Happy 20th Anniversary to the CFO Strategic Partners Team

A Reflection on Enriching Lives

A 20-year anniversary is a great time to reflect, honor the past, and set intentions for the future. 

A little about our past:  I was pregnant with twins when I founded the company in 1999.  Having seen a gap in the market for middle-market size companies, I had been planning to start the company “one day”. When I realized I would soon be balancing motherhood to two new babies, I realized the time was now.  I knew I had six months to build the company before I delivered the babies—or so I thought. 

My pregnancy did not make it to term.  While I was heartbroken, the company provided me an outlet for my grief and a place to put my energy.  The company grew rapidly, and I began to add employees and clients.  It was imperative to me during this growth to create a work environment that honored the personal lives of our team and fostered a collaborative and supportive culture.   

Our culture today:  Those experiences shaped me as a CEO and shaped our company, as they are embedded in our culture today and behind every decision we make. To us, our corporate mission – To Enrich Lives – applies not only to our team and employees but to our clients and the many lives they touch, too.

Our firm today:  Twenty years is a long time, yet I am passionate about the mission of our firm and still get excited when I meet a new client I know we can help. Fortunately, I am able to work with an amazing team that feels the same way, and I am truly grateful to work alongside my partner in life and in business, my husband, Nick Carbone. Together, the passion and enthusiasm we have for our mission sets the stage for our firm’s continued growth and evolution. People often ask how we separate work and our personal lives and our response is that “we don’t”.  Our work lives, our clients, and our employees are all very personal to us. 

Our firm’s future:  Together, Nick and I have created some exciting strategic initiatives we have begun to implement that bring more value to a company’s accounting department, transform the way companies hire talent, revolutionize the way owners analyze their performance, and cement the ways our firm can Enrich Lives. With our commitment to evolve and continue to Enrich Lives, we are as excited about the future of CFO Strategic Partners as we have ever been. 

We are grateful to all our clients, employees of the present and past, and mentors during these 20 years.  We are grateful for the friends of our firm we have in the community and those we are able to partner with to serve clients in a very meaningful way.  While we now also serve clients outside of Central Florida, our roots and hearts lie deep in serving clients in Central Florida, and we love the spirit of entrepreneurship that exists here.

As our firm’s talent, knowledge, and experience has grown over the years, I am honored that we have accomplished some pretty exciting milestones:

• More than 1,200 companies, governments, and nonprofits served
• Under our advisement, nearly $15 billion in annual revenues. 
• More than 75 companies helped to successfully plan for and execute a succession plan, exit strategy, or ownership/partnership change.
• The first client of our firm is still a client today. After 20 years, dozens of our current clients exceed 10 years with our firm.

As we look ahead to the next 20 years, we are excited about the opportunities to further expand our reach and find more ways To Enrich Lives of our clients, employees, and friends of our firm. Thank you again for being part of our story.

Shannon Carbone