As a Virtual CFO, I help service based founders bring order to financial chaos,  turning fast growth into scalable, sustainable success.

My mission? To help ambitious founders make smarter financial decisions, build real wealth from their innovation, and create companies that don’t just grow,  they endure.

With deep expertise in strategic finance and scaling high-performance businesses, I partner with founders who want more than growth, they want clarity, control, and cash flow confidence.

I get how it feels to lead a business moving at lightning speed; the pressure to grow, hire, fund, and forecast all at once. I’m here to give you the structure, insights, and financial strategy that keep you in command, not reacting to fires.

I provide tailored financial architecture designed for service based businesses ready to level up from messy growth to measured success all built around The Profit Revolution Framework™, my strategic advisory framework that turns rapid growth into lasting wealth and freedom.

Profit Architecture – Build a clear profit model that aligns with your growth goals. Understand where your money’s made (and lost) — and design a system that multiplies returns.

Cashflow Forecasting & Financial Visibility – No more guessing. See your numbers in real time, forecast with confidence, and make strategic decisions based on data — not gut feel.

Scalable Systems – Create the financial infrastructure your business needs to grow — from reporting frameworks and KPIs to cash management and automation that free up your headspace.

Revenue Streams & Pricing Strategy – Optimise pricing models and recurring revenue structures for predictability, performance, and sustainable scaling.

Leadership Decision Support – Gain access to CFO-level strategic thinking without the full-time hire. I act as your sounding board for big decisions — funding, hiring, margins, or expansion.

Through The Profit Revolution framework™, I help service based founders:
Turn rapid growth into predictable, sustainable profit
Gain full financial clarity and decision-making confidence
Build financial systems that scale with them
Create a business that funds innovation and freedom

If you’re a service based founder ready to build financial systems that match your company’s ambition, let’s talk.

I’ll help you go from flying blind to leading with financial command using a framework built for founders who move fast, think big, and expect excellence.

The Profit Revolution™  Where clarity meets control, and growth becomes lasting wealth.

Sharon Crombie

The Digital Picnic

I'm an award winning digital marketer who took a risk, and left the cushiness of a well-paid, super safe in-house digital marketing role to launch The Digital Picnic.

This of course, gave my husband a coronary attack [he manages risk for a living, so #barreloflarfs, really], because #newmortgage, #toddler, and ... a #baby.  But ... it's the best risk I've ever taken, because I own an incredible company now, which has an incredible reputation, and - of course - incredible people working within it [because a company is nothing without the people working within it].

Mostly? I'm responsible for ensuring that we're continuously providing state-of-the-art digital marketing training to businesses all over Australia / internal marketing teams, but also ... overseeing the ongoing social media management we deliver for an incredible line-up of clients within our digital marketing portfolio.

When I'm not doing that? You'll find me putting out fights within my team over what temperature is acceptable for an office heater to go up to in a Winter'y Melbourne digital marketing office, because #peoplemanagement. [FYI? 27 degrees is *not* acceptable] ;)

There's a reason why we're considered to be Australia's leaders in social media training.
There's a reason why our client portfolio is filled with powerhouse brands.

TDP is *really* good at what we do.

Chief Executive Officer

Feather and Noise

I grew the social media for Melbourne-based fashion label, Feather & Noise right from its infancy, i.e launching online / zilch website / zilch following et. al.

Within less than 18 months, I implemented strong social media marketing strategies that saw the business move out of a tiny triangle-shaped studio [we used to barely be able to extend our arms during meetings, while bunkering down at our laptops], to a 6-level office in Melbourne with multiple team members.

Some of my happiest digital marketing days were spent rolling out content marketing strategies / paid ads strategies / influencer marketing strategies that turned this brand into one where its customers picked their orders up from the Founder's front doorstep ... to 2,000+ orders shipped weekly [and all over the world].

The goal? For them to be able to justify recruiting an internal marketing team within 2 years of my appointment.  The outcome? We reached that goal at just 18 months.

Proudest digital marketing Mother Hen ;)

Chief Marketing Officer

Down That Little Lane

Digital Media Editor specialising in social media management and strategy. Focus on social media management across all social media forums, sales, PR, & community engagement.

