Pathways — Sarah Petty, Olive Business Partners
Summary
Sarah Petty’s career has been shaped by resilience and reinvention, starting with an early setback before building a successful path through global finance roles across companies like GE, Kraft Foods and Mondelez.
Her experience across multinational corporates, combined with time spent working internationally, gave her a broad commercial lens and a deep understanding of how businesses operate at different stages of growth.
A defining theme in her journey is making finance more human and accessible — recognising that many business owners lack clarity over their numbers despite strong revenue, and that finance should enable better decision-making, not just reporting.
With the launch of Olive Business Partners, she’s taken a more purpose-led approach — providing virtual CFO services that give businesses flexible access to strategic financial expertise while creating a model that better supports both clients and her own lifestyle.
Making finance human
Sarah Petty is a highly accomplished CFO and has successfully led high performing teams both here in Australia and in Singapore. Having worked for several top tier multi-national and ASX listed companies including GE, Kraft Foods, Mondelez, Kellogg’s, Lion, Bega and Target — she has now decided to pursue a different path and follow her passion.
Launching Olive Business Partners, playing in the virtual CFO space, Sarah is now helping businesses organise and manage their financials to set them up for long term success.
She chatted with Atlas Partners Director, Liam Killen about her incredible career and what’s next in her journey.
Episode transcript
Liam: Sarah Petty, thank you so much for joining us today.
Sarah: Thanks for having me, Liam. Looking forward to the conversation.
Liam: Sarah, I’d love to start with your career journey. Can you walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Sarah: Sure. My career actually started with a bit of a false start. I had secured a graduate role with an ASX-listed company, but just as I was finishing university, I got a call to say the program had been cancelled due to budget cuts. I was devastated — I genuinely thought my career was over before it had even started.
But as it turned out, it led to something better. I was offered a role at GE on their financial management program, which ended up being an incredible training ground and a great foundation for my career.
From there, I built out my experience across a number of FMCG and retail businesses — including Cadbury (now Mondelez), Kellogg’s, Lion, Bega and Target — working across commercial finance, FP&A, financial controls and strategic projects.
Rather than walk through every role, I usually reflect on a few key moments that really shaped my career.
Liam: Let’s go through those defining moments.
Sarah: The first was my promotion to manager at Cadbury. It was something I’d been working towards, but when I got there, I found it more challenging than expected — particularly around people leadership and stakeholder management.
It got to a point where I wasn’t enjoying it, so I made the decision to step back into an individual contributor role at Lion. That gave me the space to rebuild confidence and reset. It taught me that careers aren’t always linear — and that stepping sideways or even backwards can sometimes be the right move.
Another key moment was moving to Singapore. That was a big step outside my comfort zone, both personally and professionally.
Then there was maternity leave. I was Head of FP&A at Lion when I had my son, and going from making big business decisions every day to being at home with a newborn was a huge adjustment. I found it challenging at first, but with the support of a great leader, I was able to transition back into work gradually, which made a big difference.
I also stepped into my first CFO role at Buzz, a privately owned business. That was a very different experience compared to large corporates — I had more autonomy but less support. It was a great learning curve in leading a function end-to-end.
And most recently, starting my own business, Olive Business Partners, has been a major step — building something from scratch and backing myself without the safety net of a corporate role.
Liam: Going back to the start — what drew you into finance in the first place?
Sarah: Growing up, I actually wanted to be a teacher. But when I got to university, I wasn’t entirely sure what path to take, so I studied a double degree in arts and commerce.
It might seem like an unusual combination, but it’s worked really well for me. I’ve always loved storytelling, and finance is really the language of business. Numbers tell a story — about performance, opportunities, and where a business is heading.
Being able to combine those two things has been a big part of my career — helping businesses understand their numbers and use them to make better decisions.
Liam: Was there a sliding doors moment that stands out?
Sarah: Definitely the move to Singapore. I’d been at Lion for less than a year when my partner was offered a role there. It was a tough decision because I was enjoying my role, but we decided to go.
It ended up being an incredible experience. I grew a lot personally, built resilience, and gained international experience that’s still valuable today — particularly when working with clients expanding into Asia.
Liam: What did you notice about the differences in working culture?
Sarah: It was more of a culture shock than I expected. Singapore is very multicultural, and I was working with teams across different countries.
It required a lot of adaptability and awareness. Even small things like communication styles can vary. I remember once using a common Australian phrase in an email that didn’t translate well, and it caused some confusion.
It was a good reminder to be mindful of how you communicate and to stay open and curious when working across cultures.
Liam: You’ve also had experience in board roles — how did those opportunities come about?
Sarah: I became interested in board work through exposure in my corporate roles. I joined Women on Boards, completed their leadership program, and started building my network in that space.
I also did a course on creating a board CV, which helped me position my experience differently. From there, I applied for a board treasurer role at Gasworks Arts Park and later joined Deakin University’s advisory board.
They’ve been really rewarding roles — a chance to give back and contribute in a different way.
Liam: How important have mentors been in your career?
Sarah: Very important. I’ve never had just one mentor — it’s more like a group of people I go to for different perspectives depending on the situation.
Most of them are former leaders or people I’ve worked with, but more recently I’ve also reached out to people on LinkedIn. If you’re genuinely interested and respectful, people are often very willing to help.
Liam: Let’s talk about Olive Business Partners. What are you building there?
Sarah: Olive Business Partners is a virtual CFO business. I work with business owners to help them get clarity and control over their finances.
A virtual CFO provides strategic financial support in a flexible way — it might be part-time, project-based or ongoing support without the need for a full-time hire.
I focus on things like cash flow, growth strategy, financial planning, and building financial capability within the business.
For me, it’s also about creating a model that works better — for both clients and myself. It gives businesses flexibility and allows me to balance work with family life, which is really important to me.
Liam: Fantastic. We’ll include those links. Sarah, thanks so much for joining us.
Sarah: Thanks, Liam. I appreciate it.