Welcome to The 6 a.m. CFO, where finance chiefs share how they jump-start their days and engage with the tasks that are in front of them.
Today, Converge’s CFO, Ying Miao, shares her morning routine.
Be sure to check out the entire 6 a.m. CFO series, and if you’d like to be featured in a future post, please email us here.
Converge
- Performance marketing agency
- Year founded: 2006
- Number of employees: 51
- Growth: Growing new clients by 50%, tripling EBITDA, expanding key relationships and adding seven key strategic leadership additions.
MORNING ROUTINE
Weekday wake-up time: 6:30 a.m.
Morning beverage: Triple grande caramel macchiato with oat milk from Starbucks.
Non-work-related morning activities: Help my daughter wrap up the last parts of her math homework and either walk her to the school bus or drive her to school. Take 20 minutes to scan the news and read major headlines. My go-to are the New York Times and Bloomberg, as well as LinkedIn. Mix it up with some Page Six.
Workday start time: Between 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., usually.
How I usually spend the first hour of my day: Catch up on all emails I may have missed overnight and look over my daily schedule to make sure I haven’t missed anything. Then finance team meeting calls to cover all items across accounting, FP&A and investor relations.
When I send out my first email: 9:30 a.m.
Best advice for writing an effective email: Think about structure and audience ahead of time. Always try to keep it succinct and double-check for typos and how it reads before sending.
First dashboard I review: Sage and Ramp.
How I structure my morning meetings: Typically, urgent sales and/or account team calls may happen at 9 a.m. or 9:15 a.m. as needed, and then I go into a finance team meeting. Every Monday, we have a 10 a.m. leadership meeting that sets the tone for the week. Tuesday at 10 a.m., we have an all-staff catch-up that allows us to announce pressing events or news to the entire company and gives a “heads up” moment, where someone shares a moment where they found inspiration.
Mid-morning snack of choice: Another Starbucks coffee or some M&Ms.
What was a recent morning that didn’t go as planned, and how did you adjust? We’re part of a major RFP, and last week we had a morning call with the search consultant where we realized the pricing tool we were using had different definitions than how she understood it.
Pricing is part of our finance team’s purview, so we had to move some meetings and do a deep dive with our CEO to align and make changes in time. I also had to review other emails and contracts during breaks while doing this exercise, so definitely a morning for multi-tasking and being flexible on what must get done versus what’s good to have.
INSPIRATION AND LEADERSHIP
Favorite quote or mantra: “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. “ — Muhammad Ali
Favorite leadership lesson: Finance is more than about numbers or profit margins — it’s at its core a communications tool. I learned early in my career that if someone who isn’t a numbers person couldn’t understand what my model was trying to say, then I haven’t done my job. Making sure my team knows how to tell the story even when I am not there and is just as passionate about making finance an accessible tool to everyone in the company has been a key theme for me.
Something important to know about me that you wouldn’t know from my business bio: I used to be a concert pianist from the age of 8 to 17, and I was so serious about it. I was homeschooled for five years, where pretty much all I did was play classical music all day, every day.
Favorite number: 8 because every Chinese person thinks it’s lucky.
Most noteworthy items in my workspace: A notebook my daughter made me buy in Seattle that makes a funny name out of all the famous artists, i.e., “Clawed Monet”.
Do you have a pet? No pets, as I don’t have much experience keeping one alive… and don’t think I have the time.
Favorite app on my phone that is not related to business: Robinhood
The year, make and model of your first car: 2020 Volkswagen Tiguan
Most influential or famous person you’ve ever met: Hillary Clinton
Most inspirational people in your life: My dad, because he has gone through so much: From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, and still maintaining not just his optimism and belief in himself and me, but is genuinely a happy person. Life never turns out the way you think it should, but what a journey it’s been for him, and because of that, our whole family.
I am forever striving to be a person like him who can take criticism but not let it become an insecurity and not let it shake your view of yourself. He always reminds me that if you don’t believe you can do it, no one else will — so you must believe you can be the best and still stay grateful through the curveballs. My daughter inspires me to show up every day with more heart, grit and grace. I give my all in everything I do to become the person she believes I can be.
The most inspiring person outside my life would be Michael Jordan. His quote, “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying,” is only outmatched by him saying, “Heart is what separates the good from the great.”
