As Lead CFO for Coty Benelux, what is your typical day?

There is actually no day like the other. Mostly I spend my day in meetings and reviews, supporting the Business and Finance Teams to guide, remove roadblocks and ultimately to make decisions. This is quite diverse and ranges from business topics (i.e. can we launch a new product for a certain customer with a specific support model, ensuring this is financially attractive), to making decisions in the area of our Custodian/Accounting Teams (i.e. General Ledger, Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable), to people management topics, questions related to the Coty’s Holding activities, or presenting new strategies to our local teams or to the Company Leadership Team, etc.

Coty allows me to have a balance between work and family, which means that I can take my son to Day Care every morning.

If you could go back, what decision would you change, if any, about your career, and why?

This is actually a very good question! Recently I was asked to present internally to the Benelux organisation about my career development and one of the questions was very similar. I wouldn’t actually change any of my decisions, but I would evaluate some of the situations I have encountered. In the end, everything turned out well and I feel quite lucky with it. Despite the fact there were times where I was thinking, “I’m not moving on fast enough”, I got to where I wanted to get to.

My advice is that ‘patience’ and choosing the ‘right’ assignment over the faster career step, definitely pays out in the end.

What made you decide to move to Coty in Amsterdam, from Procter & Gamble – Switzerland? How did this impact your family?
In the end it was the job opportunity of the position of the ‘Lead CFO Benelux’ which made me move to Amsterdam. Being able to run a relatively large Finance organisation, with around 40 employees and operating the full 360 degree set of finance tasks (including Business, Custodian/Accounting, Controls, Financing, etc.), plus with the special addition of Coty’s Holding activities also being managed out of the Benelux, made this decision easy.

However, on a personal side this came with a ‘downside’ of moving my family from Geneva, where we really enjoyed living. My partner needed to abandon a very attractive job with the United Nations. However today we are happy that we did it, since we all managed to settle well in the Netherlands, both professionally and as a family.

What advice would you provide to Senior Finance professionals considering the move to the Netherlands?

I have no specific advice but can only confirm that the Netherlands is a great place to work as well as to live and would recommend trying it. I especially appreciate the ‘direct and collaborative’ work style of Dutch people, as well as the versatile possibilities of outside work activities such as ‘Kite Surfing’, in addition to having a work/life balance!

What makes Coty an employer of choice?

In my opinion, Coty is probably one of the best companies for personal accelerated development and growth. Despite being a sizeable company, we are still growing together after the merge with P&G in 2016, which has created the need for a lot of flexibility, creativity and, above all, personal ownership. This is one of the reasons I joined and can confirm after 3 years that this is really the place for development and growth.

We are currently building the future company all together. A ‘learning’ environment in a big company of similar size, you usually would not get.

What key attributes does Coty look for in a potential employee?

It will always depend on the specific position we are hiring for (depends on the expertise or experience required). However, in general, we look for individuals with a strong commitment, a strong ‘own it, drive it’ attitude as well as a good ‘team player’ mindset. People who are committed and don’t get afraid of challenges.

As a business, how does Coty promote diversity and inclusion internally?  How does this manifest itself in the finance function?

Yes, indeed diversity and inclusion is a very important factor for us, which we are not just promoting corporately, but driving also locally. Take for instance our local Benelux Finance team; within the team of around 40 people we have 8 different nationalities, circa 15 different backgrounds and ca. 60% female employees. Bringing the strength from different backgrounds!

How does Coty actively support with Corporate Social Responsibility?

Also in this area, we try to play our part. As an example, initiatives include a Charity Day, where all employees support local projects for one day. We are currently trying to make our offices ‘greener’ by specific waste reduction activities; less/no plastic initiatives, taking the stairs/saving energy and supporting specific individual fundraising projects that are initiated by our employees.

At a global level, Coty and its brands are committed to minimizing its impact on the environment and to a range of social causes, such as the “We Stand For You” program, co-led with Global Citizen, aiming at raising Coty associates’ voices to fight against discrimination, whether on gender, LGBTI, ethnicity or disability.

