INTHEBLACK April 2025 - Magazine - Page 16
MEMBER PROFILE
“The story for Callaway Golf over the last nine years has been exciting. The first
two years were focused on setting up the business. We probably wouldn't have
been as successful if we hadn't worked to get the communication and relationships
with the business in a positive space upfront, which takes time.”
NO ‘SALES STOPPER’
The main challenge, Turner says, when moving
to a different business, is developing a new
mindset — understanding that although
he was doing the same role, he needed to look
at it from a different perspective.
“You have to become a knowledge expert
inside the business. In my case, I was
working with a group of very successful
entrepreneurial business leaders and owners.
Some of them had great respect for finance,
but I was also called ‘the sales stopper’
on many occasions, and that’s probably
a stereotype that many accountants have
struggled with,” he says.
Turner’s response to that attitude has
always been to deliver outstanding results
and communicate across the organisation
to show how the financial perspective
is invaluable in decision-making.
“It was a good learning experience,
because it was entrepreneurial. I was
involved in some of the decision-making,
and supporting those decisions and ensuring
that they could occur. But there was also
the responsibility of reporting back to
the private equity owners and giving them
updates on how the business was tracking
from a commercial standpoint,” he says.
WHEN SPORT AND FINANCE MIX
Turner is now the finance director,
South Pacific and India, with American
global sports manufacturer Callaway Golf.
During his nine years in the role, he has
undertaken a range of responsibilities within
partnering and insights, finance, accounting,
commercial, IT, reporting, treasury and
strategy functions. He continues to deliver
strong results for the company and has
integrated two new brands into the Callaway
Golf umbrella.
“There was always the question
in the back of my mind of ‘How can I mix
accounting and sport and work in a sporting
organisation?’ I wanted to combine two
passions,” Turner says.
When the opportunity with Callaway
Golf came up, he was attracted by the
possibilities to innovate and help grow
the business. His reputation preceded him,
and he was brought in to get the business
up to speed. “By then I had a bit of
a reputation for being able to set up
businesses and processes, and effectively
clean up some history and forge a new path,”
he says.
This was an assignment he wholeheartedly
accepted.
ONE PIECE OF ADVICE
“You’re not going to be able to add value
from behind a screen, so get out of your
chair and go and talk to your colleagues
and your networks.”
16 INTHEBLACK April 2025
