People You Should Know

Steve Vigliotti was told he would be an accountant before he had much say in the matter. A childhood aptitude test, a cousin named Joseph and a Long Island neighborhood that ran on plumbing routes and stickball did the rest.

Steve joins host Jenny Bain to talk about becoming a CPA, making partner at BDO by his early thirties and walking away to take his first CFO position at a bond brokerage inside the World Trade Center (07:13).

On September 11, 2001, a late train saved his life. Sixty of his colleagues never made it home (10:23). Steve shares how that day changed the way he lives and leads, the survivor’s guilt he worked through (21:40) and why he still holds a daily standup with his team (37:09).

Now the first CFO in Octus history, Steve also reflects on the acquisition he is proudest of (33:20) and the one relationship he wishes he had prioritized sooner (44:56). It is a conversation about responsibility, perspective and what leaders owe the people who count on them.
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Hosted by Jenny Bain
Featuring Steve Vigliotti, Chief Financial Officer, Octus
Produced and edited by two-time Emmy Award-winning producer Tanya Hubbard
  • (00:00) - Cold open with Jenny Bain
  • (01:30) - Meet Steve Vigliotti
  • (04:00) - The aptitude test that picked his career
  • (06:00) - From BDO partner to first-time CFO
  • (09:30) - September 11 at the South Tower
  • (19:00) - Rebuilding a company and calling every family
  • (24:00) - Coming to Octus as the first CFO
  • (30:00) - How he decides what gets a yes
  • (37:00) - The daily standup and what it taught him
  • (44:00) - What he wishes he'd figured out sooner

Creators and Guests

Host
Jenny Bain
Jenny is Senior HR Business Partner at Octus and host of People You Should Know, where she sits down with people across Octus and the broader credit and finance world for conversations about the paths that got them there and the parts of life that have nothing to do with work. Before pivoting into HR a decade ago, she spent five years as a divorce attorney in California, where she also co-hosted a divorce finance podcast in Sacramento. She then moved into HR at Paul Hastings, followed by three years at Twilio. She has spent the past three years at Octus. Jenny holds a J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, and a B.A. in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara. Originally from California, she now lives in New York, where two corgis and a habit of traveling the world for EDM shows keep her busy outside work.
Producer
Tanya Hubbard
Tanya Hubbard is Director of Podcasts and Social Media at Octus. She built the Octus Podcast Network from the ground up, runs social strategy and oversees production across two studios, one in New York and one in London. Her team took ownership of the company's podcast and social channels, rebuilt them and changed how Octus tells its stories. She came to Octus from CBS Sports, where she spent more than three years running the SportsLine division. Before that she spent three years at The Ringer leading preproduction for NBA Desktop. She's won two Emmys, one for NBA Desktop and one for her work with the TNT crew in Atlanta. Earlier in her career she produced Fair Game for Fox Sports, worked on Mostly Football for Yahoo and Complex and spent two years freelance editing highlights for Comcast SportsNet. After 17 years making shows people choose to watch, she runs the Octus studios with that same show business discipline. Tanya holds a broadcast journalism degree from Temple University and is based in New York. She helped start two employee resource groups at Octus, OWN for women and SERG for sustainability, and still helps lead OWN. Outside work she volunteers at VillageCare supporting elderly residents, is a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters and spends her downtime with her dog, Lady.

What is People You Should Know?

Everyone has a story worth hearing. People You Should Know sits down with people from inside and outside Octus to talk about how they got here, what they got wrong and what they'd tell themselves if they could start again. Hosted by Jenny Bain and presented by Octus.