James Kennedy sits down with Neil Geary, fractional CFO and partner at SeatonHill Partners, to unpack what happens when big entrepreneurial vision meets real-world financial reality. Drawing on a career that started as a Coast Guard – licensed boat captain and evolved through family offices, hospitality, and large-scale real estate development, Neil shares how “captain’s thinking” – planning, diligence, and safety – translates into better decisions for founders and investors.
From rescuing a beloved but loss-making New England “trophy” hotel and restaurant, to helping a Midwestern multifamily developer level up into a $67M ground-up project, Neil shows how the right CFO can turn chaos into a clear course – without killing the entrepreneurial spark that made the business work in the first place.
About Neil Geary
With 25+ years in hospitality and commercial real estate, Neil Geary blends hands-on operating experience with institutional-grade financial discipline. He began his career in a family office, trading futures in currencies, gold and the S&P using hedged, margin-based strategies, before returning to his first love: hospitality.
Neil went on to serve as controller for a major resort, earn his MBA at Babson College (a global leader in entrepreneurship), and spend decades in hospitality real estate development and construction-heavy projects. Today, as a fractional CFO with Seton Hill Partners, he works with entrepreneurial owners across hotels, restaurants, country clubs, commercial real estate and construction – helping them grow, de-risk, and make their businesses truly investor-ready.
What You’ll Learn
- “Captain’s Mindset” for Finance
How Neil’s time as a boat captain shaped his approach to risk, planning and responsibility – and why every founder should think like the person holding the wheel when conditions change. - From Family Office to Fractional CFO
What Neil learned trading futures and managing wealth in a family office – and how those insights inform his advice on risk, leverage, and realistic returns for owners today. - Fixing a $200K-per-Month Problem
The inside story of a high-end New England hotel and restaurant that was bleeding $200,000 a month – and the practical steps Neil used to re-establish budgets, accountability and profitability. - Ground-Up vs. Value-Add Real Estate
Why a developer who could handle 1,000 value-add apartments hit trouble with a ground-up, class-A build, and how better planning, capitalization and oversight turned a risky leap into a sustainable growth move. - Bringing the Team Into the Numbers
How departmental budgets, purchase orders and simple transparency can transform a culture from “spend and hope” into one where GMs and department heads own their financial results. - When Process Creates Freedom
Why owners who resist structure often leave money (and enterprise value) on the table – and how the right systems can make it easier to grow, sell, or step back from the business.
Episode Highlights
“On a boat, the Coast Guard reminds you very clearly: people’s lives are in your hands. In a business, the jobs and families tied to your decisions deserve the same level of diligence.”
“Early-stage entrepreneurs often get surprisingly far by sheer energy and instinct. My job isn’t to turn them into accountants – it’s to give that instinct a compass and a dashboard.”
“You can stumble your way through a tired, 70%-occupied building. You cannot stumble your way through a $67 million ground-up development.”
“If your hotel guests are paying a thousand dollars a night and five hundred dollars for dinner, you can’t cut corners on maintenance and still call yourself ‘high-end’.”
“Finance shouldn’t be a secret file in the owner’s drawer. When the GM and department heads actually see the numbers, they start making better decisions before you ever ask them to.”
“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel on controls – purchase orders, approvals, departmental budgets. These are boring tools that quietly save businesses every single day.”
More About Neil’s Role
At SeatonHill Partners, Neil serves as a fractional CFO to growth-minded, often founder-led businesses in:
- Hospitality: boutique and resort hotels, destination restaurants, country clubs and mixed-use hospitality properties.
- Commercial Real Estate & Development: multifamily, ground-up projects, and construction-heavy value-add deals.
- Construction & Related Services: contractors and developers needing tighter cashflow and project-level visibility.
His work typically includes:
- Building forward-looking budgets and forecasts owners can actually believe in and use.
- Designing approval and purchasing systems that control spend without strangling operations.
- Translating complex capital stacks and risk profiles into plain English so owners and investors stay aligned.
- Guiding entrepreneurs from “I can wing this” to disciplined, scalable growth – without losing the ambition that got them started.
Whether it’s a family office wanting better treasury management, a real estate developer stepping up to larger projects, or a hospitality owner tired of “mystery losses,” Neil’s goal is the same: give leaders a clear, reliable financial compass so they can grow with confidence.
