We’re thrilled to introduce you to two of our remarkable Managing Directors: Karina Wellendorph from Visma DataLøn & ProLøn, and Lisa Miles-Heal from Silverfin. Their personal journeys and insights offer a glimpse into what it takes to be a leader within the tech industry, and why a work culture that celebrates diversity is so important.

Karina Wellendorph, Managing Director of Visma DataLøn & ProLøn

Karina Wellendorph has been driving the vision and growth of Visma DataLøn & ProLøn since 2015. Her career path, steeped in leadership roles and a passion for team development, has paved the way for her transformative initiative in the payroll sector.

Hi Karina! Can you tell us a bit about what your career path looked like?

Since graduating, I have worked in leadership roles and have always aspired to be a leader. I’m motivated by working with team development and achieving objectives together. I enjoy collaborating, growing, and celebrating successes as a team. And, of course, there are so many inspiring people within Visma! Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of meeting numerous fascinating people whose passion and dedication have made a positive impact on me.

DataLøn fills a really important need in the payroll space. Can you tell us a bit more about why it stands out from competitors?

DataLøn distinguishes itself in the payroll sector through its commitment to simplicity and flexibility. Our new cloud-based platform is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, ensuring that payroll tasks can be managed efficiently, regardless of the user’s experience level. 

What do you see on the horizon for DataLøn? 

The future of DataLøn is very exciting. With the new payroll platform, we can develop new features more quickly, making it even easier to work with payroll. AI also offers many opportunities for us, and it will be interesting to see how we and our customers can utilise these new possibilities.

Let’s talk about leadership and culture. What qualities do you think make a good leader and why?

A good leader understands that culture is vital for the organisation’s identity and success. They also respect and nurture the unique culture of their team or company. They actively foster an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are not just tolerated but celebrated. 

“A leader sets an example by living the values and behaviours they want in their team.”

They focus on clear communication, really listen to what their team says, and make sure everyone is heard, seen, understood and important. That way the leader builds trust, loyalty, and top effort. 

How important is company culture to you? What do you do within your company to maintain your desired culture?

Our company culture is absolutely crucial to me. The company culture serves as the cornerstone for both employee well-being and performance within our organisation.

I believe in a healthy culture with an environment where employees feel truly valued and empowered to achieve their best. We have open communication, ensuring that every voice is heard and that feedback flows freely in all directions. By doing so, we cultivate a sense of belonging and commitment. 

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

How would you describe the diversity across Visma and in your company?

We embrace diversity wholeheartedly, recognising that each individual brings unique perspectives, experiences, and strengths to the table. We strive to create an environment where everyone feels valued and respected, regardless of their background or identity. From the moment of recruitment to onboarding and daily interactions, we make it a point to emphasise inclusivity. We believe in welcoming team members as they are, without imposing dress codes or other regulations. 

What changes would you like to see that would further support women in tech?

I believe that we need to encourage more girls to take an interest in mathematics and science subjects in school. We need to make schools welcoming and supportive for everyone, where girls feel encouraged to do well in science and maths, and where stereotypes about what girls can do are challenged. Initiatives like mentorship programs featuring female role models can inspire younger leaders to fulfil their dreams. 

What benefits do you see from maintaining a diverse workforce?

Maintaining a diverse workforce brings many benefits. It fosters innovation and creativity by bringing together individuals with different perspectives and experiences. 

“When everyone feels included and respected, they are more likely to stay.”

Also, having a diverse workforce enhances the company’s reputation, which can attract more customers, partners, and talented employees.

And last but not least… What piece of advice would you give anyone who aspires to be an MD someday?

My best advice for leaders is to be authentic. Be open and honest and act with integrity.

Lisa Miles-Heal, Managing Director of Silverfin

Lisa Miles-Heal’s journey to the helm of Silverfin is a testament to her diverse expertise and relentless dedication. Her focus on creating clarity of purpose and direction, underpinned by authenticity and strong communication, has propelled the company to the forefront of cloud-based financial reporting and compliance.

Hi Lisa! Can you tell us a bit about what your career path looked like?

I moved from a broader career path across marketing, people and customer operations into technology in my mid twenties. Since then I’ve been in tech and more recently SaaS. I started as a Business Analyst – possibly because I’m insanely curious about the “why” of things. Pretty early on, could see how technology was a combination of people, process and performance – things I’m still passionate about to this day. 

From analysis I moved into project management, change management, consulting and then leadership. I have enjoyed being in both the client and vendor side, the “hard tech” (even though I’ve never written a line of code myself, clever people at that seem to enjoy working with me) and the more strategic transformation side. From IT Director, to COO then to CEO, I consider myself a “specialist generalist” and my broad experience base has served me super well. 

Also I think my background as a New Zealander is helpful as being so far away and from a small nation, you need to think globally and with a growth mindset in order to succeed. I use these approaches every day when I think about how to tackle problems or look at things from a new customer/market perspective.

What aspects of your job do you find the most rewarding? 

