Eric is a Director at Scholastic Entertainment who participated in the beta cohort of Leading with Finance. Along with his day job, he's also the co-owner of Lyla Tov Monsters, a stuffed animal company that he runs with his family.

Why did you decide to sign up for Leading with Finance?

I thought it would be useful for both my full-time job and my family business to understand some basic concepts of finance better. At Scholastic, I often work with other groups who are determining where and what money is being spent. For Lyla Tov Monsters, the class can help me plan for the future growth of the company.

What was your favorite part of the program?

My favorite part was definitely Unidentified Industries! That module required me to use information learned as well as common sense to puzzle out what industries were represented by their financial data. It was fun, informative, and made me think about finances in a way I hadn't previously considered.

How are you applying the skills you've learned in Leading with Finance?

In my job at a publicly traded corporation, I have been able to change my viewpoint of daily goals and accomplishments. Instead of just completing tasks to achieve an end goal, I now look at that end goal and consider how it affects the company as a whole and if there are financial goals and benefits that will increase the value of the company. In my family business, I am able to see what aspects of the business should be prioritized in order to attain value from short-term and long-term plans and expenditures of capital.

Any advice for people who will be taking Leading with Finance?

The most important thing I would say is to schedule your time to be able to get through each module without rushing. There is a large amount of information in each module and, though you can get through it quickly if you need to, you’ll get more benefit from it if you can take the time to really consider and reflect upon the knowledge being imparted.

Interested in gaining a toolkit for making smart financial decisions and the confidence to clearly communicate those decisions to key internal and external stakeholders?