of the people who are listening to you are like 10 steps or five steps behind you. So, you know, what are some of those mistakes and how did you overcome them to help them?

Tana Kramer: Yeah. Well, I think that it started with just feeling like a feeling of misalignment. Maybe that it looked a little bit like resentment. It looked a little bit like what do you mean I got to do that or that doesn't align with how I want to show up? So, there was this energetic feeling of things not feeling right. Why am I cranky at everyone? You know what I mean? Like why do I hate my life? You know, I mean that that was maybe probably stretched, but like you know, you have those moments where you feel like the sky is falling. If there's too many days and they're not related to you're just tired or you just, you know, you had a long week or, you know, like sometimes those things happen and that's just normal and you still love what you were doing. But when you start to feel like I'm actually really dreading every single Monday, like it's time to think about what you need to be doing differently. And so sometimes that means you need to set up your life differently. Like maybe you're just thinking things need to look one way and as it turns out if you just made this like half degree turn you could still love the work that you're doing in just a different capacity. But it always starts with why am I so cranky at everybody.

Mary Killelea: That self-reflection is so key.

Tana Kramer: For sure and again, I know that for me, I feel it in my body. Like I get really tense and I'm like, "Why am I grinding my teeth at night?" You know, or, you know, why do I feel like my shoulders are up high? It's because I'm holding on to an expectation that does not align with what I think I know at some level needs to be happening.

Mary Killelea: Working with a lot of women leaders, what are some recurring themes you notice when it comes to confidence? And you know, we talked about it right there, burnout or even scaling. What are some themes that you see?

Tana Kramer: A lot of times I see people who are unsure and so they're just openly unsure. And usually that's probably once they become a client. They like there's a sense of I can't talk to anybody on my team. I don't want to freak out my partner, but I need to know this is going to be okay. Right? So, they're looking for some reassurance. Then I think that the other thing to do is they're obsessing about, you know, one part of the business or one part of life or they're obsessing about something. And in fact, I just asked somebody today, I was like, so let's talk about what's happening there. Let's dissect what's happening there. Is this because you don't have the support you need, or is this because you are spending more time here than you quote unquote should because it's helping you to feel safe? And so sometimes we're just like navigating why we are doing this behavior and is there a way we can like take two steps back and be like okay wait that is I just didn't have the support I needed. I need to hire somebody differently or I need to assign somebody else on the team. But other times it's like there's such an unsureness that they're obsessing about the numbers or they're obsessing about the sales plan or they're obsessing about somebody dumb on their team who's doing something dumb on their team. And so I find that if they're too far down the rabbit hole, then we kind of like to back things up and be like, why is that happening? Can we help? What else? What are some other tools?

Mary Killelea: Well, and I think listening to you makes me think that you offer so much more than just guidance on numbers and profitability. I mean, the emotional intelligence that you have in order to know your clients are struggling with something so much broader and deeper. I think that is, and I'm going to say it, an advantage women have over men. like I 100%, you know, and I think that's why women who are listening need to really interview the people they're going to hire to support them because things are going to bubble up that are holding us back more than just the problem we think we're addressing.

Tana Kramer: For sure. People always think it's like this one thing and I'm like, guess what? There's another thing behind it. The current constraint is just the current constraint because there's always a constraint. So let's not think that we're going to like to solve it. Everything is going to be done perfectly from here. That's how it works. And I think that we show up everywhere. So if we have limiting beliefs, they're going to show up, right? So, and again, I was telling this particular client, I was like, "Yeah, I understand this particular thing because as a business owner, like I am holding the fractional CFO hat for you, but I'm holding the CEO hat for myself." So, I have to get in my own stuff where, you know, I have to tell myself like, "Hold on, where are we out of alignment? You're pushing too far in that direction. It doesn't feel right. Take a few steps back. Reassess what feels off." So yeah, I mean I'm definitely not just a fractional CFO. Although I will say that, you know, if you think about the C-suite, right, they're going to hold a different space for each other. You know, even just in directing the business. So yeah, I definitely function as a safe landing place for all ideas, you know.

Mary Killelea: How often do you see it because I used to read Susie Orman, you know, the relationship with money and how you don't show it respect. I know that was a big book and literally I'm going to tell you I think that's the only financial advice I ever got growing up and that was in my late 30s when I read that book. Maybe 40s, I don't know. But yeah, like so many of my own money issues stem from how I was raised or the lack of talking about it. What can women do who need to educate themselves?

