AllianceSI_Podcast04_JamesAllison_v2

In this episode of the Alliance SSI podcast, the host introduces Sam, who is the remote hands lead at the Alliance SSI. Sam explains that the remote hands team handles various projects in Australia and New Zealand. Then, the host introduces James, who is the commercial accountant at Alliance SSI. James shares his background, including coming to Australia from the UK and studying accounting. He also talks about his role in overseeing the finance team's operations. The conversation then shifts to James' first job as a paper boy, where he learned about dedication and commitment. They also discuss James' craziest experience, which was skydiving. Finally, they talk about the variety and challenges of their respective roles and the importance of resilience. Welcome to our fourth episode of the Alliance SSI. My fun-loving co-host, Joe, unfortunately isn't with us today. He's busy on granddad duties. But instead, I'm excited to say I'm joined with Sam. Sam's the remote hands lead at the Alliance SSI. Sam plays a pivotal role in leading the remote hands team. And Sam, would you like to share a little bit about your role and what remote hands is? Thank you, Clarissa. Yes, so I'm part of the remote hands team. And we run rollouts all over Australia and New Zealand, ranging from small jobs to big jobs, and again, small projects to big projects. And yeah, enjoy it. No day is the same. Every day is different. Yep. It'd be boring if it wasn't. Yeah. So Sam will be joining me and asking some questions of our star of the show, should we put it, today. So we are actually pleased to announce, although he didn't get a term and make-up done, we are pleased to welcome James. James is our commercial accountant at Alliance SSI. James' debut by all accounts today as well. So James was with the company way back when the Sydney office was in the Northern Beaches, and we were living the dream with our commute, in our cosy, quaint office with a goldfish bowl of a boardroom. Starting out on a student visa and only working 20 hours for us, way back when, and now flourishing in your cubby corner in the Northern Beaches. Yeah, you've definitely done your research. So James, without further ado, that was obviously just my little intro, but do you want to share a bit about your background and your journey that led you to Alliance SSI? Yeah, sure. So, if you can't tell, I'm originally from the UK. I don't know if you can tell from the accent or not. Oh, I don't know. So, yeah, I've been in Australia for probably coming up to about eight years now. When I first came to Aus, I'd only ever planned to come here for a year, basically, do a bit of travelling around Australia, Southeast Asia. Ended up falling in love with the country, basically. Didn't want to leave. Decided that, to stay, I'd need to study, basically. Kind of more or less fell into studying accounting from there and just kind of rolled on and rolled on. And yeah, like I said, I've been working with Alliance for about five or nearly six years now, I think it is. I don't know, it's gone so quickly. I feel like one of the part-timers now, one of the longest-serving members here. Yeah, so six years later, here we are. Here we are. And your role in that time, though, has progressed, hasn't it? So, obviously, from where you came in as AP role, in an AP role, Accounts Payable role for those that don't know that. And then, obviously, now, three years studying has progressed into a commercial accounting role. So, your day-to-day, if you like, would have changed quite a bit during that time. So, for those that don't really know what the accounts team do... Well, you get paid. You get paid on that. But for those that are maybe a bit curious as to what you do actually do, what would a typical day look like for you? So, my role, basically, is to oversee the day-to-day operations of the finance team. So, I have a team of seven individuals in the finance team. And they tackle all different areas from, like you've mentioned, accounts payable, so making sure our suppliers and contractors are paid on time. Accounts receivable, so making sure our customers pay us. Payroll team, making sure our team are paid. I'm sure we'd find out if they weren't. Yeah, so making sure, obviously, everyone gets paid on time. And other things like reporting, month-end reporting. Different financial projects, financial planning, that kind of thing. So, yeah, that's kind of the overall gist, I guess, of my role here. So, quite varied, quite broad. Very varied, very varied. No day is the same, definitely not. Which is the fun part about it, though, right? So, I don't think you'd want a job where you come in every single day and it's the same thing every single day. So, that's the beauty, I think, of finance and other areas, as well. No day is the same, so I'm sure it's for a lot of us here, as well. Yeah, I think, as well, it's different motivation, as well, isn't it? Different challenge, different... You