If you didn’t work in finance, what another career would you like to have tried?

Before starting my studies of Finance, I was actually looking into Environmental Engineering as an alternative study, as this was my passion. At a later stage during my time at University I was also considering doing a side move towards Diplomacy, which is also why I specifically chose to study for one year in France.

What beauty products can you not live without?

If worst comes to worst, I guess I could live without any beauty products. However, having worked in this industry for a very long time now, I actually get to (and enjoy) trying new products all the time to stay close to latest developments and innovations of the category.

What excites you about working for LECO?

We are a global family business that has the advantage of a personal culture where people care about each.

I’m given the opportunity to develop my own ideas and have a lot of freedom to manage the administration of our European Subsidiaries – Finance, Supply Chain, HR and Legal -  

How does the business stand out from the market and your competitors?

We have an outstanding sales and service organisation which cares about the customer. Sales does not end with selling an instrument to the customer; it is the aftersales service which really makes a difference for us and we have people who have worked here for some time - I don’t think any of competitors can deliver a similar quality. Furthermore, we have a high level of vertical integration in our production, meaning that we really do a lot of stuff on our own, which is not that common any more – nearly every screw is still produced in St Joseph, Michigan which helps us to control the quality of our products.

What would you say is the most rewarding part of your role?

I would say seeing the success of the company is the biggest reward and seeing satisfaction from the joy of the team working together. I personally find that a satisfying factor.

When did you decide to explore a career in accountancy and finance and why?

At school I was already interested in accounting and I always had a strong tendency towards that; during my studies that sort of firmed this up. I was seeing finance as a backbone for any organisation and this gave me the opportunity to sneak into every corner of a company! I think there is probably no area like finance, where from day one you get to see and get in touch with every area of a business.

Looking back through your established career, what would you identify as a personal highlight?

The biggest highlight for me or the latest achievement which I am proud of is the reorganisation which we have done here. LECO Europe has been an established company, but the question asks re. established career, and I don’t know if I am at the stage to call it an established career! I can tell you for sure that over the last years we have been driving a change process to renew the organisation and to bring in fresh blood to change processes and this is one highlight for me. We are looking nowadays at a very modern organisation with a small shared service centre and centralised distribution. I am proud of that we have been successful in completing these projects.

What would be your advice to someone aspiring to be where you are now?

The base is always skills. You need to get the base right, because if you don’t, you won’t have a clue and it will be difficult to get into a good career, no matter what you do. It is also about commitment and ownership; that is what makes the difference. I am 100% engaged with the company and companies I have worked with before and that ownership and drives becomes visible to those people around you. That is the path for your career.

Listen to the people around you and show some patience sometimes. Just reflecting on myself here; for people who want to have a quick career most of the time they lack the patience that is sometimes necessary to do the next steps and sometimes only a month makes a difference. Sometimes they are too impatient to change job and they are destroying their careers by doing that.

You have worked for small companies and large business, what would you say are the advantages and disadvantages of both?

I think to rate something as an advantage or disadvantage is down to the person themselves – there are visible differences, and everybody needs to decide for themselves if they see it as an advantage or disadvantage.

One key factor is speed and flexibility; decision processes in small companies in general happen more quickly than larger organisations and that makes them faster to react.  Nowadays you see that a lot of larger organisations try to build up their own accelerators to achieve that flexibility and reaction. The other thing is clearly the personal factor, if you are working in a multinational company with 1000-2000 employees there is a good chance that the CEO, CFO soon will know your name. In companies with 50.000 employees or more, you are quickly becoming a number.

When you decide to go for a smaller business you should be ready to change a bit of your style of working as usually small organisations require more flexibility from you. I have seen people coming for interviews from bigger businesses and they are used to structure - there is a person and process description for everything. In a smaller organisation that is not something you can necessarily expect and there is more flexibility requested from you in your day-to-day role and you need to be prepared for that.

Who is your most inspirational person in business and why?

