For someone who initially dreamed of becoming a scientist or engineer, Jo Ang's journey to financial leadership might seem unexpected. Growing up in Malaysia with a passion for understanding how the world works, Jo loved chemistry and tinkering around with gadgets. Yet a scholarship to study in New Zealand and one introductory accounting paper would set her on a different path – which ultimately let her combine her love for technology, analytical thinking, and business strategy at RUSH.

After receiving a scholarship from the Malaysian government, Jo pursued her Bachelor of Commerce and Administration at Victoria University of Wellington, majoring in accounting and commercial law. This transformative opportunity led her to kick off her career in New Zealand with PwC.

Jo's career then took her to Australia where she evolved from financial accounting into business partnering. Her role at the packaging business particularly stands out, where she worked closely with sales and marketing teams on commercial strategy and customer contracts. "That's the point where you start to bring in that commercial and risk awareness to make sure that things are set up in a way that can be of the best success instead of just doing the finances at the end."

Back in New Zealand, at Pernod Ricard, Jo gained valuable experience in operations and leadership, working with teams managing vineyards, wineries, bottling plants and warehouses. She believes in balancing necessary hard conversations with a human-centered approach: "Numbers can be very sterile sometimes, and you always have to remember that there's an actual world out there behind the numbers."

Jo's arrival at RUSH represents a perfect confluence of her interests and experiences. "I’ve always loved tech and in the last few years, I've wanted to work in a more service-led industry, just to broaden my horizons. RUSH is that perfect intersection between tech and creativity."

Jo oversees the end-to-end finance operations at RUSH, wearing multiple hats in our growing technology company. Her approach to finance is far from the stereotypical naysayer role often associated with the profession. "I don't think finance is a stopper. It should be an enabling function," she says. "Finance functions historically have a reputation of being compliance-heavy bookkeepers who say no to everything. We are that, but we’re also so much more. It's not necessarily always saying yes, but it's about education and collaboration to ensure businesses achieve their goals."

This philosophy of enabling rather than restricting, combined with her technical mindset and diverse industry experience, positions Jo perfectly to help guide RUSH through its next phase of growth.