A NEW DAY WITH Anneli Paulsson

– When I was fresh out of college with a Master’s degree in Business Administration, I joined a certified public accounting firm in Gothenburg, Sweden. The firm just so happened to be CellMark AB’s auditors. I was put on the CellMark account and audited CellMark AB for six years, learning all about paper commodities, inco terms and FX contracts. Little did I know that this would be a more frequent element of my work life in the future.

After six years in Gothenburg, I decided that it was time to move on and see more of the world. Through CellMark AB, my firm had connections with CellMark Inc.’s auditors, Armanino LLP. In 2011 I joined Armanino and was put on the CellMark Inc.’s account, as I had CellMark “expertise”.

Then, after the audit in 2016 I was asked if I wanted to join the “other side” and it just felt like a natural step in my career. I didn’t have to do much due diligence. I already knew that CellMark was a great company to work for based on my 10 years of auditing them.

This is a very diverse and energetic office – many different nationalities and cultures are represented and we speak 15 different languages. Being service providers we always need to adjust to the changing world and market to stay in business. We always want to be one step ahead of the game to provide impeccable services to all our business partners.

But it’s also important to have fun. We spend many of our wakening hours at work – it becomes your second home – and there must be room for fun too. The people here love to bake and bring in to the office – and are also big on decorations. As we approach Halloween the office is filled with skeletons, witches, detached body parts and rats.

My motto has always been “I’d rather regret something that I did do – than I didn’t do”. Growing up I would always hear my grandmother say that she regretted buying my dad a moped instead of getting her own driver’s license. That’s when I decided I didn’t want to be old and look back and regret things that I never did. This took me all the way to California. Who knows where I’ll end up.