CFO Magazine: Soul-Searching
June, 2006

In September 2004, after 16 years at Sony North America, including several as corporate controller, Tom Brown thought he needed a change of pace, so he resigned and focused on golf. "I'm not sure if it was a midlife crisis," he says, "but I needed to take back control of my time and my life."

The move didn't suit him. He missed the thrill of business, and his golf game got worse, not better. So last year, he went back to work — this time for himself. Along with partner Judy Thompson, Brown launched an executive-recruiting firm based in San Diego. Called BrownThompson, it focuses on finance executives.

The search firm was a natural fit. At Sony, Brown had hired a large number of people and had developed a knack for spotting financial talent. As a former high-ranking finance executive, he also knows what job candidates are looking for. His timing wasn't bad either. With high turnover in top finance jobs, the firm is already thriving.

It hasn't been all rosy, though. Brown says he's not used to bankers and insurers not taking his calls. "Sometimes they don't call back at all," he says. And going from directing a large staff to a tiny office has also taken some getting used to. "When something goes wrong with a computer, there's no IT department to call," he says. The true challenge of self-employment hit him on his second day of work, when his chair arrived unassembled. Brown remembered the large support staff he'd enjoyed at Sony, then got down on the floor and went to work.

— Joseph McCafferty

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