Someone I worked with was one of my first mentors and later on a supervisor and manager of my last job (he was very senior). He had a certain business philosophy which gave me a lot and I still reflect on nowadays. That would be an inspirational person from my career.

If you talk big names, two names always turn around in my mind – Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Group)and Dietrich Mateschitz (Founder of Red Bull). Both achieved major things in terms of building brands and so on, and what is more inspiring is that both of them are 70+ now and they still have a massive energy to drive and be engaged in their business and they are still innovative still at that age; I find that inspiring.

What books / blogs are you currently reading? What book could you recommend to accountants that are wanting to progress?

I have just finished a book called “Don’t Stop the Carnival” which is quite an old book and placed in the 1960/70s by Herman Wouk. It is about a Caribbean island and a guy from New York who wants to disconnect. He buys a hotel there and it is about all the difficulties in this environment and culture, very far from what he is used to in New York. It’s quite interesting and was recommended to me by a friend who lives in Barbados. Life looks nice, but it is very different. Read that book and it will tell you a lot about the day-to-day life.

I also look at books on personal development – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People may not be for everyone, but you need to open your mind for those things before you read them. 

Do you have any hidden talents?

Not that I have discovered so far. I still have the hope that when I retire I will be able to go on a senior golf tour and be a good golf player but I am not sure that talent will develop!

How did CIPS Switzerland start, how has it grown and what is its future?
 Just over 5 years ago four individual CIPS members based in Switzerland independently contacted CIPS and proposed the same idea ” a local networking branch should be started”?.  CIPS being the largest professional procurement association in the world, and already having branches in Australia, South Africa, the Middle East, Asia, etc. responded positively and provided start-up support.  Over the preceding years we’ve had some network committee changes and expansion.  It’s the committee members that make everything happen, e.g. events, frequent social media content etc.  We currently have nearly 300 subscribing members in Switzerland and a community of well over 1,000 Swiss-based purchasers.

What excites you about working voluntarily with CIPS?
 CIPS provides a find a couple of unique opportunities it’s global and it’s an association, i.e. it’s from the members for the members.  Furthermore it has non-for-profit charity status which enable a neutral, member focused platform that continually re-invests in member knowledge and member opportunities – such as networking events.

You recently were elected to represent Europe in the CIPS congress - what attracted you to the position?
 I know that there are some fledgling CIPS networks starting in a couple of European countries and others that just need a little more encouragement. As such, I’m hoping to leverage the success of the CIPS-Switzerland team journey to those countries and to provide a harmonised voice for the European region at the global CIPS congress board.

What advice would you offer to someone considering to moving to Switzerland?
Go for it…. For two key reasons: 1. it’s the supply chain capital of Europe, with a huge range of both private organisations (industry, financial, technology, FMCG, pharma, etc.) and public organisations (NGO’s, the UN, Red Cross, WTO, etc.), and 2. it is also a fantastic place to live, for both individuals and families (culture, schooling, the great outdoors, safe, stable, reliable, etc.)

As someone with many years experience within the Swiss market-place, how have you found the Swiss market & working environment has changed over these years?
When I started in Switzerland 12 years ago I found that non-Swiss international companies primarily staffed themselves with senior older employees.  Now I see the full spectrum of talent from new colleagues as graduates (many coming from the excellent internationally attractive Swiss universities) through to multi-cultural Directors who’ve lived in every continent.  This gives a truly global mix.

What was the worst / best interview experience you have had?
The strangest interview experience that I had was being told that I wasn’t going to get the job because I was too similar to the boss.  Later I was able to appreciate the courage of that decision since it was coming from someone that genuinely practiced diversity.

In what circumstances do you think an external recruiter can add value?
The profession benefits in multiple ways from recruitment organisations, I call out three examples. Firstly, when discretion is required, e.g. the hiring organisation doesn’t have an internal candidate and doesn’t want to prematurely alarm the incumbent. Secondly, when a particularly skill or market knowledge is needed, e.g. the recruiter can pre-screen the good from the average applicant. Thirdly, when there’s a need to act swiftly, e.g. a recruiter knows from its candidate base who’s immediately available and/or at short notice.

