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16 CERTIFIED MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT

Tell me about yourself, what “ your career so far?
kind of person are you? I managed to find a balance of being
I am a strong, passionate, and As a woman, the happy as a mom and managing the
compassionate individual who believes biggest challenge career. The fact that my kids have turned
in doing the right thing. out to be amazing human beings is the
in the society was biggest highpoint. The credit again
Where did you grow up? What having a strong goes to the organisation for having the
was your ambition in school? personality and courage to say that families matter, and
What part did games play? that finding that balance was left to the
How did you end up with a being straight which employee
professional qualification? is generally not After all this success, what do
My parents were from Jaffna and I accepted or tough to you struggle with now?
was born and bred in Colombo. Back
then my mother was the person who accept in terms of a This is a job. For me, the impact of
supported the family as my father lost female persona. COVID-19 on loved ones who live in
his job when I was four years old. I different countries and not being able
had a strong mother who encouraged to see my kids who are overseas is
me to pursue my passion and always at encouraged and supported me in my what I currently struggle with. Success
stressed the importance of having education. As a result, I did CIMA and does not mean anything here.
a good education. I studied at Holy qualified as a Chartered Management
Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, where Accountant when I was 22 years old. How would you describe the
I participated in many sports activities company culture here?
including athletics, netball, basketball What were some of the
etc. When I was doing my O/L’s, I was difficulties you faced in your For us, your family always comes first.
in the Tamil class, and during the 1983 We also have a very inclusive culture at
riots, 38 out of 40 students in my class professional career? Hemas where we respect and support
went back to Jaffna and some migrated I needed to be confident enough to each other, and allow diverse talents to
to Australia and other countries. In be myself and own my space. It was grow.
such a backdrop, for my A/L my school crucial that my team understood and
even created a math class in English accepted my leadership style, and I When you began your career
medium for me, because they did not had to ensure that a fine balance was many years ago, did you ever
want me to leave as I was valuable to maintained between the two. I had to imagine that you would be a
them. Early in life I learnt that if you also let go of what I am good at to be Group CEO of a company?
were valuable to people around you, able to focus on new skills that I needed
they would accommodate your needs to learn and develop. No. When I started my career many
and adjust to make you succeed. years ago, it was not about a title.
During school, I captained the netball How did you end up as Group From early on I had this mindset where
and basketball teams, and was the CEO of Hemas? whatever the job I did, I was determined
Games Captain. This allowed me to to do it well. I wanted to do well and be
hone my leadership skills. I did my Hemas is an organisation that is gender- able to provide for my kids.
A/L’s in 1987 and took double math, blind and it believes in finding the right
physics, and chemistry, as I wanted to person for a particular role be it male or Describe one of your biggest
become an Engineer. However, within female. It is also an organisation which failures. What lessons did you
one week of leaving school, I got a job believes that families matter. Being learn and how did it contribute
at an audit firm. Actually, it was not a part of such a Group gave me the to a greater success?
for work but to play netball, because courage to take on different roles while
they were the A Division Champions also spurring my passion to work with I believe some of the investments
then. I have a principle that whatever teams, and to push and inspire them. made in the transportation sector. I
I do, I want to learn it well and do it When your team succeeds, it opens learnt that you should never undermine
well. Even in my studies I would push doors for the leaders. I was able to the role cultural differences play when
to be in the top 3 in my class. When bring out the best in me since I knew I establishing partnerships.
I joined the audit firm, I made sure I had the permission to be a mom and be
learnt everything related to the basics there for my kids without apologising to What has been your proudest moment
in auditing. Even though I was able to anyone. during your corporate journey? Also, tell
enter the University of Colombo to do me about a project or accomplishment
Physical Science, I had to say goodbye How do you evaluate your that you consider to be the most
to my tertiary education on the first day success? significant in your career.
itself for fear of being ragged. It was an
added pressure since the only request I measure success by the growth of It was a deal in maritime, where we
my Mum had was that I needed to get people around me and the organisation. were the underdogs. There was so
qualified. However, my head of the much external interference from people
department and the company I worked What has been the highlight of of influence that finally my superiors
told me that if I was not comfortable,
www.cma-srilanka.org | Volume 06 - No. 2 - September 2021