Audrey Sherman.

• Position: GW Pharmaceuticals global head of tax

Agreat teacher can often be a defining person in your life. Take Audrey Sherman's tax professor, for example. "Through her I got involved in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. I joined Deloitte right out of college on the audit side, as you had to do back then, and when the opportunity came to participate in a six-month tax rotation, I jumped in and never looked back," Sherman explains.

Sherman, now global head of tax at GW Pharmaceuticals, says she has learned several important lessons from her previous experience in the tax field. First off, she says, "Don't jump to conclusions. Take your time, do your research, and think things through before you open your mouth. [Next,] don't panic! As a favorite boss once said to me, 'We aren't curing cancer here!' He was right. I'm an accountant, and this is not a life-or-death situation. Nothing is ever final. There's always an opportunity to change things, whether it is through an amended tax return, an audit exam disclosure, or a Big 4 firm expert who has a helpful IRS employee on speed dial. [And last,] don't sweat the small stuff. You can spend a lot of time trying to get to perfection on things that just don't matter. Focus on the big issues that drive impact."

She offers this advice to upcoming tax professionals: "There are a lot of tax jobs out there where you can utilize your skills and expertise and pay the bills, but it is the people who you do it with that make all the difference."

Several factors attracted Sherman to GW Pharmaceuticals, particularly "the energy, culture, and purpose of the company and their desire to help people, particularly children, through research, development, and commercialization of FDA-approved, plant-based cannabinoid medicine options," she says. "It is an interesting biotech space that is often misunderstood. GW received its first FDA approval in the US shortly after I joined, and it was exciting to be part of that initial commercialization. We now have approvals in the EU and are launching in countries across Europe and seeking approvals beyond. I was hired to build and lead a tax team to navigate the complex and ever-evolving tax rules as we grow the business. I love being a partner to the business, providing advisories and creating processes and systems that can make an impact."

What's the most interesting tax issue she has worked on at GW Pharmaceuticals?

"What issue isn't interesting at GW?" she exclaims. "With a UK parent company, I've...