Seven years you say? Well jeepers can you believe that. The legendary Mick and Shane have been on board here at Illumin8 for that long now, so we thought we’d chat to them about their respective journeys through the accounting world, where they started, to where they are now and everything in between!
So stay tuned, these are their stories...(insert law and order intro music with the cool guitar noise and the *duh duh*)
Seven years is a heck of a long time at a job. Long service leave long really (booyah but don’t leave us on holidays too quick please).
Both Mick and Shane joined Illumin8 on January 16, 2017 and since then, have learned tons of new tech things, helped clients through a global pandemic, helped sell businesses and also enable clients to know their businesses better than ever before.
Alright, where did they start you ask and why accounting?
Mick actually started his accounting journey while finishing his business degree. He was able to nab a job at Fairway Group in Sandringham as a youngster (while also working his three other jobs at Mitre 10, Subway and the post office) Mick...pick a lane!
So he did! He decided to jump on at Fairway full time and hone his accounting skillset and management style, leading the accounting team within the first four years of his career there. He was a wunderkind this bloke.
As for Shane, well he took a different lane. Describing his ATAR score as “s***” Shane took a different route to obtain his Bachelor of Business where he majored in accounting.
In typical Shane fashion, this saw him smash out a 12-week math’s course in just 6, fly to Brisbane to do the exam, fly home, and then in a matter of days jump into his new course as a second-year student. Yeah, the young man is good!
Once he finished his degree, he started out at Wootton’s Accountants in Mornington where he spent time working as a junior accountant before his other passion, the world of tech, started to take hold and the paper document dominant world began to get on his nerve.
So, when his now fiancé Sophie saw that Illumin8 was a thing, she encouraged him to reach out to Andrew, so he did (and we’re so glad he did!)
Despite Illumin8 not hiring at the time, they saw the absolute asset (pun intended) Shane would be to the team and he came on board as a junior accountant and unofficial tech wizard in 2017.
Since then, Shane has been incredibly integral in helping lots of our clients automate their business, utilise new tech and have things set up correctly to allow them to do more of what they love, instead of spending countless hours manually processing docs or numbers! How good.
With seven years being a long time in the one industry, the duo have seen some change in the way they present numbers and achieve results for clients, but what hasn’t changed is what’s been at the core for both for years on end.
This industry is all about people and trust.
For Mick and Shane, it always has been. They wouldn’t be with us still if it wasn’t for the great people they get to work with, not only in the office, but our clients as well, who allow them to work closely and advise on their business, which genuinely is their livelihood.
Some of the prouder moments they both mentioned they have had during their time related back to just that, people, trust and problem solving.
Getting down to business with clients who needed something solved, making a decision and then looking back 18 months later to the decision they made and seeing the benefits of that for our clients who continue to show their appreciation for the work done to this day.
Oh yeah, and that time they got a slinky to go all the way down the stairs at Mt Eliza (there was even a platform in the middle, it was a whole thing), was also one of their prouder moments as a duo too.
It’s those little memories that continue to hammer home that while Illumin8 gets it done in the “tick the boxes, get the work done for clients” area, as well as the fun and vibe that the crew brings every day. It comes from the top down, that’s from Mick and Shane themselves (and the other leadership crew as well!)
Over their seven years, they’ve managed to not only build working relationships, but genuine friendships with the clients we work with, which is something that can be a rarity in the world we work in. It’s a testament to their devotion and genuine care for the people they work with, both in the office and outside of it.
Mick has gone from leading a small team in 2017 to now being a director of the business and leading a large portion of the crew, while Shane has also moved into a management role leading our admin team, while also continuing to pioneer new tech and processes that we can pass down to our clients and beyond.
Illumin8 are so bloody lucky to have had Shane and Mick on board with us for seven years, it’s been a wild ride so far and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Congrats on seven years here legends, here’s to seven more (and a few more pub lunches!) 🍻
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