Quality questions get rewarding results.
When Fiona Welten was a schoolgirl, she wanted to become a lawyer or an accountant. A stint as an assistant hairdresser tipped her towards the latter. She’d been hired to sweep, wash hair and make tea, but ended up doing the bookwork, relishing the chance to help “run” the business.
Now she’s been an accountant for 32 years with Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Tauranga and its predecessors.
She’s a Business Advisory Services director, who’s also raised children, paved the way for other working mums, and established business relationships across the Bay of Plenty.
She’s captivated by the variety in her career and loves hearing clients talk about their lives and work so that she can help tailor paths to their goals.
Along the way she’s been inspired by others and brought those learnings into her own approach: Things like the importance of leading with kindness and a level head, cultivating a fun yet motivated work environment, and not sweating the small stuff.
With the latter, she advises “delving into the reasons for your feelings because sometimes what you’re concentrating on is only a manifestation… It’s why I like to keep asking questions, because then you get to the real problem and have more meaningful conversations”.
Her colleagues say her biggest strengths are strategic thinking, getting to the heart of issues, and simplifying them for others. “Her most endearing thing is her laugh,” says fellow director Ian Renner.
That positivity helps her take life in her stride. A keen entertainer who loves cooking new and innovative meals, on rare occasions when they don’t go well, she serves an extra drink for guests and breezes on through. Outside of that, she loves reading, and on a fine day, you might see her on her e-bike or at sea with her husband.
