Sally Jaques Robertson

I began my career in 1999 as a young, naive & impressionable girl with huge ambitions to ‘make a difference’. I really had no idea what I wanted to do other than have a job where I could wear a suit & carry a brief case!

I started at the University of Newcastle enrolled in a Bachelor of Business & Law and quickly got tired of the full-time student lifestyle of partying, studying and having no money. In my second semester at University, I decided I wanted to work and study, I always needed to be busy. I applied for three employment positions that were advertised in the local newspaper and received a call back for an interview for all three positions.

I took a position as a trainee accountant at a small firm in Newcastle and I ended up staying with them until July 2009. The position seemed like an easy choice. The partners were young & fresh, and the offices were very stylish – a good fit!

During my time with the firm, I not only had the opportunity to progress as an advisor and complete my Bachelor of Commerce and Law at the University of Newcastle but I also had the opportunity to watch a small firm grow into a successful business. I progressed from trainee accountant to a management role and worked on a vast variety of clients.

I quickly worked out that my passion in life wasn’t wearing a suit, carrying a brief case or crunching numbers but it was helping people. Helping people to understand, to learn and to navigate business and taxation. I have also gained an acceptance for all types of people and their personalities and have learned to adapt to my environment and the people around me to bring out the best in them.

I made the difficult decision to leave the firm in July 2009 to pursue a new challenge in a consulting role. This consulting role quickly grew to me picking up a lot of consulting work and within months the concept for BASE was born. I wanted to create a business that was not just based around the traditional servicing of clients for accounting & taxation and billing per hour but providing education and support to clients in an ever-changing environment of tax laws, complicated tax issues and endless fines & penalties and make it as simple as possible so that they can enjoy being in business rather than not sleeping at night from the stress of it all.

BASE is young compared to most firms in the industry however within a short period of time we have built an impressive portfolio of clients. These clients range from our larger clients in the resource  sectors to our small clients in a variety of industries. All our clients are equally importantly to the BASE family and are provided with service and education on a level playing field, we don’t class our clients according to size or wealth. Some just need a little more attention than others!!

BASE also has a team of professionals whose energy & knowledge combined makes for an entertaining workplace. We all believe in the same philosophy and through leadership & hard work (and lots of fun) together I know we will make a difference.

There have been a few people that have been influential in this journey and without their unconditional support I would have never had the strength or courage to take this leap of faith.

My children Sienna, Stella & Mark, you are both my inspiration. You inspire me every day and motivate me to keep going so I can be someone you all look up too and respect. Everything I do, I do for you all.

My mum you are my number one fan. The only reason I believe in myself is because of you. You will never give up on me, this is something I have come to appreciate now that I am a mother too.BASE is my creation, and I am so very proud of what it stands for. I am now enjoying building the business, this growth phase is exciting and challenging.