What is your background?
I work with Terrapinn providing a number of courses including the 3 day executive MBA in Financial Management and Understanding Financial Statements for Lawyers.
My background is in chartered accountancy, having worked for many years in PricewaterhouseCoopers (in Corporate Finance), IBM as a Financial Controller, and Macquarie Bank.
How did you get into training?
In all of those roles, I had some responsibility for training – for both internal staff and external clients. After a few years, it became clear to me that I had the "training bug" and was getting much more satisfaction out of training and explaining accounting and finance than I was gaining from actually doing accounting or finance. I particularly enjoy training those who have had limited experience and exposure in those areas.
I left Macquarie Bank in 2002 and since that time, I have been training and consulting for a variety of organisation including Terrapinn, as well as some large, multinational law firms.
Why are you passionate about training?
I consider myself very lucky in my career. Anyone who is passionate about teaching, educating and training will probably tell you that there is no better feeling than when you are explaining something to a group and you can see "the lights go on". The look on the face of participants when you make a connection and they finally understand something which they have never understood before is the most rewarding part of the job. You can almost feel them say "Oh that is great - that (finally) makes sense!" They shake their heads, smile and probably start nodding and you really feel like you have actually made a difference to this persons life / career, even in a small way.
What is your favourite course that you love to teach?
I feel particularly proud of the 3 day MBA course. It is a fairly tough course, and we cover a lot of ground, but over the 3 days, you can really get to know the participants, and they get to know each other. At the end of the course, not only is there a general feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment, but there is always a special bond with each other - it is almost like you have made a great journey together. It is great to get to know the participants, learn more about their business and stay in contact with them after the course.
