Casey Brice 

After graduating from BHS in 2010  I had a gap year and worked at Gilmac in Balaklava in an administrative role. After 12 months of work I moved to Adelaide for uni and was originally enrolled in a double degree in Journalism and International Relations. I found the move to Adelaide quite a big adjustment and was a bit unsettled in my first year of university. I decided that the degree I was studying wasn’t for me, but not knowing what course to change in to and not wanting to quit university all together I decided to move into a Business Administration course. This course covered the basics of management, marketing and commerce, and I thought any study involving a business focus would be beneficial regardless of where I eventually ended up in my career. In my first year in my Business Administration course I was lucky enough to win work experience with a large mid-tier accounting firm, Grant Thornton. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working in an accounting firm and transitioned into a Commerce degree majoring in Accounting shortly after. I was lucky enough to be offered a permanent position with Grant Thornton following my work experience where I am still currently working today.

Current job role:

I am a Senior Associate at Grant Thornton in their Private Advisory division. My role is focused around providing support for mid-sized businesses, in particular family businesses, helping to enhance and develop business operations and performance.

Highlights of your current job/career:

There have been so many highlights throughout my 5.5 years with Grant Thornton including:

• Being nominated as Accounting Student of the Year in the Australian Accounting Awards in my final year of university while working as an undergraduate accountant with Grant Thornton.
• Travelling to Vanuatu as a Grant Thornton representative to undertake volunteer work with World Vision.
• Playing an integral role in a number of Grant Thornton’s strategic internal projects looking at the processes and performance of our Private Advisory division nationally and delivering training to each of our offices.
• Developing Grant Thornton’s Client Service Delivery Model which has set the standard for how we engage with our clients nationally.
• Completing the CA Program to become a Chartered Accountant.

I have lived and breathed family business my whole life, having grown up on my family farm just out of Balaklava. One of the most rewarding things about my current role is that I get to help businesses like my family’s every single day and support them in achieving their business and personal ambitions.

Looking back on your time at BHS, did BHS help with your career pathway?

While I was at school I really didn’t have a definitive career path, however, I did have a very supportive group of teachers in my final few years at the school who helped me work through my options. I wanted to achieve high results to be able to keep my options open and my teachers were wonderful in pushing me to achieve the results that I wanted.

Anything else you would like to add about your time at BHS?

BHS gave me so many wonderful opportunities to learn and develop. High School is wonderful in setting you up for the future, but it won’t define your entire career. Don’t get bogged down in having your life mapped out just yet. Get all that you can out of your time at school and most importantly, enjoy it – life gets so much more hectic once you finish.