Trey Dahiya
Trey is a Senior Accounting Manager at Renuity. With cross industry knowledge, stemming from his previous experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Carnival Corporation, Trey brings a valuable high-level perspective to his team. Trey has a Masters in Taxation (MST) and CPA. Trey’s goal is to become a CFO.
- Senior Accounting Manager at Renuity
- University of Miami ‘17
- Allies Everywhere Programming Committee ’22
I went to the University of Miami which allowed me to take major-specific classes from the moment I started coursework. I knew I wanted to major in accounting and pursue that very pathway to public accounting. Junior year, I landed a tax-focused internship with PwC’s Miami office. It was at this point that my career became my primary focus, as my internship coincided with my admission and enrollment in the Master of Science in Taxation (MST) program at UM. As my college coursework was wrapping up, I began preparing for the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) examination. I passed my CPA exam before finishing my last semester of graduate coursework and completing my MST.
In January 2018, I started my role in the corporate tax practice at PwC where I spent the next two years working with a variety of large corporations and partnerships that gave me a broad level of business exposure. I realized that tax analysis was not my end goal and that I ultimately wanted to become a CFO or controllership where decision-making would be a key part of my day-to-day. So, I consulted with three individuals that I looked up to and were professionally aligned with the role of a CFO. After discussing with them, I knew it was time to make another career move.
I then began working for Carnival Corporation. I moved away from tax and into a more technical accounting and financial reporting function. This move felt great both personally and professionally, and I was learning a variety of new skills, systems, and processes. But, the COVID pandemic hit the cruise ship industry especially hard. I was retained my position, but the company went from a booming industry-leader to fully halting operations globally within a matter of weeks. While it was certainly a dark time for the industry, the organizational adaption and messaging from my leadership was something I very much admired.
Recently, I moved to Renuity. I wanted to make a shift to an operationally focused accounting and finance function to get a stronger understanding of the processes required for a business to function properly. My goal at Renuity is to gain the skills necessary to fully access a controllership. While I had developed a variety of skills in large-scale environments, I felt I needed to see the ins-and-outs of a business before I would truly feel comfortable moving into a controller position and eventually CFO.
Renuity’s business model is focused on a nation-wide delivery of home improvement services. At its core, our model focuses on acquiring quality companies that are aligned with our values from a business and culture standpoint. We take on the back-office functions that can hinder fast-growing companies, such as accounting, finance, and marketing. We free-up client bandwidth to focus on their core strengths, namely sales and operations. This allows for additional focus to be placed on products, in turn leading to increased efficiencies, product-integrity and ultimately growth. An additional benefit for our acquired companies is the financial presentation and data-driven analysis we provide once we have access to their data. This drives insights for improved decision made with real-time data and feedback available at a more expansive level.
At PwC, I was given a piece of guidance that I took to heart and still hold dear to this day: “Nobody expects perfection and if you show a willingness to help and are responsive, you will find success.” Even if I don’t have the answer, I’ll take the extra steps necessary if it means helping someone get closer to achieving their goal. In my opinion, one of the worst feelings in the business world is to feel ignored. It can be disappointing when you reach out to someone to make a connection and receive no response, and it hinders a team from making meaningful progress.
This advice pushed my willingness to learn. Whenever I start a new role, regardless of what the description or initial responsibilities are at the onset, I ask to take on additional items and to learn as much as I can. Showing that willingness opens lines of communication and introduces opportunities to learn and collaborate. It lets colleagues know you are open to any new challenges or projects and removes doubts about growth prospects.
As with any experience in life, you get out of your career what you put into it. Embracing the culture around you and being targeted in where you apply yourself in a professional environment are characteristics that separate working a job from building a career. We all do something for a paycheck. There’s no shame in investing only what’s necessary to get the job done and receive the next check. However, that is not how I approach my professional goals and obligations. Jumping into the culture of your place of work and looking for areas to participate outside of your immediate team lets work feel less of a day-to-day obstacle. Activities that span multiple teams and business units also creates uniformity and coherence across a brand. Which, coincidentally, I truly believe is a core feature of what Allies Everywhere focuses on and nurtures within their cohort.
