HAVE BETTER SEX WITH YOUR BUSINESS

You’ve already made real money in your business.

You’re a healer, coach, or widget maker, and for you, business isn’t just a transactional game. 


Your business is the deepest expression of your creative power.


It’s a living, breathing, dynamic thing. It’s a complex system. It’s alive.


So when it comes to making decisions (Should I offer a discount? Create a new product? Hire more people?) you tune into your business. Maybe when you get quiet, turn down the volume on the outside world, drop into your body, and (im)patiently wait…that’s when you get the nudge. That’s when you get the clarity to decide.


Meanwhile…

There’s a whole other way your business wants to talk to you:

THROUGH ITS FINANCIALS

The numbers your bookkeeper shares with you each month aren’t a jumble of meaningless data to scan with half-closed eyes and then swiftly archive.


The numbers in your business tell a story


They’re a direct way for you to have an intimate, loving, two-way relationship between you and the most joyous and generative of creative expressions: your business.

Your business’ numbers could be like George Clooney whispering sweet nothings into your ear

But you wouldn’t know, would you?


You’re assuming they’ll sound like the Asshole In Your Head.


At the moment, your relationship with this fundamental love language of your business feels less like a steamy, satisfying relationship that turns you on and more like a root canal — something to be avoided until absolutely necessary.

You dread looking at your data — how much has come in, how much has gone out, what’s left for you — because you feel like a Miss America contestant being ranked and graded on someone else’s criteria, and you will never score a perfect 10.

If and when you do take a look at what’s going on in your financials, you weaponize your spreadsheets into self-judgment. If you see that sales growth is slowing, you conclude that you’re a total loser and will end up on the streets, alone.

There’s a part of you that thinks paying attention to the numbers of your business will make you soulless and shallow and turn you into a greed monster. You worry that following the money means ending up in a miser’s counting house like Scrooge McDuck or King Midas, obsessed and alone. 

The link between action and outcomes, expressed in numbers, feels impossible to decode. So even though you have ambitions for your business, you feel overwhelmed trying to figure out how to make them happen. You don’t know what levers to pull, what action stepping stones to take that will get you there, and how to read the data from your business GPS to tell you if you’re on track. 

Even if you’re giving your business the silent treatment right now, the thing is…

Numbers in and of themselves are completely

NEUTRAL

But it makes sense that you attribute hurtful meaning and judgment to those numbers right now: you’ve never been taught how to understand those numbers in context.

That’s why you have self-judgment, and that’s why you weaponize your business financials. Because all your life numbers have been used to rank you (Grade Point Average), sort you (“fast” vs. “slow” track at school), cost you money (credit scores), and discriminate against you (zip codes).


You’ve been socialized to believe that numbers are complicated. Or maybe you’ve even internalized the insidious messaging that finances are for “men”, or for “rich people,” or for “anyone that’s not me.” Or maybe you “jumped the shark” in 5th-grade math class and have yet to recover.

I know what that’s like, too

I suffered from a LOT of math anxiety growing up —  In 4th grade at my Guadeloupean (French West Indies) Catholic school, we switched from French style long division (subtraction done in your head) to playing with plastic circles (in what I now realize was a belated introduction to number theory). I was insulted that we were playing with plastic toys in math class, and the nuns were more confused than we were.

Years later, in 7th grade, I took the SSAT, a secondary school entrance exam. With ten minutes to go on the clock, I realized that all my answers were off by one line. In a panic, I erased all my answers and tried to refill the bubbles correctly. I scored in the 23rd percentile. No one told me that the score resulted from a bad test-taking experience, not proof that I was an idiot.

I took enough science APs in high school to weasel out of the science and math requirement at Princeton. A good thing, too, since I wasn’t qualified to take the entry-level math class.

But after graduation, I decided that I was tired of living my life in fear. I knew I was smart. 

And if I was smart, then I should be able to figure out how to overcome my aversion to numbers. 

So I took a continuing ed pre-calculus class at Columbia University with a bunch of other traumatized adults, and I loved it. 

It was a radical shift in my self-concept which allowed me to go on and found my institutional money management firm.

I ended up being entrusted with billions of dollars. That’s why I’m sure that if I can change my relationship to numbers, you sure as hell can too.

I’m Mariko Gordon, CFA

I built an institutional money management firm from literally 0 to $2.5 billion in assets under management.

I invested in a concentrated portfolio of small-cap stocks for pension funds, endowments, and foundations. This was not something you’d expect a Comparative Literature major to wind up doing. 

