The Key Learning Points:

1. The importance of looking for gaps in the market that businesses can take advantage of

2. How investment can be used to propel your new business venture

3. Tips on finding the confidence to set up your own business as a woman, particularly those with families 

In this week’s episode, we chat to Louise Birritteri who's moved from leading actuarial roles to become the CEO and founder of Pikl, a tech start-up offering innovative solutions for the sharing economy.

Louise has spent her entire career in the insurance industry. After University, where she studied Maths, she dived into the sector with her first actuarial role at Aviva in pricing, where she spent ten years, before progressing to become finance director at the RAC. She left shortly after the business was sold to a private equity firm, the Carlyle Group. Following that, Louise worked in various pricing roles within a number of companies including Sainsbury’s and the Co-op. 

It was during a month that she had off between Sainsbury’s and the Co-op that Louise came up with the idea for her own business, after doing some research on the sharing economy. This was 2015, a time when Airbnb was still relatively new in the UK, and Louise realised there was a big gap in coverage for people who were letting out their properties on the platform. 

Louise subsequently took the brave step to leave the Co-Op and started working on Pikl full time in 2016 with four other founders, who all worked alongside her from her dining room table, official name, the boardroom!

Louise and the team initially worked on the pilot, started selling policies and realised the concept was working but she knew they needed to fast forward and pick up their game as she was aware of competitor businesses who were looking at the sharing space and Louise didn’t want to miss the window of opportunity. They realised that in order to progress, they needed investment, at least a couple of million, in order to take the business to the next level. The founding team had put some money into the business initially, including Louise remortgaging her house, but they needed to go bigger, so they started to look for angel investors and began to engage with their insurance network.

Louise talks us through her journey to find investment, which involved the daunting task of calling up her old boss from Aviva, and colleagues, to see if they would be interested in investing. Louise eventually managed to get an introduction to Sir Peter Wood, the founder of the Direct Line Group and Esure, who ended up being their lead investor. 

Louise chats to us about being a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated space, and the challenges she faced when looking for funding, and on one particular occasion facing the question ‘is the founder female?’ by one venture capitalist firm. Louise, understandably, didn’t proceed with this company! We know that very few founders are female and Louise is passionate about encouraging more women to start companies. She feels that lack of confidence could be playing a part and recognises that, for women who have families, it must be very hard to take that leap and commit to starting up a business. Louise adds - “I've met very inspirational founders, CTOs who are women who have got families, so it can be done, you can do them both at exactly the same time. I think that having confidence, having that support network around you can help you to believe that you can do it.” 

Towards the end of the episode, Louise touches on the gender difference she’s observed when it comes to how men and women present themselves. She believes that it’s less about women changing and it’s more about the need for organisations and investors to understand the different styles of presentation and adapting their approaches to allow for that.

The Key Learning Points:

1. The need for the insurance industry to engage with technology in order to close the UK protection gap

2. The Importance of building a diverse and inclusive business to attract women into the insurance industry

3. The impact a mentor can have on your career progression

In this week’s podcast episode, we chat to our first male guest, Ian Teague, UK group managing director of iPipeline, a business that has a vision to help grow the protection market through collaboration and innovative technology. Ian is a qualified accountant and has held senior positions across a number of tech businesses. 

Ian speaks about his first role in financial services with clerical medical many years ago, firstly as an auditor and then as financial controller. He ended up in financial reporting and then moved to a more hands-on software engineering technology firm based in the automotive sector in Birmingham. His love of financial services and technology was born there, and he developed a passion for combining the two, explaining “I've always had that interest in trying to make things better, do things in different ways, and technology can do that”. Today Ian has 20 years’ experience in the financial services sector.

Ian explains that in order to propel our industry further forward and to close the protection gap we have to engage with technology. “Our industry isn't as innovative or technology-enabled as other industries and we have to change that to ensure that the end result is growing the UK protection market and making sure that more people are protected in their time of need”.  

iPipeline accumulates a vast amount of data and Ian talks us through one of their income protection findings – that women are in fact better at fully protecting themselves, than men, and goes on to add that “women are more risk-averse and actually understand the risks better and are more willing to protect against those risks“. This raises an opportunity for financial advisers to sell into their female client base, as iPipeline findings suggest that they are in fact more profitable customers. 

Ian explains that he has made it a business focus to build a diverse and inclusive team, and adds that their Cheltenham office boasts a 50/50 split of men and women at management level. He talks about their fantastic maternity returner rate and their focus on retaining talent. For Ian, building a diverse and inclusive business is extremely important, which lead to the launch of the iPipeline Balance for Better initiative in 2019.

