How CFOs Can Master Change and Build the Future

Welcome back to CFO Weekly, where we’re talking with financial leaders about how to build efficiency in their teams, create time for strategy, and ultimately get results. With your host, Megan Weis. Let’s jump right in.

Megan - 00:00:31: Today my guest is Heidi Crane. Heidi is the CFO at FightCamp, the connected at-home boxing company. With over 15 years of experience, Heidi has held multiple CFO positions at various consumer product companies in beauty, fashion, travel, and now fitness. Her extensive experience spans many years of financial planning, strategy, fundraising, and leading teams through various stages of growth. Heidi, thank you very much for joining me on this episode of CFO Weekly.

Heidi - 00:01:00: Happy to be here. It’s good to meet you and looking forward to sharing some time with you.

Megan - 00:01:05: Yeah, I’m looking forward to learning about you and your story today and hearing about your experience as a finance leader. And I know we’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get started.

Heidi - 00:01:14: Okay, sounds great.

Megan - 00:01:16: First and as always, let’s start with you, your story, and how it is that you got to where you are today.

Heidi - 00:01:23: Yeah, well, my career has spanned a number of years, so I’ll break it down into two pieces. The first half was about building my foundation, and all the foundational skills. So it was about working for large, global companies that were number one or two in their space and really building my skills through these organizations. Ernst & Young was about learning about different industries. And those food company was deep into production and distribution and corporate financial planning for high volume, low margin business. It’s a great place to learn operations. They had their own steamships and chassis and containers, so you’re deep in operations. And so I learned a lot about efficiency and great supply chain operations. And Diageo is a powerhouse in terms of marketing and sales, and that was about building brands and high-value brands. So that was a high-margin business. I was in the sales office for four years, working alongside salespeople and learning merchandising and how you sell to a lot of different companies, small and large. So a great foundational experience. And then the second half was about applying them to these growth companies that were private equity or VC backed. And I feel very fortunate to have been part of the whole growth economy and the explosion of e-commerce and part of that and applying these skills to these companies. I’ve been CFO of five companies and had a lot of opportunities to apply these learnings. And that experience, that initial experience was tremendously valuable, taking them into organizations that aren’t structured and don’t have the guardrail. So I am very appreciative of building my career from the ground up, working with really incredibly talented people that had deep expertise in their space.

Megan - 00:03:32: Yeah, you’ve had an amazing and diverse career so far. And from what I understand, you just joined FightCamp as CFO this year. So talk to us about what drew you to this particular company.

Heidi - 00:03:47: Yeah, after being CFO a number of times, people and culture are really central to what makes you happy. That was really the core of what I was looking for, is the right business model, of course, but also a team that shared the same values that I did. And these were co-founders or six co-founders, and they built an incredible culture in this at-home-connected fitness company and just a lot of passion that they have for this business and expertise, and they really focused on trust and openness, diversity, positivity and transparency, and all those things really resonated with me. And those were important parts of my decision. So I made my decision based on people and culture.

Megan - 00:04:35: Yeah, it’s always a great thing to do because it’s so important that you love the people that you’re working with and the culture that you’re working within. So talk to us about the product. What is it that FightCamp does and what is their product?

Heidi - 00:04:52: It’s a really exciting space to be in. At-home connected fitness is fairly new, but now very prominent in the marketplace. But we are unique in that we focus on boxing, and kickboxing, and we’re doing a lot of innovations that involve multiplayer and gamification to make it really a fun experience, but it’s something that you can learn and do at home. And so we have a lot of professionals who are busy that use our product and we have a lot of excellent trainers that really get people comfortable with the sport. And it’s one of the best things you can do for exercise from a cardio and strength perspective, and it works out your upper body and lower body and core, and it’s really time efficient. So we’re really trying to develop a great product that is easy to use and engaging, but it’s a great way to get fit. So we have some new things that we’re launching probably around this time next year that are going to be pretty incredible. So really excited about being part of the team and helping them innovate and grow the business.

