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Jeremy Evans
Title: Vice President, Corporate Accounting
Company: TD SYNNEX Corporation
Length of FEI membership: I’ve been a member for five months, though I have attended various events for the past few years.
Why did you join the FEI Tampa Bay Chapter? And what benefits have you realized from your membership?
I joined FEI to network with other financial leaders in the Tampa Bay area. It’s an opportunity to both learn about others and contribute by sharing about my experiences. There’s also the benefit of being able to leverage the member portal as well as take advantage of the CPE courses.
Tell us a little bit about your career, educational/professional background and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been very fortunate to work for a great company (Tech Data now TD SYNNEX) in a great industry (technology) the past 25 years. That has allowed me to grow professionally, while satisfying my personal goals as a lifelong learner. My early career focused on logistics and transportation. My first exposure was with Tropicana and my first role with TD SYNNEX was in this area. During this time, I obtained my MBA and independently studied material on information systems inclusive of computer programming as I wanted to understand how the large ERP systems worked.
I moved into a finance function in the early 2000’s as many operational roles were being re-defined because of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. I was familiar with the finance components of the role but the accounting concepts were new to me. I still remember my first discussion about the basics of debits and credits. That instilled in me a desire to learn more, the result of which was me becoming a licensed CPA in Florida and holding various regional and global leadership positions within finance and accounting.
Looking back at my career progression, I contribute my professional growth to primarily three things: (1) Formal and informal mentors who were extremely intelligent and driven who were willing to invest in me and give me opportunities to learn. (2) Incredible people working for and with me. (3) A technology industry that practically reinvents itself every 5 years, creating new opportunities and challenges.
What is your most rewarding accomplishment as a finance executive?
There are two accomplishments that really stand out. First, helping create a joint venture focused on mobility devices and services in the U.S. between Tech Data and Brightstar. The joint venture was kickstarted by the acquisition of a small mobility company. We wanted to take their expertise and create an operating model to service the Americas IT channel. I was part of a small team that designed the operational processes, financial plan and go to market strategy. There was an entrepreneurial mindset to the entire initiative. The joint venture was successful and later bought out and absorbed by TD SYNNEX.
Second, working to establish regional innovation and business service centers in Barcelona, Spain and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These centers provided accounting and automation services for the European and Asia Pacific operating units. The effort included centralizing, standardizing, and enhancing the accounting operations. What made the efforts so rewarding was the vision and execution to go beyond setting up a transactional shared service organization. We didn’t want to just consolidate the accounting tasks but truly transform them and create a culture of innovation.
What job would you pursue if you weren’t in finance?
I’m a bit of a thrill seeker so I would have enjoyed being a race car driver or a professional kiteboarder. The chances of having lots of success as one of those is very small and the sports are expensive to get into. I would have enjoyed trying though. I’ve instead settled for being a finance executive with a fast driven minivan and the occasional kiteboarding trip.
What are some tips you would share with others who are looking to grow professionally or add more value to their organization?
Talk to everyone and take an interest in what they do. You can learn a lot from people - like nuances of a particular job or industry, what motivates people, challenges people have faced and how they overcame them, as well as how you can help them and vice versa. I’ve received some of my best advice and feedback from people in a completely different role or industry because I took the time to get to know them and realized their experiences were applicable to my situation.
Also, spend as much time looking ahead at what the future may look like as you do evaluating historical results. This will allow you to best anticipate opportunities and challenges that may arise. A natural curiosity about things to come will suit you well.