Ian talks about the importance of creating the right environment in order to attract people, especially women, into the insurance and technology industry. He believes that industry role models have a role to play and that sharing people’s success stories will help to demonstrate that organisations will support, promote and develop their people. 

On wrapping up the podcast, Ian talks to us about the importance of getting a mentor or a coach. He feels that they can help you gain a greater understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, the impact you have on others, and how you can make an impact in your career. “A coach or mentor can enable you to break through the desire to be right, to focus and be more curious, rather than right, and listen more and try to understand."

The Key Learning Points:

1. The challenges faced by working parents and how to balance work and family life

2. How to deal with the lack of confidence many women face in their careers after having children

3. That the structure and sense of accomplishment derived from a corporate career can be beneficial to many 

Hilary Banks is an advocate for diversity and inclusion within the financial services sector, taking proactive roles within the Women in Protection Network, sitting on the CII, Insuring Women's Futures market task force and is a mentor for young women from disadvantaged communities through The Girls’ Network charity. Hilary lives with her husband and her two small boys in West Sussex and shares her inspirational story and how she juggles a successful career with being a busy mum.

Hilary talks us through her day-to-day routine; waking up at 5:30 am to see to her family, before embarking on her two-hour door-to-door commute to get into the office, where she works full-time as Divisional Director in the Specialist Health Sales team for Vitality. She talks about the everyday juggling act; the countless tasks, meal and school prep that needs to be done, all before she even starts her day in the office. She discusses the challenges she faces as a working parent; the guilt she can often feel in the realisation that she can’t always remember it all, and the balance you need to try and achieve as a family.

Hilary discusses how she got into the insurance industry, being inspired by a fellow female financial advisor that used to frequent the wine bar where she was working as a young girl. The lure of a lucrative career appealed to her, and the fact that there weren’t many women working in the financial services sector at the time was appealing and served as a surprising positive in deciding to enter the industry. She started her career as a mortgage broker but finally found what she enjoyed most two years later, working in a business development role. She gained experience working at Bright Grey, now Royal London, then to Fortis Life before settling at Vitality.

Hilary talks to us about the impact having two children has had on her career progression, and how it has slowed it down. She explains how having children can often affect your confidence when you return to the workplace, which impacts a huge number of women, and how there is an underlying pressure to compete in a male-dominated environment, when in fact, you shouldn’t.

Hilary’s story is nothing short of inspirational, honest and informative, and as she puts it herself: “I love what I do. I love work, I love my children, but I need the structure and I need that sense of accomplishment that I get from my corporate world and my career.”

The Key Learning Points:

1. The role LinkedIn can play in finding the perfect job

2. The importance of using the correct language to attract an employer

3. Top tips on how to best utilise LinkedIn and grow your professional network

Back in December we released our podcast episode with Victoria McLean from City CV. She provided some excellent tips for insurers around how they can attract and retain the best talent. On this episode we move away from corporates and speak about how individuals can boost their chances of finding the perfect job and the part that LinkedIn can play.

Victoria shares with us the stats around Linked explaining that 85% of recruiters now make their recruitment decision based on LinkedIn and 97% of recruiters use LinkedIn as their primary source of finding candidates. She adds that Linkedin is the world's biggest applicant tracking system and recruiters pay a large fee in order to identify and screen the best candidates. 

Victoria tells us the importance of using the correct language in order to attract and trigger the right response from a potential employer and how we should target them and clearly articulate what we can deliver. “If you're going to be in a sales role, what they want to know is that you're going to expand their client base and generate revenue. If you're going into a project management role, it might be about cost or efficiency”. 

Victoria walks us through the best LinkedIn practises when it comes to location, making the most of the 2,000-character headline and how to write the best profile. She talks through SEO and how to provide the correct checklist of keywords and phrases in order to get noticed, as it’s key to advertise yourself and the skillset you are selling. And having a really good corporate photo is also important because, as Victoria explains, profiles with pictures are 21 times more likely to be clicked on and are nine times more likely to get a connection request. According to Victoria, the more active you are on LinkedIn, like posting fresh content daily, the more you are rewarded and the further you move up the rankings. 

Victoria talks about “positioning yourself as an expert” and being a thought leader, so you need to think about using the right hashtags, blogging, sharing, liking, commenting, and building your network with the right people in the industry. This will have a huge impact on your visibility, the number of people who find you, and the size of your network.

The Key Learning Points: 

1. The importance of finding an experienced mentor who can help you to navigate the career landscape

2. The three key tips for successful networking

3. The value in connecting with people in your industry, not just those within your own organisation, to build your career

This is part 2 of our chat with Rose St Louis. Rose talks to us about the value of mentoring and gives us her top three networking tips. 