Megan - 00:06:07: Yeah, I’ve always heard that boxing is such an amazing full-body workout. I’ve actually never tried it, but I’d really like to in the new year. It’s one of my goals.

Heidi - 00:06:20: Well, let’s get you set up. We’re happy to get you connected and get you set up. Our trainers are excellent and we’d love to have you try our product.

Megan - 00:06:30: Yeah, and that’s always so convenient that you can do it from home. And I know we’ve seen kind of that at-home connected fitness product explode during the pandemic. I could not have imagined a time when all gyms would have been closed down, but we saw it So, talk to us about the lessons learned from Peloton. I was reading an article the other day about their rise and fall during the pandemic and I’m just curious to know if you have any lessons learned that you guys are now kind of implementing as you go along, because you’re in a pretty high growth stage.

Heidi - 00:07:17: Yeah, I think for us, we’re fortunate to be smaller and we still have a lot of growth to pursue. We’re just only in the US and really just scratching the surface here. And I think the Peloton story is an incredible one and we’re all very excited to see how they exploded and very excited for their success. And I think a lot of companies raised a lot of money and deployed it very quickly. And so we were fortunate to raise money last year and we’re deploying it very carefully. And I think in terms of investing in areas that have an immediate return will be really important. I know they made a lot of long-term heavy investments and deployed our money into a lot of long-term initiatives. So we do have some initiatives that are longer-term plays, but a lot of what we’re working on have quick payback and strong ROIs. So I think it’s really making sure we manage our cash effectively so that we can survive lean times. So I think we’re learning. Growth ends at some point, so you have to be prepared for shifts in the marketplace and we’re going to be facing a pretty interesting year next year. So I think we’re all trying to be ready.

Megan - 00:08:52: Yeah, I’m eager to see what 2023 brings, but you’ve worked across different industries, including beauty, fitness, travel, and e-commerce. So talk to us about being a finance leader and the commonalities across industries and then what differs as you move across these different industries.

Heidi - 00:09:14: Yeah, well, I think all those companies that I’ve worked for are consumer product companies and most of them were in the digital space. There are a ton of similarities in terms of how you apply finance within those industries, in terms of processes and systems and data analytics around customers and products. So a lot of the skills were very transferable. It’s really learning the lingo, price positioning, and marketing strategies. And probably what was the most different were the personalities, the culture, and the different businesses. That was probably the biggest difference in knowing how to navigate each of those cultures. But they’re all very fun, and high energy, and really was glad to be part of each of these different industries. It keeps things interesting when you learn about different businesses and what makes them each tick. So have enjoyed working across these different industries.

Megan - 00:10:12: And the role of CFO itself has evolved, I think, an awful lot over the last, let’s say, decade. How do you stay relevant? How do you make sure that you’re the CFO of the future?

Heidi - 00:10:30: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think since I’ve worked in these early growth-stage companies, you have to really continue to stay on top of the latest tools and what’s going on in the marketplace because things move so fast and the market shifts so quickly. And jumping into e-commerce, I’m a subscription ecommerce, when it was really new, required me to adapt and learn something that’s very different because I came from more large organizations, more retail, brick, and mortar retail-based customers. So I think learning those skill sets early on with my first experience in ecommerce really helped me adapt. And also I work for a lot of young entrepreneurs. They’re very passionate about new technologies and finding new niches and always trying new things. So, CFO, you have to kind of adapt to the entrepreneur and their vision and it means moving quickly and being nimble. And I think it forces you to learn new skills constantly. I think I’m used to changing and that’s really important to be able to be ready for change and really be adaptable and keep things nimble. And that forces you to keep your skills sharp and the spaces I’ve been to, too because they move so quickly. You have to keep your eye on the marketplace, your competition, and what’s new. Otherwise, it’s hard to grow and stay relevant with your customers. I think I’ve been fortunate to work with really young, visionary people, and keep me fresh with what I’m doing and really excited to continue growing and learning and adapting along the way. So, yes, I think it’s just my career path has enabled me to be part of this new economy and learn all the new tools and analytic capabilities that are out there and really leverage technology.

