Stefanie Ricchio, freedom & function in business, creating value, and growth mindset for success.

Stefanie Ricchio

CEO, SRBC Inc.

Stefanie Ricchio is a dynamic speaker, CPA, and entrepreneur known for turning complex financial topics into accessible strategies that fuel success for professionals and business owners, alike. With experience spanning corporate finance and business advisory, her perspective is shaped through a panoramic view of what it truly takes to thrive in today’s marketplace.

Pivoting from corporate finance to the heart of business education, Stefanie delivers guidance that resonates with a wide-range of professionals - from emerging entrepreneurs to women, mothers, and seasoned industry leaders. As an expert in Canadian tax rules and automated systems, Stefanie’s strategic insights enable businesses to achieve sustainable growth. She has worked closely with small business owners to navigate finance, taxation, and funding complexities, and became a sought-after advisor for venture capital and private equity-backed companies.

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Stefanie, you’ve built a successful consulting business, SRBC Inc., where your work spans strategy, transformation, training, and coaching - what’s the common thread that ties all these areas together for you?

The common thread is value. Most people want to wake up each day and feel like they are valued and that they are creating value.  When I work with businesses to build systems, we are increasing the business and shareholder value.  When I work in learning and development, either in a consulting engagement or via my app & website, it is to provide individuals with the tools, resources, and strategies that they need to increase their value and be stronger contributors within their own careers, but to also be able to go out and get their worth.  At the core of consulting and thought leadership is the founding principal of empowering value.

My consulting work informs the work that I do in thought leadership.

You emphasize both function and freedom in business - how do you help leaders and entrepreneurs strike that balance when working with them?

To achieve the highest level of function and freedom you have to have the systems in place to get there. In my work, I empower leaders and entrepreneurs to do less of the non-value add work to create capacity for the value-added work. 

When you are free from having to do the tasks that block development and progress, this is how you create the capacity to grow. This takes a consistent commitment to assessing your methodologies and processes. 

Are you tackling your role in the most effective way possible? Or, are you tethered to broken cycles, systems, and ideologies?  My work is all about transformation, implementation, and continues assessments of where you are.

What’s a common challenge you see among corporate leaders or entrepreneurs, and how do you guide them through it?

The need to do more with less is a common reoccurring thread. Not having the tools and systems in place to scale and bring balance into their organizations is something I see on a regular basis.  The basis of my work is to start by evaluating the problems in the business; financial and process based. From there we dive into the impact of these issues. Then, I take this away to develop the recommendations that solve for these challenges. 

Leaders carry the weight of trying to solve all the problems that way down the business from an operational perspective, but also morale.  My job is to provide the tools, strategy, and sometimes education for leaders to make the best decisions they can, not only for the business, but also to support their teams.

As someone who works closely with high-level leaders, and being one yourself, why do you believe community is essential for success? How has being part of Knew House influenced your journey?

We have all heard the saying it is lonely at the top. I think until you experience a sense of this for yourself you don’t understand the isolation that can come along with your climb. When you are viewed as a leader, your job is to not only ensure the success of the company for all stakeholders but also encompasses the responsibility to create an optimal, safe, and successful environment for those under your charge. That is a ton of responsibility. Making sure that as the leader you also have support is paramount to continue to be able to carry your responsibilities.

For me, Knew House has provided me with peers to lean on and feel that sense of support that I often feel like I don’t have.  The feeling of being alone in my endeavours has significantly reduced and I am comforted in knowing that there is a group of women who are my allies in this journey. It has been amazing to have a team who asks me if I need support, when on a daily basis, I am giving more than I receive.

Can you share one lesson or mindset shift that has had the biggest impact on your career and life so far?

My life completely changed the more I leaned into growth mindset. My world that lives at the intersection of accounting and technology is ever evolving. I have to continuously improve to meet the demands of business and me an attractive resource for my clients. 

It also has served me well in my personal life to acknowledge we need to continuously evolve and seek to improve and chase learning and exploration. I would not have the career and life that I have today if I had stayed stuck with a Fixed Mindset refusing to acknowledge the value and importance of change and evolution.