As an active mentor herself, Rose believes that “it's absolutely the responsibility of women to go seek out mentors, seek out advocates and sponsors and take control of their careers”. She provides invaluable advice during our conversation around how to find the right mentor and how to ask that person. “If you really want to get your career on the table and to drive it upwards, you need to know the rules of engagement. You need to find someone that can move you forward and propel you onto the next thing in your career.” 

Rose explains the value in finding a mentor who is different to yourself, a mentor who can offer different insights and perspectives. Ultimately, “you need to find yourself a senior leader who understands the landscape and can help you navigate that landscape. Think about where you want to get to and align yourself with people who can help you”. Rose talks about the importance of finding an authentic connection with a mentor, someone who holds the same values as yourself and who can help you develop the skills for success and let you be your own person. 

When it comes to networking, Rose talks us through the three key things she focuses on ahead of any event: “What am I offering?”, “What do I need?” and “Who can I connect?”

When thinking about your offering, Rose’s advice is to consider your job role, the skills and knowledge you have, and the particular skill set that makes you valuable. Moving on to what you need from a networking event, Rose explains that this may be an introduction, perhaps you are hoping to meet a particular person or their colleagues. And although this can be daunting for many people, Rose explains that “if you're going to give up your time, and you're going to give yourself the opportunity, then have some fun with it!”. For Rose, the final consideration around networking is extremely important, and she sees real value in connecting people within the industry. “If you're trying to build your career, it's not just about being really good at your job, it's about who you know and who will socialise you, not just within your own organisation but around the sector and the wider industry.”

The Key Learning Points:

1. How to embrace setbacks and use them to develop both personally and professionally

2. The important distinction between confidence and courage and tips on how to become more confident with public speaking

3. The changing discourse around diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Today we are joined by Rose St Louis, who has over 20 years’ experience in the industry, is co-founder of the Women in Protection Network and is a driving force for diversity in financial services. She won Woman of the Year at the 2019 Women in Financial Advice Awards and Insurance Leader of the Year at the Women in Finance Awards. 

Rose talks to us about her childhood, being the second daughter of two immigrant parents from Jamaica and Grenada and shared her story of growing up in Luton. 
 Her parents placed incredible importance on academia, and were supportive around education and school, saying, “you know, you need to just hit them with the books”. That was the way to compete. This was Rose’s foundation growing up, focussing on education, studying hard and being credible and qualified. As she puts it: “That's the platform that you will create for yourself to propel forward.”
 
 Being the only black girl in the class and one of three in the year, Rose built resilience “without evening knowing it”, which set her in good stead for making the next move through education and into the world of work. “As long as you can take from your experiences, it just allows you to move past some of those things and gives you skills later in life.” Rose had a tough time in school, and it was through this experience that she was able to add to the skills that she would use later on in life. 

 Rose tells us about her different experiences in the workplace, from speaking at numerous events, to having career coaching sessions. She explains the interesting parallel between confidence and courage: “When we don't feel confident, we have to feel courageous, and I think the courage comes out of our values and our integrity. That allows us to find the energy to move forward and step into a space where maybe you feel a bit vulnerable”. She lets us in on the tips she uses to make herself feel confident prior to events, and the coping mechanisms people can put in place if they are feeling uncomfortable. Rose’s mention of her “power pose” in the mirror is a particular podcast highlight! 
 
 The conversation then turns to diversity, and Rose highlights how “diversity and inclusion can differ from sector to sector. Each sector has a different angle and a different lens on their diversity and inclusion experience and how that manifests itself.” Rose admits that she now sees a difference in diversity and the way people behave in the workplace, explaining that people are starting to realise what is an appropriate language exchange, which is a positive and welcome change. 

The Key Learning Points:

1. The value in developing your skill set outside of those used in your role in order to broaden your knowledge and aid future career progression

2. The importance of offering yourself as a role model and mentor for young people entering the industry 

3. Steps that the financial services industry can take to encourage diversity and correct misconceptions about the industry

Today we're joined by head of mortgages, Charlotte Rafferty, from Albany park who entered the industry at the young age of 16. Working throughout her time at university, she now has over 10 years’ experience in financial services having held regulatory, risk and compliance, and mortgage advice roles. 

At 16 Charlotte started a role as a customer advisor for a building society and continued to work there whilst at university. She was then offered a position as an assistant branch manager and trained to do her mortgage qualifications. Charlotte obtained a psychology degree and sees the benefit of having this qualification in her day-to-day working life, as she is able to really understand people and what motivates them. 

