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

Bonus Episode: Escalating Workforce Priorities

251: Building a Framework for Growth  | Dave Pomeroy, CFO, BDNA

250: Revisiting the Roots of a Silicon Valley Career |  Ken Goldman, CFO, Yahoo

Exclusive case study: A little over a year ago when publicly held Perion advanced with a deal to acquire digital agency Undertone, Michael Waxman-Lenz began preparing to exit his post as Perion’s chief strategy officer to spearhead Undertone’s private-to-public journey as its CFO. Now, for the first time, CFO Waxman-Lenz charts the action steps and milestones that allowed his team to rapidly transform Undertone’s internal controls, allowing it to achieve initial and ongoing compliance.

Exclusive case study: A little over a year ago when publicly held Perion advanced with a deal to acquire digital agency Undertone, Michael Waxman-Lenz began preparing to exit his post as Perion’s chief strategy officer to spearhead Undertone’s private-to-public journey as its CFO. Now, for the first time, CFO Waxman-Lenz charts the action steps and milestones that allowed his team to rapidly transform Undertone’s internal controls, allowing it to achieve initial and ongoing compliance.

Exclusive case study:&nbsp;A little over a year&nbsp;ago&nbsp;when publicly&nbsp;held Perion advanced with a deal&nbsp;to&nbsp;acquire&nbsp;digital agency Undertone, Michael Waxman-Lenz began preparing&nbsp;to&nbsp;exit&nbsp;his post as Perion’s chief strategy officer to&nbsp;spearhead Undertone’s private-to-public&nbsp;journey as its CFO. Now, for the first time, CFO Waxman-Lenz charts the action steps and milestones that allowed his team to rapidly transform Undertone’s internal controls, allowing it to achieve initial and ongoing compliance.

249: The Private to Public Journey | Michael Waxman-Lenz, CFO, Undertone, Steve Hobbs, Protiviti, Susan Parcells, BlackLine

248: Anatomy of a SaaS Finance Function | Chuck Best, Vice President Accounting Operations, BlackLine, Karen Gift, Vice President of Finance, BlackLine

247: Establishing an Enviroment to Empower Your Team | Pete Childs, CFO, Workfront

246: Growing Your Customer Orientation  | Carol Wood, CFO, Dizzion

Ron Knutson, CFO, Lawson Products, Inc.

Ron Knutson, CFO, Lawson Products, Inc.&nbsp;

245: Using Analytics to Explore a Company’s “What If” Questions | Ron Knutson, CFO, Lawson Products, Inc.

244: Widening Your Finance Lens | Gary Bender, CFO, SISD, Inc.

243: Building the Billion Dollar Business | David Morris, CFO, Guardian Pharmacy

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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