How HomeEquity Bank’s vice president of finance, Sherri Kinch, built a philosophy around the idea that numbers only mean something once you understand the people behind them.
Ghadeer Redler
Head of Multimedia, Thought Leadership & Customer Stories
Workday
Sherri Kinch still remembers the moment she noticed the gap. Growing up in a rural part of Eastern Ontario, outside of Ottawa, she was raised in a supportive family—but entering the co-op accounting track at Brock University made her realize that many of her classmates had advantages she hadn’t even recognized.
“Many of my classmates had parents who were lawyers, accountants, or executives,” she recalls. “They had people at home who could explain what a career in the corporate world looked like. My parents couldn’t give me that roadmap—but they gave me something just as valuable: the belief that I could figure it out.”
That belief was tested early. Kinch didn’t pass her CPA exam on her first attempt. At 25, it felt like the end of her world. The same day her results arrived, KPMG offered her a job.
“I told the managing partner upfront that I was going to fail that day,” Kinch says. “He simply told me, ‘That’s okay. I guarantee you’ll pass next year.’ And I did.”
KPMG provided the study structures, time off, and peer network she’d lacked at her previous firm. The deeper lesson wasn’t just about finding the right environment—it was about resilience and the tenacity to keep looking for a better way when something isn’t working, a mindset that has run through her entire career.
“Failure isn’t always a reflection of your abilities,” she says. “Sometimes you are simply set up for failure by an unsupportive environment. You have to change your surroundings to find where you can thrive.”
Throughout her career, Kinch has been guided by that instinct to rethink what isn't working. This mindset took her from public accounting to HR and business strategy, eventually landing her at Home Equity Bank, where she serves as vice president of finance.
It’s an unconventional path, and it’s exactly why she leads the way she does: convinced that the numbers only matter if you understand the people generating them. That conviction also shaped how she led the bank’s finance function through its transformation, moving the team from transactional processing toward a more strategic and insight-driven organization.
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Kinch went on to build a multifaceted 16-year tenure at the TMX Group of Companies. Her versatility was tested early when she was suddenly asked to step up and run a $30 million software subsidiary. Later, after leading deep internal process improvements and structural overhauls focused on empowering staff, she fell in love with the human side of operations.
"A colleague came up to me during a cultural transformation project and told me, 'You are giving me back the joy in my job,'" Kinch notes.
Deeply moved, she requested a transfer completely out of her comfort zone into HR. She spent two years in that role and simultaneously earned a master's certificate in organizational development and change management.
When the CFO later asked her to return to the finance department, Kinch hesitated, citing a decade away from accounting standards. His response redefined her leadership career:
"I want you back because I need a people person to help shape the culture of the finance team. You can relearn accounting."
The combination of finance and HR fundamentally reshaped Kinch's leadership philosophy. Finance taught her discipline, precision, and accountability. HR taught her that leadership isn't about applying rules; it's about applying judgment. Every person, every situation, and every decision requires empathy and context.
Together, those experiences became the foundation of how she leads today, a trait Kinch admits bleeds humorously into her home life. "My partner will say he's catching the 7:15 train, and I'll immediately correct him that it's actually the 7:12," she smiles. "But humans don't live in black and white; they live in the gray zone."
With back-to-back deadlines pushing her team to their limits, Kinch watched workloads spike and cracks in morale begin to show. Home Equity Bank was in the middle of a massive, fast-paced technology overhaul involving multiple system deployments—a transformation that touched leadership, governance, and technology all at once. For Kinch, the true challenge was never the data. It was protecting the people entering it.
Instead of managing from behind a dashboard of project milestones, Kinch stepped directly into the friction. She recognized a turning point during a particularly exhausting crunch period when burnout was visibly setting in across the department. Rather than delivering a standard corporate pep talk, she gathered her team and brought her own vulnerability to the table.
"I had recently started learning golf, and it reminded me how uncomfortable it feels to be a beginner again," Kinch shares. "Every swing required conscious thought, progress was inconsistent, and it was frustrating to struggle with something that looked so simple. It gave me a new appreciation for what my team was experiencing. They weren't just learning a new system, they were relearning jobs they had already mastered, while continuing to deliver for the business. I wanted them to know that feeling frustrated wasn't a sign they were failing; it was a natural part of learning."
By intentionally leveling the playing field and introducing self-deprecating humor into high-stress meetings, she gave her team permission to vent, laugh, and acknowledge their exhaustion safely.
Her intensity isn't driven solely by developing people, though that matters deeply to her, it's also driven by a strong sense of accountability to the organization. "They know my expectations are high because the work matters," Kinch says. "Our reporting influences executive decisions, regulators, auditors, and the Board. I owe it to the organization to insist on excellence, and I owe it to my team to help them achieve it."
This hands-on empathy reflects the core findings of a recent 360-degree review Kinch underwent. The feedback from her direct reports painted a picture of a leader who balances fierce expectations with deep psychological safety. Her team noted that while she is exceptionally demanding, leaving no doubt about where the bar is set, they welcome her intensity because they know it stems entirely from her investment in their growth.
"It's easy for a manager to walk away, stay silent, and let things slide," Kinch notes. "Having the harder, uncomfortable conversation to help someone navigate friction and raise their own standard is where the real work of leadership happens."
By leaning heavily into transparent communication and operational balance when the pressure was highest, she ensured her team didn't just survive the transition but grew closer because of it.
Having stabilized her team's morale and proven that they could survive a massive technical overhaul together, Kinch realized the next step wasn't just weathering the next project—it was fundamentally changing the nature of their work.
Kinch views the rapid integration of AI not as a threat, but as an ultimate enabler for her workforce. At Home Equity Bank, finance professionals are actively building their own custom AI agents. One team member recently automated a manual process that converted massive Excel sheets into structured XML files.
The ultimate North Star for her department is leveraging automation to completely eliminate manual journal entries and minimize unnecessary overtime, freeing her team to spend more time creating insight and strategic value.
"AI isn't going to replace finance positions," Kinch predicts confidently. "Instead, it is going to liberate us from the tedious, routine operational tasks we dread, freeing up capacity for the creative, strategic thinking that adds real organizational value."
"Walk through the open doors, take calculated risks, and never let fear paralyze you," Kinch reflects. "The biggest opportunities in my career came from saying yes to challenges I wasn't sure I was ready for. Surround yourself with people who challenge your thinking and push you beyond your comfort zone. The best mentors I've had didn't give me the answers — they asked better questions, challenged my assumptions, and inspired me to keep looking for a better way."
"Finance will continue to evolve as technology advances," Kinch adds. "Technical expertise will always matter, but what will distinguish great leaders is their ability to build organizations where people are willing to learn, embrace change, and continually find better ways of working. That's the kind of Finance organization I've tried to build throughout my career, and the kind I believe will be needed for the future."
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