Staff Profile: Troy Graham
What inspired you to pursue a career in insolvency?
It spins back to university days. We had one elective, an insolvency law elective, and the professor was quite an eccentric sort of guy. A lot of people wanted to take his course because he made it really interesting and had a quirky side, too. So I did that, as part of my Commerce/Law degree.
Straight out of university, I took the traditional route and worked in a law firm. While I was there, I realised that while I enjoyed the work, it wasn’t really my niche.
So, I decided to do straight accounting in business services, and found that wasn’t really for me either. Then I thought, what’s something that can mix a bit of column A and column B? And that’s where I found insolvency. I also remembered my experience of that insolvency course, and I guess you could say I found my calling.
I’ve been in insolvency since 2009, so almost 16 years now, and I still find it interesting. You learn something new every day.
What does having worked in the accounting and law space help you bring to your insolvency work?
By working in business services before entering insolvency, I’ve learnt to appreciate that everyone has a story. Divorces, family deaths, and other factors can affect the numbers on a page, but sometimes, they just don’t get explored.
Insolvency allows you to get to know a person’s story. You get a complete, rounded picture of their scenario, not just the numbers on a page.
What professional achievement are you most proud of?
One of the more rewarding matters I worked on was a business trading profitably with approximately 40 staff, but it was crippled by COVID debt.
The landlord’s debt hindered the business operations as they tried to service it, limiting them from undertaking new projects that would expand the business.
We put them through a small business restructure. While they had to pay a portion of the debt back, it allowed them to free themselves from that legacy debt and push off and expand their operation.
Now they have 80 staff and tripled their turnover, all because of a simple process that we implemented through a small business restructure.
The landlord is also better off because they are now leasing more space from them. While the restructuring process was a hard pill to swallow, the outcome benefited all parties, not just the client we were working with.
That’s one of the more recent matters that I’ve been quite proud of because you’re not just hurting a lot of creditors to benefit one party. The restructure benefited all parties.
The insolvency process is not there to punish a particular party. It’s there to draw a line in the sand, move forward, allow everyone to know where they stand, and move on with life instead of keeping the ghosts of the past alive.
What have you learned from a colleague that’s made you better at your job?
Going back to what we were discussing, and this is from one of my original bosses, numbers on a page are one thing, but understanding the story behind them is another. You’ve got to take it all in. You can’t just decide based on one particular set of circumstances.
I listen to the client, am empathetic, and do not necessarily judge someone too quickly. Everyone’s got their story. Sometimes, by speaking to the person and understanding their scenario, something that might seem so insignificant to them could be the game-changer. That “insignificant” piece of information they divulge because of the time spent getting to know their scenario is the piece of the puzzle that you need.
What is a book or podcast that’s influenced you most recently?
This was the question I was actually dreading the most!
With two boys, three and five, life is hectic at the best of times, and sometimes their social calendar dictates mine. I spend a lot of time in the car, typically with kids, so I can tell you every Wiggle song!
I used to be fascinated by the storylines in Boston Legal, but that was a long time ago. To be honest, with two kids, I don’t have much time for podcasts or books at the moment.