Cash flow is queen and effective management provides greater stability for your woman-owned business in the long run.

Understanding your cash flow cycle is critical to the ongoing success of your business. When done right, it allows you to clearly visualize your company’s revenue against its costs and ensures you have sufficient funds to keep the business running smoothly. How can your business strategically manage cash flow to achieve your goals, and allowing you to focus on running your business?

To kick off Bank of the West’s celebration of Women’s History Month please join the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, Bank of the West and Free to Grow CFO to share their insights and expert perspectives on the basics of cash flow, how to look at and manage the challenges found within the balance sheet and income statement, and plan your future cash flow cycle.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding and forecasting your cash flow cycle
• Solutions and opportunities to enhance your cash flow
• Improving the collection of sales and customer relations

OUR SPECIAL GUESTS

Melanie Velasquez

Principal Relationship Manager, VP New Mexico at Bank of the West

Melanie Velasquez is a native of Albuquerque, NM. She brings over 20 years of finance and business banking experience as a Principal Relationship Manager, NM Market Team Lead. Melanie took her finance savvy background and put to use while she managed and operated a small business for 5 years. With her experience as a woman owned business she has a unique understanding and passion to help her clients at all stages of business. She is devoted to her community, serving as Board of Trustee to the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation and Board President for SAFE House, the largest domestic violence shelter in NM. Her passion is to bring change and empower women through teaching financial literacy. She is a proud mother of two amazing daughters ages 18 and 16.

“If you can dream it, you can do it”-Walt Disney

Roxann Burns

Senior Vice President, Small & Medium Enterprise Business at Bank of the West

Roxanne Burns is a senior vice president with expertise in commercial, community development, and SBA lending management. In addition to her responsibilities within Small and Medium Enterprise Business, Roxann is part of Bank of the West’s Leadership Team for the SBA PPP Loan Initiative. Most recently, she and her team processed and funded more than $3 billion in PPP loans that supported payroll for more than 300,000 small business employees in California and across the country.

Roxann brings 30 years of banking experience from start-up finance companies to large complex banking organizations. She is also deeply committed to economic development issues focused on small businesses growth and sustainability.

Jon Blair

Founder, Fractional CFO, Free to Grow CFO

Free to Grow CFO was founded by Jon Blair, former CFO, COO, and founding team member of Guardian Bikes (a Mark Cuban Company). At Guardian Bikes, a DTC kid’s bike brand, he led revenue growth from $0 to 8-figures in just 4 years and raised over $15MM in debt and equity capital.

After scaling Guardian Bikes, Jon founded Free to Grow CFO with a mission to help visionary founders of DTC and Omni-Channel brands by delivering outsourced, part-time CFO services for fast-growing businesses that need a CFO, but can’t yet afford the full-time salary.

Paloma Vidgen

SME Segment Strategy – Women Entrepreneurs

As the daughter and granddaughter of entrepreneurs, she is passionate about helping business owners and entrepreneurs meet their professional and personal goals. With 13 years in banking, spent developing strategy and building partnerships across wealth management and business banking, she creates programs and solutions that help our entrepreneurial community succeed.

The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is a 501c(3) public charity whose mission it is to make entrepreneurship accessible to all. We deliver world-class resources and mentoring to enable every entrepreneur across the globe to realize their maximum potential. Please join us and make your gift to ensure these transformative programs may continue to reach the underserved.

All Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least 48 hours in advance of this event; please send an email to [email protected] with the subject header ACCOMMODATION REQUEST. For assistance with registration or other technical difficulties, please contact [email protected]