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Q: What is your education and background?

A: I have a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation in addition to a Chartered Accountant (CA) designation. My degree is a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from OC. I spent several years working for a public accounting firm and in recent years have been more involved in educating CPA students – writing business cases for their analysis and overseeing part of the final examination process to become a CPA.

Q: What is your area of interest?

A: Professionally, I specialize in audit and financial reporting, which is all about how businesses communicate their results to the people that care – investors, bankers, and even sole proprietors of smaller businesses. As an auditor I often tell people I’m sort of the accounting police – we check up on what these businesses are telling people and make sure that it’s true. Personally, I’m interested in running, softball, playing darts, video games with friends, craft beer tasting, and during the pandemic I took up mixology – trying all different kinds of cocktails!

Q: When did you know you had found your discipline?

A: Family members told me when I was young and good at math courses that I should be an accountant. Little did I know the math associated with accounting is easy – it’s what we do with the numbers that counts. I tried an accounting course in high school (Rutland Senior Secondary in Kelowna) and loved it.

Q: Why did you choose to work at Okanagan College?

A: I was a student here, and during my time studying it was easy to see how amazing the faculty was and the kind of career one could have as an educator. As I became more passionate about the education side of my old career, I explored the opportunities available at OC and was honoured to be offered a position as a professor. 

Q: What do you like most about the work you do?

A: Everyone at the college is here for a purpose and are excited about what they are doing. I love working with students who are all in the process of bettering themselves by getting an education. I love working with my colleagues who have such variety in their experience and skills and have done so much in their careers. It’s an exciting place to be and makes coming to work every day very easy.

Q: Favourite teaching experience?

A: In my first semester teaching at OC, I taught an evening class from 6:30 to 8:30 a couple nights a week. Many of the students worked full-time jobs before coming to class, and it was such an entertaining group. There was a lot of laughter (probably delirious from late night schoolwork) and some really great connections with the class. They made my first semester less pressure-filled and so joyful.

Q: Who gave you the best advice you ever received?

A: Not a particular person, but stoic philosophy in general has imparted one key lesson on me – worry only about what you can control. If you cannot control an event or outcome, stressing about it will not help you. Do everything you can about what you can control, and with the rest – que sera sera, whatever will be, will be.

Q: What advice do you have for new students?

A: Immerse yourself in everything that the college experience has to offer. You’re only at OC for a limited amount of time, and you’ll miss it once you are done. Try it all. Get into clubs or competitions, volunteer, meet other students (just say hi and ask them a question and you’re off and running). There are endless possibilities.

Q: Why do you think people should study Business?

A: In business, you develop very tangible and useful skills that will help you in your future careers. The things you can do with a business degree are vast – all kinds of organizations doing different, exciting things will need businesspeople to help steer the ship. You can use your business degree to help not-for-profits as a volunteer, start your own small business, work your way up at a large corporation, etc. It’s so flexible. 

Q: If you could go back in time, is there anything you would do differently?

A: Believe it or not, I would have spent more time on campus while doing my degree. I wish I had done more of my studying on campus, engaged in more events, and made more connections with other students in my classes. These people will become your friends and your business network once you graduate!

Q: Where are you the happiest?

A: With my wife and friends at our dinner table, having drinks, sharing stories and talking.