How to Build a Career as a Group Treasurer with Heather Nisbet

If you've got quite a curious mind and you know, when you're in a lecture, people just, you know, the lecture just recites information to you actually just challenge that information and you know, I make it more of like a intellectual conversation and I think that's when you learn the most and when the sessions are more interactive. I would say as well, if you want to, I think what the best thing is actually learning groups. So when I was studying I had a group of four. I wouldn't say any more than four she'd ever meet at a time. But I used to always get them to come to my apartment, you know, and we would study together through the case studies and actually share ideas. So, you know, it's all very well having your own idea, but you know, other people see things differently and you'll see that in teams and a Treasury function as well. So better in numbers than just doing an exam by yourself. So before you do any exam, make sure you have a good study group. Go through case studies together, bounce around a few ideas. Don't get too overprotective of your work as well. I think, you know, everything is about sharing, you know, you want your candidates to do well as well. So I was quite fortunate. I had a really good group that's just sharing ideas and making sure that you just learn the exam technique. I know I keep emphasizing that point. It's a very. Everyone says, oh yeah, but I've read through material so many times. No, it's genuinely how you answer the question. And there's a formula to it as well. What I look for is energy. You know, someone who's dynamic, you know, someone who actually likes to work in treasury, not just because they want to be there. So one is energy for sure. The other one is more like an entrepreneurial spirit. So gfg, like I say, it's a growth company and you really need to be able to have an idea, come up with the idea and just execute it yourself. So I think you have to be quite a self starter. I don't micromanage by any means. I mean if you come up with an idea, you think it's great, you run with it. So I like quite an entrepreneurial spirit also. The main thing actually I would say is culture. I think for anyone to do well in a company, you know, you have to understand the culture of that place and you know, if you're going to fit in. I'd say like, you know, GSG is a fashion company, right? So you can probably imagine that the environment you're working in as well, and it's not going to be like a bank. And so corporate. There is corporate elements, of course, and there's the professionalism, but it's, you know, there's that kind of fashion vibe, it's an unusual vibe, but, you know, you need to be able to have that gap and go, I guess, and, you know, be really reactive. You're not an insurance company, right? You know, you have to react, react, react. And the retail market itself moves so quickly, you know, you have the. Every quarter there's a different fashion trend, right. I think is what you're going to have to have that sense. The main thing is back yourself. Any role that you go into, if you don't back yourself, no one else will back you. So I think if, you know, if you want, if you think you can do that role, you go for it, you know, and people will follow you. So it's confidence is one, the other one is, like I say, don't stay in your role too long if you're not learning. If you are learning, fine, but I mean, if you're not learning anymore, you looked for the next role and you look for the gaps in your cv and the last but not least will definitely be your network. I've got loads of mentors, you know, I have a cup of tea with every, like, six weeks, every two months and, you know, keep that going and keep in contact with old bosses as well, and with your banks, with treasury, with C CFOs, everyone. You need to build your network and that's pretty much where you get the best advice and any tips on career moves or within your company.