CAs, success and the City
Ahead of the Success in the City event being held on 8 October, we catch up with four of the night's inspiring speakers.
Stephanie Crinnegan CA, Senior Investor Relations Manager - Burberry
What does the word success mean to you?
Feeling fulfilled in both your professional and personal life.
How have you dealt with situations where you haven’t succeeded?
Always take the time to reflect and learn from the experience so you can move forward in a positive way.
What advice would you give newly qualified CAs who are considering pursuing a ‘non-traditional’ career path?
Do not rush into making a decision immediately upon qualification. Take the time to carefully weigh up all your options, speak (and listen) to as many people as you can to gain their insight and remain open-minded.
Matthew Halstead CA, Managing Director - Noctis
What does the word success mean to you?
Working on a range of activities every day that are interesting, motivating and fulfilling. I struggle to achieve balance and moderation so if I can nudge everything along a little every day I feel that I have succeeded.
How have you dealt with situations where you haven’t succeeded?
Work out what happened, why it happened and, taking those learnings, dust myself off and charge forward armed with new knowledge and experiences ready to surmount the next molehill or mountain.
What advice would you give newly qualified CAs who are considering pursuing a ‘non-traditional’ career path?
Jump ship and experiment relentlessly until you find out what you like and why you like it. Then, based on those experiences, design a life that balances your priorities, sparks creativity and cultivates a mindset that enables you to overcome the barriers to achieving your full potential.
Rachel Piggot CA, Head of Finance - Brightside
What does the word success mean to you?
For me, I don’t think about success as much as I think about my impact. Am I maximising the impact I can have on my organisation and on society?
At the moment, personally, this is about breadth and scale of impact, which is why I like working for an organisation that works with 10,000 young people a year across the UK and why I’m working with ICAS to improve reporting across the charity sector.
How have you dealt with situations where you haven’t succeeded?
It’s a cliche but reflecting on what you’ve learnt from each situation, remember it’s often a marathon, not a sprint and ensuring you keep your mental health, in whatever way that works for you.
What advice would you give newly qualified CAs who are considering pursuing a ‘non-traditional’ career path?
I would say three things; 1) if you don’t love what you do 4 out of 5 days a week, make a change - but be prepared it may take time to find the right thing 2) know what you’re giving up and make a plan for how to get these things in other ways (if you can) and 3) keep your networks.
Sophie Weston CA, CEO & Founder - Fragrance Tech
What does the word success mean to you?
It’s easy to just see success as the big wins, but for me, the everyday achievements are just as important. It’s about recognising those and building on them to drive me towards my long-term goals.
How have you dealt with situations where you haven’t succeeded?
Failure is something no-one relishes, but personally every time something doesn’t go according to plan I use it as an opportunity to learn how to make a success of it next time. If you are always successful life would be very dull!
What advice would you give newly qualified CAs who are considering pursuing a ‘non-traditional’ career path?
Anything is possible! Don’t be afraid to put yourself forward for roles that on paper aren’t a perfect match - your enthusiasm and determination, combined with the excellent foundation that being a CA gives you can get you anywhere.
ICAS has been lucky enough to line up a hugely interesting range of speakers for Success In The City, our round-table networking event this October.
All the guest speakers we’ve secured for your listening pleasure are at different stages in their CA careers, keen to share their key advice and many and varied insights.