INTHEBLACK September/October 2025 - Magazine - Page 61
WORK SMART
“People often talk about these experiences as being
some of the most important learning experiences of
their lives because they are challenging on every
level. From both a professional and personal point
of view, it asks you to dig deep and to navigate
uncertainty and change.”
It’s a sentiment that resonates with
Lana Bozhko FCPA. Now CFO at
Warakirri Asset Management in Melbourne,
Bozhko worked in finance for two decades
in Europe before arriving in Australia
from Russia in 2017.
“Entering the Australian workforce
with a global CFO background but no
local experience and limited language
fluency was a great challenge,” she says.
“I applied for hundreds of roles, and
rejections flooded in. I couldn’t even
land an assistant accountant role.”
When she finally found a permanent
position in accounting, she grabbed
the opportunity to undertake an audit
of financial processes and engage
in business strategy development
in her first month.
