The bookkeeping legend that is Paula Veysey-Smith, published writer, award winning speaker, founder and director of MPower Accounting, Vice-President of the ICB and Ironman Triathlete is now available as your personal mentor.
This is your opportunity to work with one of the best to define your goals, achieve your success and build the business of your dreams.
Here’s my story, so far . . . .
Becoming a bookkeeper and running my own accounting practice was not my first choice of career, much the same for many of us. When I graduated from University with a Business Studies degree, I looked forward to the challenges of corporate life after being recruited by the oil giant, Exxon. But, as often in life, what we think we want to do and what we actually find our joy in doing, are two different things and soon after leaving Esso my journey into the bookkeeping world began.
After qualifying with the ICB in 1998, shortly after it was founded, I started my first practice, Accountability. I can still remember the thrills, and spills, of setting up and gaining my first clients. After four years of invaluable experience and personal development my career once again took a new turn and I became the financial director of one of the companies I had been working with. Again, this brought me new insights and opportunities to develop but after four years I yearned after private practice again, working with diverse and interesting clients each bringing their own challenges and perspectives. MPower Accounting was incorporated in 2006 and I once again started to build a practice.
Rising through the ICB ranks I was awarded Fellowship status and joined the Advisory Council. I enjoyed having the opportunity to “give back” to the professional body that had given me so much. I also travelled the country speaking at Branch Events, wrote articles for the both the ICB and other organisations and found myself on speaking at The Summits. In 2018, I was elected as Chair of the Advisory Council and in this role appointed to the Executive Board of the ICB. In 2022, it was time to step aside and let someone else have the opportunities I had enjoyed. However, my journey with the ICB was not over and I was appointed a Vice-President of the ICB, a role that continues today.
Looking back at the journey I have taken, I am grateful for all the experiences and opportunities for development that my various roles have given me. The successes I have enjoyed and the lessons I have, sometimes painfully, learnt provide me with a breadth and depth of expertise and knowledge which are so valuable in my practice today. I believe in lifelong learning and still enjoy the challenge of researching new topics and finding solutions to client’s problems.
Through MPower Mentoring I want to take all my experiences and what they have taught me and pass them on to others who want to grow and develop both personally and professionally, to be successful and fully achieve the goals they have set themselves. Nothing brings me greater joy than to see others succeed and know that in some way I have played a part in that.