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           Triple threat                                                               up a group that’s dedicated purely
           In leaving KPMG, Ms Janssens                                                to this topic?’
           sought to reconsolidate and take                                              “So, I started out a move that
           stock of her role in the industry,                                          at the time was called Mummy
           leading her to set up Sova                                                  Matters since we were talking
           Financialin 2013.                                                          about money matters for mums
            “It was a combination of things;                                           and just through word of mouth
           my husband and I were planning on                                           within a few months, we grew to
           starting a family so I wanted to have                                       about 300 members including some
           a little bit more control of my work                                        from interstate.”
           schedule but also I was looking                                               Her act proved to be such a
           for what my true passion was and                                            hit that she decided to set up the
           what was the best way I could go                                            business ‘Women with Cents’ in
           about helping people,” explained                                            January 2016.
           MsJanssens.                                                                  “[The Mummy Matters group
            Her experience with clients                                                meet-ups] were quite popular to the
           getting lost between conversations                                          point where I was getting requests
           with accountants, brokers, and                                              from women who were interstate,
           advisers motivated her to unify                                             asking how they could access this
           those three services under one                                              and this included women who
           “holistic advicepractice”.                                                 weren’t mums and that’s sort of
            “Through Sova Financial I                                                  how it evolved and how Women
           maintained my accounting licence                                            with Cents came to be,” she adds.
           and also became a licensed  nancial                                          “I decided to start up a proper
           planner and mortgage broker                                                 business and a proper brand for
           basically so I could help families                                          it and to take the workshops that
           navigate through the whole process                                          Iwas doing and take them all
           and be able to liaise with one person                                       online so we could reach as many
           instead of getting caught in the                                            women as possible and not be
           regulation trap,” said MsJanssens.                                         restricted by geography.”
            “It’d be so much easier if I                                                 Just under two years later,
           couldhave that conversation                                                Women with Cents now has over
           with them end-to-end and take                                               7,000 women subscribed, with her
           everything into account.”                                                   online delivery of podcasts and 12-
            As she went about building                                                 week courses allowing her business
           her business from the ground up,                                            to grow outside of Canberra.
           MsJanssens became pregnant with
           her  rst child, “as luck would have it”.                                   An accounting focus
            With baby boy Nicholas in tow                                              Despite juggling two hats as director
           and a budding business ahead of                                             of Sova Financial and founder of
           her, Ms Janssens’ entrepreneurial                                           Women with Cents, MsJanssens
           instinct picked up on yet another                                           has kept her accounting feet  rmly
           business opportunity.                                                       planted on ground and predicts her
            “When my son was born I                                                     rm’s model will be emulated in
           discovered Facebook groups                                                  time to come.
           where mothers were doing a lot of                                             “I think it’s already moving that
           networking online and there was                                             way to a larger extent, with all
           a Facebook group for pretty much                                            the recent changes in regulations
           every topic that you could think of                                         about what accountants can or
           but there was nothing really much in                                        can’t advise on with regards to
           relation to  nance,” said Ms Janssens.                                     super, that has already moved a
            “I saw that these mothers were                                             lot of accounting practices to get
           turning to those Facebook groups                                            a  nancial planning licence,” said
           and seeking  nancial advice and                                            MsJanssens.
           guidance, and so in consultation                                              “Looking at the industry as a
           with them I said ‘why don’t we set                                          whole, there are more and more



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           52     October / November 2017October / November 2017                                           pubacct.org.auubacct.org.au



      P050_ Member Profile Natasha.indd   52                                                                  25/09/2017   16:02:52
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