Episode 40: Rethinking the Chartered Accountancy Career Path

Rethinking the Chartered Accountancy Career Path

What does a Chartered Accountancy career really look like today? If you still picture a linear path through audit firms and finance departments, the latest episode of the Chartered Accountants Global Update offers a refreshing challenge to that assumption.

Episode 40 highlights the story of Aster Thackery, a Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand member whose career has crossed industries, countries, and cultures. From promoting international investment with the Italian Trade Agency to building a thriving community network in southeast London, Aster’s journey shows how adaptable and globally relevant the profession has become. 

One of the most compelling themes from the episode is the importance of cultural awareness in modern professional life. Aster reflects on the differences between New Zealand and Italian business culture, emphasising how understanding communication styles and workplace expectations can strengthen international relationships. Her recommendation of The Culture Map by Erin Meyer reinforces a growing reality for professionals today: technical expertise alone is no longer enough. 

The episode also explores leadership beyond the workplace. After moving to Greenwich and knowing very few people locally, Aster created a simple coffee meetup for parents that has since grown into a community of more than 2,000 members. Her experience highlights the value of initiative, connection, and creating spaces where others can thrive. 

Alongside Aster’s story, the episode introduces two important professional resources. Chartered Accountants Worldwide has launched a new UAE Institute Network Directory to improve collaboration and communication across institutes in the region. Meanwhile, Cherryl Cooper of Grant Thornton UK shares insights on inclusive communication and why equity, diversity, and inclusion should be viewed as central to ethical professional conduct — not separate from it. 

Together, these stories point to a profession that is evolving rapidly: more international, more people-focused, and increasingly shaped by communication, adaptability, and community leadership.

Episode 40 serves as a reminder that the Chartered Accountancy qualification can open doors far beyond traditional expectations — often in ways people never initially planned for.

Transcript

HELLO! and welcome to the Chartered Accountants Global Update — Episode 40. I'm delighted you're joining us today. We have a really interesting mix of content in this episode: a conversation about a career that defies every expectation, a practical new resource for those of us working across the United Arab Emirates, and some genuinely useful guidance on how we can all communicate more inclusively in the workplace. So — let's get into it.

Our first story today comes from our Difference Makers Discuss series, and this one is a real standout. The upcoming episode features Aster Thackery — a Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand member who, when you first hear her story, makes you question every assumption you might have about what a Chartered Accountancy career looks like.

Aster is a fourth-generation New Zealander with a Singaporean-Chinese background, a law degree, a Chartered Accountancy qualification, an Irish husband — and a career that has taken her from London to Rome, from boardrooms to community halls. By day, she works with the Italian Trade Agency, helping international businesses understand Italy's investment landscape. That role grew directly from her earlier work with UK Trade and Investment, where she travelled the world promoting the UK as a destination for foreign investment. But here's what makes Aster's story particularly compelling: she didn't plan any of this. She followed the opportunities that her Chartered Accountancy qualification opened up — and it opened a lot of them.

One of the things Aster talks about very directly is cultural awareness as a professional skill. She recommends a book called The Culture Map by Erin Meyer — which many of you may already know — as essential reading for anyone working internationally. And she uses a striking example: the difference between how New Zealanders and Italians operate professionally. Flat hierarchies versus nuanced ones. Directness versus diplomacy. A small shift in awareness, she says, makes a substantial difference.

Then there's the community side of Aster's story, which is just as remarkable. Five years ago, she moved to Greenwich in southeast London. She knew nobody, and was expecting her second child. So she did what perhaps only a natural connector would do: she started a small coffee meetup for local parents. That group now has over two thousand members. It's incorporated as a social enterprise, and it has given other women in the community the platform and confidence to launch initiatives of their own.

There's a line from her story that I keep coming back to. She says: people want a village — but they don't want to be a villager. It's a gentle but pointed observation about how community works, and who's responsible for building it.

The session with Aster takes place on the fourteenth of May at six o'clock BST — it's free, and it's well worth your time. I'll say this: if you've ever wondered whether a Chartered Accountancy qualification can support a career that doesn't look like a traditional one — this conversation is your answer. It absolutely can.

Next up — and this is a genuinely practical resource for anyone connected to the profession in the UAE — Chartered Accountants Worldwide has launched a new UAE Institute Network Directory.

As our presence in the UAE continues to grow, the need for clearer, more connected collaboration across institutes has become increasingly important. This directory has been built specifically to address that. It brings together key contacts across the network in one accessible place — making it easier to identify the right people, whether you're looking for local insight, exploring partnership opportunities, or trying to coordinate joint activity across institutes.

The aim, simply put, is to reduce duplication and enable a more joined-up approach. If you're working in or with the UAE — or if you're looking to expand your engagement in that part of the world — this is a resource worth bookmarking.

And finally — something that touches on professional practice in a way that I think applies to all of us, wherever we're based and whatever stage of our career we're at.

Cherryl Cooper of Grant Thornton UK has written a piece, originally published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales, which makes a really compelling case for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as a driver of workplace ethics — not just as a policy obligation, but as something that actively shapes how we communicate with each other at work. She recommends a five-step approach to making our communication more inclusive.

Now, the five steps themselves are covered in full in the article, but the underlying argument is worth pausing on. Cooper's point is that the qualities underpinning inclusive communication — respect, transparency, compassion — are also the qualities that define ethical professional conduct. In other words, this isn't a separate agenda. It's the same agenda. And when we communicate with those values front of mind, we create workplaces where people feel genuinely heard, where diverse perspectives actually make it into the room, and where teams perform better as a result.

In a profession that operates globally — as ours does — that's not a soft skill. That's a core one.

That's all for Episode 40 of the Chartered Accountants Global Update. To recap what we covered today: Aster Thackery's remarkable story of connection, community and a Chartered Accountancy career on her own terms, the new UAE Institute Network Directory, a practical tool for better collaboration across the region. And Cherryl Cooper's five steps to more inclusive communication — well worth reading in full.

If this episode resonated with you, please do share it with a colleague — and we'll see you in the next one.