At the age of 23, Charlotte was offered a promotion to branch manager and became the youngest branch manager within the business. She subsequently decided to do a secondment to the risk and compliance department, with an aim to develop her skill set. She felt that it would be beneficial to see other areas of the business, areas that sat outside of sales and distribution. Charlotte explained the value of sideways steps within a business, which allowed her to broaden her knowledge and make new contacts. She feels that every door that opens up offers a new learning experience, even if you realise that the role isn’t for you, the experience is invaluable. 

It was after this secondment that Charlotte took a break, left the business, and went travelling for a year. After travelling, Charlotte started with advice business, Albany Park, as a mortgage quality assurance officer, and at the end of 2018 was promoted to become head of mortgages. Charlotte now manages a team of 18 advisers. Charlotte explains that consumers still need to be educated on mortgages and recognises the importance of protection in the mortgage sale. 

Charlotte also shares her experiences and the challenges she faced as a young female in a male-dominated industry and how they’ve shaped how she acts today. She feels that being honest and respectful is key and recognises the importance of making your voice heard. “People have got their own opinions and their perceptions need to be changed. It is a whole cultural shift that needs to happen, and it isn't going to happen overnight, so have the confidence to stand up for yourself and put yourself out there”. Charlotte understands that it can be hard to do this, particularly for people who are newer to the industry, so seeking support from role models in the industry is very beneficial. For role models, she feels that “it's all about using your voice and supporting younger people that are coming through and being there as a mentor if they need some advice or a sounding board”.

Charlotte speaks about her balanced approach to recruitment and aims to build a diverse mix of men and women, and ages, within her team, allowing the transfer of different skills and ideas. Charlotte feels the financial services industry needs to do more to encourage diversity and in particular attract younger people from varying backgrounds. She believes that by partaking in career fairs and offering apprenticeships, companies will help to correct misconceptions about financial services.

The Key Learning Points:

1. The top four tips for companies looking to attract more millennials to the insurance industry

2. How companies can use marketing to build an employer brand

3. The important role gender diverse recruitment plays in attracting the best job candidates

In this week’s episode of the Risky Mix podcast we were joined by Victoria McLean, CEO of City CV. Victoria has had extensive and global experience in the recruitment industry with specialist recruitment consultancies and top-tier financial service companies, and founded City CV 10 years ago. She works closely with individuals and organisations on anything related to career development.

Victoria’s recruitment career started in London, moved to Sydney and subsequently returned to London, where she worked in the banking sector and eventually left to have children. On struggling to juggle 60-hour weeks, city life and motherhood, Victoria decided to invest in a coach which gave her the opportunity to really evaluate what she wanted to do, and from there decided to set up her own recruitment firm. 10 years on, Victoria has grown her business and now runs a team of 25, made up of writers and coaches.

Victoria explains that the challenge for the financial services industry is to recruit more millennials, to reflect the shift in the consumer base, but adds that “often the perception of insurance is that it can be quite traditional and not that attractive” and believes that “we need to make the industry appear as attractive as possible.” For organisations, Victoria explains that there are four key elements to focus on: Building a brand, communicating that brand, managing the recruitment process and holding onto the talent you have.

When it comes to brand, Victoria adds that insurers spend a fortune on marketing and building their brand, but that tends to be their consumer brand, and companies often forget about their employer brand. Once the employer brand has been developed, she explains that Linkedin can be an excellent tool to communicate that brand, but recognises that Linkedin has historically been used to communicate the consumer brand. Victoria recommends that employers review the Linkedin profiles of their team because “the average network size of a company’s employees is ten times larger than the network size of the company itself.”

The next stage of the process is attracting the best candidates to the company and the specific role. Victoria explains the role that diversity plays here, with a PwC survey finding that 70% of females in financial services look at the diversity of the leadership team when they were deciding whether to accept a role. Victoria also raised the point around the value of returnship programs, which are designed to encourage people back into the workforce, for example, after having children. Shockingly, less than half of financial services firms have a returnship program in place.

Thinking about the recruitment process, Victoria believes that the candidate experience is essential. Victoria adds that she’s “seen some real horror stories” when it comes to unprofessional interviews, things like interviewers being unprepared, not complying with legalities and having poor etiquette, all of which leave a horrible feeling for candidates.

For Victoria, eliminating bias is important in the recruitment process and she believes that the Women in Finance Charter has a part to play. The charter was set up by the treasury and aims to raise the profile of women in the sector. In the UK, more than 250 financial services firms have signed up so far. Their target is to achieve 40% female representation within senior management over the next three years and gender parity over the medium term. Victoria loves the fact that by signing up to the charter, at least one member of every firm’s senior executive team is responsible and accountable for gender diversity.

