Although Gillian Everall has successfully built her own London-based tax consultancy firm, Everfair Tax Consulting, she did not always see herself at the helm of her own business. Speaking on The Leaders Council Podcast, Gillian shares the story of how she built her business and offers helpful guidance for others looking to follow the same path.
Everfair Tax was born in 2014, but Gillian had accumulated over 20 years of experience in UK private client tax affairs, working with high-net-worth clients with international elements to their tax concerns. She honed her knowledge as a tax expert within some of London’s top firms, including Frank Hirth plc and Baker Tilly, experiences which held her in good stead for founding her own company, even if it was not something she had initially planned to do.
“I have to say, it [building my own firm] was the furthest thing from my mind and almost one of the last things I actually ended up doing!”, Gillian told The Leaders Council’s Scott Challinor.
“The idea really stemmed from my wanting to change things up a bit after 20 years working for some large organisation in the City of London. At the time, I was taking a long, hard look at what I wanted and it came as sort of a ‘eureka’ moment, where I said to myself that there must be a slightly different way for me to work and to manage my work-life balance.
“My experience in the City truly helped me in building my business. It gave me lots of experience interacting with senior people and it taught me what looking after a team within a business is all about.”
Having all her experience in the City behind her and having run her own firm for six years, Gillian was then faced with one of the most significant challenges of her career when the Covid-19 pandemic struck the UK in early 2020.
However, taking the challenge in her stride, she explained how guiding her company through such an uncertain period ultimately proved to be an invaluable learning curve.
“Managing through Covid taught me a lot from a team leadership and team cohesion point of view, as well as on maintaining productivity and positivity within the team. It was something none of us had any experience of and everyone was in a position where they were learning as they were going and getting to grips with a constantly evolving situation.
“Nobody could ever predict what would happen and where we’d end up at the end of the acute phase if I’m honest! But it proved to be a very important lesson for me. The biggest learnings I take away from it include recognising the power of communication and transparency, and the power of mutual trust and respect.”
Gillian also revealed that the pandemic laid bare the importance of mental health within the workplace and the need for those is senior positions to remember to look after their own wellbeing as well as that of their staff teams.
She said: “If you don't look after yourself, how can you look after and support the people that need you? You need to be in a position of positive wellbeing yourself to do that. So, this was incredibly important during Covid.
“As a leader, you have to have mechanisms in place within your organisation where people can say they aren’t doing too well when they’re struggling, and then that can be nipped in the bud.”
Based upon her own experiences, directly addressing young entrepreneurs who are considering launching their own start-up companies or new organisations, Gillian appealed to them to treat every single day as a school day and acknowledge that there is always something new to learn.
“Every day needs to be a learning experience. To embrace that learning experience, you also need to realise that it’s okay to make mistakes, and you will. These are also some of the best learning experiences you can have.
“You should also be acutely aware of the power of listening, and of the power of taking advice and not being afraid to seek external support and advice. Leadership and running your own business are not easy jobs to do. You can make it easier by appreciating that you will need other people around you because success is built effectively on the team and not on individuals. Find your support network and find your team.”
Photo by Dimitry Anikin on Unsplash
