Direct report to CEO at global, branded apparel portfolio company of private equity firm Audax Group• Recruited as first of two senior executives to develop foundation for an acquisition-centric investment thesis. • Lead global finance and accounting teams across three countries.Platform Development for Growth• Implementing new culture focused around urgency, efficiency and scalability for growth; deeper data analysis; and controls, requiring the coaching, or replacement of, finance and accounting talent across four global offices.• Lead monthly review of trend-based financial and operational results for Audax and global leadership teams, underpinned by the introduction of a new reporting package focused explicitly on equity creation levers and KPI’s.• Deploying new global technologies within financial reporting, budgeting / forecasting, treasury management, cash flow forecasting, and travel and entertainment.• Drove implementation of bottoms-up budget via Host Analytics / Planful consolidation and planning application.Liquidity Management• Mitigating 80% of COVID-19-driven impact on liquidity through aggressive restructuring of personnel, inventory and administrative cash expenditures. • Expanded global cash forecast to a 52-week cash framework to drive greater transparency, monitor and account for variances, and focus leadership team on prioritizing liquidity. Forecast is elevating the strategic decision making for the leadership team and private equity sponsors, balancing exit valuation opportunities with near-term tactical needs.

Managed four active portfolio companies, supporting Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officers in the implementation of investment theses, operational improvements, acquisition processes, and lender relationships.

Direct report to CEO at multi-unit music school network; portfolio company of private equity firm Sterling Partners• Retained by private equity ownership, given successful prior relationship, as strategic and business development partner to incoming Chief Executive Officer, to accelerate growth via acquisitions and improve financial oversight.• Led entire acquisition strategy, closing 7 acquisitions, encompassing acquisition target analysis, due diligence, legal and lease negotiation and documentation, integration planning and post-close transition activities.• Created revamped financial reporting package, leading to a clearer presentation of the health and direction of the company, and the approximately two hundred school network, through a clear presentation of the financial statements, trend-based analyses of key metrics, and a discussion of operational initiatives.• Instituted new bottoms-up budget process that incorporated forethought on output KPIs with business driver inputs.

Direct report to CEO at portfolio company of private equity firm Sterling Partners

Senior Leadership and Strategy• Retained by private equity ownership to serve as strategic and business development partner to incoming CEO, tasked with growing the revenue base in terms of industry, customer breadth and geography.• Promoted to Chief Financial Officer, managing Finance and Accounting, Supply Chain and Manufacturing, Human Resources, Information Technology and Customer Service. • Ran all aspects of strategic business development and M&A processes, leading to the successful sale process of main apparel subsidiary, three M&A buy-side processes, and strategic partnerships.• Over four years, investments in product development, marketing and brand development, and internal processes led to a 101% growth in revenues in the main subsidiary, culminating in a sale to a strategic buyer.• Instituted and led Weekly Operating Review meetings for Leadership Team, enhancing decision making through the use of KPI dashboards and data-based trend analysis, rather than upon anecdotal reports. Process Improvement to Drive Growth• Refinanced revolver at more favorable pricing with a fifty percent increase in size of the credit facility.• Instilled an appropriately conservative accounting culture, particularly around inventory valuation, leading to a successful quality of earnings verification, without change to transaction price, during sale process.• Tightened liquidity management via introduction, and enforcement, of new financial controls and signing authorities.• Instituted significant process changes within manufacturing and supply chain operations, which reduced overall inventory, minimized backorder issues for core products, and increased the reliability of product availability dates.• Transitioned the ERP system into an integrated platform that replaced manual, Excel-based processes, driving time efficiencies, enhancing product and cash flow visibility, and reducing human error.

Founded independent strategy and valuation consulting firm• Engaged by Chicago-based Private Equity firm to serve as additional human capital during the sale of a portfolio company--- Drove key elements of a sale process of a portfolio company by optimizing a Confidential Informational Memorandum and serving as liaison on information and due diligence requests for management, investment bankers and potential buyers • Designed the structure for philanthropic fund and experiential-learning program to optimize innovation at University of Chicago--- Articulated the vision of Scott Meadow of Booth and the Technology Transfer Office for a philanthropic fund and cross-discipline graduate student program aimed at maximizing the commercialized potential of basic research at the university • Advised the Chief Executive Officer at a venture-capital financed agricultural-based renewable energy firm--- Executed due diligence of merger and acquisition (M&A) targets, presented strategic and financial information to potential sources of capital, researched positioning of competitors, and conducted financial analysis on key customer relationships.--- Created and managed cash and financial projections, negotiated vendor agreements, oversaw adherence to financial controls • Developed strategic geographic expansion plan for a central Michigan General Motors dealer aimed leveraging a leading brand• Formulated and marketed proposals to mutual and hedge funds for investing in firms given proprietary valuation analyses

Led growth initiative, with another analyst, to build out investment portfolio within industrial sectors at a $2.5 billion hedge fund• Devised strategic investment framework for domestic and international firms within eight Industrial and Materials sectors.• Created databases of industry-specific volume and price metrics that benchmarked firm profit drivers, and acted as leading indicators for industry direction; analysis of inflection points in firm and industry performance captured expansion in valuations.• Generated positive performance in excess of benchmark returns for $400 million of firm’s $2.5 billion assets.

Assisted as Second-in-Command for five years, building out $4 billion small cap and mid value set of mutual funds• Initiated a new a $1 billion fund, from seeding an internal fund to persuading product development and sales organizations to promote product.• Co-lead and mentor of an investment team, building direct ownership from zero to $1 billion of the $3 billion fund.• Performance surpassed 92% and 72% of competitor funds on a three year and five year basis, respectively.

Pitched investment positioning recommendations to Fidelity mutual funds, based upon proprietary research of industry and company-specific strategies, relationships with C-level executives, and equity valuation analyses.

Key member of four-person team that established an agricultural commodity trading marketplace• Developed framework for an Internet-based trading mechanism that launched in 1997, introducing price discovery to the market by providing Estonian farmers with alternative to selling agricultural goods to institutions other than Soviet-era buyers. • Facilitated the strategy sessions between the Chamber of Agriculture and the Central Farmers Union that allowed both parties to overcome differences in vision, while convincing the leading savings bank to provide critical Internet access to rural farmers.