As a woman who has been in finance for 17 years, I have had to fight to be listened to. I have had comments made to me that my accomplishments were based purely on my appearance rather than my ability, or that my achievements or promotions were for tick-box purposes.
Realistically I work extremely hard, I have earned my place at the table and I know my worth. However, it has taken a long time for me to believe in myself.
While I think the industry is getting better, it feels that as women, we still have to prove our place, so we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality.
There are a few steps that I think would make a difference to the marketplace, such as having more female mentorship and sponsorship opportunities, and having women encourage and promote one another, and help each other develop. Women should also continue to pay it forward to others, and continue to speak up about the biases without shame or feeling as if we’re being disruptive in a negative way.
It is also important for companies driving diversity and inclusion to lead by example, and to have more females at board level — a lot of firms have woman in their management now, but it’s rare they are the board members, business owners or CEOs. One step that would help is having lenders offer a kickstart business owners proposition to help women get into business and help them get to the next level.
Moreover, it is key to have more male allies who speak up for their female colleagues and friends. Having well-respected males in the industry calling out wrong behaviours or attitudes would make a massive difference to the industry — morals should come before money.
I am very grateful for having extremely awesome supporters around me. Don’t get me wrong, the seeds of doubt, fear and anxiety creep back in often — however, we have to always remember to be kind to each other and continue to support one another to be the best we can be.
