Meet Bareetu Aba-Bulga, a Senior Consultant in Assurance – External Audit, whose passion for learning and education is truly infectious. Bareetu is also a member of the PwC People Council.

Some people struggle to find great mentors in their lives and careers. In the seven years Bareetu has been at PwC, there have been so many incredible mentors available and she couldn’t be happier. When asked if she has any female role models, Bareetu’s face lights up with what can only be described as pure joy as she begins to tell her mentorship story.

Bareetu’s mentee journey starts with her mum and a math teacher.

My mum came to Australia from Ethiopia about five years before she had me. She’s made a lot of sacrifices to make sure that my sister and I have been able to focus on our education. I think that my mum’s passion for education came from my grandmother (her mum). Even though my grandfather passed away when my mum was young, my grandmother ensured that my mum finished Year 12 so that she would have more options in life. So my family has always understood and valued the importance of education.

When I was in Year 9/10 math, I had a teacher named Ms. Wiley. She was such a boss, and came into the classroom and delivered such engaging lessons. In her classes, no math problem was ever too difficult to solve. She would make you stop, think and come up with a plan. She was always there to support you. Ms. Wiley made me feel like I could solve anything – and that applied to life too! Between my mum and Ms. Wiley, I think that’s why I appreciate PwC Assurance’s strong focus on development, growth and learning.

When it comes to her time at PwC, Bareetu likes to say that her mentors are like her work godmothers.

I have three work godmothers at PwC. When I started here, I assumed that to be a leader in a corporate setting, you’d have to project masculine energy. I believe that you’d have to hide the feminine aspects of your personality. But what I see in the leaders across PwC Assurance is that being female is a part of your strength and you should lean into it. If I had to describe the style of leadership, it would be caring. They nurture the people around them to grow and learn. They’ve shown me the kind of leader I want to be.

Since starting her career as a trainee, Bareetu continues to treat each day as a new learning opportunity.

One piece of advice I received from a partner was to treat your experience at PwC like you’re in business school. Any engagement that I go on, I reflect on ‘What do I want to achieve? What do I want to learn? What skills am I trying to develop?’ and I evaluate those questions after every engagement. I treat every opportunity like it’s a uni assignment. And I’m surrounded by a team that wants me to learn, so it’s almost like my partners and managers are my tutors and professors.

Bareetu’s mentorship journey has been epic so far. From the generational passion her mum passed on to working alongside inspiring women, she strives to pay it forward to the people around her.

I see the impact these incredible women have by nurturing the people around them and I try to embody those qualities in my leadership style too.

Journeys like Bareetu’s happen every day at PwC. See if your journey is waiting by checking our open roles.