When you’re working for an accounting firm in downtown Toronto, during tax season, with pneumonia, and it’s snowing outside, most people just dream about working in a tropical location like Bermuda, or Grand Cayman Island, but Trudie Ottolini, BMath ’94, made that dream a reality. Trudie is now the CFO of the Gosling’s Group of Companies in Bermuda and is one-third of the all-female management finance team running Bermuda’s biggest (and oldest) importer of wines and spirits and producer of rum.
When she decided to leave Toronto a few years after graduating for a job in the Cayman Islands, Trudie says “I reached a point where I thought there must be something more to life than this.” She sent an email in a moment of tired frustration to KPMG on Grand Cayman and had a job offer within 24 hours! She eventually left public accounting to become financial controller for a Caribbean money transfer company and then grew and expanded to other industries. With her immigration term limit expiring, Trudie turned to a job offer in Bermuda and has now made it her home.
She joined Gosling Brothers, an 8th generation family owned and operated business founded in 1806, and sponsor of the 2017 America’s Cup. As CFO, it’s Trudie and her team’s job to oversee the financial aspects of the four companies that make up Goslings. So how did being a Combinatorics and Optimization grad come into play in what (on the surface) looks like a financial job? As anyone who has ever worked with a small or family-run company knows, you have to wear a lot of different hats. And so it was with Trudie. With 24 tankers circling the globe between 3 purchase locations, 1 blending location (Bermuda), 3 international bottling and distribution locations each serving different international sales markets with growing demand, Trudie’s response to her surprised management team was “Do you know I can help you with that?” creating the ultimate C&O problem solving adventure.
As sponsor and Official Rum of the 35th America’s Cup, and importer of the Official Wines and Champagnes, Ottolini and her team are not only responsible for a multi-million dollar budget, but also with invoicing, scheduling, and most of all, assisting with the logistics and hospitality side of the event. That includes building and staffing 3 fully functional bar venues in a newly created village, and of course making sure there’s enough alcohol to service the tens of thousands of guests expected on Bermuda during the six week race.
Ottolini described how she and her team use combinatorics and optimization daily to solve the very complex math and financial problems associated with keeping the financial side of the business healthy (and the bills paid), while coordinating incoming cargo ships filled with supplies, warehouse space, distribution of alcohol, and hundreds of other event details and logistics crucial to upholding Gosling’s duties as Cup sponsor.
“It’s the quintessential job shop scheduling problem”
So what keeps her grounded? Working and living on an island like Bermuda definitely has its perks. An avid photographer, who has had 3 gallery shows, Trudie spends her spare time roaming the island looking for the “perfect shot,” in addition to exploring the many beaches and snorkeling areas that come with living on an island paradise. Oh, and working for a rum company has its perks too!
See our new Alumni Profiles webpage for more great stories about our fabulous alumni!
