Building Our Business

Building Our Business

To those of you who know Andrew Codd this will not come as a surprise. He is inspiring.


I caught up with Andrew recently. A light came on during our conversation. As we described to each other what we were up to, he helped me create a picture of CFO.University I had not imagined before.

Let me back up before I dive in. My father was a carpenter by trade. His skills ranged from crafting cradles, rocking horses, wooden bowls and grandfather clocks for my siblings and our children; to building homes and cabins in Minnesota and Wisconsin; to erecting fertilizer plants and feed mills from Wisconsin to Washington; to constructing a 6 story, 362,000 square foot office building for Cenex, a farm cooperative he used to work for, in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.

By heredity and osmosis, I should be a great carpenter. Sadly, I am not. I can hammer a 16d nail to frame up a house but that about covers my carpentry resume.

Now, back to my call with Andrew. As he was inquiring about how things were going at CFO.University and what I was working on, an image began to form in my mind. It was an image of Dad laying out his plan on his drawing board to convert his imagination to a tangible, utility-filled product.

This made me ponder, “Where are we in the building process at CFO.University?” Dad always made certain the structures he created had strong foundations, from the rockers on the rocking horses to the footings of his largest projects. I am proud that our foundation at CFO.University is solid. Our platform is robust with firm footings that support all the Pillars of CFO success. Our on demand courses and tools are providing insight and professional development opportunities to finance leaders across the globe.

As Andrew kept quizzing me, I realized this was a pretty good start, but we’ve only finished the foundation. We have so much more to add on and offer to our community.

In my mind I was picturing CFO.University as one of Dad’s projects still in the construction phase. Whence, the image that I used for this post.

Building Our Business
The image Andrew gave me of CFO.University

Whether it is developing coaches who are interested in delivering our Member Scholar PLUS program; amending our curriculum to fit into a corporate learning model; or cracking the code to collaborate with interim and part time CFO/Controller services companies, we have significant expansion yet to be erected at CFO.University.

Thanks to Andrew for reminding me to keep my drawing table busy and my tool belt strapped on.

I must go now. I need to get back to the drawing board and my 16d nails.

Oh, one more thing. Enjoy these often used quotes from my Dad, Harlan Rosvold.

  • Never force anything, just use a bigger hammer!
  • A carpenter never makes a mistake, they simply build a “conversation piece”


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