actually have to start problem-solving, getting into detail, understanding what's happening, and then finding a solution. So, yeah, the variety is definitely a common theme through these podcasts, as well, around the variety of what we do. Day in, day out, I've heard them say. So, you say you obviously fell into accounting, if you like, similar to myself, fell into HR, and Sam, I assume, yourself, you fell into... You all just kind of roll with it. But if we were to take you back to your first ever job, what was your first ever job? And what was your biggest takeaway from it that you feel you've put into your current role? Was there any key foundation or fundamentals? So, probably going back to when I was maybe 14, 15, I'd say. It was paper rounds. Paper rounds! I know, I know. Probably getting paid about six pound an hour. You were lucky. You were a guy. I was a good paper boy. So, yeah, it was just a weekend round, I think it was. I probably had about 400 houses on my street or something that I had to do once a week. They used to deliver the papers, and they also used to deliver leaflets, as well. And before you could actually deliver the papers, you'd have to sit there for a couple of hours and put in every single leaflet into new papers for 400 papers. That would take me three, four hours a week just doing that. And then I'd have to go around, deliver all the papers, make sure. So, it was hard work, and it took a lot of dedication and commitment. That's why you got the extra pound. You deserve our pocket money. So, yeah, I guess it's that dedication and commitment and having to turn up every day, having to turn up and continually showing up for your job, giving it your best, whatever you do. It doesn't really matter what job. I've always tried to give 100%. And I guess I've just kind of taken that through because if people didn't get their papers, I would hear about it. Little old grannies not happy that they didn't get their weekend papers. Go to the newsagents to complain. And the other thing as well is the weather. You'd obviously have to do it in rain or shine, even though in the UK it would be more rain than shine. Absolutely, yeah, it definitely would. Today's a little bit miserable as well, but raining in the UK can be a bit of a hard task. And winter as well, definitely winter. That's a really good, like you say, a way of setting you up is the fact that you've just got to get on with it. You've just got to roll on, regardless of the circumstance. Just keep going through it, isn't it? Yeah, I can't remember the days that I didn't want to go. I know it's raining, I know it's boring, but my parents made me go. So, yeah, it's kind of having that, like you say, resilience in whatever you do in life that kind of builds you up. How long did you do that for? I don't know, probably about a year, maybe. I think I ended up getting sick. I don't think you have to put in the least bit of think we can offer. Funny you should say that. I think we actually had a garage outside where my parents' house was. And I think six months after I left, my mum went into the garage and she saw this massive stack of papers. And she was like, what's all this? So, yeah, obviously I forgot to deliver the last one. Oh, that's hilarious. So, obviously you talked around like you're travelling along the east coast, as I think many Brits do. A lot of us English do. From there, did you do anything crazy during that time? Was there...? One or two. I'm not sure if I can share. Where I'm heading with that, though, is what's one of the craziest things you've actually done? Just to give the listeners a bit more of an insight of where the jungle in James may be. Yeah, that one is an easy one. So, definitely the, I'd say, craziest and best thing I've ever done is a skydive. I did that over Mission Beach in Queensland, probably about six or seven years ago now. And just the adrenaline and the rush that you get from doing that, I don't know if either of you have ever jumped out of a plane. No, I did when I travelled as well. And honestly, it was middle of January, 40 degrees, blue skies, blue ocean. It was just the best place to do it. Yeah, just incredible. It was almost such a great experience. I almost don't want to do it again because I don't think anything would live up, or another skydive would live up to that. So, yeah, but definitely that's the most scary thing I've done. Yeah, and it's the free fall. So, when you're just about to jump out and you're having to dangle your legs over the edge and you're like, oh my God, am I just going to literally, we're going to propel out of there and do all those moves that you've got to do as you're about to get, before they put the parachute up and whatever. Yeah, I think that, for me, that stuck in my head and I don't know that I'd actually do one again because I don't want to have anything about it. But, yeah, it is a really good experience, doesn't it? The adrenaline rush that you get from it is