Carolina Aponte – Venezuelan Immigrant’s Rise to Top CFO Success
In this episode, James Kennedy sits down with Carolina Aponte – fractional CFO, founder, and co-host of the Breaking Even Better podcast – to trace her journey from teen tour guide in Venezuela to award-winning North Carolina business owner. Carolina shares how she arrived in the U.S. at 20 without a high school diploma, juggled three jobs to survive, and used night classes plus on-the-job learning to climb from receptionist to controller and ultimately firm owner.
They unpack what a great controller actually does, how finance leaders can influence (but not control!) CEOs, and why relationships, resilience, and “improv” are just as important as debits and credits. Carolina also talks about helping more than 10 clients break the $1M revenue barrier and how her team-based model delivers 90%+ client retention.