Megan - 00:12:55: And let’s go back to the start of your career. So you started, as you mentioned, at Ernst & Young in their audit practice. So talk to us about how that prepared you to go into finance leadership roles.

Heidi - 00:13:08: I was going to say it was a great place to start right out of college. It was an easy transition. You’re working there with many young people and you’re learning about so many different global businesses and industries and you have exposure to their inner workings. And it’s such a structured learning environment. So it’s a great place to really build your skills and your leading teams after a year into your career. And so you’re really learning leadership skills early on. And that really helped me at every place I worked at after. So it was really good basic skills and really getting broad-based experience to companies. So you kind of know where you want to head yourself and how you want to develop your career.

Megan - 00:14:02: I started at Deloitte, so a lot of what you just said resonates with me. And I do think that it is a great environment to really challenge yourself. And I remember just every day being pushed out of my comfort zone. So that was also a good lesson learned.

Heidi - 00:14:21: Yeah, it’s great to have that experience. It’s great to learn about you. I think you take it for granted at that age, but when you look back later, you see how much it really helped you and gave you a good framework to build from. And I have to say, being CFO of these different companies for the past 15 years, I saw how I applied all the learnings from the first half of my career and I used it repeatedly. And I was so grateful for how much that prepared me, that a year or two ago I wrote to all my former bosses from 2025 years ago to thank them for their mentorship and to really recognize their deep experience and how they played a big part in imparting great knowledge. And you can’t learn these skills from school or just high-level exposure, just being knee-deep in the business with these incredible experts who are in the industry for many, many years. I saw how much I learned from each of these executives and I was so appreciative because I really know the business very deeply because of it. And I wrote thank-you notes to all of these executives and it was really something I was grateful for in terms of their investment in my career. And I just saw all the many benefits and I wanted to express that.

Megan - 00:15:58: Yeah, that’s awesome that you did that. I’m sure they were very appreciative. It’s something a lot of people probably never get throughout their career as a thank you.

Heidi - 00:16:07: Yeah, I was so appreciative. I really saw how it helped me and I did hear back from a couple of people it was just really great to reconnect and see what everyone was doing. So I was just happy to do that and just wanted to express that. But it’s nice to be able to help these young companies grow and succeed. And to be able to do that and feel confident about how you can help is really a big thing to contribute to these organizations from a finance perspective. So I really enjoyed what I’ve been doing.

Megan - 00:16:43: And speaking about young companies… So how do you find working in an entrepreneurial startup environment as compared to those larger corporations where you started your career? I’m sure it’s like night and day.

Heidi - 00:17:00: Yeah, it is really different. And when I first made the shift to private equity-backed growth companies, it was a medium-sized company with 600 million, so it was easier to make that transition. But then when I went to work for entrepreneurs who were in their 20s and early 30s, and the company was more like 60 million, it was a very big change. And we didn’t have a safety net, we didn’t have guardrails. And you actually have to know how to do things yourself. There’s not a department to go to. You have to actually roll up your sleeves and do it. And if you haven’t done it, you have to figure it out. So it’s really about contributing and being part of an organization that’s testing and learning and being nimble and being able to pivot any time to help shape the company in the right direction. In large companies, you’re doing these large-scale complex projects which are really sophisticated and you get deep knowledge. But when you go to these entrepreneurial companies, you’re really seeing many different parts of the organization working together to achieve one end goal. And I think I really enjoyed that. So I’ve continued to do this because I enjoy seeing teams come together towards a common goal and a common vision. You can learn in both organizations, but to be able to work across the organization as I do now would be tough to do in one of these Fortune 500 companies because there aren’t that many roles or you could do that and maybe never ascend to that level. So being able to really help and have a deep impact has been really great. So I enjoyed this.

Megan - 00:18:52: And as a CFO, how do you support that entrepreneurial spirit while putting those guardrails and bumpers in place? Because a lot of being an entrepreneur is about taking risks.

