Making great things happen with EY

After becoming an entrepreneur, why return to EY?

Several people have asked me what makes someone who has known the buzz of building up an international business decide to return to the world of advisory services?

 For me, the answer to that question is very simple. I came back because of EY.

I came back because I want to make a difference alongside other entrepreneurs and leaders who have aspirations to be extraordinary; those who simply don’t accept the status quo and are always looking for improvement.

History lesson

My history with EY dates back to early in my career, when I joined the firm as a senior consultant on the East Coast of the United States. I worked on large multi-national transformation projects, and loved working with bright, dynamic people who were committed to channeling the power of technology into building a better working world.

Seven years later, I had completed an MBA in the US and was really enjoying my role at senior manager grade, but I had a burning desire to start my own business. So I left EY to found Unimarket, a company that takes leading practice procurement to the Cloud through software-as-a-service solutions. This software effectively manages all of an organisation’s spend through strategic sourcing, eProcurement and eInvoicing. I’ve also had the pleasure of making many new friends who are Unimarket customers, employees and investors throughout this fantastic experience.

While Unimarket grew quickly and has an outstanding team of employees – it had entered into a stable growth period which allowed the Board to appoint a new CEO and provided a good time for me to move on in 2012. My family and I moved back to New Zealand and I had a strong desire to make a real difference for many organisations through winning strategies and achieving operational excellence. I wanted to work with talented people, be challenged and take on projects that required exceptional results.

So I decided to rejoin EY, where I would have the opportunity to share my entrepreneurial, digital and supply chain expertise with client’s right across the globe and work with great colleagues who make great things happen. And this year, I was delighted when I was one of the 753 people promoted to partner, which to me is more of a reflection of the success of the wider EY team than anything I have done individually.

What now?

I am now back in my home country of New Zealand after living abroad for 12 years. The fact that I am here, working in EY’s management consultancy practice in Auckland, is testament to the firm’s commitment to growing our strategy and operational excellence advisory capability for our clients. I am still an entrepreneur and as a new Partner, I will endeavor to bring innovation and out of the box thinking to our clients.

EY recognizes the huge contribution that entrepreneurs make to building a better world – for us to both work and live in. For the past three decades, it has helped entrepreneurial businesses to become global leaders and it has recognized the achievements of entrepreneurs through the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards program.

What separates EY from other professional services businesses is that it really understands what makes entrepreneurs tick. And it has the same values that many entrepreneurs have – values that resonate strongly with me. Entrepreneurs are everywhere; they work in start-ups, growth, middle market, public sector and large multi-national organisations. They challenge the status quo and are not afraid to take on significant challenges or do things completely differently.

As a firm, EY is committed to providing exceptional client service, attracting and inspiring the best people, promoting learning and development, and increasing the sustainability of our planet - among many other important objectives.

The firm also has a big vision, something that most entrepreneurs can identify with. Its goal is to be a $50 billion professional services organization by 2020, while being recognized for having the best brand in the business.

Like-minded

As an entrepreneur myself, what I like most about EY is the entrepreneurial mindset that it has. It is bold, ambitious and constantly evolving. I also am proud of our diversity – in gender and geography – it reflects EY’s own customer footprint.  This year more than 30% of the partners promoted were women and 33% are in the emerging markets.

So, in my new role as a partner, I am looking forward to working with clients in Asia-Pacific and beyond and helping them to realize their own big visions.

Thanks to EY, I have a huge opportunity to make a difference. I intend to make the most of it.

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