I am a Chartered Accountant by profession, and now have the privilege of working in a dynamic architecture studio. My role covers everything from accounting, workload and project management, HR and office management. Of all my varied roles, it is in organising and promoting team events in our office that I most enjoy. Our most recent was taking part in the Aotearoa Bike Challenge, where we cycled a combined 1727 km during February and came first in our size and industry in Wellington. It is the teamwork generated from these activities that is always impressive. Other popular events are our tree planting days, the Mud Run, and the Corporate 5K run challenge.
I spent my first 8 years out of uni working for Deloitte in Wellington, which also included secondments overseas to Australia and New York. My grounding was in audit for three years before I moved into the Financial Advisory (FA) group. This was a major move for both myself and Deloitte, as there were no women in NZ in the FA group. At the time I had great support from my manager Alan Dent (who is now a partner at Deloitte) to pursue this move; support that I'm always grateful for. I subsequently became the first woman manager in NZ appointed to FA. As I look back over my early career, I realise the importance of mentoring, and from that I ensure that I offer every assistance to other women in helping them to achieve their career aspirations.
I have an inate passion for science, and if I ever had my life over again I'd love to be working at the Hadron Collider; however, instead I just make do with listening to as many science podcasts as I can. In the weekends I like to ride my road bike with the Revolve girls ( a riding group to help inspire women into the sport), or ride my mountain bike up Makara Peak. My greatest accomplishment to date outside of work was recently completing the Alps to Ocean (A2O) cycle trail from Aoraki Mt Cook to Oamaru. In my spare time I love to dance (swing and balboa) as well as knit for the ever increasing number of office babies.
#IWD2020 #EachforEqual