Path to Partnership

Amber Matthews didn't take the usual route to partnership. She studied Russian and commerce at ANU because she wanted to be a diplomat, then switched to law.

From there she went from summer clerk at Phillips Fox to M&A lawyer in London, made partner as General Counsel of a global law firm, and became Managing Partner Australia at DLA Piper. She now runs an accounting firm as CEO of Nexia Sydney.

In this episode, Amber and I talk about:

• Her early years as a transactional lawyer, and the busy London deal market of the 2000s
• Moving in-house at DLA weeks before the GFC hit, and helping steer a global firm through the crisis as a senior associate
• Making partner through a non-fee-earning role, and what her business case looked like
• How she and her husband made family and a leadership career work, with him as primary caregiver
• Coming back to Sydney, and going from Global GC to Managing Partner Australia
• Moving from law into accounting, and how AI is changing the apprentice model in professional services
• The attributes that matter most for future partners: relationships, collaboration and patience
• Her advice for new partners, and her plans to grow Nexia in the mid-tier market

Amber's story shows there's more than one path to partnership.

This episode is for anyone thinking about their own route to the top of a professional services firm.

In this episode of the Path to Partnership podcast we welcome Greg Travers, Managing Partner of William Buck New South Wales and ACT, and Chair of the William Buck Group.

Greg shares his unconventional entry into accounting, initially aspiring to be a vet or landscaper, before discovering a cadetship at KPMG in 1992.

He reflects on his seven years at KPMG, highlighting the strong foundations in work ethic and professional discipline he gained.

Greg discusses his pivotal move to William Buck in 1999, when it was a much smaller firm with only two partners in Sydney. He explains his desire for a different work-life balance and a more direct impact on clients, which a smaller firm offered. This led him to help build William Buck's specialist tax practice.

He recounts becoming a partner around 2004 and the realisation that partnership was just the beginning of a
new journey.

Greg also details his progression to Head of Tax and, in June 2023, to Managing Partner. He emphasises William Buck's managed succession approach, which ensures continuity and a focus on long-term strategy rather than individual agendas.

Greg offers insights into the evolving path to partnership, stressing the importance of a holistic contribution beyond financial metrics, a strong personal brand, and specialisation. He also shares his thoughts on the impact of AI on the accounting profession, viewing it as an enabler for more valuable client services, and discusses the growing influence of private equity in the Australian market.

Greg concludes by offering advice for aspiring partners, newly appointed partners, and those aiming for managing partner roles, underscoring the significance of integrity, curiosity, and authenticity.

Tracey shares her unconventional start, growing up on a Victorian farm, ruling out careers in singing, hairdressing, and fashion design before discovering a love for the "beauty of debits and credits" through her family accountant. She reflects on her early days as a vacationer in audit, the importance of saying yes to opportunities, and making partner in 2008 while working four days a week.

A pivotal moment came when Tracey nearly turned down a two-year London secondment due to family concerns, until a mentor bluntly told her, "You're an idiot." That role shaped the next decade of her career, taking her to over 30 countries as a global accounting advisory leader.

Tracey opens up about the factors that led to her departure at 52: the post-Covid shift to hybrid work, the erosion of human connection, the generational changes, and the gradual realisation that the parts of the job she loved most were being handed to the next generation exactly as they should be.

Now running her own leadership advisory practice. With her high energy, Tracey focuses on teaching the human skills that shaped her own trajectory: self-awareness, accountability, curiosity, and connection. Her core message for aspiring and new partners: know thyself, invest in relationships, and remember that how you leave people feeling becomes your trademark.

In this episode, of the Path to Partnership, we sit down with Wayne Plummer, a long-time leader in the Australian tax profession, to discuss a career shaped by longevity, unexpected resilience, adaptability, and constant reinvention.

Wayne reflects on his decades at PwC, where he built a diverse career across client advisory, technical leadership, and risk and quality roles. He explains how setting clear goals and continually changing focus kept his work engaging over the years.

We also discuss the disruption that hit the profession in 2023 and how it forced a major career reset. Wayne shares what that period taught him about trust, loyalty, and adaptability and how navigating uncertainty ultimately strengthened his confidence for an unexpected next stage of his career.

The conversation then turns to his move to Alvarez & Marsal and his new role as Head of Tax at Horizon Nexus Partners, the new entrant in the Australian professional services market who are financially backed by BGH. Wayne explains what attracted him to the opportunity to help build something new and how the firm offers an alternative to the traditional Big Four model.

Along the way, Wayne shares insights on mentoring, the increasing complexity of the partner role, what aspiring partners should focus on to stand out, and why established partners shouldn’t feel pressure to achieve everything quickly.

In this episode of the Path to Partnership podcast I am delighted to spend some time and chat with Peter Saccasan. Peter is a Sydney accounting legend and someone I have known for 20 years. Peter was Co-Founder & Partner of Saccasan Bailey Partners (est in 1992), a high profile boutique accounting firm based in Sydney who at the time was one of the best boutique firms in Sydney.  In 2006 SBP became part of the Guild Group and became Guild accountants, 5 years later they merged the business into RSM.

Peter is a brilliant example of how developing a niche and doubling down on that niche can bring huge success. Peter is known as the Pharmacy expert having advised in that industry for nearly 30 years. During our chat we talk in depth about business development, what that means to Peter and how you should go where your clients are such as industry events. We talk extensively about building trust with clients, and how clients don’t just want an advisor to understand the numbers, but also the business itself and the things that impact the success of a business.

As well as the importance of mentoring, personal brand, leveraging technology and leadership, having recently transitioned away from the RSM Partnership we also talk about Peter’s latest venture, his own consulting firm PSE Advisory where he advises Partners & leaders of accounting firms on strategies to implement change, technology, or process.

