Q & A with Jo Hurley

Tell us a little bit about your personal life
“I grew up on the Central Coast and now live on the beautiful Gold Coast with my four children. There is a huge range in age with the eldest being 20 and the youngest only 4, so they definitely keep life interesting! I love all kinds of music, particularly live music, and I have a pretty cool collection of cars which I love driving on weekends.”

What are some causes you care about?
“My heart melts for any charity relating to children or the fight against cancer. And of course I have a personal passion for encouraging people to save for their retirement and old age – particularly women and self employed people, who tend to put themselves last.”

 How would you describe yourself in three words?
“I’m a learner, a listener and I love what I do.”

Can you tell us a bit more about your professional life?
“I am a professional speaker, consultant and non-executive director with over two decades of professional experience across the finance and not-for-profit sectors. My strengths are in the SMSF, superannuation, audit and accounting industries. 

What are your current business pursuits?
”In addition to my professional career, I’m a proud registered marriage celebrant and perform weddings all over Australia.
I will always be an entrepreneur at heart, so I’m constantly looking for opportunities that involve using technology to transform traditional industries.”

Can you tell us about your proudest career moment?
“Founding start-up ENGAGE and growing the business to achieve a successful sale to Deloitte in 2015.”

Have you won any awards?
“I was named the 2011 Telstra Australian Young Business Woman of the Year and have also won Women in Finance “Woman of the Year”, Innovator, Accountant, Auditor and SMSF excellence awards in 2017.”

What is your educational background?
“I am the very definition of a lifelong learner! I’m always studying something, so I’m currently enrolled at Griffith university on the Gold Coast. My degree is brand new - Bachelor of Intelligent Digital Technologies - I couldn’t have chosen a more relevant degree for learning about our future world. I’ve already obtained a number of qualifications, including a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting), Chartered Accountant (CA), Accredited SMSF Adviser and Auditor qualifications, a Professional Certificate in Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) and more. My academic efforts have resulted in being inducted into the Golden Key International Honor Society. In 2018 I successfully completed the AICD Company Directors Course.”

What is your favorite piece of advice?
“Say YES and keep saying yes until it becomes who you are.
The reality is, if you want people to say yes to you, you need to be someone who says yes often.
The only difference between the leader on stage and you, is that they said yes over and over and over again, and eventually they rose to the top.”