Thentia’s leadership team is a diverse and exceptional group of professionals who have brought major influence to not only the company’s direction, but to their own teams. Those teams make up Thentia’s structure, functionality, and culture and contribute to our success. In our Leadership Spotlight series, we sit down with members of our leadership team to discuss everything from the importance of powerful leadership influence in the tech industry to of course, the path that led them to Thentia.
This month, we spoke with Sandy Campbell, Thentia’s VP, Finance.
Sandy Campbell joined Thentia in 2022 to help lead the Finance team. Coming from many years of experience in business finance and change management, Sandy has been a key player in shaping our Finance department (alongside Thentia’s CFO, Kevin Houston) into the fundamental group it is today. With a passion for analyzing financial results and focusing on future strategies, Sandy knew she was in the right place when she found Thentia. She continues to drive success with her team each day and we are very proud to have Sandy as part of our leadership team.
Sandy currently lives in Toronto, ON with her family and sweet pup named Luna the Havanese, who recently turned two years old.
What led you to Thentia? What excites you about the SaaS/GovTech industry?
What really excited me about Thentia was the idea that the company was in a high-growth phase and needed to focus on setting up its procedures. I loved the idea of coming in, seeing how things were (or were not) working, and then applying all of my prior experience to get things running more efficiently and effectively.
There is such growth potential in the SaaS industry. There is constant opportunity to learn from the customers and expand or amend the offerings. As tech changes, our brilliant engineers can come up with new and improved ways to keep our product on top.
Another thing that attracted me to Thentia was the fact that the founder was still at the center of the company. It’s inspiring to see how Julian has taken his vision and grown it to the company it is today – and continues to grow it. Even as the company continues to evolve, having that constant makes it feel more unified and cohesive in its direction.
Describe a typical (or not-so-typical!) day for a VP, Finance.
Coming into a company that was rapidly expanding – but that did not yet have a full Finance team – I quickly saw all the areas we would need to improve and processes we would need to implement in order to scale the business.
A typical day begins with a laundry list of items I want to accomplish in the day. As I respond to a barrage of emails, Teams messages and deliverables here and there, I tend to go in multiple directions at the same time. It’s often said that multitasking is the worst way to tackle your to-do list, but I honestly have not found any other way to do it yet!
Since I’ve come to Thentia, almost a year ago now, I feel like I have made great strides to move this department in the direction it needed to go. We continue to build new efficiencies and systems so that we can work faster and smarter. We are constantly growing, changing, and evolving, and I am super thankful that we now have an amazing and diverse Finance team in place that has really come together over the past few months to help drive our success.
What do you love most about Thentia’s culture and why?
Most companies say they are a diverse group. What is the definition of diverse? I love that Thentia really is a diverse group of individuals, from different industry backgrounds, cultures, genders, and age groups! I love that people are encouraged to be their authentic self. I find people really work well together and because we are all diverse, we can bring different perspectives to the table.
No one person can do it all themselves. We fill in each other’s gaps, and lift up others and complement each other with our knowledge and experiences. I love that Thentians are open and keen to talk about what’s going on in their groups so you always feel connected. I love that people will call out their own weakness and reach out to others who possess that strength to learn from them, and vice versa. People really want to help each other out. This is what truly makes an organization great and growth-oriented.
Why do you think companies would benefit from having more women on their leadership teams?
I think that having women in leadership roles encourages other young women in the organization to strive to their full potential. It helps them feel empowered. Everyone benefits when all members of the organization feel heard, encouraged and recognized. I feel women really do have a super power when it comes to working long hours at the job they are paid for, while at the same time keeping their families running and answering to the never-ending requests and expectations of motherhood.
Going back to what attracted me to Thentia: I love that Thentia does have a strong presence of amazing women in leadership roles, especially roles that are typically male dominated.
Bonus question: Cats or Dogs?
Both! When we bought our first house, little to our knowledge, the house came with a cat. We didn’t discover this until months into ownership. Each day we would come home to a super friendly black cat who sat at our front door and followed me around as I did the gardening. As a very creative person, I named him “Mr. Kitty”. I spoke to my new neighbours on either side, telling them how much I enjoyed their cat. But, both sets of neighbours informed me it was my cat. It turns out the lady who we bought the house from simply moved and didn’t take her cat!
Like most families during Covid, we succumbed to my son’s begging for a dog and now have Luna the Havanese. Again, not being dog people we had no idea what was involved with raising a puppy. It turns out it’s pretty much the same as a newborn baby. She’s now two years old and an integral member of the family.
So long story short, I’m a cat and dog person!