I am a change agent, and I feel very energised by seeing people grow through new experiences. Seeing the business evolve and ensuring people feel a part of that success (in an evolution not revolution type way) is what motivates me through some of the challenges of change. In this way, we also support our talent to progress career-wise, which fills me with pride.

I love supporting people by being approachable and accessible. When people ask me for advice or to hear them out on a problem they are solving, I like that they think I could offer some value with my experience. As a generalist, there are many situations I’ve seen before, and I love being able to share stories on these experiences to help my team shortcut their efforts. Of course, as a storyteller, I have to watch that I’m not talking too much!

“I find it very rewarding to see innovative and focused effort turn into results. At Silverfin, we often ‘punch above our weight’ by being determined and creative in the way we approach things. That culture of belief through passionate engagement is awesome to see every day.”

Is there anyone who has inspired you in your career?

I’m inspired by many people in many different situations – and I think inspiration comes when you’re open to seeing things in all aspects of life that cause you to think differently. I wouldn’t be here today, doing what I do, if it wasn’t for a university lecturer who told me what a Business Analysis in IT was. Before that conversation, I had absolutely no idea about the opportunity and had seen technology in a very limited, technical and male-dominated way. She opened my eyes to so many possibilities that I’ve benefited from.

But the ability to see that and be open to all the people and moments that inspire me is due to the values my mum and dad instilled in me. My dad was quite pioneering and progressive and (unbeknownst to me at the time) worked in the early days of computing – think punch cards and computers the size of rooms. My mum would tell me that I could be anything I wanted to be with hard work and determination and was never limited by her circumstances (she was a very young single mother before she met my dad). Their values have definitely inspired me to dream big and be a good human alongside that.

Silverfin fills a really important need in the accounting world. Can you tell us a bit more about why it stands out from competitors?

We have the best accounting compliance product for mid-tier-and-above firms, and we’re humble but determined to innovate and invest to keep it that way. We’re cloud-first and AI-enabled, and those were immensely insightful decisions of the Silverfin founders many years ago. 

We have a passionate and smart team who really care about our accounting office (AO) customers, as many of them are or were accountants themselves. This combination of our product and our people ensures we have extremely loyal and engaged customers, who advocate for us into new markets and to their peers. That’s truly special, and none of our competitors have this like we do.

What do you see on the horizon for Silverfin? 

From our very strong base in Belgium, we’re growing in the UK and the Netherlands. These two markets are a very large opportunity for us. In the next few years, we’ll move from a “challenger” to a market-leading position – and we’re well underway with those goals.

Our platform capability is possibly an even bigger albeit slower-to-realise opportunity. We’re already in 13 other countries with Silverfin being localised and implemented by the AOs themselves using our low/no code content framework. We already have the largest accounting firms in the world driving digital change with Silverfin, and we’re getting closer to cracking the code for how a smaller software business like us “plays on the fields” of the giants of the accounting industry.

Let’s talk about leadership and culture. What qualities do you think make a good leader and why?

Authenticity, creating clarity of purpose and direction, and genuinely caring about what you do and how to support the people you serve to do well. All underpinned with strong communication, of course. 

Leadership isn’t easy. Even today, I’m not sure that I’m a great leader – but I try my best, am always honest (sometimes painfully so), am true to who I am, remain open to feedback and improvement, and constantly assess what the people around me and the business needs from me. 

“Agility is super important for leaders because things are evolving in business at such a pace. While people want to see consistency in their leaders in the way they operate, they also want to see them adapting to new challenges, opportunities, and trends.”

My primary role is to ensure we have clear goals for the future and have defined success in terms of what we will and won’t do. I then have to step back and support and coach the team on them doing what’s needed to achieve those outcomes. Knowing when our people need agency and autonomy and when they need direction and coaching is a constant balancing act. Helping everyone in the team to identify their work goals/purpose and setting up the environment in which they can personally flourish and achieve professional success is how a leader supports a culture to evolve.

How important is company culture to you? What do you do within your company to maintain your desired culture?

Culture is super important, and it’s essential that leaders ensure clarity on the “what” – company purpose, vision and goals – and equally on the “how” – values, principles and practices. At Silverfin, we’re always trying to improve visibility on these aspects and hold each other accountable to behaviours that are consistent with what we’ve outlined. Not doing this can really damage culture as the team doesn’t see congruence between stated intent and actual day to day activities.

“Strong culture has strong threads and values but also allows for individual expression and alignment – as that is what ensures inclusiveness. Not textbook diversity and inclusion, but true acceptance of the differences that can create great, unthought of and yet aligned outcomes.” 

Culture evolves as a business evolves. Checking in on values should happen annually, just like business planning, to ensure your “how” continues to be relevant and powerful.

And last but not least… What piece of advice would you give anyone who aspires to be an MD someday?

Believe in yourself, be true to yourself, learn all the time, and accept failure and setbacks as opportunities to be resilient. Overall, invest in a growth mindset where you think anything is possible if you set it as a goal for yourself.