It’s no coincidence that Lisa Ottmann, Vice President of Investor Relations at Trinidad Drilling Ltd., landed in Calgary, where the skiing is amazing. A self-described “ski bum” during her twenties, Ottmann left her hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, to search for peak skiing experiences and spent a happy winter in Canada.

Ottmann explains that travel is such a common rite of passage for New Zealanders that they even have an abbreviated phrase – ‘the big O.E.’ -- to refer to the “overseas experience” of spending formative time abroad. She prolonged the adventure for nearly five years after graduating with an accounting degree from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, working during the warmer months to support her skiing habit and living in London, the French Alps, and the Greek islands.

After meeting and marrying a Canadian man, who also loves the mountains, Ottmann permanently settled in Canada. The couple is fortunate to have a cabin near Fernie in British Columbia, Ottmann’s all-time favorite ski destination. Over the years, she has gradually introduced her now nine-year-old daughter, Olivia, to skiing and she is very glad that Olivia also enjoys the sport.

A Globetrotting Path

Ottmann began her professional life as an accountant at KPMG, and took several accounting jobs before landing at a small oil and gas company bought by AEC, which eventually became Encana Corporation.

It wasn’t long before Ottmann began to feel that accounting was too “dry” and the tasks insufficiently varied to suit her personality. Ottmann is grateful that she had a “great boss who was very understanding when I said: ‘I don’t want to be an accountant, but I don’t know what I want to be.’” When her boss/mentor proposed investor relations as an alternative, Ottmann was intrigued.

Next, Ottmann spent a few years in Brisbane, Australia, where she worked at Flight Centre. Although she was initially hired as an accountant, she gradually began helping the CFO with investor presentations until she had effectively reinvented herself as an IRO. When Ottmann returned to Canada, she worked briefly at Encana again and then found IR positions at Pengrowth Energy Corp. and later Trinidad.

Ottmann appreciates the varied life of an IRO. “With investor relations,” she says, “you’re never really sure when you come to work what you’re going to be doing. Something might happen in the market or something might happen with one of our competitors.”

In 2015, she won IR Magazine’s award for best small-cap investor relations officer in Canada.

Future Goals

Ottmann has been eager to bolster her skills and grow professionally. For instance, she’s found CIRI to be a great resource because of the mentors it offers and its educational opportunities, particularly those designed for newcomers to the profession.

When Ottmann felt ill equipped to handle the public-speaking aspect of her job, she enrolled in a Dale Carnegie course to burnish her presentation skills. “Like a lot of people, I’ve never enjoyed public speaking,” she says. “But our CEO, CFO and President don’t always accompany me, and I’m the one who has got to get up and give the corporate presentation and speak to investors and media.” 

Going forward, Ottmann is determined to increase her knowledge of the oil and gas industry. “I have a finance background, but I haven’t spent that much time on a rig,” she says. “Often, it’s hard for investors to know the difference from one rig to another. If we all tell them we have the best rigs, how can they differentiate?” By gaining industry knowledge, she hopes to clarify these distinctions for investors.

Ottmann takes a very active approach to honing her professional skills: “I’m constantly calling and popping into offices to get operational updates. If I don’t know what’s happening, there’s no reason for analysts or investors to call me. They might as well go straight to our CEO or CFO, and there’s no point in even having investor relations if other executives are spending their time doing what I should be doing.” In short, concluded Ottmann, the key to success as an IRO is “understanding the business as much as you possibly can.”