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TAKE THE FIRST STEP.
WE WILL DO THE REST.
Throughout my career, finance has been my core focus, but I have had the privilege of overseeing multiple disciplines within an organization. Over the past two decades, in addition to being the lead finance executive, I have also been responsible for Operations, IT, Human Resources, and Marketing. These experiences came both at large public companies and privately held, fast-growing organizations. My strengths lie in understanding how to manage all disciplines of an organization, which is driven by my excellent communication skills, analytical skills, and deep understanding of how all departments interact with each other. These skills have allowed me to provide insight into current business conditions and provide future strategic direction for the companies I have worked for.
I started Lewis Felix Consulting because I came to the realization that I am very good at coming into an organization, assimilating quickly, and uncovering the root of the issues. I work hand and hand with the team to put in processes, procedures, and systems to not only fix the problem but also build a platform for sustainment and growth.
What’s the meaning behind the name? Lewis is my father’s middle name and Felix is my father-in-law’s middle name. They both owned their own company. My father owned a real estate appraising business, and my father-in-law owned a hobby store; both very successful at what they did. When I was thinking of starting this company I leaned on their legacy and work ethic and thought I should carry on this tradition and honor these great men who have now passed on.
Your business is a large part of your life, and you need someone who cares about the success of your business as much as you do. Lewis Felix Consulting provides direction as if we owned part of the company. To have empathy is key, to understand what the business wants to be is key, and more importantly to care about who you are working with is key. Lewis Felix Consulting brings years of experience as well as a personal side and partner to your organization.
I have found in my career that most problems in an organization stem from not having a clear vision of the future. For the companies I have joined in the last 20 years, I have been the first CFO/Finance Executive in the company history. When I came in, I was tasked with many things but most importantly I needed to create a plan which entailed not only a budget, but a 3 to 5 year look at the business. To do this I had to learn how the company worked, and quickly. This took exceptional communication skills, relationship building, and technical expertise.
These phrases are common because they should be. I can’t tell you how many budgets I have created in my career, but I have learned knowing how to compile a budget with input from all stakeholders is key. Creating a monthly/quarterly review to understand how the company is performing against budget is also key.
In my career I have utilized the forecast tool to provide management and stakeholders with a look into the balance of the year. The results may be that they have to pull back spending by 10% because sales are not hitting budget or we have to shift the spending from one line item to another to ensure we achieve income goals.
I have been the COO at a service company and the VP of Finance and Operations at a consumer products company where I was responsible for the distribution center and call center. In both cases, I was also the lead finance person. I approached my operational portfolio with the goal of making sure we were meeting the customers’ needs and doing it as cost effective and efficient as possible. I have found in my career that when operations are overlooked it can cost the company massive amounts of money because of inefficiencies that increase expenses and drive customers away.
I have led HR the last 5 years and know that having the right person in the right seat makes everyone’s job easier. Having the ability to understand what types of employees you need in creating a supportive and accountable culture is critical as well as having policies that support all employees and are compliant with laws.
That is when you need a finance person to come in and be a partner to the head of marketing. In my past, I was the director of marketing and people always asked how did a finance become director of marketing? For one the leadership of that company knew I had a great understanding of how the business worked and that this specific position needed someone with great analytical skills to move the company forward.
When I went into a new company and interviewed the teams, I found that one of their pain points is always “the system sucks”. To change out a system or the ERP system is tough, takes a lot of work, and requires understanding of change management. I have been fortunate to go through three ERP implementations. The keys to success are having great SOPs to create the design documents for the programmers to follow, having a dedicated person to manage the project, and having change management training for the staff so they understand how to deal with the new system.