The Professionals: Government House Ballroom, 13 July 2006, 12:15 – 2:30.
Speaker: Caroline Ambrosini

Firstly, it’s true that when you’re pregnant you get quite ditzy, so as much as I’d rather not, I’ll have to speak from notes today. 

It’s very flattering to be asked to speak at an event like today, but there’s also the fear that comes from that little niggling voice of self-doubt where I’ve wondered, what I would have to say that is interesting enough, and who would want to hear it.

We’ve all got that little niggling voice of self-doubt inside of us, but I believe that the degree to which we listen to it, is inversely proportional to what we’ll get out of our lives.

So here I am, and I hope what I share today has something in it for everyone.

They say the average person will change career around 3 times in their working life.  I had actually changed careers 3 times by the time I was 30. 

So whilst I’ve been noted as the ‘Recruitment Professional’ to speak today, I think it’s important to cover all of my career (half of which has been in accounting and finance), because it’s been lots of little steps that got me to where I am today.

Well! It all started as a little girl when I was watching Sons and Daughters on TV one day; Pat the Rat in particular – some of us will be old to enough to remember that show.  It was at that point I decided I wanted to be a business woman. 

So after attending a public school in Perth, I went on to study Commerce at UWA. 

I’d also decided, very early on, that my career was going to take place on the world stage, which sounds like a pie in the sky plan, but any pie in the sky plan is achievable, if you break it down into little steps.

Straight after uni, I began work in Perth, as a Graduate Treasury Accountant, with Hamersley Iron. 

But in my first year with them, I knew I had to get over to the Eastern States, where 9/10ths of head offices were. So I was also sending off applications to Melbourne, where I later got a job and moved over.

In Melbourne I began work with CRA Head office, who also owned Hamersley Iron, as an Accountant.  I hadn’t been with CRA for long, but pure accounting was already losing its challenge for me.  So within months I was doing Investor Relations work with the General Manager, writing speeches and presentations for the CEO. 

In fact whenever I’ve worked somewhere, I’ve always gone that extra mile, and found myself an interesting project as an aside– which is how I ended up working on the Investor Relations role even though I was the least experienced person in the office at 21 yo.

I’ve always been terrified of settling into a comfort zone or becoming complacent – because then you stop growing and learning, AND lose passion for what you do. 

Which takes me back to CRA.  Even after taking on the Investor Relations work, I could see that I’d be writing the same speeches for a number of years, and putting together the same financial reports every 6 months. And it just wasn’t enough.  That other little voice was saying “Maybe there’s more to do” - that it was too early to settle into a comfort zone. And this is the voice I always listen to. 

I was studying toward my CPA, but given my first taste of the financial markets through the presentations I was putting together, I also decided to study toward the SIA course in Applied Finance & Investment. 

And then I saw and applied for the role as a Research Analyst with JP Morgan Investment Management.  One of the worlds most respected Fund Managers.  I didn’t have any experience in the financial markets, but I wanted that job. 

At the time the job was advertised under the banner of Cambridge Consulting in Melbourne.  I’d studied with the niece of the owner in Perth.  I knew my resume wasn’t strong enough to get me an interview, so rather than just send it in, I rang her direct, and introduced myself.

I’ve always believed in making the most of your contacts and networks.  By doing this, not being afraid to approach a stranger who you may have heard of through a friend or met briefly, your world of opportunities widens every single day. 

And after several daunting interviews, I got the job at JP Morgan.

And this is where my career came alive.  I was youngest in the team by 10 years but I had the same responsibilities as everyone else.  I went from general accounting work, to making $20 million dollar investment decisions, almost overnight, without being given any training.  It was sink or swim straight away.

But rather than be too overwhelmed, I just put my head down and got on with it.  In our 8am meeting every morning – I didn’t speak much for months.  I knew that people around me had been doing the same job for 20 years, and had a lot more experience and insight to offer.  But every time someone more experienced spoke, I listened intensely and became a sponge. 

I was never afraid to ask a question. If I thought it was a dumb question (which we often do of our own questions) I asked it in private rather than in a group session.  But with those scary questions, if you can throw yourself out of your comfort zone, and be prepared to look stupid, to move forward, it’s worth the sweaty palms. 

And in my first year, I built a model that was selected to be the template sent to new analysts in New York for training, and was also used by our Melbourne team of research analysts on new companies.

Another big belief of mine is that I am still learning.  Because I am, and I always will be; in my business life or my personal life,  about my partner, my clients and staff, or about my family.  I’ll always have so much more to learn.

