What A Weekend

Okay. So. This weekend rocked. Seriously.

First of all, my Friday night was one of the best Friday nights I've had, ever. Not only because I was out with really great people, or because I got so drunk that I actually danced and didn't give a shit if I looked stupid or not, or because I looked cute enough that total strangers were giving me compliments (it was a gay club, so they were actually complimenting me, not hitting on me), although all that was beyond fun, and I'm definitely going to have to dance more often (it's great exercise, and thanks to my four inch heels, my legs were sore all the next day). The thing that really made my night though, was one little phrase.

As we were walking into the club, the bouncer asked the guy I'm seeing if I was his wife. I of course found that idea hilarious, given my feelings about marriage, and laughed. The guy I'm seeing though, says to the bouncer "No, she's my girlfriend." That was the first time I'd ever heard him call me that, and it felt so good... I know, it seems kind of juvenile of me, or girly in a high school way... But there's something about that title that gives me the mushy little warm fuzzies. I mean, I know its just a title, I know it doesn't actually change anything, but... Being called that makes me feel important, special, possessed. And I like that feeling of belonging to someone. A lot.

The other totally awesome thing that happened this weekend was that the board of directors of my boyfriend's (note the change in terminology *grin*) company voted to make me their new CFO. Uh huh. That's right. Me. CFO. Chief Financial Officer. At 26. Yup yup. I so rock *grin*

In all seriousness though, as thrilled as I am at being given that opportunity, the sheer magnitude of being a CFO is a bit daunting. Yes, Berkeley gave me a crash course in accounting policy and procedure. Yes, I've taken accounting classes. Yes, I've taken management classes. But I don't know everything that a CFO should. I know a lot of it, but not everything.

Now, I'm not saying that will keep me from doing a great job, because it won't. It just means that I'm going to have to do a lot of research on top of everything else. A LOT of research. Both about the job, and about the company. And its intimidating, jumping into something that you're maybe not quite prepared for.

I have confidence in myself though, and so do other people. This kind of situation is the kind I excel in, actually, and this is the kind of work I was born for.

High level financial management is not what it might seem. It's not just number crunching like everyone thinks. Its much more abstract than that. A financial report isn't just about account balances or cash flow, and accounting isn't just about knowing when the bills were paid. If it were, anyone could do it. What a financial report really does, is tell a story. If you know how to read it, that is. It tells you everything you could ever want to know about a company. Where it's been, where it is now, and where it's going. Liquidity, profitability, potential growth, productivity. I can look at a financial report and tell you where a company needs improvement, where it's losing money and why, where it's profiting and why. All that, just from a screen full of numbers.

There's also an amount of creativity involved. Creation of policy and procedure, the sculpting and molding of processes, building a company from the inside out...

It's all exactly what I'm best at -- a mix of art and numbers, creativity and practicality... A lot of it is intuitive for me, innate skill that I just... Have. The rest... I've either learned already, or will learn soon.