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D. Cherelle, MBA

@itsdcherelle

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📊 CFO Strategist helping service-based founders move from survival to scale 🧠Trauma of Money Practitioner 🎤 TEDx | Professor | Author ↓Work with me

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I was just wondering? by @itsdcherelle

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13 hours ago

Some costs are easy to see. Others quietly shape the decisions we make with money, business, relationships, and opportunity.

The Invisible Cost is about the ones we don’t always know how to name.

The financial decisions we make are rarely just about numbers.

What has avoidance cost you?

📚 The Invisible Cost by @itsdcherelle

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5 days ago

Most people know what their bills cost. But do you know what your life costs at three different levels?

Your survival budget.
Your financially responsible budget.
Your luxury budget.

Financial reality is knowing where you are, where you want to be, and what financially separates the two.

You can’t close a financial gap you haven’t defined.

Which one are you building toward right now? by @itsdcherelle

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5 days ago

I’m learning how to actually receive recognition.

Not just say thank you.
Not just post the picture.
Not just move on to the next thing.

But really let it land.

Somebody saw the work.
Somebody saw the care.
Somebody saw the impact.

And that’s worth sitting with.

Nobody has to recognize you. Nobody has to see you. Nobody has to do anything for you.

So when something good does come your way, when somebody does pour into you, celebrate you, support you, or recognize you, don’t rush past it.

Don’t overlook what’s being given to you. Accept what you prayed for. by @itsdcherelle

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10 days ago

Q4 is here.

Not just another quarter to push harder. A chance to ask a better question:

What has to change for the next version of your business to actually hold the growth you want?

Maybe it’s stronger cash flow.
Better financial visibility.
More profitable revenue.
Clearer systems.
Less owner dependency.

Because the habits and systems that helped you survive one stage of business may not be enough to help you scale the next.

This quarter, I’m focused on building the capacity to hold what’s next.

From survival to scale.

#FromSurvivalToScale #ThinkLikeACFO #FinancialStrategy #FounderGrowth #FinTraum by @itsdcherelle

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12 days ago

More revenue doesn’t automatically mean more freedom.

You can have more customers, a growing team, and record-breaking sales and STILL be the person holding every piece of your business together.

And that’s where we need to talk about the difference between growth and sustainability.

If your cash flow isn’t improving, every major decision still requires your approval, and taking time away means coming back to chaos, your business may be growing faster than its financial and operational capacity.

That’s why financial strategy is about more than increasing revenue.

It’s about strengthening profitability, creating predictable cash flow, building financial systems, and reducing owner dependency so your business has the capacity to support its next level.

Whether you’re preparing for growth or trying to sustain the growth you’ve already achieved, the goal isn’t simply to build a bigger business.

It’s to build a business that gives you the freedom to enjoy what you’ve created.

So, founders, which of these three signs are you working on as we enter Q4? 👀

#ThinkLikeACFO #FromSurvivalToScale #FounderFreedom #FinancialStrategy #FinTraum taken in Santa Monica,C.A. by @itsdcherelle

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15 days ago

Survival got you here. But what will it take to scale?

After an incredible week at the @visionariesonline Conference in Los Angeles, I’m bringing one of our biggest conversations into Q4.

So many founders have mastered the art of figuring it out. Making the sale. Finding the money. Solving the problem. Being EVERYTHING their business needs.

Some are ready to grow but haven’t built the financial systems to support it.

Others are already growing, but their operations haven’t caught up. Revenue is increasing, yet every major decision, expense and operational challenge still runs through the owner.

Both face the same critical question:

Does your business have the financial and operational capacity to support where you’re trying to go?

During my From Survival to Scale workshop, we explored what it takes to close that gap.

Financial visibility that informs decisions. Cash-flow planning that supports growth. Revenue strategies grounded in profitability. Systems that reduce owner dependency. And a business model designed for sustainability.

Because increasing revenue is one thing. Building a business capable of sustaining and scaling that revenue is another.

As we enter Q4, ask yourself:

What needs to change in your business today to support the growth you want tomorrow?