Marketing Manager

Bauer Media Group

Copywriter

I'm an incredibly proud Autistic woman and the Founding Director and CEO at The Digital Picnic, a company that teaches digital marketing ... and manages a full suite of digital marketing efforts for our clients, too.

I'm an award winning digital marketer who took a risk, and left the cushiness of a well-paid, super safe in-house digital marketing role to launch The Digital Picnic back in October, 2014.  

This - of course - gave my husband a coronary attack [he manages risk for a living, so #barreloflarfs, really], because #NewMortgage, #Toddler, and ... a #Baby. But ... it's the best risk I've ever taken, because I now own an incredible company, which has an incredible reputation, and - of course - incredible people working within it [because a company is nothing without the people working within it].

Fun fact? I became Sole Director of TDP in October 2018, and took the company from having 4k in its bank account [with a 22k pay run to run in 1.5 weeks 😅] to now being a multi-million dollar agency.

So what do I do at work? ... I'm responsible for ensuring that TDP is continuously providing state-of-the-art digital marketing training to businesses all over Australia/internal marketing teams, whilst also overseeing the ongoing social media management my team delivers for an incredible line-up of clients within our digital marketing portfolio.

Whilst profit's cool and everything [and my company is profitable], I'd say one of my bigger success measures revolves around disrupting this industry, and consistently leaning into that neurodivergent urge to make the world a better place for having neurodivergents circulating within it [and I prefer to do this - professionally speaking - by designing a humanistic and encouraging workplace with servant leadership at the heart of everything I do].

The by-product of servant leadership? ... a most humanistic and encouraging workplace.

In doing all of this, I've built a multi-million dollar company [that continues to grow throughout a global pandemic, and impending recession] with empathy-led leadership at the heart and soul of everything it does … and a company that has gone on to be described by all as “the nicest place on the internet”.

… I'll take that. ✌️

Cherie Clonan

This is a screenshot of a really simple bit o' text I include in all calendar invites when candidates are interviewing for a role at my company, The Digital Picnic.

You can tell a lot about a company by the way they speak to you before you ever speak to them.

I share this screenshot because it’s a small example of something intentional we do at TDP:

We design psychological safety into the very first interaction.

Why? Because the interview is often the moment where power imbalances show themselves most clearly.

And if you’re serious about building a workplace where people can bring their full selves, it has to start right there — before the job offer, before onboarding, before day one.

For us, that means sending a message that says,

“We respect your time.
We respect your career.
And we know you’re assessing us just as much as we’re assessing you.”

💡 People perform better when they feel safe.

They speak more honestly.
They ask better questions.
They don’t shrink themselves.

... and that’s exactly what I want in an interview — someone showing up as them, not a version shaped by fear of saying the wrong thing.

Psychological safety isn’t a perk you reveal later.

It’s a standard you demonstrate from the very beginning.

EOI.

You might have noticed that my company, The Digital Picnic, has been growing.

x12+ months ago? We brought in a Head of People & Culture, and the impacts have been incredible. Now? I'm in the [very early stages] of looking to bring a full-time HR professional who is fluent in employment compliance, and has a solid working knowledge of Fair Work legislation, and WHS obligations. 

Proven experience in providing HR advice, coaching and support and a strong understanding of relevant legislation and procedures.

You'll be someone who is craving to step into an Indie agency, and is wanting to shape HR and safety strategy from the ground up.

This has the potential to be an early 2026 appointment, but I'm in no rush, and absolutely willing to wait for the right person.

Feel free to DM me for more info and/or to express an interest in the above.

Not a perk, but a bare minimum, actually.

It was an honour and a privilege to be invited to speak on this panel alongside Marianne Marchesi GAICD from Legalite Australia and Elizabeth Drewett from DISSH which explored the plethora of ways our companies have benefited from humanistic and encouraging workplace policies that aren't the perk... and are instead? The bare minimum.

We all agreed, if businesses care about *nothing* else, it's incredible for your business' bottom line [?!].

- job openings with 300+ applicants
- retention rates triple our industry's standard
- not having to spend our entire lives in recruitment
- being able to attract absolutely TOP TALENT

... and that's just scratching the surface of the goodness that poured into last night's conversations.

I love hanging around people whose special interest is... *people*.

To the high-care organisational leaders who are leading team, and who are undoubtedly hitting Q4 fatigue from another year of high-care leadership? 