But I loved stories, and decoding financials was just another way to immerse myself in real-world storytelling and make money at it to boot.

Over my 30+ year Wall Street career, I analyzed hundreds of companies and spoke to countless management teams. I grasped at a deep level that businesses are alive — they’re a complex, dynamic system — an interdependent web of customers, vendors, regulators, and employees — living in an ever-changing ecosystem.

That’s why I believe business is one of the deepest, most creative expressions of your soul. For the solopreneur or small business owner, it’s your life as performance art. 

Running your business without listening to its stories means you’re not exploring the full range of expression in your art.

Once you fold financial intimacy into your business relationship, you take off a governor that’s been limiting your speed, and you can step on the gas. 

Financial intimacy creates the insights that power your business. And it helps to ground you, secure in your discernment, sure of your bearings, heading intentionally towards your destination.

That’s why I’ve created this program — to help you do exactly that.

Introducing

FINANCIAL INTIMACY WITH YOUR BUSINESS

This isn’t a boring Accounting 101 class. 

It’s got nothing to do with ‘generating reports’ or using your bookkeeping software.

It’s not even focused on math — if you can do 5th-grade math, you’ve got this.

This is an 8-week small-group program where you’ll learn how to speak the fundamental love language of your business.

Using the financial data of your business (think — the balance sheet, your income statement, your cash flow statement), you’ll learn how to interpret the story your financials are telling you.

With this powerful skill, the relationship between you and your business will be forever changed. You’ll be able to —

Listen AND respond to your business — “if we changed the business model to this, what would that look like?”

Decide your next step (however big or small) and have your back NO MATTER the outcome, because you have a rock-solid reality-based framework for making business decisions.


Run your business from a creative and well-resourced state. Instead of functioning from a baseline background hum of  ‘something is not right!’, your business will feel playful because you finally feel curious, safe, and in loving partnership with it.

Amanda Gold

Mariko not only helped me with my business but she helped me on such a deeper, emotional level that has made ALL areas of my life work better.

How on earth can I even attempt to convey the magic that is Mariko? 

I don’t know but it's worth trying, especially if I can help someone who's thinking of hiring her. (Do yourself a favor and just DO IT.) 

I was looking for help as an entrepreneur. I’d been seeing some financial success and wanted to keep it going. Mariko not only helped me with my business but she helped me on such a deeper, emotional level that has made ALL areas of my life work better. 

She has a fierce gentleness, and (seemingly without effort) untangled knots in my psyche that had been snagging me up for YEARS. 

I had picked at these things before, but she was just able to cleanly dissolve these issues in a way that I FELT and KNEW, so clearly, they would never trouble me again. 

Mariko has a gift of knowing just the right question to ask, just the right example to use, just the right moment to push or suggest something, that blew my mind session after session. 

She gave me practical advice and strategies to try, was wildly generous and supportive in helping me grow as a marketer and entrepreneur, and gave me SUCH valuable feedback. But she also held amazing space for the emotional work (and thank goodness for that, because it really is all connected).

Working with Mariko was an experience that has helped me beyond measure. She is sharply skilled and ferociously good at what she does, and I am forever grateful for the time we spent together. I cherish the fact that I got to receive her coaching and guidance.

Your business wants to tell you meaningful, useful stories.

 Here’s how you go about seeing them, understanding them, and benefiting from them

Phase #1: Acceptance and Safety

To build intimacy with your business, you need to meet yourself — and it — where you are, with grace and compassion. That’s why this phase calls for shedding the shame, self-loathing, and anxiety about where you are right now and frees you to have the curious, playful, and open mind required for growth and change.

Phase #2: Clarity

To cut through the fog of confusion about your finances, you need to access inner and outer clarity. 

inner – knowing and trusting your deepest, truest desires and instincts (what do you want for your business? Which heading do you want to navigate towards?)

outer –  cultivating discernment without judgment (“revenue is lower this month” instead of “I’m a terrible businesswoman”), that service provider is doing my business harm and being willing to see the truth even when it hurts or is inconvenient.

Phase #3: Right Action

With acceptance and clarity, you’re now in the position to take intentional action aligned with your desires. 

Because it’s borne from solid footing (read: acceptance AND clarity), you can fully accept responsibility for the consequences of this action — whether they’re consequences you’re thrilled about or…not. This builds your willingness to fail and lean in on your identity as a powerful steward of your business.

You’ll learn how to skillfully move throughout this cycle in our 8 weeks together while you go about understanding the stories your numbers are telling you.

