Welcome to The 6 a.m. CFO, where finance execs share how they jump-start their days and engage with the tasks that are in front of them.
Today, Savannah Bananas’ vice president of finance, Dr. Tim Naddy, shares how he structures his morning meetings, his favorite leadership lesson, and his morning snack that comes with a creatine floater.
Be sure to check out the entire 6 a.m. CFO series, and if you’d like to be featured in a future post, please email us here.
Savannah Bananas
• An exhibition baseball team based in Savannah, Georgia. Think of them as the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. Learn more about the team’s journey here.
• Founded: 2016
• Growth: Sold out over 200 consecutive games, with over a million fans on a ticket wait list.
• 3 million social media followers, including 1.7 million on TikTok, which is more than any MLB team.
• Launching Bananaland at Sea this Fall, a four-night Bananas-themed cruise experience.
MORNING ROUTINE
Weekday wake-up time: 5:45 a.m. - 6 a.m.
Morning beverage choice: Black coffee.
Non-work-related morning activities: Two days a week, I teach accounting/finance-oriented entrepreneurial studies courses for the Savannah College of Art & Design’s School of Business Innovation. When teaching, I am 100% in my element as it feeds my passion to help mentor young professionals, especially creatives, with making better, more informed career and life decisions with confidence.
On the other days, I’m usually at the gym trying to keep up with my college-aged sons who think they’ve surpassed good ‘ol Daddy Naddy in the bodybuilding arena. Not yet, fellas, not yet.
Workday start time: I try to get to the office around 7:45 a.m.. Probably a holdover from my public accounting days, but that hour/hour-and-a-half in the morning without anyone around is some of my most productive work.
How I usually spend the first hour of my day: Waking up, drinking coffee, flexing in the mirror, singing a few tunes, talking to Jesus, listening to a podcast — sometimes all of them simultaneously.
Once the brain is on…it’s ON!
Time I send out my first email: Oh man, depends on the day and the urgency. I try not to do it before 9 a.m., but I’ve been guilty of pushing emails as early as 6 a.m. to get them off my plate or to start the conversation.
Best advice for writing an effective email: I love words. I also have a penchant for verbosity. So, if I must write an effective email that must carry some sort of weight, my advice is to write it the night before and sleep on it. Sometimes, I’ll have another person read it to make sure I’m capturing the right tone. A good rule of thumb, too, is that if the email is longer than a couple of lines where something could be misconstrued, just pick up the phone. Lastly, if you have to ask, don’t put it in writing.
First dashboard I review: Politically — Drudge Report. Financially — bank accounts (always have an eye on the cash flow), then payables, then my own Mothership budget. In fact, the latter never gets closed.
How I structure my morning meetings: I don’t personally hold morning meetings if I don’t have anything of importance to pass along. I communicate frequently with my team, so we stay current on all-things-Phinance, all the time.
If I do need to have a meeting, it’s structured in a way to have action items that can be addressed throughout the day/week and then, as professionals do, they’re off and running. I don’t micromanage the process — I care about results. When or if there is a need for clarification, my style is to take a coaching knee next to whoever asked and work together to get through that sticking point.
Mid-morning snack of choice: A protein shake — at least 48 to 50g with a creatine floater.
How I organize my day: I’m a list guy. Each evening before I leave the office, I will run through the to-do’s from the day, strike through the completed tasks, add the new ones to the list and then re-prioritize them in order of urgency. If none are urgent, then I prioritize the smaller tasks so I can have that rolling-downhill-snowball sense of accomplishment, and because they help me build momentum into deep work that I’ll need to do for the bigger tasks.
In addition, many of those small tasks are things where another person is waiting on me to continue what they need to do. I strive to never be the bottleneck in someone else’s process. Sometimes I can’t avoid it, but most times I can, so I do.
All that said, after 9 a.m. and through to 4:30 p.m., my world is peppered with “quick questions” that take me away from the aforementioned list. All of them are important to the inquiree and, therefore, important to me. After 4:30 p.m., I am usually able to return to my list of things to do. That’s how I adjust.
INSPIRATION AND LEADERSHIP
Favorite quote or mantra: “A man may do an immense deal of good if he does not care who gets the credit for it.”
Favorite leadership lesson: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Something important to know about me that you wouldn’t know from my business bio:
I’m very interested in law enforcement, specifically the forensic accounting investigations. I wanted to be in the Secret Service or FBI, but that ship sailed years ago.
However, my utmost respect for first responders (both military and civilian) knows no bounds, so much so that a few years ago I enrolled in a basic law enforcement school (that I was not able to complete, sadly, because of a career change). During the firearms proficiency section of the class, I scored a 298/300, a pinky’s width away from perfect, using a Glock 22. That gunslinging experience is one of the reasons I created the Bananas character Timmy 2 Gunz, the cowboy sheriff of Bananaland. Only now, to the delight of observant fans, I holster a Dole .45.
Favorite number and why: 33; it is believed that this was the age Jesus was when he was crucified, died, and rose again.
Most noteworthy items in my workspace: Coffee mug; soft lighting; Spotify; my 49-inch monitor, an “authentic” peruke, and a Banana ball.
Also, a full-sized replica of a 15-star, 15-stripe flag that flew defyingly above Fort McHenry during its bombardment on Sept 13, 1814, which was immortalized by Francis Scott Key in his poetic eye-witness account that was sown into the very fabric of our American mores in the form of our national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Few things stir my heart more than hearing a sold-out Bananaball crowd join voices when we sing the anthem. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it’s magical.
Do you have a pet? Yes, a long-haired Dachshund named Josie (she’s my girl!); a grumpy ragdoll cat named Reggie; and another rescue black and white kitty named Lady who somehow keeps dodging the falcon that circles our house.
Favorite app on my phone not related to business: Faster Way to Fat Loss app. Crushes any personal fitness app out there. Seriously.
The year, make, and model of your first car: 1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse. It had a turbo button that helped me donate 245 bucks to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
If you were given an at-bat at a Bananas’ game, what would be your walkout song? Remember the Name — Fort Minor: 22 to :34
Favorite ballpark snack: I know this is an American pastime sacrilege, but it’s NOT a hotdog. Honestly, I love our partnership with Dunkin’, which provides us with hot and iced coffee at all of our shows. That’s become my go-to.
Most influential person I’ve ever met: Jesse Cole [the founder of Fans First Entertainment and owner of the Savannah Bananas]. In this age of social media despondency and anonymity, he pioneered a way to pivot the love for a long-time American institution in a way that helps people truly be “seen” while helping them to “engage” with others in a respectful, energizing, and fun way.
Fans First isn’t just some marketing phrase. No, he lives it every day and the authenticity in his counter-cultural passion for recognizing people where they are, no matter the background, creed, net-worth or other, is what inspires me (and millions of others) to want to pay it forward every chance we get. Again, do unto others…it’s how our society should work.
Could you imagine if we all stopped hearing the noise and truly started listening to each other? Would be fundamentally transformative. That is how he inspires people and the reason why I am fortunate to be on the inside of this movement.
Most famous person I’ve ever met: John Cena. Brother’s got some PIPES coming off his shoulders!
Most inspirational people in your life: My wife and sons. They give meaning to everything I do.