#298 How Can You Fast-Track Your Career to CFO? Becky Glover Chief Financial Officer, Mazuma
A CFO role is no longer just about reporting the numbers; it’s about driving strategy, shaping growth, and leading with commercial insight. For ambitious finance professionals, understanding how to deliberately design a career that accelerates you into that top seat has never been more important. From gaining the right breadth of experience to leveraging technology, networks, and non‑traditional opportunities, there are practical ways to intentionally fast‑track your journey to CFO.
In this episode, Kevin Appleby interviews Becky Glover, Chief Financial Officer at Mazuma, about her unconventional and accelerated journey to the CFO seat. Becky outlines how she progressed from leaving school at 17 to qualifying through the AAT and ACCA routes, building a portfolio of varied roles, and eventually stepping into the CFO role without a traditional university background. The conversation positions her story as a practical blueprint for finance professionals who want to fast‑track their careers by focusing on the right experiences, networks, and skills rather than just job titles and salary progression.
The episode also explores how running her own e‑commerce business, engaging with professional bodies such as AAT and ACCA, and contributing to initiatives like Connection Career Collective all accelerated Becky’s development as a modern, technology-enabled CFO. Listeners gain insight into how exposure to technology, automation, marketing, and SME operations can significantly increase a finance leader’s impact and readiness for the top finance role. The discussion highlights that the path to CFO is becoming more diverse and that intentional career design, continuous learning, and meaningful connections can dramatically shorten the journey.
Key topics covered:
- Becky’s non‑traditional path: from AAT apprenticeship to ACCA-qualified CFO without a university degree
- How diverse roles, board work, and “saying yes” to opportunities helped fast‑track her career
- Lessons from running an e‑commerce wine business and how it sharpened her technology and commercial skills
- How Mazuma combines fintech and accountancy to serve small SMEs with proprietary automation (MazApp)
- Why future CFOs must leverage technology and automation to focus on advisory and value creation
- Becky’s work with AAT, ACCA, and Connection Career Collective to build networks in male‑dominated fields
Links
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Becky’s unconventional route from AAT apprentice to CFO.
- 0:03 Key factors that accelerated her path to the CFO role.
- 0:05 How launching an e‑commerce wine business changed her finance skill set.
- 0:08 Practical lessons from entrepreneurship for aspiring CFOs.
- 0:11 Inside Mazuma’s fintech‑accountancy model and SME focus.
- 0:13 The role of technology and AI in the future CFO toolkit.
- 0:16 Giving back through AAT and ACCA and why networks matter.
- 0:19 Confidence, imposter syndrome, and Becky’s mindset strategies.
- 0:25 Connection Career Collective and building connections in male‑dominated sectors.
- 0:28 Becky’s vision for her future and the evolving CFO role.
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