When you think of an accountant, we stereotypically imagine a dull, quiet and bespectacled person sitting in the most corner part of the office. Alone. Just a person and their numbers.

But the “bean-counter” of Fusion Travel and Tours is no plain Jane. Janey Weyers (38) sits in the corner of the office, but that’s where the similarities end. Oh, and numbers and planning does make her happy.

“A hairdresser freaks out when they find out clients have coloured their hair with dye in a box,” she says. “A travel agent thinks travel, or a holiday can only mean ‘leaving on a jetplane’. I am a bean counter. I love to budget, to plan and to spend wisely. But, unlike most accountants, my main aim is to have fun!”

Her big, blue eyes light up when she starts recalling her week planning and working on a very big tender.

“I love it. Thinking about every little detail. Getting everything together and crunching the numbers. That’s fun,” she admits.

She grew up in Klerksdorp and started working in accounting and the travel industry in 1999. “I started out as a junior bookkeeper in Bloemfontein, fell in love, moved, got married and started working at a travel agency in Pretoria,” she remembers.

When she had kids, Janey exchanged tourism for other ventures. Until the day tourism jumped right back onto her path.

“I randomly saw a Travel News Weekly magazine in the house of my daughter’s playdate in 2010,” she says. “So, my previous experience in travel administration naturally came up. This mom introduced me to Lenor Botma, who in turn asked me to help her out at Flight Specials twice a week for two hours.

“As the business grew, two hours became three, became five, became eight, became every day!”

In 2016 Fusion Travel and Tours evolved from this team.

“We are one big, happy family,” she says. “We support each other in our personal life and each team member complements the other.

“We believe that you don’t start working here because you applied for a job. You start here because you were sent here to complement the rest of the team.”

But, despite her happy demeanour she’s learnt some valuable lessons along the way. “Nothing is for nothing,” she says. And coffee helps. She says the DeLonghi coffee machine in the office is one of her favourite things in the world. And if a fresh brew fails in lifting her spirits, she sings along loudly to the music in her car.

Not your stereotypical bean counter!