🔥 Excerpt "Anything can be fixed financially. Anything. Sometimes it's just within the company—making small tweaks to how you're charging, what you're not charging for, where your money's going—and then laying it out so you have a plan." — Lillia Sanders

⚡ TL;DR Fractional CFO Lillia Sanders joins me to talk about rebuilding from the ground up—personally and financially—and what every founder needs to know to protect profits, make data-driven pricing decisions, and stop running blind. We dig into the discipline behind clean books, the courage to raise rates, the realities of embezzlement, and how AI can now flag what to push, what to pause, and what to fix.

📄 Show Notes Most founders don't avoid their numbers because they're lazy—they avoid them because they're afraid of what they'll find. Lillia Sanders understands that fear. After being embezzled by her spouse, losing everything, and escaping a violent marriage while pregnant with two small children, she rebuilt her life with nothing but her skill and a laptop. That same grit now fuels her work as a Fractional CFO helping business owners see—and fix—what's really happening in their finances.

In this episode, Lillia and I get into the hard truths of money management. She shares why knowledge is protection—how every missed category, every "miscellaneous" line item, and every unmonitored subscription can quietly drain your business. We talk about recovering from financial trauma, pricing for who you've become instead of who you were, and how founders can use simple frameworks to bring order to chaos.

From there, we explore practical tactics: cleaning up books, tightening cash flow, and building Profit-First style allocations that keep owners paid and businesses solvent. Lillia also shows how AI is transforming financial visibility—automating cash-flow insights, flagging errors, and spotlighting hidden opportunities.

This one is equal parts strategy and survival. Whether you're fighting to get out of the red or fine-tuning growth, Lillia proves that financial clarity isn't just possible—it's liberating.

✅ Key Takeaways

• "Anything can be fixed financially." Start by facing the numbers. • Kill the "miscellaneous" bucket—clarity begins with clean categories. • Automate invoicing and collections to shorten cash-flow cycles. • Price for who you are now, not for who you were when you started. • Revisit your allocations: pay yourself, pay your taxes, and set profit aside first. • Review financials quarterly; monthly if you're scaling fast. • Audit products and services—if it's not profitable twice in a row, pivot or cut it. • Use AI tools to identify margin drag, subscription waste, and revenue opportunities. • Founders who don't understand their numbers are liabilities in their own companies.

👤 Bio Lillia, founder of Skillia Business Solutions, brings a unique blend of resilience and expertise to her work. As a single mom, she rebuilt her life and business from scratch while raising three young children, overcoming homelessness, and recovering from embezzlement. These experiences shaped her compassionate, judgment-free approach to helping companies take control of their finances.

With decades of experience, Lillia specializes in Fractional CFO services—helping business owners understand profit margins, identify where money is lost, and streamline bookkeeping for clarity and control. She prepares companies for growth, sustainability, or sale by reducing stress, tightening systems, and turning financial challenges into long-term success stories.

🎁 Giveaway Lillia is offering two tools to help founders protect and strengthen their profits:

The Profit Protection Plan — a free PDF outlining five key checkpoints to stop financial leaks and reclaim cash flow.

30-Minute Financial Report Analysis — a complimentary one-on-one review of your books to identify blind spots, fix errors, and leave with actionable next steps.👉 Access both in the show notes and start protecting your profits today.

🧭 Chapters 00:00 Introduction and background 03:43 The impact of financial knowledge 06:13 Overcoming personal challenges 09:10 Building a business from adversity 14:35 Growth and evolution of the business 19:48 Navigating client relationships and pricing 23:03 Understanding financial oversight 27:22 Cost allocation and budgeting strategies 31:43 Strategic financial planning for growth 37:44 Evaluating financial performance 39:23 The role of AI in financial management 42:37 Inspiring financial confidence 47:02 Outro