We had the good fortune of connecting with Nikki Turner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikki, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
The most important lesson that I have learned in business is that failure is part of the journey. In practice, not every relationship with a client will quickly materialize into a profitable outcome. Some clients do not have the capital to immediately pay you at your asking rate, but they may present an opportunity for you to sharpen your skills in an area that can take your business to the next level. Every failure should be leveraged as a lesson instead of a rejection. This is especially important for us at The CFO District because it gives us more empathy and coaching capabilities when delivering our services to tech entrepreneurs during the fundraising stage.

What should our readers know about your business?
I founded The CFO District because I believe innovation has always been the catalyst for advancing every area of society. Most innovators have great ideas, but lack capital, credibility, and connections. This is where we add value. With over 15 years in Silicon Valley and as an entrepreneur myself, I know firsthand the challenges that come with starting your own venture and what it takes to see it through to each new level of growth. This is not an easy task. By optimizing your management team early on and outsourcing the components that are outside of your wheelhouse, the team will be able to focus on product, market, and fit. We look for innovative companies that have a minimum viable product generating some form of economic exchange for its targeted market; either through seed investment or commerce. We then help reframe our client’s narrative so that they attract ideal investors to reach each major milestone. Our direct value to our clients is being a trusted partner throughout the early stages of their venture. We do this through a number of our CFO services. 1. Capital Raising – We manage the process of connecting investors to our clients and assist with pitching, deal term analysis, and ongoing financial management. 2. Valuation – We provide an independent 409A valuation to help establish a fair market value for our client’s common stock. 3. Interim/Virtual CFO – We manage the financial planning and analysis, cash flow management, and other financial oversight for our clients. I am currently excited about the trajectory of The CFO District as we offer additional services and solutions that keep our firm competitive. One of those areas is working directly with the investor to manage the financial performance of their portfolio companies, given that our competitive advantage is in operational finance. Building out a platform to support ad hoc financial and accounting consulting for tech entrepreneurs is also on our roadmap. And lastly, be on the lookout for our podcast launch in Q3.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Taking full advantage of living in Miami, the following would be my ideal itinerary. Day 1 – First on the agenda, we will need to leverage good weather conditions and head to Ocean Drive on South Beach to spot celebrities. I usually like to get the normal touristy activities out of the way first, so that we can move off the beaten path for the remainder of the trip. Day 2 – I pack my bags and we head to the ferry station for a quick overnight snorkeling excursion to the island of Bimini in the Bahamas. Day 3 – Now it’s time to explore some of my favorite restaurants here in Miami. For breakfast, we must order the signature Overnight Oaks at OTL in the Design District. To burn some calories, we then walk through the gorgeously intricate graffiti-covered walls in the Wynwood Arts District. Next, I take my friend on a drive to get some Cuban food at any of the tasty restaurants on Calle Ocho for a late lunch/early dinner. By this time we are stuffed, but there is always room for the Abuela Maria ice cream from Azucar. Because we are all about the calorie burn, we go next door to Ball & Chain for some Salsa dancing to live Cuban music. Day 4 – By this time, I am extremely tired and wondering why I am playing hostess. Remember, I am also running a business, so today will be a relaxing day. We head to the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens for a casual historical walking tour, followed by a pampering massage and afternoon tea at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. Day 5 – Since this is the last day, we head to the beach at Key Biscayne, then walk through Crandon Park to visit a notable Underground Railroad site. Then we head up to Little Haiti for some authentic Creole dishes at the famous Chef Creole Seasoned Restaurant. Finally, we are off to the airport.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As we speak, the world is experiencing a pandemic, racially toxic systems that we have become so accustomed to are being uprooted, all while dealing with the uncertainty of our economic future. There are a ton of business influencers recommending that companies pivot from their respective business models to align with today’s climate. This is a good rule for some, but it should not be done in haste. I personally and professionally lean into the experiences of the African American women trailblazers who were relentless of their pursuits, regardless of the environmental conditions that were working against them. One of those pioneers was Mary Jackson, the first African American woman engineer at NASA. During Mary Jackson’s tenure at NASA, she was promoted from mathematician to engineer under the extreme conditions of racism and segregation. And although her talent was unmatched (she was monikered as a “human computer”), it was her unmovable ability to maintain the course and not succumb to the environmental ills that plagued the country at that time. This ingenuity should not be leveraged by the rare few but used for the majority of those building companies to advance society as a whole. On a personal level, I would be remiss if I also didn’t recognize the woman who inspired me to become a chemical engineer in the first place. She is most notably the first African American woman astronaut, but Mae C. Jemison’s successful journey into an array of male-dominated fields provided the blueprint for me to be courageous in the tech world. As Condoleezza Rice once said, “People who end up as “first” don’t actually set out to be first. They set out to do something they love.” This directly aligns with our core values and expertise here at the CFO District. We draw on these parallels to help our clients build financial resiliency in their startups in order to persevere through the uncertainty and chaos.

Website: https://thecfodistrict.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecfodistrict
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecfodistrict
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecfodistrict
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecfodistrict/

Image Credits
Corrado Amenta, Photographer at Onkei

Nominate someone: ShoutoutAtlanta is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.