When Steve Fox joined Every Man Jack in 2021, the men’s personal care brand had a new private equity owner and an ambitious growth agenda. Carlyle Group saw an opportunity: a widely distributed brand that had never invested heavily in marketing. The challenge was finding the operating leverage to fund that investment.For Fox, the answer increasingly lies in technology.At Every Man Jack, a company known for its outdoor-inspired grooming products, the finance team has remained at five employees even as transaction volume has tripled. Fox credits investments in technology and a growing emphasis on automation.The initiative even has a name: “Nix the Clicks by 26.”The goal is to eliminate manual transactions and replace traditional workflows with functional command centers where employees supervise automated processes, investigate exceptions, and monitor business performance.The transformation gathered momentum after Every Man Jack implemented NetSuite in September 2025. A month later, at SuiteWorld, the company’s IT manager connected the new ERP platform to emerging AI capabilities.Still, Fox recognizes that easier access to technology brings its own complications. With roughly 70 employees suddenly capable of creating software-driven solutions, the company established an AI oversight committee to prevent duplication and keep experimentation aligned with strategy.It’s a distinctly operational approach from a CFO whose career began in public accounting before taking him into retail management and high-growth businesses.And while Fox is enthusiastic about what technology makes possible, his guiding principle remains decidedly human: successful adoption begins with investing in people.

When Steve Fox joined Every Man Jack in 2021, the men’s personal care brand had a new private equity owner and an ambitious growth agenda. Carlyle Group saw an opportunity: a widely distributed brand that had never invested heavily in marketing. The challenge was finding the operating leverage to fund that investment. For Fox, the answer increasingly lies in technology. At Every Man Jack, a company known for its outdoor-inspired grooming products, the finance team has remained at five employees even as transaction volume has tripled. Fox credits investments in technology and a growing emphasis on automation. The initiative even has a name: “Nix the Clicks by 26.” The goal is to eliminate manual transactions and replace traditional workflows with functional command centers where employees supervise automated processes, investigate exceptions, and monitor business performance. The transformation gathered momentum after Every Man Jack implemented NetSuite in September 2025. A month later, at SuiteWorld, the company’s IT manager connected the new ERP platform to emerging AI capabilities. Still, Fox recognizes that easier access to technology brings its own complications. With roughly 70 employees suddenly capable of creating software-driven solutions, the company established an AI oversight committee to prevent duplication and keep experimentation aligned with strategy. It’s a distinctly operational approach from a CFO whose career began in public accounting before taking him into retail management and high-growth businesses. And while Fox is enthusiastic about what technology makes possible, his guiding principle remains decidedly human: successful adoption begins with investing in people.

1225: Nix the Clicks: Building a Finance Function That Manages by Exception | Steve Fox, CFO, Every Man Jack

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356: The Power of Optimal Capital Allocation |  Sean Quinn, CFO, Cimpress

Now access our FREE eBook “The Mentoring Round” featuring career insights from 25 of our CFO Thought Leaders: <a href= "https://mentoringround25cfos.gr8.com/">https://mentoringround25cfos.gr8.com/</a>

Now access our FREE eBook “The Mentoring Round” featuring career insights from 25 of our CFO Thought Leaders: https://mentoringround25cfos.gr8.com/

&nbsp; Now access our FREE eBook “The Mentoring Round” featuring career insights from 25 of our CFO Thought Leaders: <a href="https://mentoringround25cfos.gr8.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://mentoringround25cfos.gr8.com/</a>

355:  When KPIs are Top of Mind | Four CFOs Tell Us Which Metrics Matter

Now access our FREE eBook “The Mentoring Round” featuring career insights from 25 of our CFO Thought Leaders: <a href= "https://mentoringround25cfos.gr8.com/">https://mentoringround25cfos.gr8.com/</a>

Now access our FREE eBook “The Mentoring Round” featuring career insights from 25 of our CFO Thought Leaders: <a href="https://mentoringround25cfos.gr8.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://mentoringround25cfos.gr8.com/</a>

354.5 The Afterpod | Suk Shah, CFO, Avant

354: When It's Time to Hire | Rick Phegley, CFO, Smart & Final

353:  The Expressive CFO | Kelly Steckelberg, CFO, Zoom Video Communications

352.5 The Afterpod | Kurt Schmidt, CFO, Tribal Gaming

352:  The Founder's Partner (Part II) | Kevin Bisson, CFO, Ipswitch

351:  When it Was Time to Lead (Part I) | Kevin Bisson, CFO, Ipswitch

350:  How Travel Became One CFO's Ticket to Ride | Dan Figenshu, CFO, Rocketrip

349: The Age of  Strategic Transparency | CFO Dave Pomeroy, Brett Knowles

CFO THOUGHT LEADER is a podcast featuring firsthand accounts of finance leaders who are driving change within their organizations.
We share the career journey of our spotlighted CFO guest: What do they struggle with? How do they persevere? What makes them successful CFOs?  CFO THOUGHT LEADER is all about inspiring finance professionals to take a leadership leap. We know that by hearing about the successes — (and yes, also the failures) — of others, today’s CFOs can more confidently chart their own leadership paths across the enterprise and take inspired action.

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CFO THOUGHT LEADER is a podcast featuring firsthand accounts of finance leaders who are driving change within their organizations. We share the career journey of our spotlighted CFO guest: What do they struggle with? How do they persevere? What makes them successful CFOs? CFO THOUGHT LEADER is all about inspiring finance professionals to take a leadership leap. We know that by hearing about the successes — (and yes, also the failures) — of others, today’s CFOs can more confidently chart their own leadership paths across the enterprise and take inspired action.

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