Melinda founded Remco Ventures LLC in 2023 after the very successful sale of Zumifi, the bookkeeping/accounting firm she founded in 2001. Melinda had positioned Zumifi for sale for a number of years identifying a key employee who was both very talented and interested in taking the reins and leading Zumifi to it’s next levels of success. Building Zumifi and successfully transitioning the firm to the next generation is most certainly one of Melinda’s proudest accomplishments.
During her time at Zumifi Melinda worked with numerous clients who were positioning their business for the owner’s exit and sale. The unique considerations of this became a passion for Melinda and showcased her greatest strengths. Upon executing her own successful exit, Melinda is now dedicated to helping other business owners optimize their exits.
Background and History
Melinda majored in Philosophy and Political Science at Union College in Schenectady NY. Upon graduation, she received a fellowship and pursued a 15-month independent study of Latin American political and street theater, traveling to Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Colombia.
Upon her return to the United States, Melinda relocated to San Francisco. After a short stretch finding her footing, she found her place. From 1990 to 2000, Melinda served as the bookkeeper for The Balloon Lady®, the world’s premier balloon delivery and decór business. With 14 full-time staff people and over $1 million in annual sales, this first more formal step in her career provided her with a unique, intensive education in how to successfully manage a fast-growing business, the unique personality of each client, and why customers choose to buy their products and services. Along the way Melinda became the right hand to the owners and went far beyond just bookkeeping in her work and contributions. Those experiences encouraged Melinda to complete her Masters, and after securing that education Melinda Zumifi Inc. (previously Phillips Business Consulting) in 2001.
During her 23 year tenure at Zumifi Melinda helped hundreds of business owners through one-on-one consulting services, ongoing bookkeeping/accounting services, QuickBooks consultations, Cloud integration work, fractional CFO engagements, and through her popular, effective and inspirational financial education classes. She believes that her greatest strength is her ability to listen to the needs of business owners and provide common sense, practical approaches to their challenges. Melinda is proudest when her clients finally realize that finance is not painful and find the joy in the stories and insights the numbers reveal about business performance.
Melinda’s background in theater, her unbridled energy, and her thirst for financial knowledge enable her to quickly understand each client’s particular business needs. Her use of humor and common sense has helped a wide variety of business owners fully understand the financial relationships that exist and often drive their business, and relax into smart data driven decision making to achieve their goals.
When she’s not deeply engaged with her clients, she enjoys listening to blues or jazz music, cheering for the San Francisco Giants, West Ham or the Stanford Women’s basketball team, and savoring time with her family and friends. Or, you just might find her tending her bountiful vegetable garden or partaking in long walks in her neighborhood or local parks…