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Natasha Lauricella admits, paradoxically, that the spark for her to land her first CFO role last year came when she’d decided to step away from finance.
“I’d been the Group Financial Controller in a company going through a lot of change at the time and my role became increasingly centred on historical data and lacked forward looking strategic analysis,” reflects the Melbourne-based finance professional who began her career in accountancy in 2009 and was appointed Group CFO of fast-growing flexible accommodation provider Urban Rest last year. “I knew that was not where I wanted my career to go. I wanted to be in a position of influence, that could help shape a business, so I’d decided to step out of finance and pivot towards a broader scope of general management or commercial leadership – and to get there I started by doing an MBA.” Within a month of attaining her MBA, in early 2022 Lauricella ticked off that goal, stepping up as a commercial business manager in a national architectural firm. “It was such a breath of fresh air to move into a broader leadership role where I was still able to leverage my analytical skills and expand my business acumen; putting those MBA learnings into practice,” she says. Around 18 months in, when Lauricella was approached by Urban Rest to become the scale-up’s first CFO, she felt ready – and excited – for the challenge. “I don’t think I’d have been able to step straight into a CFO role at that point in my career without having gone through the MBA and getting that experience in a broader commercial role where I was bringing a different perspective to decisions and guiding the CEO and board,” she reflects. “It really helped in that transition.” For the full story, head to CFO Magazine. Comments are closed.
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