Jonathon Blair

Free to Grow CFO

www.freetogrowcfo.com

Increase Profit and Cash Flow As You Scale. 

Outsourced CFO and Bookkeeping services for profit-focused DTC brands. 

Scaling a DTC brand is stressful. 

With messy books and no CFO on your team you run the risk of…

-Hiring too quickly 
-Buying too much inventory
-Scaling ad spend unprofitably
-Running out of cash

And that leads to stressful, sleepless nights. We don’t want that for you.

Free to Grow CFO has given dozens of DTC brands a plan for scaling alongside
healthy profit and cash flow. Our plan will work for you too


Fast, Insightful Reporting.  Proactive Strategic Advice.  From DTC Finance Experts.

-M&A
-Debt & Equity Funding
-Accurate Financials by the 15th
-Planning, Forecasting, Budgeting
-Financial Dashboards and KPI Tracking


All delivered through our proven, ready-to-implement “Free to Grow CFO Process”.

Founder | Fractional CFO

Luminous

Strategic Advisor

StoreHero

SureStop

SURESTOP (A Mark Cuban Company) is a patented brake technology which solves the problem of incorrect braking on bicycles and revolutionizes the experience of stopping on a bike. On a traditional bike, if a rider brakes too hard, or grabs the wrong brake lever at the wrong time, the front wheel can stop too soon, causing the bike to flip over. Not with SURESTOP. In addition to the safety advantage, SURESTOP also makes the experience of braking simple, requiring only one brake lever to control both brakes.

Learn more at:
www.surestop.bike

COO & CFO

Guardian Bikes

Guardian Bikes (A Mark Cuban Company) is a digitally native vertical brand focused on creating the world's safest kid's bikes, featuring our patented and award winning SureStop brake technology.

In addition to innovating the bicycle itself, Guardian has created the first truly seamless online bike buying experience. Our first of its kind online 3D sizing software (RideSizer), along with our 99% assembly and packaging methods, allow customers to receive the perfect sized bike to their door that's ready to ride in less than 10 minutes. www.guardianbikes.com

SureStop/Guardian Bike Company

SURESTOP (A Mark Cuban Company) is a patented brake technology which solves the problem of incorrect braking on bicycles and revolutionizes the experience of stopping on a bike. On a traditional bike, if a rider brakes too hard, or grabs the wrong brake lever at the wrong time, the front wheel can stop too soon, causing the bike to flip over. Not with SURESTOP. In addition to the safety advantage, SURESTOP also makes the experience of braking simple, requiring only one brake lever to control both brakes.

Learn more at:
www.surestop.bike

Guardian Bikes is a digitally native vertical brand focused on creating the world's safest kid's bikes, featuring our patented and award winning SureStop brake technology.

In addition to innovating the bicycle itself, Guardian has created the first truly seamless online bike buying experience. Our first of its kind online 3D sizing software (RideSizer), along with our 99% assembly and packaging methods, allow customers to receive the perfect sized bike to their door that's ready to ride in less than 10 minutes. www.guardianbikes.com

A Mark Cuban Company

Controller & Operations Director

RSS Manufacturing

Controller

Civil Solutions Incorporated

RSS Manufacturing/Phylrich

Accounting Manager

The Joseph Company International

DTC Brand Fractional CFO | Follower of Jesus | Husband | Father of 3 | Fractional CFO | Leadership, Strategy & Productivity Nerd

Formerly a founding team member, CFO, and COO for Guardian Bikes:
       -Shark Tank/Mark Cuban Company
       -High-growth DTC brand
       -Led business growth from $0 to 8-figure revenue in 4 years.  
       -Raised 8-figures in debt and equity capital 

Over a decade of experience working as a Controller, CFO, or COO at fast-growing companies with:
              -$5MM to $50MM in annual revenue
              -50% to 200% annual revenue growth

Founded Free to Grow CFO to:
       -Package hands-on experience leading growing brands
       -Help DTC brand founders increase profit and cash flow as they scale.

www.freetogrowcfo.com

www.freetogrowcfo.com

Fractional CFOs for High Growth Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Outsourced, part-time CFO services for high growth D2C brands, designed to help you scale your business with confidence.

You don't have to suffer through another sleepless night worrying about making difficult business decisions alone.  Hire a Free to Grow CFO and get the financial insights you need to make fast, effective business decisions with confidence.

Get access to the CFO you need to scale your business without the full-time salary:
-Strategic Planning
-Forecasting & Projections
-Cash Strategy & Fundraising
-Financial Statement Analysis

Jon Blair

The ODP Corporation

The ODP Corporation (NASDAQ: ODP) is a leading Fortune 500 provider of products and services through an integrated business-to-business (B2B) distribution platform and omnichannel presence. The business footprint includes:​ Office Depot, ODP Business Solutions & Veyer Logistics.

Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Red Stag Fulfillment

Accountable for leading Red Stag Fulfillment's commercial team to execute the long-term growth strategy.

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)

Accountable for developing Red Stag Fulfillments long-term commercial growth strategy and transitioning the organization into a multi-channel sales organization with focus on highly targeted outbound consultative sales execution.

Chief Sales Officer (CSO)

Accountable for leading Red Stag Fulfillments marketing team to maximize inbound MQL/SQL count growth, brand awareness and conversion rate improvements while recruiting a new CMO.

Interim Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Accountable for establishing a formalized sales process to accelerate growth for Red Stag Fulfillment.

Vice President of Sales Operations

SWD Urethane

Senior Executive Team member with accountability for developing the long-term growth strategy for multiple business units and leading the global sales, customer success and technology organizations to drive 5X growth.

Vice President of Sales

Eastman Chemical Company

Accountable for leading a team of 7 direct and 15 indirect sales professionals and 5 global chemical distribution partners to drive profitable P&L growth for a $350M+ territory (NAR & LATAM).

Adhesives Sales Leader - NAR & LATAM

P&L accountability for leading Rosins & Reactive Adhesives global product lines and associated assets to maximize profitability for the organization.

Global Product Manager - Rosins & Reactive Adhesives

Platform Leadership and P&L accountability for leading Eastman's Performance Fibers' product portfolio from a cutting edge innovation platform to a thriving nine figure organic growth engine for the organization.

Global Business Manager & Platform Leader, Performance Fibers

Accountable for identifying, staging, and leading the development and execution of global organic growth strategies for CIBO. CIBO is one of four Eastman Business Organizations consisting of 20+ individual business units accounting for ~ $3 billion (~25%) of total top line revenue.

Manager, Global Growth & Strategy, Chemical Intermediates Business Organization (CIBO)

Food City / KVAT Foods Inc.

Misty Mountain Spring Water, LLC is a vertically integrated subsidiary arm of K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. Misty Mountain is focused on bottling and distributing the highest quality bottled water available on the market. Misty Mountain bottles over 16 million gallons of water per year under various private label brands.

Responsible for executive leadership and P&L ownership for Misty Mountain Spring Water in addition to corporate e-Commerce & Business Development accountability for Food City. Successfully re-branded and transitioned Misty Mountain from a noncompetitive dated vertically integrated bottling plant to a niche-market driven specialty manufacturer. 

In addition to providing Executive Leadership for K-VA-T's manufacturing operations, I was also responsible for driving sales and gross margin results for the water category within Food City and Super Dollar grocery store chains. Successfully grew category gross profit trends by 7 figures in the first 6 months. 

K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. operates 100+ retail food outlets throughout the tri-states region of Southeast KY, Southwest VA, and Northeast TN under the Food City and Super Dollar banners. It is the 4th largest private company based in VA with annual revenues of $2.1+ billion and 13,400+ associates. K-VA-T is currently ranked 210 on Forbes list of largest privately held companies.

VP/GM & Retail Category Leader

Responsible for developing and leading e-Commerce and OMNI-Channel strategies for Food City in addition to leading other business development initiatives to drive sales and gross profit growth. Successfully developed and launched Food City's curbside pickup program, GoCart. 

K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. operates 100+ retail food outlets throughout the tri-states region of Southeast KY, Southwest VA, and Northeast TN under the Food City and Super Dollar banners. It is the 4th largest private company based in VA with annual revenues of $2.1+ billion and 13,400+ associates. K-VA-T is currently ranked 210 on Forbes list of largest privately held companies.

Director of e-Commerce & Business Development

Appalachian Custom Innovations

Appalachian Custom Innovations specializes in precision engineered custom cut-and-sew projects. ACI’s core business competency is centered on converting client ideas and needs into tangible solutions. ACI provides turn-key product lifecycle coaching from design/development input to prototype development to contract manufacturing execution and import vs. domestic modeling. ACI is considered an industry leading expert in custom designed FME (Foreign Material Exclusion) tarps and covers and many other industrial grade applications.  In addition, ACI offers consulting services to manufacturing clients to aid in operational efficiency improvements, lean manufacturing initiatives, supply chain optimization, on-shoring analysis, off-shoring analysis, plant expansion/consolidation modeling, advanced product engineering, marker and pattern design, product development, product lifecycle management, vertical integration and outsourcing assessment. The ACI team possesses expert knowledge of US, China and Mexico based manufacturing models with the ability to manage plant expansion, relocation, consolidation and/or shut down initiatives from start to finish. ACI is a strong advocate of Kaizen and Six-Sigma practices, and uses a hybrid approach to execute client strategies.

