What does it feel like to hit your first seven figures — and realize the business is actually a trap?

Dani Lee is a fractional CFO and co-founder of Valore Financial. At 26 she built a product-based company to seven figures, then walked away from a large investor wire mid-deal and moved back to Wisconsin to regroup. What came next was a complete rebuild — this time, with her life designed first and the business engineered around it.

In this episode, we get into money dates, the emotional story hiding inside your financials, why your accountant and your CFO are doing completely different jobs, and the belief that's quietly killing most women founders' profit margins.

What We Cover:

[00:11] The money date: how to get financially sane in 30 minutes [02:48] How a seven-figure business became a nervous system nightmare [05:19] Walking away from a large investor wire — what peace is actually worth [07:30] Design your life first. Then build your business around it. [09:06] The pricing math most founders skip [10:37] Why women run their businesses like nonprofits (and what it costs them) [13:32] What your numbers tell a CFO about how you see yourself [15:16] Accountant vs. CFO: you're probably working with the wrong one [17:54] Your first money story — and how it's still running the show [21:36] What "financially dangerous" looks like and how to get there [25:25] The non-negotiable baked into Dani's budget (hint: it's comfort)

Quotes Worth Saving:

"Money is just a side effect of what you have going on internally."

"I see way too many women founders run their business like nonprofits...this is a for-profit business and that is okay."

"I built an ecosystem around me that supports that versus me hustling for that ecosystem."

"Peace and profits — I think a lot of people don't think those two things can and should exist."

About Dani: Dani Lee is a fractional CFO and co-founder of Valore Financial, helping women founders build highly profitable, sustainable businesses — without the chaos. She scaled a product-based company to seven figures at 26 before pivoting back to her finance roots to build something grounded in values-aligned growth.

Connect with Dani: Instagram: @cfodani

Valore Financial https://www.valorefinancial.com/

Your Turn:

Schedule your money date this week. Pour something you like, get comfortable, and look at your balances — all of them. No judgment, no fixing yet. Just start the relationship. Dani says the next move becomes intuitive from there.

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Hosted by @jamiegasparovic

A Studio Gaspo production