Let me tell you a secret about me, but please do not tell anyone: when I was young and was finishing up school to go to high school, my teachers spoke to my parents and told them that they were giving me negative reports in calculations & math, because they had concluded that I could not calculate. During my high school years, I therefore tried to avoid economics and math as much as I could as I believed this was just not for me.
I arrived at Glion and, not surprisingly, failed the initial math test, so I needed to take extra math class. My professor at the time, Mr. Padovani, showed me I could do math and I passed with a 9 on the subject! He made me see that I can do math, I can calculate, I can do finance and I was even starting to like this logical stuff!
I also realized that no-one was ever going to tell me I could not do anything ever again in my career. I am a qualified management accountant now, I have over 5 years of experience in finance of big hotel brands and I finished Glion with a Bachelor in Hospitality & Finance Degree – with merit even! So, take it from me: if I can do it, you can!
In any company you work for in the future, whether it is a hotel chain, an individual hotel, a restaurant or any other type of business, it is always beneficial to learn and know about finance. The best advice I have ever been given is: “knowledge is power.” Every business in the world has a purpose and in order to understand your business and especially lead it, you will need to understand what finance is.
Many people say that finance is boring or complicated but it is not. It is easy and any one can understand the basics. You don’t believe me, do you? I know when you are reading your accounting books or hearing about numbers you may be thinking: this is just not for me. I am not good at this. But what you are forgetting is that it is not textbook material, it is real life and the numbers are just there to tell you a story. If you can read numbers, like you read a book, you can understand the story the business is telling you. Maybe you want to become a General Manager or own your own business one day? In any type of leadership position it will give you an advantage if you understand the basics of finance and numbers. So my advice: better start now!
I believe that if you start to think finance is fun, you will make more of an effort in learning accounting and finance at a later stage. You will take the time to concentrate in classes and you will realize it is not that hard. Each time you do not understand something, think about real life. Ask what makes most sense and what am I trying to figure out?
Still having problems? I will keep blogging to you until you like it. And if there is anything you do not understand from my blog in the future (or your accounting class), or if you just want to give me some comments and let me know what you think, do not hesitate to pop me an e-mail on lisafabriek@gmail.com and maybe I can help to make finance more fun and interesting!
