|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
PQ magazine for part qualified accountants.
Read the latest web issue here, if you like what you see sign up today |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
YO! FD |
Zoe Tindall, 33, is the finance director for the trendy restaurant chain Yo! Sushi. She is ACA qualified and her CV includes a large bank and an internet start up. She talks to PQ Magazine about raising eyebrows, taking risks and whether she has ever lied about being an accountant... |
QHave you ever encountered the glass ceiling?
AIt is difficult to say as I have never had my career as a man so I don't know how things may or may not have been different. I work in a very male-dominated industry in terms of both finance and the hospitality sector. But I don't like to make a fuss about being a woman – I just get on with the work at hand and try to be the best I can. Admittedly I did raise a few eyebrows when I first arrived here as a 29-year-old, all blonde hair, sporting jeans,
t-shirt and trainers!
QSo why exactly did you choose accountancy?
AI have always been interested in business – I was an impressionable teenager in the 1980s and was fascinated by the explosion of the service sector. I have always harboured the desire to start my own business but for that I obviously needed 'an idea'. At graduation I still had not found my idea and felt that I needed to start a career that would help any future business ventures. That is where training to be an accountant came in. It was the broad spectrum of things it could lead to that helped me decide it would be a wise move. It was hard leaving uni with one of the least 'sexy' jobs but with hindsight it was worth it.
QWhat are your tips for getting to the top?
AI don't think I have achieved anything awesome. I am an FD of a medium-sized business, I am not running BP! However, I was a board director at the age of 29. I have rarely stayed in any business for more than three years (my time here at Yo! Sushi is my longest at just over four years). I try to learn as much about the business I am in as quickly as possible and the day my job does not scare me is the day I need to take a leap into the unknown and learn new things.
QDo you think to have success in your career you have to be prepared to take risks?
AI don't want to say that you have to take risks to be successful but risk and reward is an economic theory that is difficult to ignore. I don't see myself as being a natural risk taker, but when I look at my career I have taken risks, but only ones I would be able to survive if things went wrong. Being an accountant mitigates an element of career risk – it is a trade and there are always jobs out there.
QHave you ever lied about being an accountant?
ATalk about putting me on the spot! I try to be truthful – life is too short! I tell people I am a finance director, which often surprises them as I do not conform to the traditional image. People usually make the jump to "oh, you're an accountant then!" – yes, that is my trade, it was a hard slog to obtain it so why deny it now? |
|
| [«all Career Advice] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|