Advice for aspiring women in Fintech with DriveWealth, PPRO, Ubiquity, HomePace and Google Cloud

This October at Fintech Times is about the incredible women working in the fintech industry. With women still making up only around 30 percent of the workforce, it’s important to shine a spotlight on those working to make a change and pave the way for them to follow. Some influential women in fintech give their advice to aspiring women in the sector.

Katherine Garrod, Peg Johnson, Megan Graf, Hiral Desai, and Yolande Piazza share her advice to aspiring women in the fintech industry.

Katherine Garrod, CISO and VP digital workplace at PPRO

I would encourage all women to be their authentic selves in every situation. When you are in an environment where you may not have the confidence to be yourself, it is common to subconsciously model yourself on those around you.

It is only when you are in alignment with your own values, beliefs and attitudes that you will be able to find your most confident and true self. For a long time I have mistaken vulnerability for weakness. To be vulnerable is to be brave enough to be brave, to speak up and speak your mind, and to see your differences as unique qualities.

Peg Johnson, SVP of fintech at Ubiquity

Some advice would be to focus on the present, because the finish line is so far in the distance.

Focus on habits you want to build or ones you’re trying to break or set a goal you’re trying to achieve and make it happen day after day. Those are the “wins”. These victories count as success, and once you have a rhythm, you can start looking to the finish line and making your plan – but not before.

Second, stay true to yourself and within your core beliefs. Consistency in process is a must, but as a manager of people, having a reliable and emphatic voice is what sets you apart from the next payment expert.

You can be talented and smart, but without EQ (emotional quotient) when it comes to people, you won’t get very far. Relationships matter. Third, in order for you to learn and grow, you must accept the occasional mistake. Mistakes are not fun, but they will help you flourish and develop into a confident leader. And take a chance on someone in your career, as I’m sure someone has taken a chance on you. And finally, have FUN.

Megan Graf, COO of HomePace

For those looking to get in, don’t wait until you think you’re ready. Decide where you can add value and commit to learning the rest. Fintech is inherently interdisciplinary – you’re combining two very different fields to solve a specific set of problems, and most people don’t come to a role with a background in both.

I was deeply concerned that I would never qualify for a role in a technology company given my traditional finance background. Instead, I leaned on what I knew—I willingly took an entry-level job at FutureAdvisor handling customer service, learning about engineering and agile development while growing the team.

A few years later, I was Director of Implementations and ran a technical rollout for a partnership with the fifth largest retail bank in the US.

Hiral Desai, Head of Marketing at DriveWealth

My advice isn’t just for women in fintech, it’s for women everywhere.

Don’t compare yourself to the people around you – it will only serve to steal your joy. The only person you should compare yourself to should be the reflection you see in the mirror. It is through this internal competition that you can grow more authentically.

It’s also important to remember that it’s more of a marathon than a sprint, so be guided by this mantra: Be better than you were yesterday.

Leap of faith is a way to love your future self. If you’re on the fence about accepting a new position or learning more about an industry you know little about, don’t hesitate. Breaking out of your comfort zone in this way is often where the most important growth happens.

You will certainly face obstacles in doing this, but think how proud your future self will be of how you managed to clear those obstacles.

Finally, if you can’t go through the wall, go around it. There are several ways to get where you want to go, sometimes you just need to take a different route.

Yolande Piazza, VP Financial Services at Google Cloud

Working in fintech requires resilience, learning from hearing the word ‘no’ and trying to do things you may not have done before – which can range from using technology in new and innovative ways to challenging your peers to think differently about a problem . It’s not for the faint of heart, you have to be passionate about the room.

When applying for a job, don’t ask yourself if you have every single requirement in a job description. Instead, find the type of job you want to pursue, whether it’s B2B, B2C or a small neobank, ask if this job will help you achieve your goals, and if you’re excited about your future in this role.

I encourage people to ask themselves if they love what they do and if they have passion for what they do. If you match love and passion, I think amazing things can happen.

I am also a big believer in the power of networking. I encourage women trying to break into fintech to find communities to meet new people in the space for support and guidance. It is incredibly valuable to have a group you can learn from in a new industry.