Finding work-life balance

Meet Amit Gopal

Amit began his journey at PwC 11 years ago in our Cape Town offices before moving to Dubai, where he resides with his family. Here’s what Amit enjoys about his role and how PwC changed his life on a professional and personal level as well.

What’s your role at PwC like?

I’m based out of our Dubai office supporting the Indirect Tax and Deals Tax teams in the region. A key part of my role is to work closely with clients and teams to ensure that they stay compliant and up-to-date with all VAT developments across the GCC. By profession, I'm a qualified South African tax lawyer with over 11 years of professional services experience and my PwC career began at PwC Africa in our Cape Town offices. 

Other than being a qualified South African Tax lawyer - what else can you tell us about yourself? 

Personally, I love to read and learn while dabbling with videography and photography. You will generally find me outside of work tinkering with gadgets, behind a camera or trying to improve myself in some way. I hold strong opinions about world affairs and I am passionate about mental wellbeing, compassion & consulting tips to manage work life balance and tweet about this often. On top of all of this, I produce content for my own LinkedIn and YouTube channels where I discuss these topics.

How would you describe your journey with PwC?

I've been with PwC for more than a decade and have been fortunate enough to be able to say that I've had the opportunity to work with teams across all our Lines of Services. 

PwC has in many ways contributed to dramatic and significant inflection points in my life. From growing into a professional, learning the ropes of consulting, moving countries and so much more. Funny but true story is that I inadvertently bumped into a person on my first day at PwC, who later I learned would be my colleague in the tax team, and who subsequently became my wife. How's that for life changing first days?

How do you maintain your wellbeing?

To protect my energy, I've created mental boundaries and reimagined my workday in a way that's flexible and yet delivers on my promises to clients and team mates. From a wellbeing perspective, I have learnt to turn on a "personal focus" for myself and my family in the evenings and over weekends to make sure that I am giving each facet of my life the attention and time it deserves to grow. Cultivating the work, home, play and family aspects of my life; and planning my day in a way to give my energy to all of them has made me significantly calmer when approaching my day and has removed any unsolicited anxiety because of it.

Over the years, I have learnt that cultivating kindness and being compassionate can help shape who you become and leave a professional legacy that can touch the lives of all you work with in ways I could never have comprehended. If you're lucky in your career, those initial relationships and compassionate moments can turn into everlasting friendships, powerful business collaborations and opportunities for you in the longer-term. 

What’s one piece of advice you would like to share with others?

Learning is a continuous process. We continue to learn and grow as we age, so the key to success in life isn't just about being smart; it's about taking advantage of opportunities when they come your way. The truth of the matter is that learning never ends. You can keep taking courses, reading books and watching videos to improve your skills at work or school, but it doesn't change how much you still have left to learn about life itself.