I want to share something incredibly validating that my best friend shared with me recently: paramedics receive - at minimum - x4 months of leave per year to recover from the associated burnout of caring for people.

I'm in no way [at all] comparing high care organisational leadership and leading team > to frontline paramedic work... I'm simply saying these words stood out to me, validated me, and healed me;

"x4 months"
"Per year"
"To recover"
"From burnout"
"associated with caring for people".

---

It's November 25th, and I just wanted to dial in today to say that if you're tired? ... it's entirely valid.

So, what’d I do? … I made energy raise, over energy drain, my non-negotiable.

I have had an incredible hiring period where I’ve hired energy raiser, after energy raiser, after energy raiser… and this is what a workplace looks, feels and sounds like when you ensure you’re inviting energy raise, over energy drain, to your team.

I’m in my 11th year of business, and all of the eras where I’ve not been proud of our culture? I can attribute it to when energy drain has shown up stronger than energy raise has.

It’s been those eras specifically that I’ve not looked forward to coming to work, and I’ve almost had to psychologically pep myself up just to walk *in* to my own workplace… which is wild in and of itself, because a Founder’s energy is the make or break for a Founder-led business.

I’ve looked around the last few months, and TDP’er by TDP’er, we have continued to only add energy raise.

And tryhard.
And Kind Genius™️

… and my nervous system knows, because I look forward to coming here. And to being around this energy. And to laughing until I cry, and to also eavesdropping my team laughing until they cry [with each other].

People compliment my lack of scarcity all the time, and they say, “why would you encourage people to move on from your workplace if they hit a ceiling?” and to that my answer is simple:

1️⃣ I don’t want a single person on my team to hit a ceiling with me/us, but choose to instead stay on in resentment, because

2️⃣ Nothing drains energy more, culturally speaking, than a person who chose a comfort zone for themselves, and subsequently takes the associated frustration and/or resentment out on the workplace they feel “stuck” at.

I’ll have every hard conversation, and make *every* hard decision, if it means my workplace looks, feels and sounds like this… because:

I want that, and

My business needs that, and

My team deserve that.

TDP community? We can't even contain our excitement, and we're so happy we just want to SCREAM THAT HAPPINESS FROM THE ROOFTOPS... but we went and added someone *genuinely* incredible to our paid ads team.

We knew it from interview no.1, tbh.

[actually.  We lie, we knew it from the x15 minute screening call we conducted before kicking off formal interviews].

[everything else after that just felt like a "formality". #lol].

... but then Sunny Pawar went and joined our team, and on day x1? He admitted his wife had helped him pick out a colourful outfit to match the "TDP vibe" [lol].  

NGL.
We were *endeared* at this point.

... and then he walked into our 9am Monday morning WIP, and - when we were explaining the company values to him - he whispered each one to himself before we'd even shared them: courage, inclusion, integrity, commitment and accountability.

THE.
MANS.
HAD.
DONE.
HIS.
✨ RESEARCH ✨

We're not going to talk about his technical brilliance, because the mans is so smart, and *so* fast, and working faster than we can even keep up with some days [lol]... but it's the cultural add he's already adding to our workplace, and from day one/week one, no less.

Sunny by name.
Sunnier by nature.

How we knew we'd hired a Kind Genius in Week x1

Agency-land's new favourite drug is adrenalin: yes, I said it.

Thank you so much to Mumbrella for allowing me to put my voice to a pattern I've been recognising for a long while, that has especially felt more real than ever in 2025.

I imagine folks are similarly picking up the same patterns but thinking to themselves, "what can I do?" and to that I say: I, as an Indie agency owner, can still do so much with so little, like: normalising WFH weeks every month on top of an already largely hybrid workplace.

The smallest thing can circuit break that addiction to adrenalin, and I've shared the various ways TDP does its best to act as a circuit breaker to the adrenalin addiction.

Have a read below 👇

Cherie Clonan, founder of digital ad agency The Digital Picnic, believes that the advertising industry is addicted to adrenaline.

https://lnkd.in/da6Haus9

Open article: Adland’s new favourite drug is adrenaline by mumbrella.com.au

Adland’s new favourite drug is adrenaline

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The Battle

Sharon Crombie

Cherie Clonan

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The Battle

Sharon Crombie

Cherie Clonan

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Cherie Clonan's LinkedIn Performance

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