This means week by week, the financial intimacy you build with your business will grow deeper and deeper.

Janet Randle

When working with Mariko, you experience a sliver of how this extraordinary woman built her company’s asset portfolio from ZERO to $2.4 Billion

I must preface this testimonial by saying I do not use superlatives often when describing individuals. However, in this instance, it is required. 

Saying Mariko Gordon is one of the most brilliant, witty, and creative women I have ever met is an understatement. 

My work with Mariko over the last year has exposed me to her wealth of knowledge, profound interest in people, and extreme competence in business, finance, human psychology, and history (to name only a few). 

This wealth of information, combined with Mariko’s extraordinary ability to quickly synthesize a myriad of disjointed facts into a clear roadmap for a client’s future, allows Mariko to include nuances in her analyses that others ignore or just don’t understand their relevance. 

When working with Mariko, you experience a sliver of how this extraordinary woman built her company’s asset portfolio from ZERO to $2.4 Billion and soon realize that Mariko is a faithful “Diamond in the Rough.” 

When this happens, you will find yourself believing in her vision for you and eager to work with her to make it happen.”

Here’s what we’ll cover inside

Financial Intimacy with Your Business…

Module 1: Re-calibrate your money mindset 

  • You have your own unique set of reasons as to why you run a successful business but aren’t yet comfortable with the love language of your business (finance).

  • The first step of moving past that confusion and discomfort requires acceptance — that’s why you’ll explore and defuse what’s going on here for you.

  • From this, you’ll be able to shift from avoidance and dread to curiosity and playfulness when it comes to interacting with your business’ numbers.

Bryn Bamber

Mariko is a FREAKING GENIUS when it comes to all things money and money mindset. She helped me see where some of my heinous thoughts about money were coming from and helped me to CONFIDENTLY raise my rate (which I am now selling at like it's a freaking hotcake!!)

Module 2: Use the Story Framework to think about your business

  • You’ll learn to think of your numbers as characters in a story and you’ll bypass that part of your brain that wants to make numbers boring, judgy, or toxic.
     

  • You’ll learn how to map your financials to useful stories. How the balance sheet sets the scene. How the income statement is an epic conflict between warring queens. How the cash flow statement is the true story behind the story, the ‘so what?’. The takeaway. The moral. The lesson.

  • From this, you’ll start to relate differently to your financials. They won’t be a scorecard. They won’t be a cage being imposed by satanic accountants. They’ll no longer be how you define yourself. You’ll not only feel freer to be yourself, you’ll let your business confess who it really is as well.

Module 3: What’s the story telling you

  • Your financials just organize the information your business needs you to know in a way that makes sense. They spare you long-winded asides, irrelevant details, and terrible punch lines.

  • Something is happening at all times because your business is alive and changing all the time. In this module, you’ll learn how to retrieve the wisdom about what’s happening, stored in the numbers.

  • In a story, this might look like a good-looking stranger coming to town, a natural disaster disrupting the everyday, or someone waking up transformed into a huge beetle. 

    In your business, it might look like working capital (inventory, money due, money owed) is growing twice as fast as sales (money IN) or your biggest referral source is ghosting you.  Or it might look like crossing a break even point and minting so much cash you don’t know what to do with it. No matter the story, you’ll be able to make useful MEANING from the numbers.

Module 4: How to listen to your financials and what to listen for

  • You’ll learn how to look at trends. 

    These are the plot lines. 

    What situation is escalating? Where will it lead?  Will he get the girl? Are the princesses being sent off to slay an innocent dragon? 

  • You’ll learn how to look at ratios. 

    Imagine these as characters with complicated interrelationships.  Who hates each other? Who’s pining for someone?

    What’s out of whack? Is the kingdom experiencing a drought? Is the country broke? 

    Or you may find that you are a superhero. That your sales are down for reasons you can’t control, but you aren’t giving yourself credit for keep your gross margins up through farsighted purchasing (you saw this storm coming).

  • You’ll learn how to get context. 

    For example, the debt on your balance sheet is meaningless without the cash flow statement. It’s impossible to know what’s “too much” or “not enough” debt.

    Or maybe your ‘top line’ is exploding. Yet you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul and You’re playing three card monte with your credit cards. Is this growth good or bad? Only context will tell you.

Michael Katz

Mariko has a unique talent for making the complicated simple and the scary seem less so, and all while teaching with a healthy dose of warmth and humor.

I’ve learned many new ways of understanding and thinking about money and feel much better prepared now to manage my finances.