The Key Learning Points:

1. Advice for young people starting their careers after leaving school

2. The importance of encouraging young people of varying backgrounds to enter the industry, not just those with prior experience in financial services

3. Tips for women on building a network and asking for support from peers

In this week’s episode of the Risky Mix podcast, we speak with Natalie Summerson and Evie Plumb from Canada Life. 

Natalie has had a successful career in the protection industry, gaining account management experience across a number of major insurers including Scottish Provident and Aviva. She is currently Head of Sales for individual protection at Canada Life, and is a passionate advocate of diversity in the workplace, particularly in recruiting new talent.

With no prior experience in insurance, Evie Plumb has already made her mark in the two and a half years she has been at Canada Life where she is now strategic account manager. 

Natalie started off with aspirations to become a teacher due to her passion for science and went on to college where she studied biology, chemistry and psychology.

After a year at college, the lure of earning her own money was calling and she left to become an office junior for a financial services company in north London. It was there she learnt about business, and later left to join the world of insurance, becoming a sales support coordinator at Scottish Provident where she eventually got her big break at 19, becoming an account manager for a large distributor in London. 

Natalie took some time out of the workplace to have her daughter, and on returning joined AXA, working there for five years before moving to Aviva. She was given the opportunity to learn about the other parts of the functioning business and developed a broad understanding of how things worked. It was then that she applied to work at Canada Life, feeling that she could safely tick all of the boxes in the new role. 

Natalie feels that “we should be encouraging young talent into our sector”. She speaks about the role that young people can play in insurance and how they can “help shape and scope” propositions and distribution to reflect today’s consumers. Natalie thinks it’s important that we encourage young people to enter our industry, not necessarily with a financial services background, but who have the drive and resilience to succeed. Evie Plumb was one such individual.

When Evie left school, she was worried that she didn’t know what to do yet felt everyone else around her did. She did an apprenticeship in business administration which gave her a general understanding and experience of the business world and how to liaise with people. It was the yearning to try new things that led her to apply for her current role at Canada Life. 

Her advice to other young women working in the industry, and looking to develop, is to shadow people. She believes that observing and meeting new people are key, and suggests lending a hand and supporting social events, where possible.

Natalie explains that “as a female in this industry, it’s not always easy”, explaining the value of building a network. She also emphasises the importance of asking for support from peers when needed.

The Key Learning Points:

 1. The importance of networking in career progression and the top tips for professionals on how to take the first ‘plunge’

2. The need for a greater focus on sponsorship in the workplace

3. The important role mentoring plays in encouraging people to ‘sense-check’ themselves

In this week’s episode of the Risky Mix podcast, we speak with Karen Graves, a lady who has had an impressive career in the Lloyd’s and London markets, working in CEO and COO roles, before becoming head of operations for EMEA at SCOR. With 30+ years’ experience in the insurance industry, she’s now a non-executive director at USAA UK and SA and is driving positive change and diversity in the industry as chair of the Independent Women in Insurance Network (iWIN).

In part 2 of our chat with Karen, we speak about mentoring and sponsorship, and the difference between the two. Mentoring, as Karen explains, is a private and trusted relationship built between two people, whether that’s within the business or externally, with the ultimate aim of working together on strategies to help the mentee move forward in their career. Karen, who has experience of being both a mentor and mentee, explains that an arrangement where you can share tips, ideas and guidance with someone else is invaluable, as it provides a platform to “sense-check yourself”. 

Sponsorship, as Karen explains, is a situation where a senior exec notices and highlights somebody of talent within an organisation. The sponsor may then decide to take that person to meetings and allows them to showcase their talents to the rest of the organisation. Karen believes that while many organisations have mentorship schemes, few have sponsorship programs, and feels that there’s value in sponsorship, particularly for women who quite often struggle to see a career path within their company. Sponsorship provides visibility at a senior level and an understanding of the bigger picture. In Karen’s words: “Until you know what it looks like and what it feels like, you don’t know if you want to be part of it.”

Karen highlights the importance of networking and encourages people to “take the plunge”. She kindly invites listeners to attend the Turning Rhetoric into Action event which is being run by the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network (iCAN) and iWIN on the 19th November. The event will highlight mentoring success stories and provide practical takeaways to continue to encourage positive action in the insurance industry. The evening is also the official launch of the new iCAN and iWIN Self Service Mentoring Program, which offers a platform to access a pool of mentors and mentees in order to make contact and start a mentoring relationship.

If you’re looking for a mentor or considering becoming one, you can register for the event here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/turning-rhetoric-into-action-tickets-78331261913