Tana Kramer: Absolutely. Well, I can remember it was a couple years ago I heard my mom talking about something after I had started my business and I was like, where does this come from? the scarcity mindset. Where does it come from, right? And she I was like, why do we always think everyone's after our money? Like what is this? So, and you know, she ended up talking to me about her dad and where he came from. And I was like, okay, cool. I get it. Setting it down. Like, I'm not here for it. So, I think what the technical thing is if you can uncover where it's coming from, then maybe it's easier to let go. But if not, get yourself into rooms where people are sure it's possible and you can borrow some of their confidence while you prove it to yourself. And so I regularly tell people like get into a different room whether that be networking or a mastermind or you know just a group co coaching program or even your social feed like find places where we are normalizing that people can make money without discounting all of their services where they can have enough less do good with it. Right? Like you're going to find places where that's happening. And guess what? It's like the whole rainbow is here.

Mary Killelea: Right.

Tana Kramer: There's everybody on the spectrum. If you are in a place that you don't like, it's time to move. Yeah. And it won't take right away. You might have to make a couple of different moves to find your new place, but be open to changing the room that you're in.

Mary Killelea: Such great advice. Let's talk about visibility. I love this topic. How have you built visibility for yourself and your brand as a company? And what do you recommend to other entrepreneur women who are trying to build their brand out there? Yeah. Well, I mean, I think that it definitely starts with doing good work. If you've done good work, you know, in your corporate life, everybody you've ever talked to is going to know that you've done good work. So, if you're applying that work in a different way and you introduce them to the idea that you're doing this new thing, if you've done a good job in your personal brand before it was a thing, then you're going to be able to have those conversations. And I've gotten a lot of business just from the relationships that I have made in my regular life for, you know, 30 years. Then the things I'm doing that are kind of more new is I'm networking everywhere. And I wouldn't call like I'm not a site networker. I just like here's who I am. I hope that we can, you know, be entertained by each other. I want you to know what I do so that when you're ready or when you meet somebody who is asking about what I do that you can be like, "Oh yeah, you should talk to her." That's like all I'm ever looking for, right? Because we're always just a couple of degrees away from our next client. So, if you just keep showing up and make sure people know what you do, it will totally work out. And then I'm doing this podcasting thing, which I have had so much fun. I really am enjoying it. I was like, I might have to start a podcast because it's so much fun.

Mary Killelea: It really is fun. Are you leveraging LinkedIn?

Tana Kramer: Yes. And then LinkedIn? Yes.

Mary Killelea: Okay.

Tana Kramer: That's the only social platform I'm really on. I'm on Instagram, but I'm terrible at posting on it. So LinkedIn more so.

Mary Killelea: You know, but I think that's important because people think social media is so overwhelming. But you don't have to be on every platform. Pick one that works for you. And I think LinkedIn obviously is a great one because of all the business relations.

Tana Kramer: And be where your clients are. Like if your clients like because there was a time where I was like, "Oh, I love I love consuming TikTok." But my clients, even if they are on TikTok, are not going to take any amount of financial advice seriously on TikTok. Nor do I want to be dancing on video. Like, no. That's a hard no. So, you have to be where your clients are and where they're ultimately going to want to see you. Like, where are they in the mindset that they would be thinking about hiring you?

Mary Killelea: I love it.

Tana Kramer: We sometimes get that mismatched.

Mary Killelea: Absolutely. What does to be bolder mean to you?

Tana Kramer: I feel like to be bolder is to own so wholeheartedly who and what you want out of this one precious life that you should go against the grain of what you think and others think for you because not their life, your life, your internal happiness. So you have to sort of embrace knowing who you are and then share that with the world.

Mary Killelea: Fantastic. How can people get in touch with you to learn more?

Tana Kramer: Well, definitely LinkedIn. So, Tana Kramer and then my website is also that easy. Tonicramer.com. If they want to have, you know, any more of a sense of who I am, there's definitely some things posted on LinkedIn. But I've got a private podcast if you go out to my website that is just like a little bit more of tactical advice in your business. Pretty short. They're like five minutes each or something. So, that's another free thing just to get to experience, you know, more of what it might look like to work together.

Mary Killelea: Fantastic. So, I know our time is up, but any parting words for women out there listening who are either in business or tech trying to build careers, whether that is within the corporate world or whether that is, branching out on their own business journey being a founder.

Tana Kramer: Yeah, you can do it. You can do anything that you put your mind to. You just have to be brave enough to do it. And so you can. So if you think you can't, you're wrong. You totally can.

Mary Killelea: I love it. Thank you so much for being here.

Tana Kramer: Thanks for having me. It was fun.

Mary Killelea: Thanks for listening to the episode today. It was really fun chatting with my guest. If you liked our show, please like it and share it with your friends. If you want to learn what we're up to, please go check out our website at 2bbolder.com. That's the number 2 little bbolder.com.