We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Timatanga Smith as a Director of Graham Brown & Co.
Born and raised in Putāruru, Timatanga joined us as an apprentice in 2009 and has built up an impressive set of skills, expertise and client relationships over his 14 years in the business. Today, he is known for being a talented problem solver, sought after for his expertise in project design, implementation and management. As well as supporting clients, Timatanga assists multiple not-for-profit and community groups, including local iwi and hapū, and also leads several large community engagements for the firm.
Outside of work, Timatanga is on the Boards of the Upper Central Zone Rugby League and Putāruru Primary School and enjoys spending his free time with his wife and three daughters.
Timatanga joins our four existing Graham Brown & Co Directors; Debbie Gisby, Brendon Hunt, Phillip Price and Jasmine van Heuven.
For those of you keen to discover a bit more about Timatanga, we sat him down for a quick chat, which you can read below.
Get to know Timatanga Smith
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself Timatanga
A: I am a proud Putāruru local. I was born and raised here, built my career here and am now raising a family of my own here. My wife is a registered nurse at Tokoroa Hospital and together we have three amazing daughters.
Q: What has kept you loyal to Graham Brown & Co over your 14 years (and counting…)?
A: Having started as a young apprentice, I have grown up with a lot of the people here and they really are like family. Caring for our people is at the heart of our company’s culture and the fact that so many of our employees are celebrating major career milestones (15+ years of service) in 2023 is a testament to that.
Q: What’s the biggest misconception about accountants?
A: That we are just maths nerds and all about numbers. That’s not true. Everyone at our company is really invested in our clients and we consider ourselves to be ‘people people’ as much as we are ‘numbers people.’ But yeah, we are good at maths, which most people will be reassured to know!
Q: So, what do you like to do when you’re not wrangling numbers?
A: My family and I love travelling, mainly around NZ lately, but hopefully we can get overseas together at some point. We’re also big fans of skiing, so we head to the mountains every winter.
Q: What would you like Graham Brown & Co clients to know about you?
A: That I’m here to help and make their lives easier. Also, if a student is considering an apprenticeship with Graham Brown & Co, please feel free to get in touch and chat. I’m happy to share my experience and hope I can inspire some others into this great profession.
If you would like to get in touch with Timatanga, he can be contacted on timatanga@grahambrown.co.nz, or phone, 07 885 1022.