What are your personal motivators?
I’ve always enjoyed seeing things through. Whether it be the commercialisation of new patented products (in my career before purchasing) or the development and implementation of tools to help purchasing address risk or innovation opportunities.

What do you think makes a good leader in procurement?
Modern procurement professionals need a mindset that is both commercially savvy (the what) and functionally competent (the how). Procurement leaders need to not only practice that, but to coach and inspire both peers and employees in these key areas.

As your first degree was a Chemistry what would have been your second choice and why?
Actually, my first choice was ” Chemistry with Computer Science”? but my school careers advisor said that the Chemical Industry would never need computers and therefore I should choose one or the other!! How badly wrong was he!

What books / blogs are you currently reading?
I love cherry picking articles from the economist every weekend. Their writing technique and range of contemporary topics is fantastic. I am reading ” 50 Fearless Pioneers”?, about famous female scientists.  Most people, including women, could name Marie Currie - but beyond her struggle to
name more.  As an undergraduate I had the opportunity to work briefly with one, namely Dorothy Hodgkin (Nobel Laureate who unravelled the structure of insulin). My employer, Dow Chemical, has just merged with DuPont and the inventor of Kevlar was: Stephanie Kwolek.

Describe yourself in 3 words
Curious, hardworking and inclusive

*Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the Interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment

What brought you to the Netherlands initially?

I’m originally from Helsinki, Finland. I was finishing my MBA in Finland and decided to come here for an exchange year at the Vrije University. Midyear, I was lucky enough to get an Accounting Assistant role in an IT Distribution company and started working there part-time in the Finance Department. As the semester drew to a close, they asked me to stay on full time in an FP&A role - and I did. The company was a hyper-growth start up and was acquired first by Lockheed Martin and then by GE. With the growth of the company, my responsibilities kept progressing throughout the years and ultimately I became Finance Director. Career-wise there was more opportunity in the Netherlands and it made no sense to return to Finland.

What do you like the most about living and working here?

It’s very relatable for me coming from Northern Europe. It’s a very well run country; everything works well – there’s good infrastructure, education and healthcare and consequently very few frustrations and a good ease of living. There’s also a very good acceptance of the importance of work/life balance.

You have worked for Black Box since 2004. What have been the main changes to finance processes that you have seen throughout that time?

Well, my job has changed completely, a couple of times over, during this time. When I started, it was a corporate finance function. It was a decentralised matrix organisation; we did mainly strategy, corporate reviews and consolidation and were not very operationally involved. Over the years we became functionalised and in 2017 we created the shared service centre in the Netherlands – now it’s a completely operational finance function. Finance roles have also changed over the last 10 years – finance is now more focused on strategy and financial analysis, as a decision-making tool. What was the bread and butter of finance when I started - accounting and controlling - now has less focus, but is expected to work like a Swiss clock, always on time and never failing. Most of my day is spent on making decisions for the future rather than analysing historical numbers.

When I first worked here, I was the only person in international corporate finance! It was a satellite function, supporting the VP for the business unit. As SOX and other changes came in, we created more corporate finance functions. If you do something well then you get more and more to do, which we embraced, and so the team grew and grew and we now have 30 people in finance in the Netherlands (80 in total).

We have expanded our business, especially in Far East and APAC, and changed our go-to-market model in some countries to channel. We purchased an R&D company in Ireland and launched our own products. All these have had an impact on the blueprint of the business and also on finance processes.

What kind of culture have you created in finance at Black Box and how?

It’s always funny when people talk about creating culture, because ultimately we are just ourselves at the office. It’s a very transparent environment. It’s challenging but, at the same time, very considerate. We have a lot of humour of course! And a good team spirit, coming from the challenging projects we have completed together, particularly over the past two years. We have converted the ERP together, to Microsoft Dynamics, and centralised together. All of these projects gel you together as a team. Also, other factors which I take for granted like the fact that our kitchen has long tables, where we always have a sit down lunch and spend some time together to share the latest news – we try not to talk business. As we’ve expanded, the tables have gotten longer!

