Block-Ajmere Dale (Long Post)

[jaahmuhl]

Raw Content: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1p8aPeWSERD8uwbNeXrBK-JI8zm_KXs-T?usp=sharing

[jaahmuhl]

Transcript: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/YyFRkS-gPWtaAqkNy1dJ6Pi5lG1qJNyBfJi35ZdnuQKF19H84WkrvnEdso7p9fFJEt9ZPwuB1rPhZS7gST5SUmnPRLk?loadFrom=SharedLink

[howie-emond]

Cuts

Before 00:23 After 46:51

Opening Clip

Q: 06:14-06:34 (from “do you think”) A: 07:08-07:47 (from “my philosophy”) (59s)

Hello hello everyone  (EXCITED AND WITH ENERGY) welcome back to Office Hours. A show about how to make a successful jump from college to young professional life. We know that landing your first job can often be an intimidating, complicated and stressful process, but its not impossible! (UP ENERGRY) And we’re here to help by giving you acccess to some of the brightest minds in business to get their advice for how to build a successful career. Take what you can (short pause), pick what you like and listen for that stroke of brilliance that you can use to help you get hired. I'm Howie Emond and on teh show today, Ajmere Dale, Chief Accounting Officer at Block. From Engineering to Accounting, he's seen it all and he's mastered it all.

(Transition)

The STEM disciplines offer a wide variety of career opportunities from hands-on work to executive management. They struggle for most is figuring out exactly what they want to do with their careers, a challenge many professionals still haven’t figured out yet. However, the problem may just be how that issue is viewed, maybe it doesn’t require an answer at all. Ajmere has taken a “keeping doors open” philosophy through his journey, and it’s given him opportunities he’d otherwise have missed. His words on how one can move around, move up, figure out an organization, and the inter-workings of modern accounting shed some much needed light on the industry.

Growing up interested in STEM, his path was laid out for him. Study engineering and get a career in engineering. As a graduate of Imperial College London with a Masters in Electric and Electronic Engineering, accounting was an unlikely destination for his career, yet today he fills a C-suite roll for exactly that. His interest in management developed alongside his engineering, and he learned the ropes in both disciplines. This mentality of learning more to maximize potential opportunities is something which has helped propel him exponentially. His entrance to accounting? Yep. He says it was a change for him to learn more and explore something new, and his development turned into mastery again, and the new field took over his career. A few company jumps and a move to California later, and now he’s Chief Accounting Officer at Block.

The role of Chief Accounting Officer is relatively straight forward, in description at least. The position takes care of a company’s financial accounts, spending and cost management, auditing and reporting, and other financial business decisions. However, the nature of the business world is evolving, and this role along with it. He mentions the variability in the field right now, using cryptocurrency as an example. Not more than a few years ago, crypto was more or less irrelevant in the business world, yet right now its one of the hottest topics out there. Being in a position that deals with massive financial risk, the new dynamic nature of the space makes the role even more interesting, especially in a financially based organization. Block, formerly known as Square, provides transaction services to small and medium businesses at its core. However, they have a variety of systems which most are pretty familiar with like Cash App, AfterPay, Weebly, and Tidal streaming. The firm today is home to over 5,000 employees, and posted 17.6 Billion in revenue for 2021, nearly doubling 2020 and more than quadrupling the year prior. Ajmere describes the company as an “ecosystem of start-ups”, adding to the dynamic nature of his position.

This interview explores a variety of topics from succeeding off the bat in your new career to the inter-workings of modern accounting. We dive into the significant growth of the company, as well as how students can prepare for the dynamic industry they’ve seemed to master. You never know, Ajmere’s advice could change your perspective on your career path. We keep all our doors open in this discussion, lets get started…

[howie-emond]

CAPTION

Often when you think of someone who is doing a STEM major you think engineer. However a STEM degree doesn’t have to have such a narrow path. During this interview, we discuss how you can navigate different career experiences and significant pivots with Ajmere Dale, Chief Accounting Officer at Block. He as you might of guessed started out as an engineer and ended up as an accountant. Where will your journey take you?

[jaahmuhl]

Cuts

Before 00:23 After 46:51

Opening Clip

06:37-07:47 (59s)

Hello hello everyone  (EXCITED AND WITH ENERGY) welcome back to Office Hours. A show about how to make a successful jump from college to young professional life. We know that landing your first job can often be an intimidating, complicated and stressful process, but its not impossible! (UP ENERGRY) And we’re here to help by giving you acccess to some of the brightest minds in business to get their advice for how to build a successful career. Take what you can (short pause), pick what you like and listen for that stroke of brilliance that you can use to help you get hired.

I'm your host Brett Hummel and on the show today we have Ajmere Dale the Chief Accounting Officer at Block. Ajmere is a bit of a jack of all trades starting in Engineering and moving into Accounting, he's seen it all and its a fascinating ride.

(Transition) Many young professionals struggle to figure out exactly what they want to do with their careers. However, the problem may just be how that issue is viewed, because maybe it doesn’t require an answer at all. Ajmere Dale has taken a “keeping doors open” philosophy through his journey, and it’s given him opportunities he’d otherwise have missed. His words on how one can move around, move up, figure out an organization, and the inner-workings of modern accounting shed some much needed perspective on how there are many opportunities for graduates in this field.

Growing up interested in a career in STEM, his path was seemingly laid out for him. Study engineering and get a job as an engineer. As a graduate of Imperial College London with a Masters in Electric and Electronic Engineering, accounting was an unlikely destination for his career, yet today he fills a C-suite roll for exactly that. His mentality of seeking ways to learn more so he could maximize potential opportunities is something which has helped propel him throughout his career. Which is what brings us to his pivot to accounting. As Ajmere describes it, it was a chance for him to learn more and explore something new, and along the way he found that he liked it so much that he made it his permanent career track.

The role of Chief Accounting Officer is relatively straight forward, in the description at least. The position takes care of a company’s financial accounts, spending and cost management, auditing and reporting, and other financial business decisions. However, the nature of the business world is evolving, and this role along with it. Ajmere mentions the variability in the field right now, using cryptocurrency as an example. Only a few years ago, crypto was more or less irrelevant in the business world, yet right now its one of the hottest topics out there and he has a front row view. Being in this position, he has to deal with massive financial risk and the new, dynamic world of crypto makes the role even more interesting. Block, formerly known as Square, revolutionized transaction services to small and medium businesses at its core and was founded by Jack Dorsey who also started a small company called Twitter. Ajmere describes the company as an “ecosystem of start-ups”, which is another reason he loves his position. The firm today is home to over 5,000 employees, and posted 17.6 Billion in revenue for 2021, nearly doubling 2020 and more than quadrupling the year prior.

During our discussion today we'll explores a variety of topics from how to increase your chances of succeeding in your new career to how students can prepare for dynamic industries of the future. We like Ajmere keep all the doors open in this discussion, so lets get started…

[jaahmuhl]

@howie-emond can you record the intro for this?

[howie-emond]

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1GRYazTQ2CjzL-GYCfHfrmhqqtcjReNHs

mp3 and m4a, 2 parts!