Back in 2015, I joined the Insurance Industry on an Operations and Underwriting Apprenticeship at Zurich. Having been approached by a recruiter, offered an interview and being successful in the process, I left A-Levels after just 1 year to complete my Apprenticeship with the sight that I wanted to work and learn whilst doing so. I have spoken openly about my apprenticeship many times to the media, and always say that it was scary to start with – being a little fish in a big corporate pond, but I have had many a chance to prove myself. At the age of just 20, I feel that I have already started to make my mark in the industry.

In 2016 I was named Insurance Apprentice of the Year in the Insurance Time Awards. This came after a years hard work in my new role working alongside global commercial underwriters in the London Market. In 2016 I passed my three exams over the space of 8 months to achieve my Cert CII qualification. During my apprenticeship, I also completed 58 pieces of coursework, and 2 final assessment interviews to be rewarded at the end of 18 months with a Distinction in Providing Financial Services.

For the last 6 months of my Apprenticeship, I took on a Project role in a transition piece in the UK. The role included me training and supporting a new team of individuals whilst measuring their KPIs and improving the efficiency of working through methods such as offshoring.

Back in August 2017, I was ready for a new challenge and that came in the form of my current role in Uk Corporate Affairs. Now, in my day job, I am covering: Public Affairs, Media Relations (PR), Corporate Social Responsibilities and Communications. Much of my work is engaging with key internal, industry, trade body, political and other external stakeholders.

Last year, I mentored a student as part of a programme to support disabled and disadvantaged young people. During our time together, I support their development in communication skills, confidence in dealing with people, how to tackle challenges whilst also supporting in producing a CV and practicing interview skills. My mentee then gained a place in a college to study towards their goal of becoming a car mechanic.

I spend many hours volunteering at schools around my local area, London and Farnborough. I go into schools and teach a variety of ages of students about Financial Literacy, Employability skills, Insurance, CV writing and Interview skills. During my time with the schools, I have also mentored young female talent to encourage them to enter a STEM related career (students who are already studying towards this).

In London, I am a part of our local Zurich Cares Charity committee, helping us raise funds for our local partners (5 charities who benefit our local area such as Mind in Harringay). I also take it upon myself to take on challenges for the Zurich Community Trust to raise money towards our national partners. This year, I am doing the Prudential Ride London 100mile bike ride and aiming to raise £500 to go towards some of our partners work such as the Diana Awards Anti-bullying campaign.
Internally, I am a part of the Zurich Women’s innovation Network who support the workplace in promoting diversity within gender and allowing for more training and facilities to better place yourself in your career. I am the Regional Head for our network, managing the 10 regional committees across the UK who conduct a variety of work to promote the networks objectives. I am also the Co-Chair of our London committee, and the communications and external network lead in our Networking and Influencing Pillar.

Another internal piece of work is my new initiative ‘Ride the Railway’. A scheme I devised which supports employees in the UK organisation to develop their skills, skillshare, and break down silos by being able to spend time work shadowing and gaining insights into other areas of the organisation. I launched this scheme after approval from our CEO Tulsi, with support from then UK head of HR Georgina Farrell and UK Head of Talent, Tara Hutton back in December 2017. The scheme has seen over 200 employees experience other teams and has become a BAU operation supported by the HR function. I manage the working committee who keep the initiative running.

Externally, I am communications lead for the Insurance Industry Gender Inclusion Network – made up of the major insurers and brokers in the UK. I manage our website, communications, mailing, marketing and external stakeholder engagement.
Alongside this, I am Chair and Founder of the first UK insurance apprenticeship network – ASSET.