I grew up in a working class, single-parent family, in a town where going to University wasn’t really the norm, let alone working in the City!
I was the first in my family to go to University, and after completing a degree in History, because it was my favourite subject at school, I never anticipated I’d be working in an Financial Services, but I’ve now worked in Investment Banks for 11 years. I started off as an IT technician in my old school, and then moved into in HR / Recruitment role in an Investment Bank. Having recruited for several Compliance roles, and working in an Investment Bank during the embedding of the Banking Reform Act, MiFID II and GDPR, it was an area I was really intrigued by. Seeking a new direction, I applied for a Compliance role in 2018 and never looked back! I’m currently an Associate Director in the Compliance COO team, covering all the reporting, governance and business management for UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific teams. I feel very lucky to have incredible managers and mentors who consistently push me to better and have provided me with a platform to succeed and grow. I’m looking forward to the day when I’m able to pay that forward, in particular promoting gender and socio-economic diversity in the financial services industry.