UK
Having studied Finance & Accounting at university, a career in finance was an obvious choice. My Mum was a bit of a “tiger Mum” and pushed me to get onto various banking internships during my time at university which gave me an initial insight into the range of roles available at a bank (something I should probably thank her for now!). Early on, I set my sights on a career in Equity Research, thinking I had found my dream job! After spending a bit of time in the world of research, I realised my strengths lay in relationship building (and I talked far too much!). I started to consider more Sales-focused roles.
Coming into FX Sales as a graduate, I definitely thought about the lack of female representation. It’s difficult to see what a successful career may look like when you look around a business and don’t see anybody that looks like you. I was fortunate to have had mentors from the very beginning of my career who have always helped me have that self-confidence when I may have lacked it early on, especially being new to a challenging role. I think these influences have really shaped how I approach my career 12 years on.
More recently, the opportunity to be part of the founding team at Birchstone and create a business that truly stands out in a saturated market was extremely exciting.
There are a number of qualities that women naturally possess that make a good leader, such as empathy, creativity, and a high EQ. Ultimately, in a Sales team, everybody wants to win and hit their target, but my approach is much more about how we can win together as a team. The highs are exceptionally high in Sales, and the lows can be debilitating, but I think we have a great team who genuinely care and look after each other and less of the “dog eat dog” culture that is often associated with Sales teams, particularly in our market. Building authority and respect in a Sales team, whether male or female, comes from results and hitting numbers, truly caring for the team with genuine empathy and ultimately ensuring what we do every day is in line with our values and puts the client first.
There have been a few instances more recently where I have been interviewing an older male candidate for a role on my team and they have focused, for the most part, on communicating and making eye contact solely with the male colleague in the room. This type of behaviour is more evident when the age gap is larger, and the individual perhaps has a very outdated way of thinking about female leadership and gender equality, but it is a shame that it still occurs.
I have felt this dynamic under a few different guises and I think it is disappointing that there can still be an unconscious bias in some age groups, which manifests itself despite the focus on gender equality over the last few ten years. I have also felt a difference on occasion when walking into a client pitch with a male colleague, and the assumption is unconsciously made that the male colleague is leading the meeting despite them being more junior.
I have been exceptionally lucky to have had incredible mentors from the start of my career who gave me the push I needed to consider paths and roles I otherwise might not have. I think as women we naturally doubt ourselves far more than men and unless we feel 110% qualified for a role, we will hold ourselves back. I recently read a KPMG study on this topic, which mentioned that 75% of women in leadership roles admit that imposter syndrome has impacted them at some point in their career, compared to 52% of men. Having somebody to reason with and give an outsider’s view has been invaluable and will very often challenge my way of thinking about a particular situation.
I have definitely noticed a positive shift over the last 10 years, but we still have a long way to go. It is great to see topics such as menopause, which men may have typically shied away from addressing, coming to the forefront and being discussed more openly in so many organisations. I have suffered extensively from endometriosis over the last 7 years and have had incredible support at work, which has allowed me to take significant amounts of time out for various surgeries and procedures.
Most women will go through a female-specific issue, whether it is fertility challenges, menopause or returning from maternity leave at some point in their working lives. Whilst I think significant progress has been made, I do think more can be done and we need to bring men into the dialogue to create further change. I also think it is on us as women not to shy away from these topics and be open about the challenges we face to educate and break the stigma that can often be associated with some of these subjects.
I am passionate about getting more women both into my team and the wider business; however, I am also a big believer in hiring the right person for the job. I recently interviewed eight candidates for Junior Sales roles in the business, four women and four men. We ended up making offers to three men and one female purely because they were the best candidates for the job. I don’t like the idea of quotas or trying to hire women to tick a box. I have seen this done at various points in my career, and ultimately, they are let go or leave because they weren’t the right person.
I do believe we can change things in years to come in terms of having more women in senior positions if we have a good pipeline of female talent; however, this starts with hiring female superstars, not females, to just tick the box. Diversity is important for many reasons but for me the most important is diversity of thought, not everyone wants to be sold to by an extrovert banging down their door and in many cases the softer sell (which women can sometimes be better at) is far more effective.
My main piece of advice would be to not let the male:female ratio of a sector impact your career choices. I often think being a female in the FX world is a superpower because it instantly sets you apart from the competition (who are most likely 95% male). It can be very hard, however, to have the self-belief early on to see that. Focus on your strengths and the things you are passionate about and consider how you can apply them to the role you are seeking as opposed to worrying about the gender split of the industry. Seek out mentors who can guide you and challenge your decisions to make sure you are on the right path.
Most importantly, back yourself and remember that women bring something different to the table, and we need to capitalise on this.
Devonshi has been helping finance leaders with their business and finance objectives for the last 12 years. She is part of the founding team and Head of Sales at Birchstone and was previously at Investec Bank.
Birchstone is transforming financial services. Combing banking expertise with powerful technology and a consultative approach, we deliver exceptional currency risk management, cash management and commercial finance.
Lou Corbally has just under 20 years experience recruiting into Financial Services in London. Over nearly two decades, there have been incredible changes in the industry. One of the most significant shifts has been the growing emphasis on diversity and inclusion (D&I). To better understand these changes, she has been meeting and interviewing senior female leaders working in Financial Services as part of the series, Breaking Barriers: She Means Business.