Co-founder & CEO

Block and Company - Bristol Custom Solutions Division

As General Manager with Block and Company, Inc., I’m solely responsible for executive management and oversight of the Bristol, TN division. Management responsibilities include manufacturing, distribution, operations, customer services, sales, marketing and product development. I also maintain 100% ownership of the P&L with absolute accountability for executing against budget. My challenge is to develop and implement strategies that align the division with the long term direction of the corporation. My core GM focus is on successfully managing my team to reduce costs, gain efficiency, execute operational improvements and exceed all corporate goals. In addition, I drive all new product development, business development and customer acquisition initiatives for the Bristol Custom Solutions business unit, and provide corporate support for similar initiatives.

General Manager

As the Sales & Business Development Manager with Block and Company, Inc, I was tasked with establishing and growing a new business unit from the ground up. My challenge was to develop a completely new set of products and services that would allow penetration into new markets and customer segments. My ultimate goal was to generate net-new top line growth and diversification for a manufacturing facility focused on a mature product category. I used market research, strategic partnering and creativity to align core manufacturing competencies to new product development initiatives. My primary focus was on new-to-world and new-to-company products that provided competitive distinction and high growth potential. In total, my team launched over 3500 new SKUs that provided penetration into countless new expansion markets. In addition, I leveraged legacy product recognition to negotiate a GSA contract to gain access to the Federal Government vertical.

Sales & Business Development Manager

Smith & Nephew

As a Trauma Specialist with Smith &amp; Nephew, I was responsible for providing product and procedural technical support to Orthopaedic Surgeons and OR staff in an operating room environment. This required maintaining a 24 x 7 call schedule to accommodate all trauma surgeries in an assigned territory. Essentials duties included establishing, developing and maintaining consultative relationships with key Orthopaedic Surgeons, hospital staff and OR staff, conducting Orthopedic in-service training, assisting in test markets, product evaluations and competitive research initiatives and working major national conventions and meetings.

Trauma Sales Specialist

Embarq

As an Account Manager with Embarq, I was responsible for managing an assigned territory spanning 4 Counties. I primarily handled large corporate accounts, local governments, healthcare facilities, hospitality groups and educational organizations. I'm was responsible for farming 75 assigned accounts and hunting new business through strategic marketing, networking, cold calling, partnering and account planning. Embarq's product portfolio includes a variety of technological solutions including WAN and LAN technology, network transport infrastructure, Cisco and Nortel customer premise equipment and Sprint Nextel wireless solutions. In this position, I successfully marketed complex technology solutions to a variety of clients in a variety of market segments with an average sales cycle of 6 to 8 months. I actively utilized vendor relationships, internal resources, strategic marketing and competitive analysis to achieve sales goals and maximize profitability and productivity.

Account Manager

Averett University

As an Admissions Counselor at Averett University, I actively engaged in prospect and territory management in an effort to recruit academically eligible students into a private university environment. Territory management involved the use of data mining to determine the most lucrative regions to focus recruitment efforts. My regions included Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Richmond, VA, Kentucky, Tennessee and Louisiana. Initial recruitment involved the use of cold-calling, direct and indirect marketing and relationship building. The later stages of recruitment involved counseling and guiding students through academic and financial related issues. This position required extensive travel and excellent presentation and time-management skills. My goal was to successfully sell a $25,000 per year education to prospective students and their parents.

Admissions Counselor

Proven turnaround leader with superior P&L results, demonstrated versatility and seasoned experience in global strategy, growth, product management, product development, business development, manufacturing, e-commerce, sales and marketing.

Specialties: Strategic Management, Growth Strategy, Team Development, Change Management, P&L Management, e-Commerce Strategy,OMNI-Channel Strategy, New Product Development, Business Development, Market Development, Top Line Growth, LEAN Six Sigma, Customer Acquisition, Marketing Strategy, Executive Leadership, Business Planning, Goal Setting, Budgeting, Operational Improvement, Cost Management, HR Strategy, Talent Acquisition, Contract Negotiation, Portfolio Management, Employee Motivation,  Market Analysis, Trend Analysis, Competitive Analysis, ROI Analysis, Account Planning, Cold Calling, Gaining Access,  Relationship Building, Consultative Selling, Cross Selling, Up Selling, Lifecycle Selling, Technical Selling, Closing, Winning

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