Off Ledger

In this episode, Mitch Hahn, CEO and Growth Director at Nordens, shares how he went from signing a football scholarship at 16 to leading an 80-strong accountancy firm. He opens up about falling into accounting by accident, the founder who gave him the freedom to keep chasing football and saw a business developer he couldn’t yet see in himself, and putting his hand up to become CEO without knowing what the job really involved, just before COVID hit. Honest, considered and full of hard-won wisdom for anyone navigating their way to the top of a firm.Watch more episodes from Off Ledger Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQSiFIz0D3vQ

In this episode, Alex Falcon Huerta, founder and CEO of Soaring Falcon, shares a story shaped by real hardship, from a difficult childhood and homelessness at 16 to qualifying as an accountant two months after losing her mother, right before her ACCA finals. She opens up about building one of the UK's earliest fully digital, paperless accounting practices, becoming a genuine digital nomad long before it was fashionable, and why she's now backing a new venture, Accountant in Bedford, ahead of Universal Studios' arrival in the town. Honest, considered and full of hard-won wisdom for anyone navigating their way to the top of a firm.

In this episode, Grace Hardy, founder of Hardy Accounting and the first female accountancy firm owner in the UK to make the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, shares how a rainy season in Bali derailed her travel plans and accidentally launched her career, why she left networking events behind for TikTok and Instagram, and how she turned trolls, bullying, and dyslexia into fuel rather than obstacles. She opens up about lobbying for financial education reform, launching her own fintech after government funding fell through, and the simple question she asks herself in every difficult moment: what would a man do? Honest, considered and full of hard-won wisdom for anyone navigating their way to the top of a firm.

In this episode, John Toon, Group CTO and Head of Technology at HLB International, shares his unlikely route into accounting, from years spent as a sailing instructor and water sports guide across the UK, France and beyond, to turning down a well-paid job running a watersports centre in Ireland for an £8,000-a-year training contract. He opens up about hoovering up knowledge across every specialism he could find, the self-doubt that still creeps in years after a decision, and why he's never had a five-year plan and doesn't think you need one either. Honest, considered and full of hard-won wisdom for anyone navigating their way to the top of a firm.

In this episode, Julie Falczewska, Managing Director of Maslins in Tunbridge Wells, shares how she moved to the UK from Ukraine barely speaking English, spent three years writing to the same accountancy firm before they finally said yes, and worked her way from trainee to the top of the firm she qualified with. She opens up about the leadership books that got her through, why she still doesn't believe she has fully shaken imposter syndrome, and the moment her own team drew her picture as the leader they most admired. Honest, considered and full of hard-won wisdom for anyone navigating their way to the top of a firm.