Joanna Walker: The Transformational CFO

Following the birth of her son 10 years ago, Joanna Walker fell into the world of Interim Executive solutions, enabling her to embark on this journey of Interim CFO roles enabling her to take a broader portfolio approach to her career. She joined Retail Zoo as an Interim CFO in late 2023 and has stayed on to help transform the business at a critical time.

“What becomes really critical when you first commence an Interim role is how to read the room whilst also quickly navigating the commercial drivers and challenges of the business,” says Joanna Walker, Chief Financial Officer of Retail Zoo. “You need to operate at pace with an ability to learn fast particularly if the business is undergoing notable change or business disruption. Building relationships with key executives and how you engage with your team to bring them on board with a change agenda in mind is critical in the first few weeks/months.”

They’re sage words from a chartered accountant who has held executive CFO roles across food retail and franchise businesses for more than 20 years and who classifies herself as a transformational CFO: someone who brings a broad mix of commercial, technical and strategic skills combined with emotional intelligence to help businesses move into a next level of growth.

“What often comes with the CFO title is adaptable leadership, because we are operating in a world that is becoming obviously far more digital with diverse ways of working  where we are also seeing evidence of  consumer behavior and market environments becoming more complex and uncertain.

I often reflect on my career journey. “I was one of those women who climbed the corporate ladder,” Walker tells CFO Magazine. “I reached the age of forty, was not married, I did not have any kids, and I wanted to have a family. I had spent all this time on my career but was missing this other part of my life.

“As you get further up the ranks there is a higher pressure that comes with it. But how do you balance that with your life? How do you balance that with your whole-of-life goals, not just your career goals?”

She was offered a piece of advice by her boss several years ago while working as finance manager of Kmart: to read the book First Things First, by Stephen Covey. “I will never forget it. What it teaches you is how to create that pathway in your life where you realise that  you can have it all, but you do not necessarily have to have it all at once. Will I fall behind because I’ve had to take this step? And it took the next pathway in my career to realise that no, you do not miss out,” she says.

“My son was nine months old, and I secured an interim CFO role at Slater and Gordon as an entry point back into the market, thinking that I can have a think about what I want to do and how that would work. And that three-month journey turned into a two-year transformational stint.”

It is advice she now enjoys passing onto others, particularly younger women. “While you think you might be stepping off and it might affect your career, if you are good at what you do and you are hungry to learn and are self-aware, then in my view, the world’s your oyster. You can do just about anything.”

In her capacity as CFO of Retail Zoo, a private equity-backed business which owns Betty’s Burgers and Boost Juice, Walker is conscious of driving continuous improvement both in team capability, strategic execution, and insights into customer behavior. It is a momentous time for the business, which is juggling growth plans with a cost-of-living crisis. “We are in an environment where the economy is uncertain, people are feeling the pinch and so it’s trying to get that balance right between pursuing growth and adjusting the cost base and measures internally so that you’re not growing too fast without understanding the risks,” says Walker.

Coming out of Christmas, and before that Black Friday – two salient shopping periods for Retail Zoo’s suite of brands – Walker says shopping Centre foot traffic continues to be the most significant driver of customer transactions. But customers are looking for a great deal in a highly competitive market. As a result, Betty’s Burgers, has introduced new menu offerings and value bundle deals “that enable people to think about parts of the menu that actually suit their budget,” says Walker. “We’re constantly thinking about those value offers that might need to be provided to our customers.”

Boost Juice which operates in Australia and overseas, now thrives on digital ordering: with kiosks in shopping centers and app ordering. “So, we’re spending time and money and effort in leveraging off our loyalty programs and app technology across all brands,” she says.

Walker says the success of these brands comes down to the people behind the businesses. There is a lot of opportunity from a growth perspective for this business,” she says. “The challenge lies in, what is it that actually attracts your customers to come to you and to continue to come back to you?”

Aside from her role with Retail Zoo, Walker is a facilitator with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, working with executives/directors wanting to build on their financial literacy on boards. It is a role she adores and feels privileged to do. “It’s being able to translate the language of finance at a board level because the level and the lens of a director is different to the lens of the CFO or the executive,” she says.

In her own board position with Countrywide Food Service Distributors, she learnt a lot about the culture of transparency. “You’re prepared to have the hard conversations, and you remove any elements of what I would call ‘the us and them’ or  fear culture. Unless boards can obtain full transparency around what is going on in the business, it is extremely hard to help navigate and support the CEO and the executive team on the strategic trajectory,” she explains.

It comes down to having that EQ again, or that alert antenna. “What’s really important between that board executive dynamic is to make sure that you have all the facts and that they’re on the table; there are no surprises.”

Advice for aspiring CFOs

Develop your leadership skills and style.

“It is about creating the right team around you in a digital world. Yes, that is about upskilling talent. That is about identification of talent. And then it is about upskilling of individuals to suit the organisation’s strategic agenda.”

Keep digital and cybersecurity on the radar.

“I do not think there is going to be any business that is going to escape it. I remember walking into one CFO role many years ago and within the first two weeks, even before I started, I got told they had had a cybersecurity attack. The business could not operate. So having the right contingency plan and disaster recovery plan is important and that comes back to risk management.

Foster talent

“Being able to engage and keep your good people is important in today’s climate because the younger generation are more likely to switch. Maintain and build capability within the business and provide the right culture that supports their growth and development.”

Leverage Data and Insights

“The CFO’s role is to partner with the CEO and business executives in understanding the commercial levers and drivers to support growth and manage risk’’. You need informed data to drive the right business decisions.