What changes have you seen in terms of the challenges you face when recruiting?

Although some language and technical skills combinations are hard to find, in general Netherlands is reasonably easy to recruit in. Language skills are becoming less of an issue as business language is English more and more. The challenge is more in finding the right people who are adaptable and with wide range of (transferable) skills to transform together with the company, as we grow and change. As the department has grown, we have been able to attract and retain great talent, as they can see the progression opportunities.  I am very proud of my team, trying to be a good leader for them keeps me going.

What impact will the recent acquisition by AGC Networks have on the global presence of Black Box?

Our geographical coverage is complementary, AGC is strong in APAC and Middle East and we in Americas and Europe. So it’s really a perfect match – together our offering is quite complete. Furthermore our managed services capabilities are complementary. In short, it expands our reach in terms of global markets, verticals and clients.

What has been the biggest challenge for you in progressing to become VP Finance?

I think the biggest challenge for us all, is to have the opportunity to work with people who will teach, mentor and believe in you, especially in the formational years of your career. I took on a Finance Director role in a 300M EUR turnover hyper- growth organisation at 28 years old and that was definitely challenging. But luckily the management team was very collaborative, supportive and really gave me a kick start. If you have the right ingredients in the beginning of your career, after that it is about doing the work diligently, being curious, learning new skills and not getting stuck in the comfort zone. A lot of people helped me along the way, and there are some people I am indebted to for sure – for example  a HR Director in GE, who really helped me as I was very young with little life experience and managing a big team. You can imagine that was sometimes challenging. So good peers, managers who challenge you but also support you, to take bigger steps than you might have done, are so important.

If you could go back and change one thing about your career, what would it be and why?

I wish I would have had exposure to various industries, such as HealthCare or FMCG. I feel we get typecast easily based on our experience, but actually the skills are very transferable and often a fresh perspective may open new ways of doing things. I’m not sure it achieves anything if we continue to take people from the same pool.

What do you love most about your role?

I love a lot of things about my role. First of all, most of us have broader roles than you would expect (for example in GE I also managed logistics and legal) and, secondly, we have become more like strategy makers, supporting the Managing Director/CEO. It is our job to explain the financials, tell the story of the numbers and translate the strategic plans to numbers to validate the hypothesis. Because we know the numbers and are neutral, due to our position, we are often invited to the boardroom alongside the MD. Being invited to pitch a new strategy with the MD – this is the area I particularly enjoy in my role. So when affecting major changes, we often have a seat at the table which is exciting. Sometimes it’s very funny because I can work from micro to macro in one day – debating a small charge on an expense report and then making a decision on a 2 million deal!

What advice would you give to women in finance careers who are looking to progress to a senior level?

Generally, just say yes to challenges, trust yourself and others and delegate if you need to.  There is nothing as empowering as taking on a new challenge. Things that you may see as limiting may be your biggest strengths, for example if you are short of time because of small kids, you are probably excellent in organising, prioritising and multitasking and family life has given you great interaction and situational skills. Sometimes the life skills we acquire as a parent are completely transferable in business.  So take the chances offered to you - once you have overcome something difficult, you gain confidence and get into a positive cycle, so be courageous!

Is there anyone, either in your personal life or in the public eye, who you would aspire to be like?

I don’t really believe in idolizing anyone. I appreciate people and read and learn, but in my eyes sometimes ordinary people are bigger heroes than people who get media coverage. We all have our own paths to follow and the responsibility to make the best out of them. In my family, my Grandfather came to Helsinki as a young man with no education and very little money in his pocket and became a successful  entrepreneur with several businesses. He was also a man of faith and so did missionary work. To complete his education, he went to university in his 60’s! He was, to me, a great example of being open-minded to the opportunities that life can give you and of being courageous.

To get started, please could you tell us a little about your background?