My Career Journey

The first time I ever remember being paid for a job was working for a friend’s stepdad’s hauling company. Turns out it was a job he didn’t want to do, and I don’t blame him: it was shoveling out rotted fruit that had fallen from its tree onto the ground a few months prior. I got something like $10–$20 for that job, but it still felt good earning money.

From there, I was an after-school childcare assistant, a dishwasher, and a customer service representative for a U.S. wireless company, until I finally found my calling in retail. Well, maybe not my calling, but I worked at Bluenotes, Foot Locker, Stitches, and The Brick. Most of my retail experience was at London Drugs in the camera section during the digital camera boom. My last job in Vancouver was as a Project Coordinator at an ESL school, where I got my first taste of office life.

In 2006, I moved back to Victoria and became a temp. My first gig was at a paper company right at the height of The Office. How great—would I be Ryan the Temp, or maybe Jim and find my Pam? Turns out I was just a bored office administrator who struggled to fill his day.

After that and a quick data entry gig, I landed a temp job at Aspreva Pharmaceuticals as an Accounts Payable Assistant. All of a sudden, I was thrust into a real business. Traded on the NASDAQ, Aspreva brought together the smartest scientists and the most talented back-office team they could assemble. In my first week, we were going to steak dinners and playing golf. Champagne was popped when trial milestones were met, and the money was flowing. Things changed when a trial didn’t go as planned; the company was sold, delisted, and eventually stripped down. In 2009, I went to Unit4 to be their Accounts Payable Clerk.

The next 15 years were all at Unit4. I remember starting there with a literal pile of paper invoices and calls from vendors threatening to shut off services like cell phones—nothing kills sales like being disconnected. I liked being thrown into the fire, and coming out of it, I believe I proved my value. In Finance, I was given more responsibilities: A/R, asset reconciliations, G/L reporting, and sales tax reporting. I became an important part of the small accounting group that led the global organization in installing best practices.

In 2015, all local Finance departments were moved to a shared service center in Europe, but luckily I was drafted into the Professional Services wing. Half my role was replacing their temporary Resource Planner, but where they really needed me was my ERP expertise to design financials and reporting at all levels—project, utilization, departmental P&Ls, budgets, and forecasts. While accounting came naturally to me, business is really where I shine.

What I was doing for Services was noticed, and I was recruited to replace the outgoing Business Operations Manager for North America. Later rebranded as Revenue Operations, I brought multiple stakeholders in line with strategy and data to instill success across the board. I thrived through leadership changes, accelerated growth plans, a sale of the company, acquisitions, expanded partnerships, and a CRM migration. At Unit4, I went from being able to take a question away and find the answer, to having the answer ready as the question was asked, and finally having the answer before the question was even thought of.

In 2024, I was notified Unit4 was going through another global restructuring, and my role was being eliminated in North America. It hurt, but I was grateful for the opportunity to use the last two years to take care of my aging parents. First, my dad, who was in his final months with terminal cancer, and then my mother, who lost her independence and was near death before we took her in. I am happy to report she is doing much better and is now getting the support she needs in a care home.

I recently completed a short contract at Island Health (the local public health authority) covering my friend’s parental leave as a Payroll Processing Analyst. Coming from a forward-facing SaaS company to an organization digging itself out of decades of technology debt, I was able to utilize my knowledge and help them prepare for an ongoing, massive software transformation. While it could be tough at times for someone who likes to move as fast as possible to slow down and incorporate all stakeholders, it was great to gain public sector experience.

Having said that, I am more than ready to get back into the technology sector, utilize my skills, and add value to an organization at any stage of its journey. Whether it’s taking an established customer base to find revenue on the edges, increasing margins by highlighting focus areas, or helping a hypergrowth company find its footing with consistent processes, technology, and cadences, I am excited for my next opportunity!