Debi Corrie is the CEO of Acumaxum, a financial services firm she started in 2020 during the pandemic. At the same time, she launched her book, “Loving Failure, Getting Control of Your Business Health.” While many would find starting a business during such uncertain times challenging, she saw it as an opportunity. The small business owners she serves needed counsel then more than ever before.
Debi’s firm provides boutique CFO services for small businesses including accounting, tax planning, and strategy services. Over her 35 years in financial services, she has observed several common problems small business owners share. For example, they tend to leave their money in the business and don’t build personal wealth thinking the business will sustain them (which doesn’t always work.) Alternatively, they enjoy great cash flow in their business and don’t get a line of credit, only to find that when they do need cash, they cannot find a bank that will provide the line of credit. Right now, she is helping her clients take advantage of the tax credits that are still available from the IRS for having retained employees during the pandemic.
Her grandpa is the heart behind the firm. He was in the Navy and then became a business owner. He ran his business successfully throughout his life and retired at 62 without what we now refer to as a retirement plan. When he retired, he just closed his shop rather than monetizing what he had built over the years. He expected to die in his 60s and wasn’t worried about personal wealth. He lived to 82 and died as a ward of the state on Medicaid—he simply didn’t know what he didn’t know.
Her grandfather’s story—plus the many other small business owners Debi has met over the last four decades—motivated her to start her firm. She sees these owners as needing CFOs that they can’t afford to have on staff. Her company provides these on an outsourced basis. They are working in mid-sized communities in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas as they grow.
Debi has served on various not-for-profit boards over the years and is currently the treasurer for the Women’s Safe House, a 45-year-old organization created to help women and their families rebuild their lives free from domestic and sexual abuse.
Debi is a gardener, avid reader, loves puzzles and mini getaways. Her recommendation: Go to Door County, Wisconsin. It’s close, beautiful, and has so much to do in the summer. Plus, you’ll come back saying “Ya!”