Heidi - 00:19:05: Yeah, I don’t mind risk-taking and I like the new challenges that these entrepreneurs are facing and we’re having to combat as a company and those are problems to solve. I think that’s where my experience has been really helpful because I don’t need the guardrails in place, firmly in place. I know how to navigate without the guardrails because of my experience. And so when things are happening that might appear risky, I know how to manage it because of my experience and I know we’re going to be fine. But then I know we hit a point where we have to put guardrails in, put controls in, and we’re always measuring and doing the analytics and metrics management that’s super important to do from the very beginning. And these young companies are really good at those analytics. But then putting the controls in place around growth, that’s always a balancing act and it’s like, where do you draw that line? But as long as you have metrics in place, you never go too far. Where you’re cut short because you’re measuring and you’re testing along the way. A lot of these companies really have perfected that process. But I know more on a macro level, how to manage cash and ensure we’re getting the right return and not taking too much risk, where you get to a point of no return. That’s where the experience has really helped me in these environments because I don’t need the systems and the processes firmly in place. I can manage it and put them in place as we grow.

Megan - 00:20:50: And how do you go about integrating into a new company when you join as part of the senior leadership team? How do you get your team to trust you? How do you learn the business? Because you’ve seen a lot of different industries and I imagine that learning the business is a challenge each time.

Heidi - 00:21:09: Yeah, and that’s the fun part. I think that the interesting part is what makes each of these companies tick. And I think it’s about building trust and credibility. And when you start from there, it means you’re learning about the business, you’re getting to know the team members, you’re understanding the culture and what they value, and you’re embracing that and protecting that and being a champion for that. And then it’s demonstrating how you can add value by walking the talk, getting results, and going after low-hanging fruit to demonstrate how you can get things done. It’s building key connections and helping others and being able to work through teams to affect change. And so when you build those relationships, you can build a place where you can have influence and help shape strategy and affect change on a daily basis. So those initial building blocks are super important and really respecting and valuing what’s been built and what’s made the company successful to date.

Megan - 00:22:25: And as CFO, what’s your advice for creating a successful company culture?

Heidi - 00:22:31: Yeah, since I’ve worked for a lot of entrepreneurs who have vision and passion, and expertise in the space, as a CFO, it’s important to be an active member of that culture and reinforce it and live it with the executive team. And that means investing in resources to support that culture and keeping everybody aligned with it and having access to the culture. And I think because I’m a big proponent of equity, diversity, and inclusion, you need the proper infrastructure in place to be able to do rollout programs that benefit everybody equally. It’s putting in people programs and people teams at the right time so that everybody feels supported, everybody feels like they have a safety net, they have a career path, they have a way to learn, and it’s done in an equitable manner. So as CFO, it’s making sure those resources are in place to protect your greatest asset, which is your people. So it’s easy to forget sometimes when you’re busy and growing companies, some of the intangibles that help lift your company up. And over time, that could erode if you don’t pay attention to it. So putting those programs in place early on to really celebrate wins and recognize people is important to keep the energy and the vitality of the company high. So I think as CFO, it’s just always making sure that front and center and providing resources behind it. And when people see that that’s a priority, I think people feel safe and they feel taken care of.

Megan - 00:24:32: And talk to us about your attitude to employee wellness benefits. I imagine it’s like a small company. It’s not always easy to be able to afford great benefits. But I’m curious since you work in the fitness industry, what’s your take on that?

Heidi - 00:24:49: Yeah, we prioritize that. That’s really important at FightCamp. We have a lot of programs in place, and that’s one of the things that really resonated with me when I was interviewing is really how much they prioritize employees. And for instance, they provide probably the most generous reimbursement program around fitness. And you don’t have to spend it on FightCamp. You can spend it on what you feel helps you feel fit and well the most. And we support childcare. We have Learning Days where people share learnings with each other. We have a lot of ways to connect since we’re remote on a weekly basis. So we do weekly meetings company-wide, and we allow almost everyone to present and speak. And we have other meetings where what we call Learning Day, we have virtual lunches and we have a 401(k) full matching. So we do a lot to make sure our employees feel like they can grow and learn in our environment. Being in a growth company is busy and very challenging. But we make sure that our team is taken care of. And we also ensure we put money aside for education, which means that the managers have to ensure that they’re doing something to actively support the education of their people. So we require you to spend a certain amount on each team member towards education. It could be through meetings, it could be through a class. There are many different ways you can do that. But we leave it up to each manager. So even though we’re a small company, we really value what our team members do. And we know that they contribute a lot to our success. So there’s a lot in place today, even though we’re a young company, really. They really just launched their product in 2018. So, yeah, that’s it’s really fantastic to see. And I think that’s the right way to do it.

