Episode 65

Beyond the Books: Diagnostics That Save Companies

When a business starts to stumble, the real problem usually isn’t hidden—it’s just misread.

Maartje van Krieken talks with Elisabeth Vealey, founder of Sophius LLC, about how business diagnostics reveal what’s really happening inside a struggling company. With decades of experience in accounting, CFO leadership, and turnaround strategies, Elisabeth explains how following the cash flow exposes not just financial issues but the inefficiencies, blind spots, and miscommunication that quietly drain performance.

They discuss how financial data reflects overall financial and operational health, why leaders wait too long to ask for help, and how to build a culture that values clarity over blame. Elisabeth shares insights from her Sophius Method for “chasing the cash” to find what’s blocking growth, while Maartje connects those lessons to the operational side—where process, people, and profit intersect.

This conversation offers a clear, grounded look at how to spot early warning signs, restore trust, and bring a company back to health before problems turn into full-blown emergencies.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 The Power of Business Diagnostics

00:38 Meet Elisabeth Vealey, Founder of Sophius LLC

05:00 The Sophius Method and Turnaround Strategies

07:50 When to Bring in Outside Help

10:30 Beyond the Numbers: People, Process, and Performance

14:20 Breaking the Blame Cycle and Rebuilding Trust

17:10 Leadership Blind Spots and Honest Feedback Loops

21:30 Board Dynamics and Shared Accountability

22:20 Restoring Team Trust and Removing Emotion from Problem-Solving

25:40 Finance and Operations: The Power of Partnership

29:20 Final Thoughts and Where to Find Elisabeth Vealey

Connect with Elisabeth Vealey:

To learn more, visit Sophius LLC to download the Sophius Method whitepaper or to schedule an exploratory call.

Elisabeth Vealey is the founder of Sophius LLC and the architect of The Sophius Method, a proven plug and play framework that takes organizations from distress to sustainable growth. Known as a trusted strategist for business turnarounds, she bridges finance, operations, technology, and leadership to help organizations stabilize under pressure, build high-performing teams, and redirect energy towards mission and lasting growth. Elisabeth holds an MBA and is a CPA with more than 20 years of experience in finance, sales, wealth management, mergers and acquisitions and executive coaching. Today, she advises CEOs, boards, and high-net-worth families with business and leadership strategy creating impact that lasts with authenticity, vision, and fire.



Connect with Maartje van Krieken:

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The Chaos Games Consulting

The Business Emergency Room

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Host Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist and decision-making expert who thrives in high-stakes business environments. Combining disaster management training, hands-on experience in global industries, and leadership skills honed as a seasoned sailor, she helps businesses navigate chaos with precision. Whether tackling transformation, scaling challenges, or leadership bottlenecks, Maartje delivers actionable insights to turn turbulence into traction. 



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The Business Emergency Room Podcast
Triage, Tools & Tactics to recover from or prevent business chaos in this VUCA business environment

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Maartje van Krieken

Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist, executive consultant, and your at host of The Business Emergency Room podcast, where growing businesses go when things get messy. With a career that began in frontier oil and gas and spanned war zones, boardrooms, and billion-dollar pivots, Maartje has spent over two decades helping organizations steer through chaos and come out stronger.
Now through her consulting firm, The Chaos Games, Maartje works with medium-sized businesses, especially those scaling rapidly or navigating uncertainty, to diagnose breakdowns in leadership, collaboration, and decision-making before they become business emergencies. Her signature approach blends practical triage, people-first strategy, and blunt Dutch honesty to help teams realign fast.

​The Business Emergency Room delivers high-impact insights for business leaders, board members, and investors who are tired of the symptoms, disconnection, friction, paralysis, and want the tools to fix what’s really going wrong. Maartje’s episodes cut through fluff with stories, frameworks, and metaphors that turn even the most complex chaos into something leaders can act on.
Maartje is based in New Orleans and speaks regularly on navigating organizational storms, building business resilience, and turning reactive firefighting into proactive leadership. Whether you’re scaling a business, running a team, or dealing with dysfunction, The Business Emergency Room is the place to find straight talk and smarter tools.