Jordy Kane is the latest addition to our operations team, which enables all of Streetsense to function with healthy financials. Bringing well over a decade of accounting experience to Streetsense, Jordy is excited to empower our uncommon creative collective. Read more to learn about his philosophy on good accounting and his love for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
What were you doing before you got to Streetsense?
I’ve been an accountant for 15 years now. I’ve run the whole gamut, I got my start in public accounting at PWC and from there it’s been working on the industry side, working on the client service side. Right before I was at Streetsense I worked at a public affairs consulting firm now called Penta. I ran their back office, going through a series of acquisitions and growing from one shop out of DC to a global shop with multiple offices.
I’ve done almost everything you can as an accountant over those fifteen years!
What is the most important quantifiable quality of a good finance operation?
So much of what we do is numbers-based. A lot of times it’s easy to back and just say, “this is the number.” There’s not a lot of subjectivity to it. But that can have its pitfalls. You can’t see the forest for the trees.
As you move up and see how businesses operate, you can’t fall into the trap of saying “these are my numbers and I don’t have to justify anything else.”
There is a human component to making important financial decisions.
What characteristics in a person make a good finance professional?
An accounting professional taking a teaching role. Because I live in numbers, it can be evident from a finance side what it tells you about the health or direction of the business. It’s not always evident to someone with a different day job. I can’t do any of the creative services our collective offers!
I try to bridge the gap by explaining what it is I do and taking the time to educate the person I am talking to about what numbers mean through trends or broader developments. Taking time to explain it and provide context.
Streetsense is so multi-disciplinary and thus so unique. What is it like doing finances for a place that offers so many distinct but cooperating services?
The Streetsense lines of business come from industries with different processes and revenue streams — so it could fall into thinking one of those is how it should be done for the whole operation. But what we try to do is bridge the gap, smooth the edges for how we can fit all the services under one umbrella. It’s where we differentiate ourselves. We offer our clients a full service across disciplines in one place.
What are you most excited about as you’re getting settled at Streetsense?
I love hearing about Streetsense’s current vision. We make a compelling business case for clients to benefit from the services we offer. I love hearing about all of our teams and their projects — I am tickled by that. It’s so interesting to hear and see.
What’s something you like to do outside of work?
I am a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It is my exercise, my hobby. I spend a lot of my free time training. I get a lot of joy from the physical exertion and the mental challenge. It keeps me humble because I am not good at it for how long I’ve been doing it!
So long as the body helps up (knock on wood), I want to keep doing it for decades to come.
If Streetsense sounds like a place you’d like to work, learn more on our careers page.
BACK TO LATEST