amazing. Yeah, it's unmatched, basically. I've never experienced anything like that before. It's just, like I say, the euphoria that you get as soon as you fall up because, you know, when you're going up, you're nervous, you're worried, you shake it, well, not necessarily shake it. Maybe I was. But then, yeah, just as soon as you go, as soon as you fall, all that just disappears completely and it's just this rush that you get. You know, you only fall for about 30 seconds, but, yeah, I'd recommend anyone to do it at least once. Yeah, no, it is insane, that's for sure. Best bring it back into more sensible chat now, otherwise we'll get too carried away. But from your perspective, obviously being here for the last five, well, it'll be six, coming up six years, obviously you've seen quite a bit of change in that time. You've progressed in your role as well during that time, etc. What would you say has been the most fulfilling or rewarding thing about working at Alliance Aside, aside from the fact that every day is different? Yeah, so I would probably say it's witnessing the growth and development of my team. So, like I say, I oversee a team of seven. I've been working with most of them for about two years and if I look back over, you know, when I first started working with them to where a lot of them are now, you know, they're a great team and put in 110% with anything and everything that they do. But it's seeing just how far that they've come and how far they've managed to progress in that time. And I think it's the same with, you know, everyone individually as well. You don't always appreciate your own growth and development day on day or, you know, you don't really notice it. But if you, I guess, take a step back and zoom out and say, oh, look, 12 months, two years, three years, and you see how far yourself, your team, everyone's come, the company's come, you actually think, oh, you know, wow, we're actually, you know, we have made a big difference and a big impact. So, yeah, I think sometimes just, I guess, putting it into perspective a little bit and just taking that step back and just seeing how far people have come, definitely that's a major plus, I think, in my role. Yeah, no, that's definitely a good insight because, like you say, the team itself has evolved, obviously, during the course of those five years and there have been various changes that have been made. Obviously, as we grow, changes have happened and I think, like you say, then being able to look back and see where it's come from to where it is now, there should be a huge sense of achievement around that and, like you say, continuing to grow that team and grow the capability within the team. Absolutely. You know, it benefits. It doesn't just benefit the team, but it benefits the team individually, but it benefits the team as a whole and that benefits, you know, me, myself as well because, one, if the person is developing and you're investing your time, you know, they're growing and they're offering, able to offer more and it also benefits the team. You know, they're able to, as a whole, give more value to the company and it obviously benefits me as well because my team are then thriving and, you know, making steps forward. So, yeah, I think it just helps everyone. Everyone. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, no, 100%. So, I was listening to another podcast, one of our favourites, which I shouldn't mention on here, but I know we share the same listening genre, I feel like, and it was really interesting. I was driving in yesterday, it was, and I thought, oh, my goodness, this is so timely. So, there was a lady on this podcast and her background was accounting and she said, oh, us accountants, you know, we talk around all this technical jargon to make it sound like it's unheard language so that people need us. Oh, no, I've been found out. So, that gave me a great segue into, there's obviously a stereotype out there, but what would you say, from your perspective, is a common misunderstanding or stereotype about your profession? So, accounting and all. Oh, God. I would say the most common one, probably people wouldn't normally say that to you or say it to me, but I think the biggest misconception is that it's super, super boring. Exactly, you're laughing. You agree? Can you do it again? We need numbers. Look, I think there's obviously, the area of accounting is just so huge. There's so many areas that you touch and you get involved with and obviously there's some areas that are a little less exciting than others, but I think that kind of stereotype has come from a real old school, that old school accountant role which is kind of head stuck in a spreadsheet, like you said, just clicking away, adding up numbers, got that calculator out and doing all that kind of manual day-to-day, which is boring, really. It's not the most exciting thing. I think now with, especially over the last probably five to ten years where we've got now cloud