16 | Acquisition International, Global CFO Excellence Awards 2024 Feminine Fashion CFO of the Year 2024 (Australia): Brett Graham ince joining Australian feminine fashion brand Dissh more than a year ago, CFO Brett Graham has helped the company traverse the difficult financial landscape that any business must cross. In just his first year on the job, Brett oversaw its very first financial audit, the sale of its minority shares to BBRC, and the preparing of financial systems that were robust enough for this brand - which was established back in 2001 by current CEO and Creative Director Lucy Henry-Hicks’ mum - to undergo hypergrowth on the international market. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Brett has excelled in this role over the past 13 months or so, all from a background in tech and resources no less. Telling us more about his career journey so far, Brett explains, “I originally started in financial accounting, but the bulk of my career has been in financial planning and analysis in both London and Paris.” His prior experience in this field is the primary reason why Brett was able to secure this fashion CFO position, a role that is becoming increasingly commercial across this landscape. Brett tells us: “Gone are the days of simply being the expert when it comes to accounting standards. Today, the onus is on the CFO and the finance team to contribute across the operational and commercial teams on a daily basis.” He continues, “within finance, business partnering is as critical as the controllership function.” Things do not end here however, and aside from thinking and acting commercially, it is necessary for somebody in this position to be able to engage well with an array of diverse personalities. It is somewhat of a tired cliché to imagine a company’s finance team tucked away in a corner somewhere, introverted and reluctant to partake in the broader operations of a business. This is certainly not the case anymore, particularly at Dissh, where its high-performing finance team strike the balance between introverted and extroverted, with members from both of these camps being represented equally. For Brett, these extroverts, or at least people who are willing to act as such, need embed themselves in every level of a business, finance included. With such a broad knowledge encompassing many of the broader aspects of business, it is no surprise that the leadership style favoured by Brett is modelled on the approach coined by Brene Brown, albeit with a few unique elements thrown in for good measure. Favouring a cool, calm, and collected line across the board, particularly at times of high stress, Brett is immensely proud of the fact that he has not seen a single angry face throughout any of the Dissh executive team meetings during his time with the company so far. Textbook conduct such as this inevitably rubs off on colleagues, who see this behaviour and follow it for themselves. What helps is that everyone who works for Dissh truly prides themselves on doing so, and over the course of his career, Brett has neither seen nor read about any business with as many people having worked there for more than a decade. As for his leadership methods when it comes to the finance team specifically, trust is the defining element, and something that Brett deploys wholeheartedly across every team member. You don’t need to be a genius to do well in business. Most successful businesspeople will tell you that it is mostly about hard work and luck. With such a remarkable business culture in tow, Dissh can put all of its energy into what truly matters for any business. The product. Even coming from a software-oriented background where the focus was on the customer and the product in equal measure, this idea of the product remaining at the centre is largely the same for almost all retailbased businesses, regardless of what they sell. If it is not, then something is probably not being done correctly. On the back of this commitment, Dissh has defied all odds over what has been a challenging few years globally and has attracted double-digit growth year after year. Such unprecedented growth has even caught the eye of some of the most senior investors operating in this space, like the man who is perhaps Australia’s most prominent and successful retail investor, Brett Blundy. Much of the growth that the brand has achieved in the 23 years since it launched has been down to the remarkable women who run most of the areas of the business. Many of these senior positions are filled by decades of experience and sheer talent, pioneering businesswomen who have grown the brand effectively thanks to a robust product and marketing strategy that is widely seen as one of the best across Australia. Marketing a product that is equal parts luxury and affordable, the gold standard that most retailers are striving for, may be a tough nut to crack, but it is proving a fruitful strategy for this female-owned feminine clothing brand. Brett hits the nail on the head when he puts it like this: “People don’t survive off of our products, so it is solely up to us to make them want our products.” Since we are in unprecedented times on a global scale, spending has slowed right down, making discretionary retail one of the toughest sectors to operate in. Whilst this brings with it a heap of challenges, it also opens the door for new and exciting opportunities. For Brett, “the big opportunity for retailers right now is that there isn’t a prosperity wave to ride, which means if you have a great product, you are already beating those that don’t and heavily rely on volumes and positive economic conditions.” Dissh’s products certainly are great, and this is why it is helping to pave the way for like-minded retailers across this dynamic sector. Although Dissh works incredibly hard to steer clear of clichés for the most part, Brett Female-founded Australian clothing brand Dissh is a Sydney-based fashion label that today possesses eight physical stores dotted across Australia and a strong presence in both its home country and the US through its online channels. Earning most of its revenue through these online avenues, the company’s customer base is predominantly comprised of women in search of sustainable clothing that is designed in-house and can make them look and feel great. Having come in later on as the company’s first CFO, Brett Graham is playing a vital role in shaping this growing brand’s success. S ” “
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