International Women's Day at Storey continued
Kayleigh Bottomley
CEO at Storm4
Q: What do you like most about your current role?
A: Working in a sector that has real world impact. The people are amazing too!
Q: Biggest or most rewarding career highlight to date?
A: Founding Storm4!
Q: Where do you take your inspiration from?
A: I am inspired by anyone who works hard to put themselves and their family in a better position.
Q: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other women aspiring to break into your industry / sector?
A: First and foremost, it’s important to be yourself. Take feedback on board to learn and grow, but staying true to your style and approach is essential.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge or obstacle in your career success to date?
A: Working the West African market – learning about the culture and how to add value in my role in a completely different space.
Q: This year the theme for International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity…what does that mean to you?
A: Eliminating any barriers that stand in the way of someone achieving their full potential.
Q: Why is it important to celebrate International Women’s Day?
A: We need to continue shining a light on gender inequality and continue building momentum to provide more equity in society.
Aisha Begum
Information Security Specialist & Corporate Advisor at LPPI
Q: What do you like most about your current role?
A: As an Information Security Specialist, I really enjoy the varied nature of my role – it gives me exposure to different parts of the organisation, which I find really interesting.
Q: Biggest or most rewarding career highlight to date?
A: My career highlights have been delivering successful external audits for Local Pensions Partnership Investment (LPPI) and Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA).
Q: Where do you take your inspiration from?
A: I take my inspiration from my family! My mother taught me the importance of strength, independence and staying humble. My husband inspires me with his positivity, reminding me that I can still balance having a successful career with being a good mother, helping me to set an example to our children. I also take inspiration from other women too – like Michelle Obama, a strong advocate for women’s education!
Q: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other women aspiring to break into your industry / sector?
A: The one piece of advice I would give to women aspiring to break into my industry is to harness perseverance, desire to continue learning, and be open to new challenges.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge or obstacle in your career success to date?
A: The biggest challenge in my career success to date has been navigating my career and motherhood. I have realised that while it may take more time than planned originally to reach new heights in your career, you can still lead a healthy work-life balance.
Q: This year the theme for International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity…what does that mean to you?
A: Embrace Equity means recognising the role we play in fostering a gender equal world. We can all embrace equity and live in an inclusive world. And we all have a collective responsibility in bringing about positive change!
Q: Why is it important to celebrate International Women’s Day?
International Women’s Day (IWD) is incredibly important to celebrate as it recognises the accomplishments women make in the field of economy, culture, politics and society at large. IWD also raises awareness of the role women play in society on a global scale, but also the many challenges they face.
Kirstie Nagle
Associate Quantity Surveyor at Stace LLP
Q: What do you like most about your current role?
A: I love that I can contribute to the development of the built environment sector. Watching construction projects from start to finish and the ability to have something tangible I can show others that I’m proud of.
Q: Biggest or most rewarding career highlight to date?
A: Obtaining my chartership for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Q: Where do you take your inspiration from?
A: We are very lucky to have some awesome Partners at Stace who are nothing but inspirational. Their support and guidance has inspired me to work towards my ultimate goals.
Q: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other women aspiring to break into your industry / sector?
A: Absolutely go for it. There is so much variety in the world of construction – meaning there is a role for everyone. The construction sector allows you to get involved with some fantastic projects and meet some great people.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge or obstacle in your career success to date?
A: The biggest challenge in my career was obtaining my masters degree while working towards chartership. It took a lot of hard work and dedication.
Q: This year the theme for International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity…what does that mean to you?
A: #EmbraceEquality is celebrating everyone and anyone. Providing support and championing others where possible.
Q: Why is it important to celebrate International Women’s Day?
A: To celebrate how far women have come and recognise areas where further progression is still needed.
Lorraine Taylor
Chief People and Culture Officer at LPPI
Q: What do you like most about your current role?
A: My role gives me the chance to directly influence how LPPI works with its teams. After 30 years in financial services, I have seen many different ways of achieving this. I am striving to create an employee experience that is purposeful, empowering and based on trust and respect.
Q: Biggest or most rewarding career highlight to date?
A: There is nothing better for me than seeing people flourish in their careers. Coaching at the right points in their individual journeys can build confidence, allow people to make tough decisions and take a leap of faith.
Q: Where do you take your inspiration from?
A: I love people watching and take inspiration from all sorts of places. Gestures of kindness from one person to another in a coffee shop, seeing people pursue an ambition with great resilience – these acts of kindness inspire me. I am also a school governor and never fail to be in awe of the children I meet.
Q: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other women aspiring to break into your industry / sector?
A: Be your own cheerleader rather than your own worst critic. Internal dialogue can stop us from taking leaps of faith or grabbing opportunities. And importantly ask for help to learn and grow, I have been lucky to have found so many individuals happy to support me along the way.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge or obstacle in your career success to date?
A: I got made redundant once and at the time took it really personally. But it’s important to remember it’s not personal, but rather an organisations going through change. And frankly, it was the best thing that ever happened to me as now I am in a job that I love and feel empowered in.
Q: This year the theme for International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity…what does that mean to you?
A: The word embrace is about taking a positive action. Things won’t change unless we make it happen, so don’t sit on the sidelines.
Q: Why is it important to celebrate International Women’s Day?
A: Because sharing stories changes the world and we need to always keep the conversation going and celebrate successes. I want those entering investment management careers to hear about the exciting possibilities they can grasp.
Alexandra Barbu
Architectural Assistant at Stockwool
Q: What do you like most about your current role?
A: I love learning – being in a role which is educational and fulfilling is the most rewarding part of the job!
Q: Biggest or most rewarding career highlight to date?
A: Being awarded a prize in my final year of architecture university.
Q: Where do you take your inspiration from?
A: I take inspiration from everywhere! This can be anything from every day acts of kindness and generosity, to nature and animal events.
Q: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other women aspiring to break into your industry / sector?
A: Voice your opinions. Ask questions. Stay curious.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge or obstacle in your career success to date?
A: Finding a full-time job in London as a new graduate in a highly competitive environment.
Q: This year the theme for International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity…what does that mean to you?
A: Embracing equity is about putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. It’s about empathy, support and understanding.
Q: Why is it important to celebrate International Women’s Day?
A: It reminds us of the power women have when a collective network and community comes together.
Thank you
Thanks to all the women who we spoke to, sharing their stories of success and challenges.
British Land will be hosting an event an event at Paddington Central for IWD 2023 with an all-female panel of influencial leaders within digital professions and will be discussing the following topics:
- Importance of championing diverse talent,
- The economic impacts of advancing digital education amongst women
- Steps can we take to reduce the gender pay gap
- How to combat continued under-representation of women in STEM
Meet the panellist:
- Natalie H. Kelly, Chief Risk Officer for Visa Europe Limited.
- Christina Brooks, CEO at Executive Resourcing specialists Ruebik
- Isabel Fernandez, EVP of Lending for Finastra.
- Tara Allison, Marketing Director UK&I for Trend Micro.
Beginning from 12pm within Paddington Central Storey, the panel discussion will be followed with an optional networking lunch taking place at 1.45pm.