The Diary of a CFO
If you're currently a CFO or on the path to become one, this podcast is for you. The Diary of a CFO takes you behind the scenes of modern finance leadership through honest conversations about how real finance leaders build their careers, make tough decisions, and carry the weight of the CFO role. Hosted by award-winning CFO Wassia Kamon, each episode covers what it actually takes to lead finance teams, work with CEOs and boards, navigate capital decisions, and grow without burning out. To suggest topics, email ask@thediaryofacfo.com. To become a guest or sponsor, visit thediaryofacfo.com.
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Former Starbucks IR SVP: How a Homeless Teenager Ended Up Managing $130 Billion Market Cap on Wall Street
<p>In this episode of The Diary of a CFO: Live in Atlanta, I sit down in person with Tiffany Willis. </p><p>Tiffany is a global investor relations executive who recently served as Senior Vice President at Starbucks, where she managed nearly $130 billion in market capitalization. She is a Wharton graduate, an Adjunct Professor at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, a CPA, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and a former Miss Black Georgia USA.</p><p>Behind that bio is a story most people would never expect. Tiffany was pregnant at 14, dropped out of school in the 9th...
The Unlikely Journey of a $3 Billion CFO, William Washington III
<p>He dropped out of high school. He was a single father. He started his career at a cottonseed company. Now he oversees $3 billion in annual revenue across 76 offices in 45 countries as the Global CFO of Baker McKenzie, one of the largest law firms in the world.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with William Washington III. William brings a rare combination of financial acumen and operational expertise shaped by senior roles at Hogan Lovells, Accenture, and Fannie Mae. He is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and a Bloomberg New Voice on the future of finance.<...
How to Cut Your Board Reporting Process From Weeks to Days (with Fabian Ferrada)
<p>Most finance teams spend two weeks building a board report that gets reviewed in ten minutes. The formatting alone could take days. And if one number changes, the entire approval cycle restarts.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with Fabian Ferrada, Senior Solutions Engineer at Insight Software. Before moving to tech, Fabian spent over a decade in financial and operational leadership for a publicly traded company, carrying P&L responsibility on major projects across South America and the Middle East.</p><p>We break down what a great board presentation actually looks like versus what most teams...
Excel vs FP&A Software: When to Make the Switch (with Paul Barnhurst)
<p>Most finance teams stay on Excel longer than they should. The hard part is knowing when it is actually time to switch.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with Paul Barnhurst, also known as The FP&A Guy. Paul has trained thousands of finance professionals, hosts three podcasts including FP&A Unlocked, and has tested almost every major FP&A tool on the market. He is known for his clear, independent reviews and helping finance teams make smarter choices about the tools they use.</p><p>We break down when Excel stops being enough and how to...
Mistakes founders make during fundraising (from a cfo who has done 50+ M&A and Exit deals)
<p>Most founders make the same fundraising mistakes and do not realize it until the cash is gone.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with Julianne Averill, a healthcare AI CFO, board director, and fractional CFO with over 20 years of experience helping life science and digital health companies scale through fundraising, M&A, and IPOs. She has been through over 50 transactions on both the buy and sell side and currently serves as a fractional CFO working with multiple founders.</p><p>We break down how startup funding actually works from Seed all the way to IPO. What investors...
insightsoftware President Jennifer Warawa on How AI is Changing the Office of the CFO
<p>In this episode of The Diary of a CFO Podcast, host Wassia Kamon sits down with Jennifer Warawa, President of insightsoftware and a seven-time honoree as one of the top 25 most powerful women in accounting, to explore what CFOs must fix before implementing AI.</p><p>Drawing on over 25 years of experience at the intersection of finance, technology, and leadership, Jennifer shares :</p>Why systems and talent have not kept pace with the evolution of the CFO role,How AI amplifies what already exists rather than fixing broken foundations, What a successful AI implementation looks like and how to...
Former Caterpillar Group CFO on The Leadership Skills Finance Professionals Must Master to Reach the Top
<p>In this episode of The Diary of a CFO Podcast, host Wassia Kamon sits down with Dave DeFreitas, retired group CFO of Caterpillar Inc., to explore the unconventional career path that took him from staff accountant to the C-suite.</p><p>Drawing on over 30 years of experience leading finance teams at one of the world's largest manufacturing companies, Dave shares why he had seven different jobs in his first six years before getting his first promotion, and how those lateral moves built the foundation for executive-level thinking. </p><p>The conversation also explores:</p>The situational leadership framework that...
Building an AI-Ready Finance Team Without Losing the Human Side, with Tariq Munir
<p>In this episode of The Diary of a CFO Podcast, host Wassia Kamon sits down with Tariq Munir, digital transformation advisor and author of Reimagine Finance, to explore what it actually takes to build an AI-ready finance team.</p><p>Tariq shares why the biggest barriers to AI adoption are behavioral, not technological. He explains how to identify whether a team is truly data-driven, why streamlining workflows must come before automation, and how CFOs can create a culture of thoughtful experimentation without compromising accuracy or compliance. They also discuss the emerging skills finance leaders need, including change management, emotional...
The First‑Time CFO Playbook: The First 90 Days, Imposter Syndrome and Leading the Business
<p>Stepping into your first CFO role can feel overwhelming. In this episode, former divisional CFO and GrowCFO Mentor Kevin Appleby shares what really changes when you move from finance leader to CFO.</p><p>Drawing on years of experience working with finance leaders across industries, Kevin shares why many CFOs feel unprepared when they step into the role and how the real work begins after the reporting is done. The conversation examines how CFOs add value through judgment, questioning, and forward-looking insight, especially when the path forward is unclear.</p><p>This episode is for CFOs, aspiring CFOs, and...
Wassia Kamon’s 15-Year Journey from Staff Accountant to CFO
<p>In this solo episode, Wassia Kamon shares how she went from staff accountant to CFO in 15 years, including the moments that didn’t look like progress at all.</p><p>She talks about:</p>Moments in her career that didn’t look like “progress” from the outside.Rethinking the value of credentials like the CPA, CMA, and MBA.Learning to lead under pressure and make decisions with incomplete information.What it was really like to grow her career while raising young kids.Promotions that looked impressive from the outside but were emotionally hard, including times when she had to support...
