Steph Young on choosing joy

Steph Young is many things. She’s a born and bred Brisbanite, a loyal Broncos fan and the Director of our River City office. She’s ‘big sister’ to three (taking on the role of third parent in her stride); ‘mum’ to one toy cavoodle, Maxie; and the winner of many basketball-related accolades, which she picked up in her teenage years.

Image: Meet Maxie, Steph's 'bestest boy'

She’s an exercise enthusiast, an adrenaline-seeker, a team player, a conduit for connection.

Steph is also a person who chooses, relentlessly, to pursue the things in life that make her happy.

In the big ways and the small, the shape of Steph’s life has largely been defined by her leaning into what feels good and away from what doesn’t.

From early on, that meant numbers.

“Maths and figures, I just get them. I understand them. I love them,” she says.

A flair that runs in the family, Steph’s grandmother was a maths teacher. Steph recalls afternoons spent at her grandmother’s doily-clothed table, learning from the best (and arguably, one of the strictest). So many years on, these are still memories that Steph keeps close to her heart.

Image: Steph's Grandmother and Maxie

“I know she’d be very proud of me and where I am today,” says Steph.

Steph’s knack for numbers, spurred on by her grandmother’s wisdom, led her to take accounting and business subjects in high school, and just like that, her path came into focus.

“I always knew I wanted to be an accountant,” she says.

The more Steph learned about accounting, through school, into university, and eventually into the workforce, the more she loved it. Like all things we fall for, there isn’t one neat explanation. The reasons are layered and hard to separate. However, talking about her affinity for what she does, a pattern surfaces: helping people.

“I joke to the team that we’re a detective squad. If there’s a problem, it’s on us to work it out, to figure out what’s not working and how we can fix it,” Steph says.

“I love to solve problems for people. When a client calls and they’re stressed or worried, I love being able to say, ‘It’s okay. You don’t have to stress. I’ll work it out’...I get a real thrill from that,” she says.

Steph has always felt a natural pull towards helping others. Before stepping into the world of accounting, she spent more than a decade working as a disability support worker.

“I started literally a week after finishing school. I didn’t know how to cook. I couldn’t iron. I didn’t even have my licence.”

She laughs at the memory. The younger version of herself, wide-eyed and unprepared, suddenly responsible for the care of others.

The work was hands-on and humbling. All of her clients required full daily support with personal care, mobility, and everyday tasks like dressing and meal preparation. Steph quickly learned that the smallest acts could mean the most.

“I used to jump around, sing and dance with one of my clients, just to get him to laugh,” she says.

“I just love helping people and making people happy.”

Today, Steph channels that same empathy and positive energy into her work and her team. Her days are fast-paced and varied, split between client work and team management.

“What matters to me most is always the people,” she says.

“Working with clients who appreciate the hard work you put in, and with people you can laugh alongside, and turn to when you’re having a hard day.”

She pauses, then grins. “I don’t always make everyone happy, but I always try.”

4-Nov-14-2025-04-14-03-6308-AM Image: Steph with her Uncle Peter at the Roma Street Fire Station after the Broncos Semi-Final.

Those same instincts, to connect, to understand, to lift others up, extend beyond Steph’s day-to-day work. They’ve shaped the way she thinks about people and what drives them.

During her interview for her role with Ulton, that philosophy came to the surface when the conversation turned to one of her favourite authors: Dale Carnegie.

Steph recalls telling her interviewers about a story from the opening chapter of How to Win Friends and Influence People, the tale of Francis “Two Gun” Crowley.

For those unfamiliar, the story goes like this:

Francis “Two Gun” Crowley was a career criminal and a murderer. He lived a life of violence, and by all intents and purposes, one bereft of goodwill. Finally, after a long run of crime, Crowley finds himself at the end of the road and at the centre of a siege. With 150 police closing in, and gunfire showering down, Crowley, wounded, scribbles a final note down: “To whom it may concern, under my coat is a weary heart, but a kind one, one that would do nobody any harm”.

“He’s done all these terrible things and killed all these people, yet in his final letter he’s proclaiming that he was a good person, it’s wild,” exclaims Steph.

There’s a lot of lessons you can glean from this story: the value of action vs intention, human nature’s proclivity to blame others instead of taking accountability for one’s own actions, and the often-stark contrast between internal and external perception.

For Steph, the standout lesson is one of empathy.

“Most people are trying the best they can, with what they have,” she says.

“When something feels ‘wrong’, I remind myself to take a step back, put myself in the other person’s shoes, and remember that the vast majority of people don’t have malicious intentions, their perception is just different to yours because they have had a different experience of the world,” she says.

So there Steph was. Sitting across from her prospective employers, sharing her take on the famed ‘Two Gun’ tale, talking about big topics like accountability, human nature, and empathy.

At the time, Steph hadn’t the faintest clue of how close Ulton held Dale Carnegie’s teachings.

“It’s funny really,” she says.

“I had no idea that Ulton loved that book, or that so many of Dale Carnegie’s principles underpin how the firm operates.”

Image: The Ulton leadership team at the Dale Carnegie workshop in April 2025

A kind of alignment that’s impossible to plan and hard to ignore, by the end of her interview, Steph knew this was where she was meant to be.

Since joining the team, Steph has continued to bring those lessons to life. She’s completed two Dale Carnegie sessions herself, and even introduced conversation cards from the program into her own team, a Monday morning ritual that’s helped them strengthen their bond.

“We use the cards to get to know each other better. They include prompts that have people sharing their favourite holiday, the best conversation they’ve ever had, whether they’d rather be invisible or be able to fly, that kind of thing,” she says.

“It encourages everyone to talk about themselves, but it also helps us become better listeners, and shape an environment where we are all genuinely interested in each other.”

“And it’s also just a bit of fun,” she says.

It’s a small ritual that captures so much of what drives Steph: her instinct to connect, her curiosity about people, and her deliberate choice to make every day joyful.

Steph knows happiness doesn’t just happen; you have to choose it, and keep choosing it. In doing so, she’s built a life that feels good in all the right ways, one that’s full of purpose, connection, and plenty of reasons to smile.

Family chrissy

Image: Family is very important to Steph and is a key element in her happiness.

1. What’s one song that never fails to lift your spirits?

“I listen to ‘Walking on Sunshine’ by Katrina & The Waves just about every morning. It just has a way of making me feel like the day ahead is going to be a great one."

2. What’s your favourite thing about being a dog mum?

“The unconditional love. That feeling of walking in the door and being greeted with so much joy and excitement.”

3. Where will your next holiday take you?

“My partner Luke and I actually just booked ourselves in for a cruise in Vanuatu. I’m so excited for all the day trips. We’ll be going ziplining, on an aqua quad bike tour, and to a village along the way for a firewalk ceremony. It’ll be our first big trip away together!"

Advisory

Business Services

Forensic Accounting & Audit

Superannuation

Administration Services