accounting, we've got all these different technology advancements, different apps, everything that kind of makes our role a lot easier and takes out all that kind of lower level transactional manual data entry tasks. It allows us then to kind of step up and do a lot more just value added work and a lot more interesting work in terms of a lot, I guess a lot more analysis side of things. What do the numbers mean? What do they tell us? What are the trends? What does that mean for the company? How can we benefit the company? So it's kind of, I guess the accountant role has kind of grown quite a lot over 10, 15 years, whatever, from that backend person in the room that is probably a little bit quiet, doesn't really kind of, more of a, I guess, a business advisor as such, someone that's going to be able to walk you through the numbers. What do they mean? What does that mean for the business? And what can we do to, you know, impact the business for the better? What can we do? What changes? But what can we do that's going to make that business grow and thrive and carry on forward? So I guess to come back to your question, that, you know, yes, some areas of accounting aren't as exciting as others, but also there's so much value that you can add in your role and so much value that you can add to the business. I think that's a super exciting part of the role and part of accounting. So it's definitely, you know, the accountant's role has definitely grown considerably over that time period. Yeah, and I think, like you say, having the right tools in place so that you can drive the right analytics to then help make more informed decisions is really where that value and the shift in mindset of this person. That's you, actually, in the back and back of the room. I'm the calculator over here. Punching all these invoices in back in the old system and whatever else. But yeah, no, that's really good. Would you share that, Sam? Would you share, like, that stereotype? Yeah, I don't know. Don't forget. I'm the one who paid the accountant every night. Yeah, no, that's really good there. So once you, obviously, you've done all this analytics, your mind's buzzing with all of the data that you've got in there, how do you manage your work-life balance? How do you manage that personal and professional kind of, you know, we talk quite heavily about it and anyone can talk about it, but what do we actually do to make sure that we're disciplined with having that? Yeah, so I'm a firm believer that having a work-life balance is super important. Like I said, I'll always try and give 100%, 110% in whatever I do in work, but you've also got to have downtime and rest time to recuperate just so that you are sick and ready to go for work when you come back. So, look, I love, we live in such a great part of the world in Sydney. I think we're so lucky to live in Sydney, like right next to the beach, especially in the northern beaches, some of the best beaches in the world. I love getting up early, going down to the beach, watching the sunrise every night again, going for a swim. I love doing stuff like that. I'm heavily into sports. I try and help with fitness as well, go to the gym as much as possible, things like that, really outdoorsy types. I'll try and get out as much as possible. Yeah, that's kind of what I like to do after the full work. So, yeah, like I say, definitely important having that work-life balance. And getting out, getting out in the fresh air and just even going to that walk, it just makes such a difference, doesn't it, to how you feel. Sam, obviously you love walking as well, do you know that at the moment? I do. Just join us in the beaches and do a walk. Okay, that's cool. So, if I had to ask you what's been the one memorable moment whilst you've been walking with a line to say, what would it be? Do you have one? Do you have one? What is it? You might not have one, you might just be there having your spreadsheet. What is the one memorable moment? I'd probably say, it's probably earlier on at my time working at Alliance. I think you were there, Carissa, I'm not sure Sam would have been there, but we do a lot of, obviously, sociable events as well outside of work. I think I remember we did a Tough Mudder. Do you remember that? Do you remember that? I've done a few. I've done a few. This year, about five or six, five years ago, and I remember I was doing it, it was a 10K Tough Mudder, I think it was in, I don't know if it was in the middle of summer, but it was hot, it was a hot day, and we all agreed that we would stay with the slowest person, or the person at the back, basically, we all wanted to stay together, and we didn't anticipate that this person would be walking all the way around. So, yeah, 10Ks in, I think we're 5Ks in, we're covered head to toe in mud, because you can't get away from it. If you're doing Tough Mudder, you are getting head to toe caked in wet, slushy mud, and so, halfway through, we've been walking around an hour, and this