Season 2, Ep. 15 | The Woman in the Arena with Heather Tuason
Heather Tuason didn't set out to be an entrepreneur—she hustled through a tough childhood in Southern Virginia, working full-time at Domino's Pizza from age 15 to support her family after her parents' divorce, all while raising her younger sister and powering through college.
That grit forged her "doer" mantra, propelling her from bank teller to Capital One exec, where she spotted a glaring gap: 50% of small businesses fail by year five, mostly due to cash flow woes with the vast majority lacking any financial plan.
Frustrated by corporate red tape blocking her fintech fixes, she launched Arena in 2019—a 2025 Inc 5000 honoree (#409)—pivoting boldly from a failed cashflow platform (Arena Pay) to matchmaking elite fractional CFOs for growing companies needing bookkeeping, payroll, forecasting, and strategic firepower without full-time costs.
This episode dives into Heather's raw resilience against VC bias (like demands for a "male CTO"), her remote team's core values of trust, confidence, and competence, and how rigorous case studies vet only 2.5% of CFO talent to fit real-world needs like construction or tech firms. She shares triumphs, like saving a school IT client through PPP forgiveness, pivots to Zoom-era growth, and now exit prep.
Forward-thinking, we discuss AI's game-changer: automating tactical reports (forecast vs. actuals, KPIs) to free CFOs for high-impact strategy on expansions and scaling. Drawing from Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena," she aims to slash that 50% failure rate, empowering operators to thrive beyond year five.
A must-listen for the More Elephant podcast—pure tenacity meets actionable finance wisdom.
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Show Notes
Heather Tuason is a career banker who believes small businesses are the engine of innovation—and the people behind them deserve the right support to thrive.
With a passion for small businesses and the teams that power them, Heather brings practical insight into finance, CFO strategy, operations, and accounting. At a time when new business formation is at record highs, nearly 50% of companies still fail within five years. Heather is on a mission to help founders succeed by building strong financial building blocks, sharing deep industry insights, and surrounding entrepreneurs with the resources they need.
As CEO of Arena, Heather is helping create a new kind of fractional leadership, enabling businesses to tap into top industry talent and success frameworks. This focus earned the company Inc. 5000's award coming in at #409 in 2025.
When Heather is not serving the small business community, you can find her hiking, traveling or spending time with her family.
Key More Elephant Takeaways in this Episode:
Arena matches fractional CFOs via human "matchmaking" plus case studies, bridging the gap for 6M U.S. employer businesses against just 275K available CFOs.
82% of failed businesses blame cash flow; Arena uncovers hidden levers like client collections and capital access to boost longevity past year five.
Ditch solo hustling—fractional experts deliver 24/7 finance focus, from payroll to performance tracking, unlocking leverage for hires and campaigns.
AI revolutionizes finance by automating monthly reviews and KPIs, letting CFOs strategize expansions over grunt work.
Founder resilience shines: Pivot boldly (like killing your own tech), embrace "doer" execution, and own your arena despite biases.
No VC? No problem—Arena's bootstrapped path proves incremental growth beats dilution, prioritizing family and freedom.
and more…
More About Arena: Arena | LinkedIn
Transcript
More Elephant Intro
[00:00:38] Jason Rudman: My guest today founded her company in 2019 with a clear conviction—growing companies deserve experienced financial leadership long before they can justify a full-time CFO.
A current 2025 Inc. 5000 Award List winner, number 409, it is my pleasure to invite Heather Tuason, CEO and founder of Arena to the latest More Elephant Podcast.
And it's been a minute. How are you?
[00:01:06] Heather Tuason: It has. I'm happy to be here, Jason. Thanks for the invitation.
