INTHEBLACK August 2022 - Magazine - Page 42
F E AT U R E
// L E A D E R S H I P
AMY FOO
BREAKING TRADITIONS
TO ACHIEVE
COMMUNITY-MINDED
ACCOUNTING
Business acumen runs in Hacia Atherton CPA’s veins – her family’s company, Atherton
Healthcare, dates back to 1889. Straight out of high school, Atherton set up her own small
business, Bamboozled Office, offering bookkeeping and office management services.
She then briefly worked as a financial planner with a large firm, which, she soon
realised, wasn’t a good fit for her. Instead, she joined the family business, where she
earned her stripes in a range of roles before becoming chief commercial officer and now
director and company secretary.
It was hard work. “Some people may think I just get things handed to me, but we don’t
have any nepotism in this company, and the Atherton family members have to work twice
as hard,” Atherton says.
The most important lesson of her career came unexpectedly, in the form of a serious
horse-riding accident in 2017. Atherton was told she may never walk again, but she
overcame the odds with months of rehabilitation and multiple surgeries.
“Courage is so important in your professional life, and you have to have the courage to
put your hand up,” she says. “Life is not always going to go your way, and you have to
keep stepping up and keep swinging your bat until you hit the ball.”
Amy Foo, senior vice president, global
revenue operations at employee experience
platform Culture Amp, has had a long career
at the forefront of digital finance. Most
recently she was global finance managing
director ANZ at software company Zendesk.
Foo is as fluent in the language of robotics
and data analytics as she is in the language
of business metrics and audit.
Early in her career, Foo followed a
traditional career path, taking up auditing
roles with two of the Big Four firms. This was
a great training ground, Foo says, but she
quickly gravitated towards a more nimble
and agile entrepreneurial environment,
leaning toward software development.
An experienced change manager, Foo
believes in structuring finance teams to be
human-centric – caring about colleagues on
a personal level. This requires empathy and
a balanced approach.
“My team would describe me as a very
transparent leader – I’d rather overcommunicate than not communicate. If
someone in my team was worried about
something, I’d always say, don’t mull it over,
get it out.”
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HACIA ATHERTON CPA
COURAGE TO
OVERCOME SETBACKS
42 ITB August 2022