#FromSurvivalToScale #ThinkLikeACFO #FounderFinances #BusinessGrowth #FinTraum taken in The LINE Los Angeles by @itsdcherelle

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16 days ago

The other night, I finally watched my TEDx talk all the way through.

And I didn’t watch it alone.

About a dozen people joined virtually, and another dozen or so were in the room with me.

I cried.

Not because the moment was perfect.

Because it was real.

This idea has lived with me for a long time. I’ve taught around it, written around it, built around it, and carried parts of it quietly while I waited for the talk to finally become public.

Last night, I got to watch people experience it in real time.

The reactions.
The questions.
The conversations.
The moments when something landed differently for someone else.

That meant more to me than I expected.

The talk is about financial trauma, pressure, fear, fantasy, reality, sustainability, and the decisions we make when all of those things collide.

But last night reminded me of something even bigger:

Ideas become more powerful when they become conversations.

Thank you to everyone who showed up in the room and online.

This was special.

#TEDxSpeaker #FinancialReality #FinancialConfidence #FinancialTrauma #FounderFinances taken in Tulsa, Oklahoma by @itsdcherelle

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25 days ago

I'm so excited to share that I've been selected for the 2026 Google Data Center Community AI Fellowship, powered by Watson Institute!
I'm joining a network of leaders scaling local, AI-driven solutions, while learning from exceptional mentors and speakers - including Kevin Koidl, Sarah Windrum, and Rania Hoteit - whose expertise spans impact, technology, and AI.
I'm looking forward to connecting with other local leaders leveraging AI and technology to scale inclusive, local solutions in the Google Data Center Communities we call home across the US, England, the Netherlands, and Finland
Google Data Center Community AI Fellowship Alumni have gone on to create 1,316 paid jobs, raise $41.5M in capital that they've reinvested into their local solutions, and positively impact 13.1M lives. I am thrilled and grateful to be part of this incredible community of impact.
Thank you to Google’s Economic and Community Development Team for championing the impact of leaders like me through the Google Data Center Community AI Fellowship! taken in Tulsa, Oklahoma by @itsdcherelle

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a month ago

There are moments that change the way you understand fear, pressure, safety and decision-making.

For me, this was one of them.

Years later, I would eventually have language for what I was experiencing and for the way pressure can narrow what we believe is possible financially, professionally and personally.

That became part of the foundation for my TEDx talk.

Financial Reality.
Fear vs. Fantasy.
The Probability Pause.
Sustainability.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to unpack those ideas more deeply.

Because sometimes what looks like a financial decision on the surface is being shaped by something much deeper underneath.

Content note: intimate partner violence.

#TEDxSpeaker #FinancialReality #FinancialTrauma #FinancialConfidence #FearVsFantasy by @itsdcherelle

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a month ago

Teaching accounting in a jail changed the way I think about financial education.

It reminded me that access to financial knowledge is not evenly distributed.

And that understanding money, business, credit, and financial decision-making can change what people believe is possible for themselves.

That is a big part of why I care so much about this work.

Financial education should not only show up after someone has already built wealth, started a business, or found their way into the right room.

It should be available before that.

In classrooms.
In communities.
In correctional settings.
In entrepreneurship programs.
Anywhere people are making decisions that can shape their financial future.

That is the work.

#FinancialAccess #FinancialConfidence #AccountingEducation #HigherEducation #FinancialEquity by @itsdcherelle

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a month ago

Optimism isn’t the problem. Distortion is.

Fear can make the worst-case scenario feel inevitable.

Fantasy can make the best-case scenario feel guaranteed.

Both can pull you away from what is actually true.

Financial reality asks a different question:

What does the evidence support?

What do I know?
What am I assuming?
What am I afraid of?
What am I hoping for?
What do the numbers actually say?

You can still be hopeful.

You can still be ambitious.

You can still believe something can work.

But hope and belief work better when they are grounded in visibility.

That is where stronger financial decisions start.

This is one of the ideas behind my TEDx talk, and it is exactly the kind of thinking we’re bringing into Financial Reset for Founders on September 22.

#FearVsFantasy #FinancialReality #FinancialConfidence #FinancialVisibility #ThinkLikeACFO by @itsdcherelle

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a month ago