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Michelle’s Story | Breaking Barriers With Purpose, Perspective and Persistence

· Posted on: February 27th 2026 · read

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Hi, I’m Michelle, Corporate Finance Director and Head of Deal Origination at MHA. My career has been anything but linear, and every twist and setback has shaped the leader I am today. From leaving school at sixteen to stepping into a director role in a new firm nearly two decades later, my journey has been built on resilience, graft and the confidence to create opportunities.

Breaking Barriers

"I have not taken a traditional path to where I am today. I was brought up on a council estate in Derbyshire. My dad was a miner and then became a window cleaner when the mining strikes hit, and my mum was in and out of hospital as I grew up. I would not say I had big aspirations when I was young, so I left school at sixteen and went straight into an apprenticeship earning thirty pounds a week!"

Michelle Mullany, Corporate Finance Director and Head of Deal Origination

By my early twenties, I had an admin role at an audit and accounting firm in London, and that was the pivotal change for me. I was surrounded by smart, driven people and I felt like I could do more, but I wasn’t sure how to make it happen. I started taking on tasks outside of my core admin role, including helping to chase debtors and carrying out research for meetings the directors had in their diaries. Because of the work I took on outside my official responsibilities, I was given the chance to move into a junior operational role. It was a completely new position that involved turning my hand to whatever was needed, and it enabled me to make the move out of admin.

A Move to Manchester and a Light Bulb Moment

I then moved to Manchester, and the role available was a junior business development position focusing on back-office research and account management. I also had the chance to take notes in a few meetings. That was a light bulb moment for me. I realised how much I loved meeting new people, hearing their stories and understanding the challenges and opportunities within their businesses. I knew then that this was the direction I wanted to pursue.

When the opportunity came up to put myself forward for promotion to Senior Manager, I asked two partners to be my sponsors, to listen to my presentation and give me honest feedback. I also reached out to a senior woman I knew well outside the firm and asked if she would give me three coaching sessions to challenge me, which I will always be grateful for. Those experiences taught me that you have to own your career, ask for support and take the lead. People will help you if you help yourself.

Leading with Confidence in a New Environment

A wonderful Director would regularly give me feedback on the research I produced and how I could improve it. She would also talk to me before and after meetings with private equity firms about what they were interested in and how funding worked. It was never formal mentoring, but it made me realise that you often do not need a formal mentor. Ask for feedback, take it on the chin and use it to get better.

Michelle Mullany Corporate Finance Director and Head of Deal Origination

I then moved to MHA in 2023 as a Director to take on a new role as Head of Deal Origination. After nineteen years at my previous firm, it felt like a really scary thing to do, but it pushed me to build credibility in a new company, shape a role that did not exist and become part of a growing team that was not used to having sales people.

I hope I have brought to the team some of my learnings about developing long term client relationships and having a presence in the local market, which I have also done through things such as co-chairing the Pro Manchester Corporate Finance Committee. I also hold volunteer roles on the advisory boards for The Lowry Theatre in Salford and Reform Radio, which have helped me see things from a completely different perspective, particularly within charities and CICs, as well as highly creative industries. I would encourage anyone to grab hold of opportunities like these and put themselves forward, even if it makes you nervous.

I have found the environment at MHA to be warm and welcoming, and I am lucky to work in a team that is full of heart and soul, where you can be yourself while working hard for our clients. Corporate Finance as an industry still struggles with diversity, and as a team we want to foster a culture where anyone would want to be part of a growing and ambitious team. If you are interested in a career in Corporate Finance, please speak to me.