new south wales

a view to deploying it into your profession. From my perspective, you can have separation between work and life, but the way you spend your time at work influences your life outside the office, so create it in your image.

What keeps you busy outside of the profession?

I enjoy playing classical music on the piano and football. l am training for my next boxing bout which is scheduled in for a few months. Boxing

Congratulations to Barbara

Cestaro MICM CCE

takes years of preparation, and is like a second profession to me. I train twice a day in the morning and evening. You need to follow a strict diet, so you are able to make the required weight for the weight class. From my perspective, learning how to box is more than just throwing punches. If you pay attention, it’s more like chess with logical moves and counters based on how your opponent interacts in the ring – excited to bring home the win in my next fight.

Client

Manager,

AON – Consultant/Solution provider of the Year

Barbara won Consultant/Solution provider of the Year in our 2022 Pinnacle Awards. As regular contributor to the AICM and with such a wealth of industry knowledge, it should be no surprise to see that she was selected for the accolade.

What has been your career story so far?

I grew up in Italy and in my early 20’s I stumbled across a newspaper add for a job that appealed to me. It wanted someone who could speak both German and English and as I studied these languages at school I applied and to my surprise I landed the role. The job was in Credit Insurance at Atradius (then called Gerling), which I knew nothing about! My work was initially more backoffice and admin but I progressed to helping the team, then working as an account manager with clients. After a while moved to a new business role which I loved doing for 7 years.

I was there until 2012 when an interesting opportunity opened in Sydney. I gave it a go. There was a phone interview – keep in mind, this required chatting to some Aussie a world away with an accent that was hard to understand in the middle of the night. They offered me the role so I had to quickly sort out the visa, pack and within 2 months of applying I was in Sydney!

I changed roles after a few years and became a broker. Then in 2019 I started to work at AON and I’m now a Client Manager in Credit Solutions.

What is your biggest professional accomplishment to date?

It’s the move to Australia. In looking back, I can see it really took guts but it was a good decision. I did question what on earth did I do when I arrived and couldn’t buy a coffee after 2:30pm. I picked an area to live that was close to the beach and nothing else. Welcome to Manly. This helped me settle in pretty quickly and Sydney has been home ever since. Sydney has given me the professional opportunities to progress my career and allowed me to meet some great professionals over the course of the years.

What advice can you give to emerging credit professionals?

Find something fun you can do every day. Not 100% of your days are going to be fun, and at times work can be taxing, so you need to find something in the job that you enjoy, then try do a little of that every day. For me it’s the satisfaction of new business and sales. Looking for companies that will benefit from trade credit, connecting with them and finding a solution that fits gives me satisfaction.

How long have you been a member of the AICM? I joined in 2018 when I became a broker.

What has being a member of the AICM done for you? It helps me understand what credit managers face on a daily basis, and not just the area I focus on but their other daily challenges. It also enables me to give back and share insights in my area of expertise. Be sure to look for my article titled ‘In a context of intense geo-political and macroeconomic volatility, which trends may affect businesses’ ability to trade and/or access finance’ in the next AICM Risk Report!

Why do you think the judges selected you for the Pinnacle Award?

I really tried to put forward my best. I think this showed the effort I always put in to help credit managers and credit professionals understand trade credit. Not everyone knows what it is, or how it works as it is complex. I try to make it digestible so it’s not as challenging and daunting as it looks like.

What do you get up to outside of work?

I met my partner not too long after moving to Sydney. We have two kids together and I love spending time with them and making pizza. I’ll share my recipe with you if you want?

AICM special: I was talking to Barbara about her Italian background since she was in Italy during the interview. We spoke about the pizza she makes at home every week. See below for her Nonna’s recipe that I tried and loved!

1. Ingredients: For the dough – 500 grams standard flour, 2 tablespoons EV olive oil, 100 ml water, 7 grams dry yeast, salt to taste.

2. Method: Combine everything at once in a bowl and mix until smooth. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes and place it back in the bowl. Leave in a warm place with a towel over it. I prepare it in the morning so it has hours to rise.

3. Toppings: Simple ingredients such as a tomato base, nice mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and oregano.

4. Dish: I cook it in a big dish but you could use a pizza stone as well. Place the dough in, spread to the sides.

5. Oven: Cook for approx. 10 mins depending on the size. I put the oven on super-hot and watch it like a hawk!

Thank you

Congratulations again to Andrew, Barbara and Joey for their awards. Thanks for letting me interview you and share your successes with our members.

– Gary Poslinsky MICM, NSW Council.