Module 5: Choose your own adventure or how to respond to your business

Financial intimacy is not a one way street. You get to respond to what your business is telling you.

  • Now that you know what your business story is about, you’re able to craft the narrative about where you go next, and what action you need to take to get there. That’s what this module is about.

  • Learn how to run “what if?” scenarios without needing to be a spreadsheet jockey. Translate ‘solutions to business problems’ into financial outcomes, like solving a math word problem in reverse. (YES, you can learn this without giving a hoot about math. You’ll see!)

  • Sensitivity analysis – learn where your business likes to be tickled and gets turned on and where it turns into a cold fish.

Jonathan Edwards

I came to Mariko with a tangle of projects and ideas and an income gap to close. 

Diving right in with characteristic warmth, enthusiasm and business acumen, she got me fired up and helped me see things like a business person, without (and this was crucial) sacrificing soul. 

Results weren't long in following, with a real uptick in sales and clients. Just as importantly, I learned to think differently about how I approach things like communications in a business context. I've learned to be more strategic while still operating with integrity and heart. 

I consider Mariko to be something of a business-whisperer and recommend her to anyone who can use an experienced set of eyes on their passion-driven business or project.

WEEKLY CALLS FOR 8 WEEKS

Each Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST  we’ll meet on zoom where I’ll teach, coach, and have you practice financial intimacy skills in real-time. 

You’ll ingest a happy cocktail of curiosity, humor, and playfulness weekly.

You’ll meet other successful business owners who are wanting a more fulfilling relationship with their business.

ONE HELLUVA USEFUL MONEY MINDSET QUESTIONNAIRE

You’ll uncover all those family money stories and trauma you’ve inherited.

You’ll discover the deeply held money beliefs that may no longer be serving you.

When you become aware of your unconscious fears and motivations you will stop self-sabotage, whether it’s from gaslighting, analysis paralysis, or thoughtless risk-taking.

OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE MY EYES ON THE STORY YOUR NUMBERS ARE TELLING

Share your financials with me and I’ll tell you the story I hear.  

You may find that you’ve mastered decoding your financials perfectly 

– after all, no one can be as intimate with your business as you are –

Or you may find that you’re focusing on the wrong things and missing a crucial insight for the health of your business.

Or you might discover your business has an anthology of stories clamoring for attention while you’ve been busy  polishing that perfect Haiku.

ANATOMY MANUAL

All the bits and bobs of financial statements broken down for easy reference.

You’ll know what they’re called, why they exist, and how to play with them. 

It’ll always be there for you, should you need to look up the negative amortization of goodwill. (Just kidding. That concept broke my brain decades ago and they’ve since changed the accounting rules.)

Build Financial Intimacy with Your Business

$1000 USD

Bryan Brache

Meeting Mariko was one of the biggest game-changers in my professional and entrepreneurial career.

Meeting people who have skin in the game & who did IT, is rare. Her advice comes from decades of experience and playing the game at the highest level.

If you want your business to be a model for healthy, non-toxic capitalism, you need to pay MORE, not less attention to your numbers

Qualitative (customer reviews are less enthusiastic, you’re feeling burned out, employee exit interviews are a downer) and quantitative data (your financials) are like yin and yang. Both are needed to complete the energetic circle, and each contains the essence of the other within.

Think of it this way. When you only count on qualitative data and instinct, your business is missing half a strand of DNA. 

It’s not that one is better than the other – they’re mutually supportive and both are needed for the blueprint of life.

Financial Intimacy with Your Business is NOT decision-making driven only by data. 

 It’s reality-based, soul-aligned, and contextualized decision-making.

In order to run a sustainable, generative business without an exploitative, scarcity mindset, you’ll need to come up with creative and innovative ways to do business. 

Plus it’s your business, your party, and you get the smash the pinata whatever way you want.

Numbers aren’t the only answer, but it’s hard to get at any let’s-do-this-differently-and-not-contribute-to-the-world-becoming-a-dumpster-fire answers without them.

That’s the kind of creativity that this financial intimacy opens you up to

The numbers don’t ever preclude you from a soul-centered business decision.

They enable you to make a viable decision or challenge you to come up with new solutions to old business problems.

They help you SEE the choices available to you, instead of feeling trapped or boxed into ONE WAY of doing business.


