Just as dancers strengthen their physical core to dance at peak performance, small business owners must strengthen their financial core to be at peak performance. Dancing With Numbers: Grow a Financially Healthy Business and Choreograph the Life You Want lays out the dance moves that established small business leaders can practice to engage in a harmonious relationship with their numbers, step confidently in their CEO shoes, and grow a profitable enterprise.

This is not your typical financial management book. Dancing with Numbers is as entertaining as it is educative. In it, Tricia shares her years of experience helping small business owners challenge their unhelpful money scripts — illustrating with stories of how those same business owners learned to gain confidence in their own decision-making, engage in a healthier relationship with their numbers, and elevate their impact in their business, communities, and personal lives.

Author Tricia M. Taitt holds an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business of Duke University, and a degree in Economics and Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is CEO of FinCore, a boutique fractional CFO services company helping small business owners build financially healthy businesses, feel confident in their CEO shoes, and choreograph the lives they want.

A champion for financial education for 20+ years, especially for women entrepreneurs, Tricia has given keynotes and taught workshops on small business financial management domestically and abroad. Tricia is both a math nerd and a professional dancer, working since 2007 with companies like Forces of Nature Dance Theatre. In 2013, she joined the cast of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, Fela!

Why did you write Dancing with Numbers?

It began when I lost my job on Wall Street in 2009 and began pursuing a full-time career as a professional dancer. I knew then that I didn’t want to go back to corporate, but I loved my background in accounting and finance.

I needed a part-time job, but I wasn’t going to do what typical dancers in New York do, like bartend or waitress. I had a different skill set. So instead, I began to partner with organizations to teach financial literacy. Because I was in the world of dance, I landed a consulting gig with the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, and from there began consulting primarily to creative entrepreneurs, performing arts, and nonprofits.

I became focused on accounting and finance for smaller organizations. As I got to know more of what their issues were, I began to see patterns and realized that there were different issues at different stages in the business lifecycle. I realized also I had a gift in communicating a complex topic in digestible bits that landed on people.

I’m a creative and a math nerd who cares about art and business. Dancing with Numbers was a creative project, and a way for to reach more people and give them a resource that they can flip through and find an answer. It’s a representation of my full self, and a way for me to share important financial information and empower small business owners.

You use examples from other small businesses owners, many who built, scaled or sold businesses in recent years. How did you pick the stories?

I wanted to find people who identified as “non-numbers people”. Many of these business owners don’t come from a business school background. I wanted to showcase their trajectory: going from feeling like they weren’t great with numbers to having this clear, realistic and even fun relationship with their finances. Like, Jenny, who started as a child actress, pivoted to opening an Ice-Cream store, and with my help, grew to worship the 10% EBITDA gods, eventually opening two new brick and-mortar shops despite the pandemic. The CEOs featured are established business owners, and many are women. I thought that it was important to feature women leaders.

You talk in the book about building a strong financial core. What is that? Why is it important?

When I'm in a dance studio, and I'm learning a new piece, I’m thinking about how shaky I feel: working really hard to learn the steps; to realize the choreographers vision; get the music down; and then blend it all together with other dancers. There’s an uncertainty I feel in approaching a new piece, naturally. But in those moments, I am supported by flexibility, athleticism, and strong core. In dance, in order to move at peak performance, you have to have a strong core. Within a business, in order to grow to peak performance, the same principles apply.

What is your definition of success in the current economic climate?

Success is having a financially healthy business, no matter what the current economic climate. By ‘healthy’ I mean three things: positive cash flow, profitability, and solvency. Once you have that, you can spend more time focusing on alignment. Essential to all of this is that cash is flowing in, and that you can create a positive cashflow and even maintain profitability. And then ask: Is the business is solvent? Meaning that it's worth something and continues to accrete in value, like a home. Beyond that, evaluate if what your business is doing is aligning with the your goals and objectives for having that business. If it is, and those financial factors align, that's success.

How can business owners use Dancing with Numbers as a tool for life?

Start with the Ten Cashflow Commandments (shout out to Biggie Smalls). Once you've got those down, you can begin to practice the six steps to train your financial core (hint: it starts by accepting the invitation to dance with your numbers everyday). Use the criteria in the book to evaluate where you are, and what steps you need to take to have a financially healthy business that has cash flowing in, is profitable and is increasing in overall value. I hope that above all else, you are inspired by the stories of experienced business owners who shifted their limiting money habits and stepped into their CEO shoes. Allow their experiences to serve as a reminder that you are not on stage alone, but instead are part of an ensemble of talented, creative entrepreneurs who are in step with you as we dance with our numbers

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