My Dad has largely impacted my trajectory as a leader. Everything from encouraging me to participate in groups, explaining how my actions impact others and what drives others’ perception of me, to giving me books and articles to read to increase my leadership acumen. All of it has impacted me as an individual and as a professional. One of these books is called ‘The Go-Giver.” The core message is that striving to simply make money off the relationships you build is not the best way to work towards your long term goal. The idea is that you build relationships by giving, not by receiving. If you help people and support them, it will eventually come back around five-fold. Thinking back, if I could select the book of Allies Everywhere, it is ‘The Go-Giver’ that embodies the principals of this group to the core, and I highly recommend everyone takes the time to give it a read.
We communicate with actions. It’s very easy to send an email with a memo about company values or put them in an email signature. But demonstrating those values and providing opportunities for employees to live out those core values is what truly builds culture and drives an ecosystem founded on collaboration and success. For example, volunteering is a great way to nurture a variety of company values. However, just telling people to volunteer or contribute time outside of work is a tall ask. Dedicating a day for all employees to show up to a volunteer event, compensating them for that day, and volunteering alongside constituents as a cohesive unit shows dedication not only to company values, but also to your employees. Renuity, led by our CEO, Daniel Gluck, orchestrated this kind of event. We spent an afternoon volunteering at Lotus House, a women’s shelter here in Miami. All teams across our office were present, all were paid for the day, and there was no expectation to continue working after the fact. An approach like this really demonstrates priorities and allows for engagement. It takes a lot to establish a culture and concentrated effort to develop and maintain it, but when executed successfully can be one of the strongest forces in the professional world.
To find the balance of what makes sense for you. The theory of “work/life balance” is thrown around a lot, but what that means to different people often seems to be overlooked. To some it simply means less hours. To others it means they have the freedom to structure their schedules to their liking as long as deadlines are met. Or perhaps it is a meaningless benefit. None of these are right or wrong, it is all a matter of preference. You need to identify what balance you want, and set yourself up in a career that aligns with your goals, otherwise you may encounter burnout or stagnation.
My commitments have been very different across the three different organizations I have worked at. Finding a balance in your work-life that caters to your priorities in other facets of your life will allow for your professional and personal lives to grow concurrently.
If someone you value tells you they value your relationship, you should value that relationship in the same way. This can extend to a friend, to a coworker, or to a new professional relationship. This doesn’t mean just being kind, it also means seeing how you can extend yourself and nurture the relationship from the beginning. It is always hard to be the first to engage or push a new connection along. Allies Everywhere has a brand that pushes leadership, strong character, and mutual opportunity all built on the foundation of the close and ever-developing relationships of its members. That is something I can get behind. But what separates the members of AE is the willingness to share insights and life experiences to a larger group of individuals.
Allies Everywhere has allowed me to meet people in both a professional and social stratosphere that I likely never would have encountered. Connecting and working with the other members exposes you to new ideas and like-minded individuals in settings that anyone can feel comfortable in. Our goal is to develop a coast-to-coast network where any time you visit in a new city, for personal or professional reasons, there is someone you are already in direct contact with. The members are ready to build on existing relationships, creating new ones, and helping each other. I felt that I had a reasonably developed network prior to joining AE, but I quickly recognized the numerous advantages this group offers and I made countless connections within just a few weeks. It is a tried-and-true network-accelerator comprised of diverse individuals through which anyone, regardless of background, can join with a connection and build a substantial network with ease.
Allies Everywhere is a private mastermind club for ambitious young professionals. For inquiries, please reach out to our Founder Matt Burke at matt@allies-everywhere.com. Check out our website: https://allies-everywhere.com/