Learn how to interpret to story your financials are telling you so you can smash the piñata whatever way you want

Build Financial Intimacy with Your Business

$1000 USD

Financial Intimacy with Your Business isn’t designed for every business owner

Give this program a miss if:

  • You don’t see business as being alive. You don’t see yourself as someone who’s stewarding an ecosystem. This class will drive you up the wall if you see the bottom line as a ‘be all and end all’ of your business.

  • You want to learn about accounting for your business. I can’t help you with balancing your books (I CAN help you understand the story being described in those books).

  • You already understand your financials easily, you’re making time for regular date nights with your business, and you’re choosing your next adventure together — if so, you don’t need this course (though you might pick up a few tips and tricks on how to spice things up.)

 On the other hand, this program was made with you in mind if:

  • You want to have a loving, mutually supportive relationship with your business.

  • You want more grounded, rather than impulsive and seat-of-the-pants business decisions. 

  • You want to develop the courage to truly run your business YOUR way, no matter what the ‘experts’ say.

  • You’re sick of being scared anytime your accountant opens her mouth.

  • You’re done with being confused as to why you’ve been treading water for 3 years and you’re exhausted. 

  • You’re curious as to why you got off to a great start but your business is now in the doldrums.

  • You realize “the thrill is gone” and you want to recapture the spark you once had with your business. 

  • You want to heal an unhealthy relationship with your business — whether one of learned helplessness, codependency, or perfectionistic workaholism.


If the above resonates, then Financial Intimacy with Your Business is for you, regardless of whether you offer in-person services, physical products, high-ticket coaching or online courses.

Build Financial Intimacy with Your Business

$1000 USD

Elisa Superbi

Mariko holds trusting and non judgmental space while helping you shift your relationship with numbers/money/taxes. 

I love Mariko’s light and humourous flow of coaching. I was looking to shift my relationship with numbers and taxes, and I got it — after working with Mariko I approached my taxes in a more light, playful way. 

If you’re a creative person in business who has a "complicated" relationship with numbers and taxes, work with Mariko!

When you fold financial intimacy into your business relationship, you cut through the fog of confusion, indecision and learned helplessness that holds you back from the full flowering of your business

Because financial intimacy creates the insights that power your business.

It helps to ground you — secure in your discernment, sure of your bearings, heading intentionally towards your destination.   

It’s what empowers you to take care of issues when they’re small, and see opportunities staring you in the face early.

So whether you want to 

  • Be a more intentional steward of the ecosystem of your business 

  • more profitable

  • grow faster or

  • Keep everything the same but feel more joy in it…

    Building financial intimacy is the way to do so WITHOUT draining your energy, living in low-grade flight or fight, or feeling at the mercy of the outside circumstances.

Instead, with financial intimacy in the fold, you’ll have:

  • Greater access to your genius and more cognitive resources available to problem solve

  • A sense that you’re the one steering the ship, not just being buffeted by 50-foot waves in the middle of nowhere (because instead of being in denial, you’ll be empowered with the understanding of what’s going on, which allows you to discern your next move)

  • The ability to make better decisions faster - because you’re not surprised – you’ll have thought of the entire RANGE of outcomes, and you’ll be able to tell whether a bad outcome is the result of a bad process or bad luck. 

All these things are made possible because you’re grounded, connected, and in the flow with your business.

Build Financial Intimacy with Your Business

$1000 USD

FAQS

  • If you aren’t on speaking terms with your business, this class is for you, whether you’re selling frisbees, manicures, or high-ticket coaching.

  • Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. EST. We start on October 19th and wrap up on December 14th. There’s no class on November 23rd (U.S. Thanksgiving).

  • A replay will be emailed to you after every class. Course materials and replays will also be available on a private web page.

  • Not if I can help it! If you like metaphors and have a sense of humor, we’re going to get along just fine. You’ll learn how to tap into your innate curiosity and desire to have a better relationship with your business so that the sight of a spreadsheet or of your accountant fills you with anticipation, not dread.

  • If you can do 5th-grade math, you’re golden. If you can read a pie chart and calculate percentages and ratios, you’ll be just fine. Remember, it’s not manipulating the numbers that’s usually the problem – it’s the meaning we make out of our calculations.

  • The three things you’ll need are your balance sheet, your income statement and your cashflow statement.

    You need to pull your financials off your accounting software or have your bookkeeper do it for you. This class is not about how to pull together your financials, but how to interpret them.

  • You’ll learn how to take your business's vital signs in this course. Every business is slightly different, the way every human is unique, but most business problems become glaringly obvious once you see how all of the pieces should fit together but don’t.

Questions answered and ready to roll?

Build Financial Intimacy with Your Business

$1000 USD