Megan - 00:27:13: I agree. I wish more companies were like that. It sounds like an amazing place to work.

Heidi - 00:27:17: Yeah, it’s been great. So I really enjoyed it. I think they took care to do it right. And you know, the founders, they got their initial one of their initial key funding through Y Combinator. So they went through a whole program through Y Combinator and to really compete and do well and be one of the finalists there says a lot about the cofounders and their business model. And in that process, they took all the learnings of Y Combinator to heart and applied them and they really understood and took it seriously. And I think some of what they’ve done here is because of those learnings.

Megan - 00:28:01: I’m just curious, what’s their background? How did they come up with this product? Were they passionate about this at some point, taking classes in the gym or how did they develop this?

Heidi - 00:28:14: Actually, some of them are former boxers. The CEO is a former boxer. A number of them are into boxing. But some of them did it and were very competitive with boxing. And they came up with the, thank you for asking because I think it’s really important. One of the key components of the company as they developed trackers for Olympic boxers to track their punches. And before these trackers, it was done manually. Part of boxing performance is your speed and the number of punches you execute within a certain time period. They were able to automate that through this technology. And that’s what we sell as part of FightCamp, is these trackers to track your punches. And so you have these scores that come out of all the different rounds that you do and it keeps it competitive, it keeps you enhancing your performance. And when we make it multiplayer, you can compete with others to work out with you in the same space. But right now you compete with other people who are on the FightCamp system. But yes, it’s that technology that we’re using and leveraging across other forms of fitness and that’s what we’re working on right now. So that’s a really key thing that they developed and many Olympic boxers use that. So it’s really tried and true technology that helps with improved performance.

Megan - 00:29:54: Yeah, that’s awesome. And I guess what you just spoke of as part of the gamification and I think when I was on your website, I even saw like a kid. Is this product something that kids can get enjoyment out of? Lead them down a healthier path.

Heidi - 00:30:12: We have a lot of, yeah, it is something that we have set up for families and we have, you know, child-sized gloves and it’s around 60% or 65% of our customers are families. And so it’s something that families can enjoy together. So it is really a mainstream type of fitness activity. And kickboxing is really on trend and a growth area. So it’s an area that we want to do more in. But yeah, definitely it’s for families. We want it to be interactive and those are some of the things we’re working on to really improve the interactivity and the connectedness of everybody using the product.

Megan - 00:30:57: And something totally unrelated. But I know staffing and talent are real challenges these days. So talk to us about how you guys, how to attract and to retain people and the keys to successfully building and leading teams as a CFO, I’m sure your benefits help a lot because they sound amazing.

