It is important to us to support businesses and individuals as they navigate current challenges and newfound opportunities.
As our clients navigate different challenges and seize newfound opportunities providing reliable client care is at the heart of what we do. We congratulate our newest partners and appreciate their drive to making business personal for our valued clients. We asked them what making business personal and Pitcher Partners means to them and what key career advice they have for aspiring professionals.
Jarrod Morris
Principal, PitchLabs – Adelaide
Profile | LinkedIn
“With strong ties to the startup ecosystem, business is quite literally personal for founders. We have one client who is developing a subscription content platform for the arts. The founder has risked everything to support their vision, acknowledging the financial and emotional pressure it has put on friends and family. We adore the business and the founder, so every minute spent on financial modelling or meeting with investors is one step closer to the realisation of this dream.”
Jarrod’s career advice for aspiring professionals: Associate yourself with people who believe what you believe, don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo, trust your intuition and embrace failure.
Andrew Robin
Partner, Audit and Assurance – Brisbane
Profile | LinkedIn
“Making business personal is all about getting to the heart of the business, the people behind it, and what they want to achieve. Having this understanding creates a strong foundation on which to build a collaborative relationship and allows you to offer tailored and commercial insights so that you can best support them on their journey.”
Andrew’s career advice for aspiring professionals: Take opportunities that allow you to stretch yourself into unique and different environments, embrace change, and stay informed in our rapidly evolving world. And don’t forget to take time for self-reflection. Understanding what you want from your career now and into the future is powerful and helps you better serve your clients.
Debbie Hung
Partner, Private Business and Family Advisory – Melbourne
Profile | LinkedIn
“I’ve always wanted to help people. But, as accountants, our version of help is a little different. We help clients sleep at night because they know everything is under control. As their trusted business advisor, you know someone’s finances, what’s driving them and the bigger picture of what they’re looking to achieve in life and business. We talk about their lives and their futures. It’s a new type of professional relationship and one they probably don’t have with a lot of people, so it must be treated with the time and respect it deserves.”
What ‘making business personal’ means to Debbie: To genuinely care about your clients and what they do and step into their shoes as if it were your own business. Whenever I’ve advised a client to do something, I’ve always thought about what I’d do if I were told to do the same thing because I genuinely know my client’s goals and what they want to achieve. Bringing things back to reality is key too. I make sure that my advice drives understandable yet effective processes. When my client can explain what I’m advising them, I know they’ve understood the advice. It becomes an interaction rather than me simply advising what to do next. Having the empathy and communication skills to help my clients have this depth of understanding is very important to me.
Andrew Mitchell
Partner, Private Business and Family Advisory – Melbourne
Profile | LinkedIn
“Fostering interests and outlets outside work is important. It allows you to expand your networks and start every week with a fresh perspective, plus it makes you a more well-rounded person. I think it’s important to maintain that balance, and I encourage young professionals to continue to pursue their hobbies and interests.”
Andrew’s career advice for aspiring professionals: Take a learning and share a learning out of every opportunity or experience; don’t sit back, get outside your comfort zone; and focus on the short-term goals that will drive you towards your long-term career objectives.
Jyotika Rangel
Partner, Private Business and Family Advisory – Sydney
Profile | LinkedIn
“Listening and learning from every situation and everybody has helped my career grow from strength to strength at Pitcher Partners. I’ve had incredible mentors and supporters, worked with incredible teams and clients during my tenure, and now I get to take on that role in a more formal capacity. I know the importance of a mentor; they will make the world of difference to your personal and professional wellbeing.”
What ‘making business personal’ means to Jyotika: Making business personal means I am genuine and authentic with my clients. They are not a transactional part of my work. I strive to learn what drives my clients and what worries them. For my clients, their businesses are not work, it is more than that – a real part of their identity and it is very personal. I try to treat my clients and their businesses in that way; genuinely trying to understand their business model, offer support where I can but also challenge them. I’ve had clients go through challenging times during COVID from a mental health perspective – many were anxious and in genuine fear of what the impact would be on their business and people. These were times they were very vulnerable, and it helped to have solid trusting relationships to allow those conversations to happen.
Paul Marino
Partner, Tax Advisory – Sydney
Profile | LinkedIn
“Making business personal means building a relationship with your clients that is more than one of a transactional nature. Striving to do the best for your clients is getting to know them professionally and personally, being on the same page as them and appreciating being able to be on the journey with them.”
Why Paul joined Pitcher Partners: Prior to Pitcher Partners I spent ten years in the ‘Big 4’ where you become very specialised, and it doesn’t always allow you to become a well-rounded advisor with a broad tax knowledge. Joining Pitcher Partners meant that I was able to expand my horizons. Most importantly, the culture is second-to-none, with a great bunch of partners and staff who want to continue to grow. It makes coming to work enjoyable.
Andy Hough
Partner, Corporate Finance – Sydney
Andy will be joining Pitcher Partners Sydney from 1 August 2021
“Being able to join a firm that fosters getting in the (metaphorical) shoes of clients and walking a mile with them, resonates with my approach to client care. Middle market clients are often living and breathing every decision to do with their business, so I see my role as understanding the business beyond the numbers.”