I think if you’re never shy to admit this, but always ready to do it, that’s when you get noticed and respected by those around you.  And this is how I ended up in New York, working on Wall Street, and studying an in-house MBA.  In 3 years I’d gone from Perth to Wall St!

The JP Morgan CEO, world-wide had visited Melbourne.  We were invited to drinks with him. I’d had a brief conversation with him about my aspirations to keep learning more every day; this was after about my fifth glass of wine.  When he went back to New York, he selected me to be the Australian representative in New York for the pilot program of an in-house MBA. 

Class lecturers would be from all the major US universities, i.e. Princeton, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and after classes I would work with New York based analysts on discovering how they did things.  It really was the opportunity of a lifetime.  

But when my boss in Melbourne first told me the news, I turned it down.  That voice of self-doubt meant I was just instantly terrified.  So I quickly decided that seeing as I’d just bought a brand new sports car, my first convertible at 23 years old, and had nowhere to garage it, and I didn’t know anyone in New York, friends or family, that maybe it wasn’t for me. 

But when he reminded me that it would be a CLM, not to accept the offer – which meant, ‘career limiting move’, I shut down that voice of self-doubt, and said “Yes!!”

But then I got hit with another hurdle.

I had to have a full medical before I could leave for New York.  And that’s where they found what was suspected as breast cancer, the day before my flight.

So the doctors booked me in urgently for a core needle biopsy- which was a pretty yucky procedure.  I waited for the results, but I left my bags packed.  There was no way I wasn’t going to make it to New York.  As far as I was concerned, this was just a short-term hurdle that I would get over, or around. 

Two long days of waiting, and the results came back inconclusive.  Not even the best surgeons in Melbourne knew what to do.  They just couldn’t tell me if it was or wasn’t breast cancer, without operating, and given how young I was, they were divided as to whether or not to do so.  You can imagine how torn I was between wanting to know, and just wanting to get to New York.

So I decided to go to New York, and then work it out.  I’d already had my going away party, and sang New York New York very badly in front of a crowd – there was just no turning back.  And there’s nothing like a mortality check to remind us how important it is to follow our dreams. 

New York, and working on Wall Street, at the pinnacle of the finance world, was amazing – almost surreal!   But still, I couldn’t let the excitement get the better of me.  At the end of the day, it was another job that I had to excel in, and stay at the top of my field.  So it was head down, sort of.

After what I’d just been through before I got there, I was determined to make the most of the whole experience.  So I also became the class social organiser making sure we were seeing a bit of New York every night.  It’s not easy to do both, balancing fun and success, but I think it’s so important to make sure you do.  Having fun and working hard at the same time, makes us much more satisfied, and more productive all round.  It’s never been just work, work, work for me.

After the course, I got offered a job in New York office, which I couldn’t accept. So I went back to the Melbourne office, and after four years with JP Morgan, it was time to leave to head back to Perth to have the surgery that the doctors had decided I should have. 

So I dialled up another contact I hadn’t met; Tony Barton, in Perth.  He was an associate of my Melbourne boss, and director at Hartley Poynton.  A few more interviews later, I got a job at Hartley Poynton, with them paying for my re-location, and I came home to Perth for surgery. 

I got the all clear in Perth on cancer, and started at Poyntons.

To this day, Tony, from Poyntons, is still such an important figure in my career from a mentoring and associate perspective.  It’s a classic example of not being afraid to make the most of your networks, and how it can lead to really rewarding long-term relationships.

Returning to Perth was seen as career suicide by everyone in Melbourne, but I came back to Perth for other reasons.  It was a change in career direction which has brought huge benefits in so many unexpected ways.

We should never be afraid to follow the path we want to take, even when it makes no sense to others. 

But admittedly, weaning myself off what I’d been doing in my career in the East was harder than I thought it would be. 

Very quickly, I became dissatisfied at Poyntons.  So I made a call to Michael Chaney at Wesfarmers and reminded him of a meeting we’d had many months ago when I was an analyst.  I knew I’d given that meeting everything, and it paid off.  Michael offered me a job in mergers and acquisitions, the toughest area in the group to get into.  But, once again, I found the job to be more of the same. 

Something inside me had changed the day I was given the all-clear on breast cancer.

So, after many opportunities which should have felt like a dream job but didn’t,  I decided to sit on the beach for a couple of months and work out what to do.  I know it sounds great, but I still wanted to push myself, so there wasn’t a day where I wasn’t reading a prospectus, or the business news, or putting together a business idea and plan at the same time.  I always keep my mind ticking over.

