From CAO to EVP Supply Chain: How to Make a Big Career Pivot at the Executive Level

She spent 19 years at Southwire. She started in treasury, moved through business unit finance, became Chief Accounting Officer, and then made a move nobody saw coming. She left finance to run supply chain at a $9 billion company that provides cable for and electrical transmission throughout the US.

In this episode, I sit down in person with Christy Wright, Executive Vice President of Supply Chain at Southwire. Christy also recently served as Interim CFO while continuing her supply chain role.

We talk about what made her leave finance after checking every experience box. Why she says curiosity and a connection to the supply chain team years earlier planted the seed. What surprised her about the operations side, including having to learn the periodic table to understand the materials her team works with every day.

How her finance background gives her a different lens in supply chain, from her focus on scrap and recyclability to her appreciation for lean and continuous improvement. What it felt like stepping into the Interim CFO seat while running supply chain and why prioritization and sleep became non-negotiable.

Why she says people leadership is the hardest and most continuous work of her career. Her advice for controllers and CAOs who want to become CFOs, including why a lateral move might be the most important one you make. And the 12 for Life program at Southwire that brings at-risk youth into manufacturing to earn a paycheck, learn skills, and finish high school.

Whether you are a finance leader thinking about stepping into operations, already in the CFO seat trying to understand the business better, or building your career at one company and wondering if that is enough, this conversation covers it.

This episode is brought to you by FISPAN. Learn more at fispan.com.