About Me - Business

Before I start my year of blogging I think it will help to recap my career life so far. 

I am an accidental accountant.  I had no clue what I wanted to do when I left school.  I was reasonably smart but nothing exception, however I was good at maths and economics.  So, with much wisdom a careers advisor told me I should study econometrics at uni.  To this day, I have no idea what econometrics is, or why I would want to study it, but it sounded impressive at the time.

No one in my family had been to university, and no plans had been made financially for me to study for another 3 years after I finished school.  My parents supported me whole heartedly in my wish to attend university but actively encouraged me to get a job while I was doing this.   In January 1987 I started my first job at the Reserve Bank of Australia.  This was a full time job which meant I attended university 3 nights a week after work.  Uni was a one hour drive from my home and I had no car.  Mum drove every night to pick me up from uni – at least a 2 hour round trip.  I don’t think I have ever properly thanked Mum for that awesome commitment.  Thanks Mum.

My love affair with the world of banking and finance began and I never thought about econometrics again.  During my years of studying Finance part time I moved from the Reserve Bank to NSW Treasury Corporation and then had a brief fling with advertising at Business Review Weekly (it was very brief – I hated it).  By then I had saved up enough money to finish off my last 6 months of uni full time but that was when I had that moment of failure that happened for a purpose.

I failed Macro Economics 2.  It was the first time I have ever failed an exam and it was an epic failure.  As I can be a little determined and pig headed at times, I went in search of anything I could do that would involve me not having to do Macro Economics 2 again.  The answer was to do a double major in Accounting & Finance, and so reluctantly I spent 6 months of intense Accounting to get my double major.

Still resisting the whole accounting thing I finished uni and started working at JP Morgan.  This was a great opportunity for me and I will no doubt blog about this some more during the year.  Despite my love of finance it became evident over these years that my strengths were in accounting, and I gravitated towards this side of the business.

Then came babies and the idea of high stress, long working hours career did not mix well with me being a Mum, so I changed tack and started working for a few companies as a financial accountant.  Getting a little bored with this I then spent 6 months teaching accounting to TAFE students and then landed myself a job working in tax.   Finally, I had found a career where I could use my skills and knowledge to help people.  I was no longer a cost centre, I had a way of making money out of what I was doing, and I loved it.

Flash forward 16 years and I now own my own accounting practice Jigsaw Tax & Advisory.  I took the giant leap of faith to buy this business 10 years ago and it has grown to be quite a successful business that now operates out of 3 offices and employs about 15 people.  I have a brilliant business partner Michael.  We are very different in many ways, but we work well together.  We are taking on a whole host of new challenges this year and hopefully I will be able to document some of these in my blog.

I am Jigsaw Jo.  This is what I live and breath.  I do think there is more to life than business and I am interested in how health, spirit, family and fun integrate to make me be the best I can be. Let the exploration begin.