There are plenty of non-traditional paths that CFOs have taken to get where they are today. We’ve spoken with financial leaders who came from marketing, sales, and even psychology. Today, we dive into a story shared by Samantha Cook, who started as an architect and became a CFO in the construction industry.Samantha is the CFO of Brinkmann Constructors and the President and Founder of Third Entity Group, a private consulting firm focused on delivering strategic business, finance, technology, and supply chain direction to SMBs. Before Brinkmann, she held several roles in finance and operations leadership at companies like Clayco, Brown Smith Wallace, and Escala. Samantha was named a 2019 influential woman in real estate by the REJournals and won the 2019 Inclusion Award from SLCCC.In this episode, we discuss:Construction and financeWhat should first-time CFOs focus on when taking the role?CFO versus Senior Director of FinanceSupporting SMBsThe CFO role in the construction industryLearn more about Samantha:Samantha Cook on LinkedInBrinkmann Constructors' WebsiteEpisode resources:Personiv's WebsitePersoniv on LinkedInPersoniv on FacebookPersoniv on TwitterIf you enjoyed this episode, then please either:Follow, rate, and review on Apple PodcastsFollow on SpotifyInstructions on how to follow, rate, and review CFO-Weekly are hereCFO Weekly is hand crafted by our friends over at: fame.soPrevious guests include: Jack McCullough of The CFO Leadership Council, Sarah Spoja of Tipalti, Ken ''Mr. Biz'' Wentworth of Mr. Biz Solutions, Bryan Lapidus of Association for Financial Professionals, Jeremey Foster of Talroo, Ian Schnoor of Financial Modeling Institute, John Cappadona of School of Rock, Chris Caprio of Focus Technology and Amy Myrland of Capitol Bank. Check out our three most downloaded episodes:Strategic Planning and Forecasting for the Future w/ John CappadonaMastering Financial Modeling for Top Business Decisions w/ Ian SchnoorLearning the Best Practices of an M&A Finance Process w/ Liz Hosman and Mark Miller