She followed the numbers

Chandra Henry found her career direction in an unexpected place: an accounting class.

Henry first came to the University of Calgary planning to pursue law, but that changed when an accounting professor’s enthusiasm for the subject made her stop and reconsider.

“I was always a very numbers-driven individual. Numbers just always seemed to make sense to me,” she says.

“After that class, I decided to go the chartered accounting route instead of law. I’m very thankful I did.”

Today, Henry is CFO and chief compliance officer at Longbow Capital Inc., a Calgary-based private equity firm.

The skills she developed through accounting have followed her throughout her career. Henry says accounting taught her how to analyze, question and interpret financial information – skills useful in everything from corporate finance to entrepreneurship.

They have also helped her move into leadership roles.

“Those skills have allowed me to pivot in my professional career and has allowed me to step into leadership roles where financial discipline has been very key,” she says.

Building trust through numbers

Financial expertise has brought something else that Henry values: trust.

“When people know that you will bring discipline and fairness to the situation at hand, that is something that I find very rewarding,” she says.

That trust is particularly useful in Henry’s current work with companies developing new approaches to energy production. The sector is changing quickly as demand for energy grows and companies look for ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

Helping those companies move new products forward is part of what Henry says she enjoys about her work.

“It’s exciting to be at the forefront of that,” she says. “It’s exciting to support those companies, develop those products, and help them bring those products to market.”

Be ready to pivot

For students considering a career in finance or leadership, Henry has a simple piece of advice: do not wait until you feel completely ready.

“Great leaders take that leap of faith before they know all the answers,” she says.

The same idea applies to accounting. Henry sees the profession as a way to understand what is happening behind the numbers on a financial statement.

“Every number on a financial statement reflects a decision that has been made – a decision to invest, to save, to take a risk, to expand the business operation,” she says.