Introducing Ruby Spicer, our new Administration Assistant at Harris Black. Currently studying accounting at UQ (University of Queensland), Ruby brings a love for Carbs, Grey’s Anatomy, and diverse hobbies.

Ruby’s love for pasta shines through as she reveals that her favourite meal would be Gnocchi with Napoli sauce. In her free time, she enjoys going to the gym, baking delicious treats, and indulging in TV shows. While not related to anyone famous, Ruby would love to share a meal with Lady Diana, her grandfather, Angelina Jolie, and Mo Gawdat.

In the coming months, Ruby looks forward to celebrating her brother’s graduation from ADFA (Australian Defence Force Academy). She can give a spontaneous 40-minute presentation on “Grey’s Anatomy” and boasts about the fact that she has watched all 19 seasons three times though. Ruby loves to make dishes like bruschetta, tomato soup, espresso martinis, and brownies. She speaks some French, German, and Norwegian. She hopes one day that older hairstyles like Lady Diana’s will come back in fashion.

Ruby dreams of living in Norway in the summer, the Maldives in the winter and would choose to spend the day at a puppy café with loved ones. Tennis is her favourite sport, and she has had the privilege to watch Serena Williams play at the Australian Open.

If Ruby won a million dollars, the first thing she would do is buy a house. If she won five million dollars today, she would happily retire and spend more time with her family and friends. Her desired superpower is flying, and she finds inspiration in Nelson Mandela’s quote, “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

We eagerly look forward to witnessing the ongoing impact Ruby will make and the growth she will achieve within our firm.

Kath recently retired after a little over 10 years at Harris Black. She initially started as our Practice Manager in 2013, but family circumstances meant she needed to move to Sydney.

In a short time Kath had made a huge impact on Harris Black, and was happy to continue to assist with some projects, long before “Work from Home” had been invented in our industry. Kath had the ability to get the best out of people, and her humble approach to work always made those working with her feel like they had over achieved.

Even though Harris Black was not a large practice we looked at ways for Kath to remain, and her role morphed into that of a Workflow Manager – a role we thought would need a lot of accounting experience, but in typical Kath fashion she owned the position, and became a support to new and long serving employees at all stages of their career. Kath continued to grow the role, and became a mentor to the admin team as they stepped up quickly in her absence and during various periods of maternity leave.

Kath ensured she left Harris Black with everything humming along, the sign of a true professional, with things working well even in her absence.

It was wonderful to see Kath visit recently from Sydney for our Thursday morning tea and lunch with a few of the oldies. Renee and Nathan also caught up with her for lunch recently in Sydney.

Kath became one of those rare people that will be remembered as part of HB history for the lasting impact she had on many of us, and on HB itself.

Enjoy your retirement Kath, and thank you for your loyalty, hard work and friendship.