Jennifer Reddy - Setting a path for success

There is a new Chief Executive Officer in the building, but as far as forward focus, strong leadership and stronger partnerships go, it is business as usual at Morar Incorporated.

Jennifer Reddy, a Morar Incorporated veteran, was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer on 16 September 2022. Jennifer is a familiar face to many, through her previous roles as Assurance Director as well as Director of Corporate Services at Morar Incorporated.

She often quips that she is a Morar Incorporated ‘lifer’ having been with the firm for over 13 years. During her time as CEO, Jennifer has been influential in driving Morar Incorporated’s growth and further expanding the company’s presence in the financial services space. Her achievements in a short period allowed her to be nominated as KZN Top Business Women in 2022, which is an incredible feat on its own.

Morar Incorporated is a smart business solution firm comprising chartered accountants and registered auditors. The firm has a national presence, with seven offices across the country, servicing private and public sector clients’ needs in accounting, auditing, tax, forensics, and information and communication technology services.

Morar Incorporated is the only South African firm to be accredited with Allinial Global membership, which allows international clients to be serviced as well as creating a link for local clients who wish to expand their businesses abroad.

HER JOURNEY TO SUCCESS

Jennifer completed her articles and qualified as a chartered accountant (SA) while at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She joined Morar Incorporated in 2010 at the Pietermaritzburg office as an associate director servicing the private sector in accounting, auditing and tax.

She commented, “My drive and ambition allowed me to set a path for success and grow through the ranks of the company. I was then given the opportunity to become the director responsible for the KwaZulu-Natal region with the responsibility to enhance the firm’s strategy and grow the private sector accounting, auditing and tax division in Cape Town and Johannesburg.”

Her leadership style and innovative thinking were the key factors in the exponential growth of these offices. Jennifer’s hard work and ‘out of the box thinking’ allowed her to be the front runner for the available position of director of corporate services, responsible for leading the organisation’s finance, operations, and support strategies and functions to which she was appointed in 2017.

During her professional journey within Morar Incorporated, Jennifer furthered her education by completing the strategic examination with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in 2019, as well as obtaining her Master of Business Administration degree from the Gordon Institute of Business Science (University of Pretoria) in 2021. Balancing the needs of the business, her clients, her staff and her family while she completed an MBA was not easy. The demands of which were equivalent to the demands of work – balancing that was quite difficult.

Holding such a position brings about various challenges. A big challenge, says Jennifer, is finding a work life balance, especially when you are a mother. Overcoming those challenges was something she needed to address early in her career. “Keeping that work-life balance is a myth – there is no work-life balance – whatever situation best suits you and your family; is the balance you should create.”

THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT

Committed to the development of strong collaborative partnerships and building new relationships, Jennifer is currently serving on the Allinial Global EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) board and is also a member of the Allinial Global Africa steering committee. “Building on what we have already accomplished, under our founder’s leadership and moving forward we hope to hone our strategic direction, grow and develop our organisation, strengthen our partnerships, and build new relationships,” said Jennifer.

“Personally, I think that circumstances create opportunities and becoming CEO has also ignited a passion in me to conquer more and I know that that there is a lot more that I have to achieve. I am passionate about women empowerment and having been empowered myself by an incredible mentor, I understand the significance of the role we all have to play in this regard. There are unique challenges encountered by women in this male-dominated profession, and I wish to contribute to creating an enabling environment to promote inclusivity, diversity and resilience.”

By working together with the young and energetic talent at Morar Incorporated, Jennifer has strived from day one to take Morar Incorporated to new heights. “My immediate goal is for this firm to capitalise on our competitive advantage. Morar Incorporated offers a wide range of unique financial services solutions, which give the firm its competitive advantage. We are a client-centric company that highlights innovation and technology and I need to bring that to the fore of everything we do.”

In addition to this, Jennifer strongly affirmed that Morar Incorporated aims to deliver value by thoroughly understanding their clients’ core businesses, discovering their requirements, performing business analyses, and suggesting solutions that go best with their objectives. Her experience and skills are invaluable in the financial services industry and she has the roadmap to transform this already exceptional company into the best in the industry.

For more information: www.morar.co.za

#morar #jenniferreddy #ceo #success #expandinggrowth #business #solutions Jennifer Reddy CA(SA) MBA