Meet Debbie
Some might say
I’m a high achiever.
Graduate of Oxford University,Chartered Accountant, Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Telstra Business Women’s Award finalist who has enjoyed a successful 30 year career in business.
My professional career has included a Blue Chip company, Big 4 accounting firm, private family business and not-for-profit organisations in the capacity of Executive Manager, Chief Financial Officer, Company Secretary, Corporate Services Manager and Non-Executive Director.
More recently I started my own small business.
This is all the more significant given I was the first in my family to go to university, let alone Oxford University. Plus, I secured a scholarship based on my academic merit.
To this day, this rates as one of my proudest achievements because I came from a working-class background in the south of England, I was educated in public schools and my parents didn’t spend a penny on my education!
My professional career has included a Blue Chip company, Big 4 accounting firm, private family business and not-for-profit organisations in the capacity of Executive Manager, Chief Financial Officer, Company Secretary, Corporate Services Manager and Non-Executive Director. More recently I started my own small business.
This is all the more significant given I was the first in my family to go to university, let alone Oxford University. Plus, I secured a scholarship based on my academic merit.
After I left university, I had no interest in going along with the crowd and signing up for a graduate program within major commerce or industry (early signs of challenging the status quo perhaps).
I spent five years working out what it was I thought I wanted to do, before getting accepted by KPMG as a mature graduate, aged 26. A year after graduating I met my husband Pete, who kept me grounded and helped me navigate my options. We have been married for over 25 years, and he continues to provide me with critical support and wisdom throughout the journey of life.
My five years of figuring it out included working within a landscape architects’ practice, a garden centre, insurance, logistics and three years with Glaxo Pharmaceuticals as a medical sales representative. How I ever ended up there I have no idea, as I don’t have a sales bone in my body! I suppose they must have seen in me the ability to build relationships. The training I gained in interpersonal skills was second to none, and I certainly had to develop some more resilience and tenacity if I was ever to overcome the Practice Manager and get in front of a doctor!
Working from home, on the road all day, my self-motivation, strong personal organisation and drive also played out in this role. I chose to move on from being a drug rep for two reasons:
(1) I needed more intellectual stimulation.
(2) The ethics within the industry challenged my moral compass.
I went on to work with KPMG for 10 years, before deciding I wanted to take my career in a different direction when I once more found my values were at risk of being compromised.
Moving on, the last 15 years of my Executive career was within a large private family-owned business. I had a great role within a great organisation, fantastic boss, fabulous team, with plenty of challenge, for good reward and most importantly a place where my values were aligned.
But something was missing for me.
And the bit that was missing was in my heart.
It took me a long time (I mean years) to listen to myself (and ignore what everyone else thought) to pluck up the courage to leave this all behind.
It was the hardest leadership
decision I ever made.
But I knew there was something else I had to do yet, be it I didn’t know what. I was 51 and didn’t want to look back and have any regrets that I hadn’t given something else a go. I left my job in December 2017, with nothing else lined up, to create the space to explore what would come next.
To try and find my purpose.
A journey of exploration included doing a lot of work with coaches and counsellors on me and my why ensued. A journey that I believe I am still on. I became more comfortable with valuing myself and my own needs. I travelled by myself trekking in Nepal for three weeks (at age 51 the first time I had travelled alone).
Firmly believing that finding my purpose was about securing a role with the right not-for profit organisation whose purpose resonated with me, I applied for roles and took a couple of short-term contracts. Several rejections later, the penny eventually dropped.
My moment of clarity was to realise that I didn’t need or want to be a Chief Financial Officer anymore. It had served me well, but I didn’t need to let my past continue to define me.
Whilst I am good with numbers, I realised it was the people that motivated me more than the numbers. I also realised I had been looking for my purpose in the wrong place. I needed to be looking much closer to home.
In the meantime, I pursued an interest and gained credentials as an Associate Certified Coach. Not because I was necessarily intent on becoming an Executive Coach, but because I felt that my natural leadership style had a coaching flavour to it, and coaching would add some more useful tools to my leadership kitbag.
My lightbulb moment was when I realised that my purpose is to share the gift of my life’s experience with others; and that I could do this through business coaching, consulting, professional one to one coaching, mentoring, and non-executive directorship within organisations whose purpose resonates with me.
Hence my entrepreneurial journey began.