Heidi - 00:31:26: Yeah, I think it shows that we really care about the employee. And I’ve not been at a company that had these companywide meetings where so many different levels get to present their work on a weekly basis. So you really get to know people and what they’re working on and it keeps everybody in tune with the company. And so I think if you enjoy fitness, enjoy technology and see the potential of what we’re doing, you’d be very attracted to joining the company. We’ve been able to attract talented people. We hired a chief product officer this year from Gaming Industries, from Scopey, and he’s brought in some really great skills that help complement the cofounder skills. And we’re continuing to build our technology organization. So within engineering and data analytics and there’s so much to do to really enhance our product and make it fun to be fit. So I think it’s for people who want to be in the growth space, who want the challenge of doing new things in new ways and not having all the resources, but figuring out how to be scrappy and get things done. And it’s amazing how much can get done with very little. And I’ve seen it happen over and over, so I know it can be done. And I think in terms of leading and building teams in these environments, it’s really important to know your environment and hire people who thrive in your environment because it’s not for everybody. And so you have to be okay with some risk, you have to be okay with change. You can’t get tied to any processes. Like if you build a process, you can’t be attached to it because we might change it tomorrow and so it’s okay with that. And that’s how all companies evolve and grow through change. And for my teams, it’s understanding the roles we have and matching people to those roles. For instance, if you have the need for more individual contributors, then you have to find the people who love to problem solve, who are more technical, and who like to be the subject matter experts for those roles. But if you also have roles where you need to connect people because they’re project management, then you have to find those people who like to work through teams and like to connect with other people and be organized. So it’s really understanding the needs of your business and finding people that fit those needs because then they’ll thrive in the organization, they will be fed by all the energy and the change, and continue to grow in the environment. So it’s really finding people who love these challenges and that’s really key. So I’ve done this a lot of times. I kind of know what to look for. Really understanding your needs is supercritical as finding the people. It’s been hard, the job market has been so tight and there’s been so much more competition to find great people. Everybody always wants the best people, so attracting and getting that person is more difficult. I think the fact that we raised money, and did a Series B round last year, has really the best backers. We have NEA, IVP, CAA, and Left Lane all backing us, and they have resources. So I think that’s attractive to a lot of people to know that we have really high-end backers that really believe in this business.

Megan - 00:35:32: And as you look back on your career, what are your proudest achievements?

Heidi - 00:35:38: Probably two categories, I would say. It’s hard to pick any particular one, but one category would be reaching milestones with the team together. For instance, I would be like successfully selling a business. Reaching unicorn status, raising a large round, and then you see that together. It’s something you can’t do by yourself and, you know, it’s an accumulation of everybody’s efforts that got you there and that feels really good and it brings the team together and makes everybody feel like it’s a big win and that halo really carries you forward to the next thing, the next tough thing you need to do. So I think that’s one bucket and the other is just in building one’s career. As CFO the experiences you have, the connections you have, and the resources that you’ve built over time, being able to allow other people to leverage that and benefit from that is, I think, a great achievement. If you can help add value to other people’s careers and have them leverage your resources and your experience, then you’re really doubling, tripling what you’ve done, I mean, who knows that’s exponential. And that, I think, is super rewarding to know that you’ve built up skills that can be valuable to other people. So I think that’s something that I’ve felt was important in terms of building my experience and helping other people achieve success in their careers. So that would be probably one of the best things that could come out of my career.

Megan - 00:37:25: Yeah, you sound like a wonderful leader.

Heidi - 00:37:28: I try.

Megan - 00:37:31: Last question. As we are starting down in 2023, what’s keeping you up at night? What do you see as the biggest challenges on the horizon?

Heidi - 00:37:41: Yeah, next year it’s going to be an interesting year for all of us. There are so many predictions of what next year is going to look like, so nobody really knows and we have to be ready for anything. Thankfully, we raised money last year, so we’re going to have to be more conservative in how we deploy that cash and be prepared for the unknown. We’re just doing a lot of scenario modeling and what-if scenarios to make sure we’re prepared for anything that is thrown our way and that we can shift and adjust along the way. So it’s just being ready for anything. And I think we’re grateful that we have funds that were raised recently and we have to manage it really well. So we’re preparing. We want to grow and we want to continue innovating, but we just have to be very smart about how we do it.

Megan - 00:38:45: Heidi, thank you so much for being my guest today.

Heidi - 00:38:48: Oh, it’s been a pleasure. Thanks so much. It was great to meet you, Megan, and I really do want to get you set up with FightCamp. I would love to connect you with our team to get you set up.

Megan - 00:38:57: Absolutely. That would be wonderful.

Heidi - 00:38:58: I’d love to get you into boxing.

Megan - 00:39:00: And I appreciate you taking the time to be here with us today. And I wish you and FightCamp all the best. Sounds like you’re both doing amazing things. And to all of our listeners, please tune in next week, and until then, take care.

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