Her Story
About Zahra
My career in accounting began in 1994 when I graduated from college and joined a public accounting firm, where I progressed from staff audit level to senior manager of audit and assurance, working across Ottawa, Vancouver, BC, and Seattle with the same firm. When I started a family, I found that public accounting life wasn't the most conducive to being a mom, so I accepted a headhunter's offer for an internal audit position at Boeing. Over the next 20 years at Boeing, I held many different roles including leading financial reporting at Boeing Capital and eventually becoming CFO of Boeing Capital. I loved aerospace but opportunities at my level were limited in Seattle, so I leveraged my experience from a CFO role in a digital enterprise organization at Boeing and my minor in IT to join Zones as their Global Corporate Controller. After demonstrating my capabilities and skills, I was promoted to VP Corporate Controller as of April 1st, where I oversee general manager financial reporting, accounts payable, tax, insurance, payroll, and serve as a finance executive leader on new deals, process improvement, and system upgrades.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Zahra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think with hard work, as well as having the right mentors, sponsors, and advocates in the room and out of the room when you're not there advocating for you. Being a refugee, I never thought about the opportunities I had in front of me, and so from a professional standpoint, getting to this level was something I would never have dreamed of. When you get to these levels and later in your career, it's not about you more so, it's about the development of the people.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Know your worth, I think. Take the opportunity to speak up. I was very quiet, raised as, you know, speak when you're spoken to, and so getting into the field and getting to being in boardroom, different meetings, I would be more of a listener and be ready for a question. And what I learned over time was that I needed to speak up, and voice my opinions, and that I had something of value to say. And as I did that more I felt more confident that people were listening to what I had to say, I was having impact from a value standpoint, from what I shared. And so I think, had I known that earlier, I think I would have been better off. And so that would be, I think, my piece of advice.
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