Breaking Ceilings

My high school job was at our small town's general store – which during summer was covered with sandy toes. Little did I know it would serve as a base for my future career.

When I moved to the city I decided to pursue bookkeeping while I studied. What started as a practical choice while I studied turned into a love for businesses that launched my career.

Two people helped shape that more than they probably realise. So much love for the mentor who saw something in me before I'd fully seen it myself. And so grateful for the Xero partner who showed me doors I didn't know were there.

But there's one small moment that sums it up really well.

We were pursuing a new lead in engineering and met with the CFO and CEO of the budding organisation. What would have felt like a challenge a year or so before was instead a beautiful rally of conversation about business, expertise, future and valuable support. I wasn't performing. I was in it.

That was when I understood what I was actually doing. I did love numbers and analytics – but I'd also found a passion for building relationships and helping entrepreneurs better understand their businesses.

The more I learnt and the more advice I gave, the more I noticed something. Every role, every title, had a ceiling. A point where I could feel myself pressing against the edges of what it could hold. And each time, I knew it was time to build something new above it.

I think that's what keeps me growing – knowing where the ceiling is, and choosing to build above it.

Every time I hit a ceiling in my career, I didn't push through it. I built a new one.

When did you last feel like you had more to offer than your role had room for?