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The corporate headquarters of Bend All Automotive may have been a mere 30-minute drive from KPMG\\u2019s offices in Waterloo, Ontario\\u2014but Melissa Howatson had to put in a 6-year career investment at the accounting house before she came to realize that it was time to go the distance.

Not unlike those of many of her peers, Howatson\\u2019s years in public accounting were laden with mentorship generously supplied by a partner (and a number of senior managers). KPMG was an enviable launchpad populated by many professionals who remain in Howatson\\u2019s life today, as she explains when we make inquiries to better understand the motivations and choices made by this future CFO.\\xa0

When Howatson arrived inside Bend All\\u2019s corporate offices in late 1999, she used the preferred door-of-entry for accountants far and wide: controllership.\\xa0She would have a lengthy tenure there (10 years), which leads us to prod her in hope of better exposing what she perceives to be the return on this career-years investment.

In the early 2000s, it seems, auto parts manufacturer Bend All may well have had traditional expectations for whoever filled the role of controller that didn\\u2019t necessarily include undertaking menu of strategic finance initiatives.\\xa0

Looking back, Howatson tells us that she now wishes that she perhaps had been \\u201cmore deliberate\\u201d when it came to acquiring financial planning and analysis experience during the early years of her career. Still, she lets us know that she satisfied her growing appetite for financial insight by tapping finance expertise that resided with professionals outside Bend All\\u2019s existing accounting and finance functions.

\\u201cWe had a very strong engineering leader who was very financially astute, so I would really lean in to try to understand how his part of the business worked,\\u201d recalls Howatson, who notes that she eventually sought to build her own \\u201ctight\\u201d network of professionals across the company.

\\u201cI had to build my own network in order understand how the key inputs could help me to build a financial plan, but this was something that I really had to learn on my own as I went along,\\u201d she continues. \\xa0

Fast-forward a few years, as Howatson finds herself in a conference room seated alongside Bend All management and a number of bankers. The topic for discussion is the potential sale of the company, and Howatson is expected to participate in a management presentation.

\\u201cThis was when I realized that I needed to practice those skill sets,\\u201d explains Howatson, who reports that although she had never really feared presenting to groups before, the possibility that she\\u2019d be presenting to the future owner of the business presented circumstances altogether different.

She adds: \\u201cWhile our CEO and president covered a lot of\\xa0 the material, I appreciated the chance to present. I was a little nervous, but it did help that I had the confidence of the CEO behind me.\\u201d\\xa0\\u2013Jack Sweeney\\xa0