My career started as an accountant with a small Latvian bank. After a year I received an offer from PwC, which was then looking for people with an understanding of banking. This was a great opportunity for me to work with an international organisation, giving enormous potential for personal development. I think it was one the best decisions I have ever made in my life.
I worked for PwC and then Deloitte for 14 years but, following the financial crisis of 2008, I went on to manage a financial restructuring department for a Latvian bank. In 2011 I decided to set up my own consulting and accounting practice, which evolved into the current firm, Vilson. In the near future, we are hoping for the next step in our development, which is to become a full member of Moore Global network.
There is no space to operate by issuing orders in some kind of command-and-control mode
I was out of my comfort zone and deep in challenging times when I was appointed as the interim CEO for a Latvian a food trading company. This was a start-up that had run out of funds and eventually was forced to close down. Heading the bank’s financial restructuring unit was not easy as my responsibility was to lead the team assessing the financial health of the clients who weren’t meeting their debt service payments, while also finding mutually acceptable solutions and facilitating the recovery of the bank’s funds.
What is different about my current role is that I am one of three partners in a small partnership, which means that most of decisions need to be made on a consensus basis. There is no space to operate by issuing orders in some kind of command-and-control mode.
As with many other European countries, Latvia is facing a declining and ageing population, which creates constraints on our labour market and will put pressure on our pension system and government revenues. However, there is strong opposition against immigration and up to now we have not really learned how to integrate foreign-born people into our society. Despite this, the country is a popular destination for foreign investments, with many international companies moving their production and services centres to Latvia, and we have seen a growing number of Latvian companies expanding into international markets. Therefore, I firmly believe that our nation will find the way to deal with the current challenges as it has succeeded in doing so before.
For a small nation like Latvia, it is fascinating to see how our businesses can compete internationally across a variety of industries, especially pharmaceuticals, wood and metal products, financial services, IT and consumer services.
If I had law-making powers, I would like to create a more demanding education system, which would facilitate learning and development for our new generation. I believe this is the foundation of success going into our future, just as it has been in the past.
My favourite quote comes from Yoda: ‘Do or do not. There is no try’
I like that my job has a clear link between my efforts and the positive outcomes that our clients achieve. I enjoy working across a wide variety of perspectives and businesses, which facilitates personal development and challenges me to find solutions, some of which have not been tried before.
My favourite quote comes from Yoda: ‘Do or do not. There is no try.’
If I wasn’t in accounting, I think I would be a banker. I have had changing roles between these two sectors and find them both interesting.
Travel is my main hobby. Every year we have a family trip for three weeks across Europe to explore new places. Last year we covered parts of France, Germany and the Czech Republic.
