Leaders of Modern Finance Ep. 9 – An Unpredictable Journey to CFO ft. Kerstin Benden

On this episode of the Leaders of Modern Finance podcast, host Tiffaney Fox Quintana welcomes Kerstin Benden, CFO at Altium Packaging, a packaging solutions provider that delivers customer-centric solutions using leading-edge manufacturing technology.

German Roots

Kerstin considers herself the accidental CFO, because her journey to that position was far from linear or premeditated. She grew up in Germany and became fluent in German, English, French, and Spanish. Her undergrad work was in government and international studies and languages, and she had her sights on working at the United Nations. 

But before that could happen, an opportunity came along in international taxation at a Big Six consulting firm, and she hit the ground running. The professional development she gained in financial and analytical concepts has been a benefit to her for her entire career. 

She started as an administrative assistant to the German and Japanese audit partners at the firm, who appreciated her fluency in multiple languages and her global way of thinking. The company had an international tax group, and one of the accounts was a German automaker. The company offered her the opportunity to move into international taxation because she was fluent in German.

A background in international studies and languages is not a traditional route to working in international tax compliance, but Kerstin jumped in because she believes that almost anything can be learned without traditional study in a university setting. She eventually became the lead on a large account. 

Gaining Credibility

Kerstin eventually decided to get her taxation certification, which is equivalent to a CPA license in taxation. The odds were stacked against her and her colleagues warned her that she was almost certain to fail. It is the kind of certification that people get after getting a four-year degree with some kind of emphasis on taxation.

The exam is in four parts over two days, and in order to pass you have to get a passing grade on all four parts. She passed all four parts on her first attempt. 

Getting that certification brought her instant credibility within the industry. It would also become valuable throughout her career when opportunities would arise or positions would open that had that certification as a requirement.

Being a Rebel

Finance and taxation have always been male-dominated industries, but Kerstin didn’t let that hold her back. In fact, she has always been a bit of a rebel, or as she calls it, “rebel-ish.” She tells the story of working in an office that had a strict dress code, including a rule that women were not allowed to wear pants. She didn’t see any sense in that rule, so without asking permission, she started wearing pantsuits at work. 

She had decided that she needed to define herself on her own terms, and that included not conforming to rules she felt were unnecessarily restrictive. It was, in its own way, a revolutionary move, and it wasn’t long before the other women in the office followed suit. Kerstin didn’t look at it as being difficult, she felt that it projected that she would bring an independent way of thinking to the table.

Reflection and Change

Around five years into her time in global taxation, Kerstin had a moment of reflection where she asked herself, “Do I really want to spend the rest of my life helping people comply with tax codes around the world, or is there a different path for me?” Through her job, she got to know some personnel and HR leaders who worked on a global scale, and she had a conversation with one she considered a friend. 

She was looking for a change. She didn’t want to be a tax partner for the rest of her life. She gave her resume to her friend, and a week later she got a call from her friend’s husband. His company was looking for someone to fill a role who was fluent in Spanish. Fluency in Spanish was more important to the role than any kind of specific industry experience because building relationships with native Spanish speakers was vital to success. 

Another door opened, and she walked in. The organization had companies in 13 countries in Latin America, and others in the Middle East and Europe. They told her they needed her at the US headquarters and she would be doing very little traveling. The reality was she ended up doing extensive travel, working from country to country in a consulting role.

The Rise to CFO

Eventually the global business was sold and Kerstin didn’t feel like the remaining domestic business was the right fit for her. In her eyes it was a little too slow-paced for a dynamic mover and shaker like her. 

She found an opportunity at EarthLink, which was an exciting place to work at the time—the early stages of the internet boom. It was a large publicly held company that needed Sarbanes Oxley, which fit perfectly with her internal audit experience of the past. She led the company to Sarbanes Oxley certification within three months. 

She led the charge to implement compliance procedures and controls for two years, and then the divisional CFO role opened up. There were people in the organization who felt she didn’t have the right experience for the job, so she had to quickly come up to speed and overcome that internal opposition. She was challenged as a leader by people who weren’t happy with her in the role, but she delivered on the job she was hired for and won over the doubters. 

Taking Control

When EarthLink downsized, she found herself facing a new career decision. She decided to take her career completely into her own hands. As she says, “Rather than people knocking on my door, I started knocking on people’s doors.” She joined a networking organization to build up her connections and relationships. She did over 80 interviews at 15 different companies in the course of seven months.

She landed at Georgia-Pacific as chief compliance officer in 2010, and in 2013 she rose to the role of divisional CFO. Georgia-Pacific took a chance on her because she had consulting and telecom experience, but she had never worked in manufacturing. That began her career in manufacturing that continues to this day.

That door didn’t open for her, she opened it herself.

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