Rolling Start

It’s hard not to be impressed by a CV that includes Sega, ITV and Ubisoft to name a few. Yet Mike Masuku’s personal and professional path has been from smooth. 

Born into a low-income township in Zimbabwe to a family they would later work their way into the suburbs, Mike was forced to adjust to a new life when he and his mother relocated to London, and he found himself navigating high school in Croydon. After moving through school, university and his first few years of work, Mike decided to take on two week’s unpaid work experience – while on a break from his main role. The risk paid off, and over the years Mike has gone on to work with some of the biggest names in gaming, media and technology. 

Now part of global giant Apple’s video business unit, Mike talks about the challenges of dealing with culture shocks, how a teacher’s doubts galvanised him to go to university, the importance of investing in yourself and much more. 

When he was 23, Reggie Nelson hit the headlines for previously knocking on doors in one of London’s wealthiest boroughs and asking for careers' advice. His boldness paid off, and several years later, Reggie is now an associate at Blackstone a social media influencer and author of Opening Doors, now available on Amazon. 

Yet in the midst of his success, Reggie has also dealt with his share of adversity. 

Growing up, Reggie faced a household with alcohol addiction, growing up in a single parent household and personal loss. 

Even as he was pursuing a career in the City, Reggie still encountered rejection from his first choice internship, imposter syndrome and feeling like he did not belong. So how did he find the confidence to continue? 

Here, Reggie shares his upbringing, how personal loss motivated his journey to the City, running campaigns with The Prime Minister and much more. 

Two days before his interview for a graduate role, Ryan Pereira didn’t realise that Exxon Mobil, the company he was applying to, was one of the largest companies in the world. Thankfully he still got the role, and never looked back. 

From growing up in tight knit supportive family in Leicester, where he dreamed of being a snooker player or a pilot, to heading to the bright lights of the City, Ryan has enjoyed a remarkable and successful career and is now Global Director, Gas and LNG at Gaffney Klein and Associates. However along the way, he has faced significant personal loss and challenges. 

Here he talks about how he gathers the resilience to move forward, the importance of counting your blessings and dealing with knockbacks. Ryan also shares how his faith, his love of football and his passion for exercise have served as important coping mechanisms. 

Growing up in a traditional household, and excelling at school, Director of Proposition at St James’s Place, Anna Davies surprised her family when she made the decision to step straight into the working world rather than heading to university. As she got her first home and mortgage at 19 and rose through the ranks at Skandia, her professional success was marked with personal challenges including battling with imposter syndrome and navigating a divorce. Here she tells us about managing her self-doubt, along with how she dealt with the dot come crisis and a post maternity career break. Anna also shares how her fierce independence and spending much time with her dad growing up enabled her to navigate the male dominated financial services industry, and how learning how to read tarot helped her to positive rewire her thought processes.  

After returning from maternity leave and being made redundant, Bev Shah made the decision not to return to the City. Instead, she took her 15 years of investment experience and founded City Hive, a think tank committed to building an inclusive investment management Industry and an equitable and sustainable society. Here’s she tells us about how being the only girl in her year at boarding school put her in good stead for career in the City, being confident in her skin no matter what, navigating personal loss, depression and redundancy at the same time, and trying to find the joy in every day. Bev also shares how firms needs to put their money where their mouths are when it comes to improving the culture of the City, and why she won’t stand for greenwashing. 

From growing up in a single parent family to finding himself responsible for managing significant amount of wealth for his clients at just 24, Nick Vaill’s career trajectory is nothing short of impressive. However the journey was not without its challenges, including personal loss, injuries and struggles with confidence. Here Nick tells us about his career path, how he copes with fears and why he feels being trustworthy is one of the most important traits for a good fund manager. 

Nick also shares his thoughts on breaking into the investment management industry, why teams need to consider diversity, how football and Pilates help him to wind down after a hard week’s work. 

As she lined up alongside 30,000 other hopeful applicants, Yasmina Siadatan didn’t expect to get through the day, let alone an entire series of BBC’s hit reality show The Apprentice. She was wrong. After making history by reaching the series’ first all-female final, Yasmina was officially crowned “The Apprentice” and went from running a restaurant to working with Lord Sugar, former Dragon’s Den star James Caan, and even the then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. An impressive trajectory for someone who had it only graduated four years prior to appearing on the tv show! 

Yasmina talks to us about her international, multicultural upbringing, entrepreneurship was in her DNA, how she handles being a woman in a male-dominated industry, balancing motherhood and her career and much more. 

As Executive Director of NCM Auctions, Founder TwoBeans Ltd, Co-Founder of Smithtons, and advisor to multiple businesses, Andy Smith boasts an illustrious and impressive career. However, his life changed forever when at age 15, what he initially believed to be a bad case of food poisoning turned out to be a life-altering illness - Ulcerative Colitis. While his recovery would involve relearning how to walk, cough, and live his day-to-day life, it also completely transformed his attitude to risk, taught him to seize the moment, and lead him to progress from Deputy Bar Manager for Sheffield United FC to a board member for a company listed on the stock exchange. Andy talks to us about his diagnosis, personal loss and managing PTSD, and understanding the need to place health and wellbeing ahead of your career.

Just five years ago, and while still on maternity leave, award winning founder Davinia Tomlinson walked away from a successful career in the City and launched rainchq, designed exclusively to help women take control of their financial futures.  Davinia tells us about her Caribbean upbringing, and how that, and personal loss motivated her decision to take the leap into entrepreneurship. She also shares how childhood clumsiness, supreme wilfulness, and a 'lack of shame' have helped her to cultivate resilience and forge a successful career.   

City to Sea founder Natalie Fée was pursuing a career in TV presenting, when an encounter with the film 'Albatross' put her life on a very different track, and drove her to begin campaigning to address plastic pollution. When she struggled to get the support she needed for the cause Natalie made a powerful decision - she would do it herself. Natalie shares how she followed her calling, her thoughts on diversity, and how from banking to bonking each of us can transform our plastic consumption