mud is now caked in, and it's hardened, and you're walking around, and you're just over it, and you've got people that are actually laughing you, because we're going so slow, but we're, you know, we're committed to it, we'll stick together. Yeah, yeah. Oh, God, and just, yeah, looking back at that, I'll always remember that, and just going around. Oh, and I'll never forget, as well, when we had someone, as well, that fell in the mud. Like, head to toe fell in the mud. I remember. And there was, obviously, you can't wipe your eyes, because you're in head to toe in mud, so you literally, there was this disgusting T-shirt hanging on the side. Actually, they had to use the T-shirt, which was muddy in itself, to wipe their face, because they couldn't see. But, yeah, no, they are good. They're very good for team building, that's for sure. No, they are great. They bring out some really core qualities. Quality, yeah. Would you do it again, as well? Would I do it again? I think, yeah, I would. I would do it again. Probably, maybe jog this time around. A little bit quicker. I definitely recommend jogging. But, no, it was great fun. Yeah, definitely. I think we've done quite a few different ones over the years, as well. So, they are great events to be at. So, yeah, definitely. Yeah, and we did this one in Brisbane quite a few years ago, and I think it might have been the same year that we did the New South Wales one. And I think, more or less, I was that person at the back. I was, like, prepared for that, because we did the full one. Oh, my goodness, that was hard. That was a tough one. Oh, my goodness. It was near half a marathon. It was near half a marathon, yeah. So, it's like, I'm pretty sure it's around 20k. Yeah. And we were getting to the end, and I was like, wowee, this is really good, though. Real good test of your, really, mental state. It was really good. Yeah. Definitely. All right, cool. So, really, I'm finishing with this question. And, Sam, is there anything you want to... I was going to ask a random one. What's a quote you follow? Work-related or not work-related? A quote I follow? Well, I've actually got two tattooed on me. Yeah? Have you? Yeah. You've got two tattoos? I do, yeah. Oh, right. I didn't know that. I've never done a tattoo before. Well, there may be an area that you wouldn't normally see. So, I'll tell you, I've got one that's, I guess, down my, almost down my side, down my ribcage kind of thing, and it's, the quote says, you'll be remembered forever by the tracks you leave, but it's in Arabic. Oh, okay, that's good. Yeah, so, a quote that, I don't know, kind of stuck with me, just how, you know, your actions today will be felt tomorrow, and that kind of thing, I remember. One day, I was actually at the gym, and some guy was looking at my tattoos, and he's like, oh, is that Arabic? And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's like, oh, yeah, I can speak Arabic. And I was like, all right. And he's like, what did your tattoo say? And I told him, and he was like, ah. Yeah, it doesn't say that. What did it say? What does it say? What did it say to him? I don't know, like, remember the tracks or something. So, the words are in a little bit of a different order. So, I remember when I got it done, I put it into Google Translate. So, it may not read exactly. But the essence of it is there. All that matters is what it means to you. That's really good. Well, great question. And we definitely learned something new there. So, the final question that I'm leaving all my podcasts on, well, team podcasts, is if you could choose one superpower, what would it be? And how would you use it? One superpower. I think it would be the ability to travel long distances in such a short period of time. Obviously, being from the UK, the majority of my family are still over in the UK. So, being on the other side of the world, it's quite a travel and a trek to get there. So, if I could just click my fingers and travel and be in the UK and then be back, 100% I'd do that to go back and spend more time with family. But, yeah, that would be my superpower. Yeah, it's funny. Actually, I answered very similar on the podcast with Darren. He said, fly. And I said, yeah, zoom. He was talking around freeness and travel and translation. Yeah. I think, or time travel. Yeah. Or, you know, transporting from one place to another. Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. Very like-minded, obviously, living away from home. Okay, cool. Well, thank you ever so much, James, for joining our podcast. And we're only on number four, so we've still got a few things to learn as we go through this. But the main thing is the IT worked. It's fine. We're all good. We've had a few red flashing lights, but I think we're all right. But, yeah, no, thank you ever so much. And, yeah, hopefully the team now will know a little bit more about you and have learned something new. Excellent, yeah. Thanks for having me on. It's been fun. Thank you.