Michelle Schuler - 10 Years at Veros | News & Updates

The success of any organisation lies in its people. For the past decade Michelle Schuler, the first employee at Veros, has been an invaluable asset to the company. Our resident finance wizard, and a culture champion, Michelle is the glue that holds Veros together.

When Veros was just a budding partnership, Michelle joined founding directors Duarne Lankshear and Peter Williams as the first employee. Duarne recalls, “Michelle has been with us from almost day one, organising a couple of lads and keeping us in line from the early days and has been the glue ever since then, holding the team together as we have grown. For a good four years Michelle was the only female in the office, which must have been challenging, so we are grateful and blessed that she’s still here today. There is no job too big or too small for Michelle, she just gets it done, and always comes into the office with a massive smile on her face. Her role goes beyond balancing the books, she is the champion of team culture, she rocks!”

As the first employee, Michelle embraced the challenge of being part of a small but fast-growing team and has been instrumental in shaping and upholding the company values and culture. Morgan Jones says “For 10 years Michelle’s smile and style have been a constant at Veros. She represents a lot of who we are as a company and our values and what we call The Veros Way. The Veros Way is about people who are outstanding professionally, but remain humble, without egos, are team players, and work hard and with perseverance. We have borrowed the All Blacks mantras of “sweep the sheds” and “no dickheads” which reflect our culture too. As a business, we have deliberately and painstakingly grown a team of people that are not only industry experts and great at what they do but good people. Michelle has set the scene for us as she is absolutely one of these truly good people. She’s invested in what we do for our clients and their goals. She operates with honesty, loyalty and integrity. She works hard, commercially, efficiently, and puts in the hard yards when needed. She has even taken her computer to Europe to hit an important deadline, while at the same time watching one of her high-performing kids representing New Zealand at the Worlds. Importantly, she can have a good laugh, let her hair down, have fun and enjoy the journey that we are on. I can’t speak highly enough about Michelle.

Michelle’s infectious enthusiasm and warm demeanour have helped to create a sense of camaraderie and belonging within the Veros family. She has led initiatives to promote teamwork, and employee well-being, including our inaugural Get Moving month long fitness challenge. Senior Property Advisor, Paul Spurdle says “everyone loves Michelle, not just because she is in charge of payroll [laughs], but because she is always kind and welcoming to new team members, she makes time to catch up and check in about your general wellbeing, family, kids sports – often recounting funny stories or offering pearls of wisdom. Veros would not be the same without her.”

Michelle’s most notable contribution lies in her role as finance manager. With a keen eye for numbers and an innate understanding of financial intricacies, she manages the company finances, helping to ensure the company’s financial stability and growth. Her expertise in budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis have provided the company with crucial insights, enabling informed decision-making and resource allocation. In her role, Michelle runs the trust accounts of asset management clients, working alongside Asset Manager, Natalie Smith. “Michelle has been invaluable as I have transitioned into this role. She is the fount of all knowledge for finances and anything Veros related, she always keeps a calm and positive manner even when we’re thrown some curveballs.”

Beyond her financial prowess, Michelle also holds the title of ultimate culture champion, always in attendance to company events, strategy days, family days and functions. Senior Development Manager, Scott Bicknell recalls, “from the day I joined, Michelle has reflected the very best parts of the culture at Veros. I have never seen her without a smile on her face, is a regular at any Veros events, and always ready to help. She is the benchmark for the “Veros way” and an all-round legend.”

From the last ten year, everyone at Veros has a favourite story or funny memory with Michelle, a true sign of her impact on the office camaraderie and company culture. Morgan recalls one poignant moment, “I still remember Craig McMichael’s first day back in 2017. He’d been hired to lead and grow the Project Management team and with a real purpose to his stride and fresh off being handpicked for an important leadership role, he made the mistake of asking Michelle to do some photocopying for him. It was met swiftly with a subtle rebuke of how things work at Veros and a one-on-one lesson of how the photocopier worked so Craig could do it himself. Michelle has always covered many roles at Veros including Office Manager, Finance Manager, Chief Financial Officer and Culture Champ…. but never the office photocopier.”

At her celebration, many speeches and stories were shared, Michelle finished with a speech of her own:

“When I first started at Veros, Pete was running the accounts from Excel spreadsheets and he asked me to put in an accounting system for them. So I did some research and put a proposal together. In true Veros style, we met in a cafe to discuss my employment and for me to present my proposal. So that was the start of my 10-year career with Veros – just 3 or 4 hours a week for a while.

When Morgan re-joined the company in 2017, that’s when Veros really started growing and then it was just me and more and more 30-year-old guys with 1 and a half kids. Fast forward a few years and we now have lots of amazing women at Veros, out in the property world slaying! I’m still only doing 3 or 4 hours but it’s a day now not a week!

I actually feel blessed to be part of the Veros journey. I love coming to work. I love our social gatherings our competitiveness and our inclusiveness.

I really want to say thank you to you all for being part of the Veros family and making my work life fun. Hopefully, I can keep balancing the books for another 10 years!”

Michelle finished her speech, placing a tiara on her head, crowned “Veros Royalty.” And rightly so too.

In reflection of that last ten years, it is impossible to overlook the immense impact Michelle has had on the company’s journey. Her unwavering dedication, expertise, and passion have cemented her as the glue that has held Veros together. Looking ahead, there is no doubt that Michelle’s contributions will continue to be invaluable.

Thanks Michelle!