And after a few months of doing this, and one offer of a business partnership in an outsourced investor relations firm that I had written a plan for – which I turned down, Morgan & Banks then asked me if I’d like to recruit for them in finance while I worked out what I really wanted to do.  And I thought, why not.  Starting salary was $100k less than what I was looking at in finance roles, but I knew I wanted something more now which wasn’t related to money; and I could always go back to finance if I wanted to.

I still had my lifestyle to maintain so I found out very quickly what my targets were, and made sure to be earning big bonuses straight away – which I did.  Then, within 9 months I was poached by a boutique size recruiter, and offered the role as General Manager for WA with the offer of partnership as well. But coming into someone else’s business when they’ve run it on their own for so long isn’t easy.  If I was going to run a business, I wanted to work with a blank canvas, and wanted full responsibility. 

And after working at a large firm, and then at a small firm, I saw a huge opportunity in the market to combine the professionalism and structure of a large firm with the efficiency, flexibility and personal nature of a small firm.

And that’s why Ambrosini Professional Placements was born.  The company was started on November 7, 2001, with just me, $29,000 from the bank (against my mortgage) and a lap-top.

People always tell me how brave it was to go out on my own.  But I don’t see it that way.  I was very careful every step of the way.  I did enormous planning and its only fear of the unknown which is scary.  Here are the steps I took:

I borrowed against my mortgage for “home renovations”. I couldn’t tell the bank I wanted to borrow the money to become “unemployed”.

I did a cash flow forecast of all potential business expenses in the first 3 years, and factored in my own life expenses so that I could keep paying myself.  This analysis told me that I had 3 months from opening to secure business, before I would go broke; hmmmm.  Some people may have stopped there!

At the same time, someone told me that 70% of small businesses will go out of business in their first year, and of those that are left, a further 70% will go out of business by the time they reach five years.  But to that I replied, I’m young enough go bankrupt  - I will always bounce back - and most of our most successful entrepreneurs have done so at least once.

I was restricted from working in the industry for 3 months by a legal agreement with my previous employer, so over this time I developed all the procedural parts of the business, and secured fantastic offices virtually rent free, through a previous client and now great friend, Wayne Teo - more using of networks. 

And I kept in touch with my contacts and networks over that time to keep my toe in the water, and to make sure that people wouldn’t forget about me.  And when I was allowed to open the doors, we were ready to go with gusto!

As soon as we opened, the growth in the business was phenomenal. We grew by 400% from year one to year two, stabilised over the next two years at 8% growth, then grew by another 40% just this year. Next year, will be another growth year. 

Success brings problems in itself with funding the business as I still haven’t borrowed any debt finance, or gotten a partner.  Tight cash-flow, with all growing businesses, is the biggest issue and the reason most small businesses fail. But I’ve got a good relationship with my banker, and I stay ahead of everything.

Having my own business hasn’t been easy.  The flexibility of being your own boss is great.  But it’s also very hard when there’s no- one to keep you motivated, or bounce things off, although my team are pretty good for that. 

Now more than ever, I need all of my contacts, particularly those that also run companies, to discuss business issues and ideas regularly.  Coffee sessions with them are like training sessions to me.  I’m still learning.

I try not to care what my competitors are doing, I just care that we at Ambrosini Professional Placements are doing things really well and forging ahead with innovative ideas and new service offerings.  As far as I’m concerned we’re only as good as our last job, even to our most established clients.  And we’re in a service industry.  It’s what our clients want that matters, not what our competitors are doing.

I won a ‘Business News 40 under 40 award’ last year, which was a huge compliment.

I was also invited to be a committee member for the upcoming St John of God Comprehensive Cancer Centre.  It will be the most advanced facility in cancer treatment and care in the Southern Hemisphere.  We as a committee have raised $15 million of our $20 million dollar target.  And I can honestly say, that being on this committee is one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.  I’m joined by some of Perth’s most successful entrepreneurs.  Every meeting terrifies me; I walk in quietly, but I bounce out at having done it.

And I also think it’s important to stay well rounded.  So I’m writing a book on ‘The Conumdrums of Life’; I’ve written twelve chapters, and I’m learning piano.

So in a nutshell, I believe we should never stand still for too long and never let complacency set in.  Get to know ourselves and especially that little voice that throws suggestions out about what we’d really like to be doing, and when you work it out, break it down into little steps.

That little niggling voice of self doubt; just switch it off when it gets too loud.

Ask lots of questions of people that know stuff, and use your networks to meet inspiring and successful people whose experience you can learn from.

But most importantly, don’t forget to have fun, whatever you are doing.

Thank you for your time today.