Peter is genuinely one of the nicest guys in the industry, so if felt like a really warm, insightful chat. Thanks Peter, for your time.

In this episode of The Path to Partnership Podcast we welcome Arlene Kristianto, Business Advisory Partner and National Lead for Diversity Equality and Inclusion at global mid-tier, RSM. Arlene has had a super interesting journey to Partnership, from beginning her career in a boutique firm, to moving to a global mid-tier with RSM, to her valuable experience as an internation secondee to her Path to Partnership.

We cover lots of subjects in this chat:

• The value of an international secondment for her career then, and now.
• Having those initial chats about Partnership and looking up thinking “there isn’t anyone that I can relate to.” Arlene is really passionate about the importance of representation which lead her to one of her current roles as National lead of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at RSM.
• We talk about the challenges of balance. How to manage the pressures of team and client expectations and being present at home, a challenge that is constant of course.
• The importance of mentors in her career to-date.
• We talk about AI, how it’s impacting the market now but how if could impact the professional services landscape over the coming 2-5 years.

 This was a great episode where Arlene gave candid insights into career journey, as well as real advice on the journey for others. A must listen for anyone on that Path to Partnership.

In this episode of The Path to Partnership Podcast, we welcome Tim Loh, Assistant Commissioner at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and a name (and face) many Australians came to recognise during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thrust into the spotlight as the public face of the ATO during a time of national uncertainty, Tim stepped far outside his comfort zone to lead public communications across TV, radio, and press. His calm, clear messaging and a style people resonated with, Tim helped guide millions of Australians individuals, small businesses, and tax professionals alike through complex support programs and changing tax measures.

Tim shares how that experience reshaped his understanding of leadership, the importance of authentic communication, and what it takes to build trust at scale. He also opens up about his journey from private practice to public service, and how the ATO is working more closely than ever with practitioners to support a stronger, fairer tax system.

This is a must-listen for aspiring leaders, partners-in-waiting, and anyone curious about what how the power of a personal brand can be leveraged.

Delighted to have spent an hour in the presence of James d’Apice, he is a man with many talents, he’s host of two popular podcasts, he’s a rapper (!), author, social media celebrity and yet he still finds the time to be a leading commercial litigator, business owner, husband and father of 3!

James shares his unconventional journey through law — from spending his informative lawyer years with the highly respected Makinson D’apice (MakDap) which has of course, strong family ties to James, to then forging his own career path, driven by his litigation specialism and desire to challenge the status quo, resulting in James launching his own firm Gravamen in 2023.

We discuss his career pivots, the early seeds of Coffee and a Case Note, as well as the importance external mentors have played in James’s career across law and marketing.

Inside This Episode:

• Why James resisted being part of the family firm for the long term— and what changed his mind
• The origin of Coffee and a Case Note and its surprising slow burn success
• How radio, rap, and rigorous case law came together to build his personal brand and shaped his marketing strategy
• The reality of starting your own firm, balancing professional ambition and family ambition, and the values that drive his new business Gravamen
• Why brand doesn’t equal revenue (at least not at first) — and how that shifted over time

James gets candid about, privilege, branding, his definition of “bricks and mortar” and finding your lane in a changing legal landscape. If you're in professional services, this is a must-listen….

And yes, he’s as good a bloke in person as he comes across on camera!

In this episode, we sit down with the newly anointed business advisory Partner Samantha Lo, to explore her unconventional and inspiring journey to the top. From her early days in the motor industry group at Deloitte to a slightly unplanned two-year detour working remotely from Hong Kong, Samantha's Path to Partnership is an inspiring one.

We dive deep into:

• The Power of a "Non-Linear" Career: How her time in Cairns and Hong Kong, working with diverse clients like banana farmers and international corporations, shaped her into the leader she is today.
• The Foundations of Partnership: Samantha shares the crucial role that mentorship, personal branding, and building authentic relationships played in her progression from Assistant Manager to Partner.
• Redefining Success and Work-Life Balance: We talk about the myth of the "always-on" Partner. Samantha discusses how she managed to build a successful career and a young family, highlighting the importance of clear communication, trusted support, and making time for the things that matter.

This episode gave us the prospective of a newly appointed Partner, the importance of mentors, family and how it feels when you get to Partnership. It is a must-listen for anyone on the Partnership track who wants to learn how to navigate their career with intention, self-doubt, flexibility, and a whole lot of determination.

Thank you Sam!

In this in-depth episode, Steve sits down with Sean Keegan, the Head of Tax for Australia at Alvarez & Marsal (A&M). Sean takes us on a fascinating journey, from how he "fell into" a tax career at PwC to his time in the investment banking world in London and his return to M&A tax. He offers a transparent account of the challenges he faced, including rebuilding his professional brand after a stint overseas and the demanding transition to becoming a brand-new partner at a new firm.

We also explore his move to A&M, where he and his Senior Partners have built a national tax team from the ground up. He shares why the unique opportunity to start with a blank sheet of paper, backed by a global consulting brand, was an offer he couldn't turn down.

Listeners will get an inside look at:

• The "Three-Legged Stool" of a Successful Partner: Sean's unique take on the three essential attributes needed to thrive in a leadership role.
• Business Development Secrets: Why building trust and relationships is more crucial than selling, and how to start doing it from day one.
• Navigating Career Progression: Candid advice on dealing with frustration and why a bit of extra patience can make you a more successful partner in the long run.
• The Power of Personal Brand: How to leverage a global firm's name to build your own reputation and the critical role your personal brand plays in a new business.
• The Future of the Industry: A forward-looking discussion on how technology, particularly AI, is reshaping professional services and the importance of in-person relationships that can't be replaced.

This is an essential listen for anyone in accounting, law, or consulting, offering practical wisdom and inspiration directly from a leader who has built his career by challenging the status quo.