Joanmarie Fanini

Joan Fanini brings a decade of business experience to her work in business acquisition and mergers and acquisitions, with the last five years focused on this specialty. After graduating college and entering a sales company with no prior knowledge of sales, marketing, or business, she was scouted to sell DirecTV and promoted to management within 11 months, opening her own franchise in Pennsylvania. There she honed skills in hiring, firing, interviewing, and optimizing operations while learning to act as a perpetual student by remaining open to coaching from others. Following her time in sales and marketing, and amid the changes brought by COVID, Fanini explored Airbnb and life insurance before shifting into finance by learning to strengthen personal and business credit profiles, documentation, and automations to attract banks and investors. She now helps clients prepare their profiles to make businesses fundable, pursues government contracts, and engages in business buying rather than starting from scratch. Fanini credits her success to always acting like a student who does not know everything, which keeps her receptive to learning. She draws inspiration from her immigrant family from the Dominican Republic, where relatives ran local businesses such as delis, bodegas, and cleaners. In addition to her professional work, she contributes to community service through Welcoming Atlanta. Her core values center on respecting and treating others kindly, focusing on the person rather than solely on financial outcomes, and she advises young women entering the field to be systematic and recognize that they can accomplish anything a male counterpart can.