[light music]
Rachel Gervais:
Hello, everyone. My name is Rachel Gervais, managing partner of the tax service line here at BDO and part of our executive leadership team. Today I have the honor and privilege of interviewing our fantastic partner Shilpa Mishra.
She's recently been honored with WXN's Top 100 most powerful Women in Canada. Shilpa is a partner and the national leader of our Capital Advisory practice. But beyond her technical expertise in finance and corporate advisory, she is a strong empower of all things women in business.
She's the leader of our Women Driving Growth initiative, a completely women-led advisory practice focusing on empowering women leaders in business. She's also the champion of our Accelerate Her: Women's Leadership Summit. And last but not least, she hosts and produces the phenomenal podcast Mid-Day Money.
So today I have the pleasure and honor of interviewing Shilpa.
Welcome, Shilpa, and congratulations.
Shilpa Mishra:
Thank you, Rachel. Thank you for those kind words.
Rachel Gervais:
So let's get started on some questions. This is obviously a very, very big honor. Talk to us a little bit about what this means to you.
Shilpa Mishra:
So, Rachel, it's an honor and it's a privilege to be part of this incredible list of women leaders. Before I talk about what it means to be, maybe I can tell you a little bit about these.
Rachel Gervais:
Sure.
Shilpa Mishra:
So the WXN top 100 is like the Oscars for women in business in Canada. It celebrates the remarkable achievement of women leaders across all industries and in Canada. And it is a truly special award, because it also acknowledges the incredible work that these outstanding leaders do in their community.
The award is especially exciting to me, because this year I've been recognized in the professional category, which is all about the great work that myself and BDO Canada do every day in capital markets and corporate finance with our clients. But the award is also about the fantastic work that we've all done here at BDO to elevate our women clients, help them grow their businesses, and help them along in their leadership journey.
Rachel Gervais:
That's spectacular, Shilpa. We couldn't be more proud. So that's amazing.
So, Shilpa, talk to us a little bit about your journey leading up to this recognition.
Shilpa Mishra:
So I am a CPA from an accounting firm. And I started my career there, spent a large part of my career at that firm in consulting, advisory, corporate restructuring, corporate finance. But then I moved on to the large Canadian banks, and I spent a large part of my career there in various functions like treasury, strategy, corporate lending, and corporate finance.
But there's another part of my life that I'm very proud of. I took time out of my career for a number of years, and I stepped back from my career to be with my family and help them in caregiving responsibilities for my niece.
So of course now I'm back full-time working with all of us here to grow our business in BDO Canada. So I feel that I've been very fortunate, that I've had the best of both worlds. I've had time with my family and I've had time in my career.
But a big part of my journey, Rachel, and as you said and as everybody knows, is all about championing women, championing our women clients, women-owned businesses, and our women leaders.
Rachel Gervais:
That's amazing. That's amazing.
So Shilpa, a fair bit of your journey here at BDO led us to this award. And a lot of women's initiatives. You are a champion of all things women. So talk to us a little bit about how BDO supports women's initiatives.
Shilpa Mishra:
Yes, so I am so proud to work, you know, at our firm and with the amazing team here at BDO Canada. I would have to say I share this award with our incredible firm and all the great people that I get to work with every day.
BDO has 100% supported me through my journey. They provided me with a platform for us to launch the Mid-Day Money webcast where we get to interview business owners.
They were right there with me as I, along with other BDO leaders, launched the groundbreaking Women Driving Growth initiative, the Accelerate Her webcast, articles and events.
So I'm very proud to work at this incredible firm. I would say we at BDO are fully committed to supporting our women talent.
We have policies, processes, mentorship plans in place to make sure that every day we are elevating our women talent into leadership at senior leadership. And this award is really all about that. So I would say BDO is a big part of this with me, and I'm so excited to see what we're going to do next together.
Rachel Gervais:
There you go. That's excellent, Shilpa.
So Shilpa, this year's theme is around boldness for the award. So do you have some advice for those listening on how can you be bold in your professional journey?
Shilpa Mishra:
I love that the theme this year is being bold and bold women. And it's exciting to be interviewed by a fellow bold person.
For me, being bold is really about being a strong corporate finance capital markets professional, always out there advocating for my clients with their strategy and their story at the center of everything that I do. Being bold for me is also about staying true to my values. I have always gone through my career staying true to who I am. But ultimately, being bold is about keeping the goal in mind and navigating the day-to-day to get to the end of the journey.
But let's keep being bold and see what we're going to do next.
Rachel Gervais:
That's excellent, Shilpa.
Well, BDO could not be more proud of you and all of your achievements. I can't wait to see what comes next.
Shilpa Mishra:
Thank you, Rachel.