To celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day, we spoke to five women financial planners, each of whom have made a mark for themselves in a field that is traditionally considered a male bastion, fighting biases along the way at various levels.
The takeaways from these candid conversations are significant and can go a long way in inspiring young women to chart their own course.
To start with, women’s empowerment starts at home. Children inculcate a lot of values from their home environment, which can help reshape their lives. Those who may not be lucky enough would need to overcome the societal mores to realise their dreams and drawing lessons from their own experiences.
Second, contrary to popular perception, financial advisory is a domain that goes hand-in-hand with women’s innate ability to build relationships. The unique qualities that women bring to the table—such as being empathetic towards other individuals—can help customers achieve their dreams and life goals, important factors without which any financial planning exercise wouldn’t be complete. The road may not always be easy, with biases creeping in at every other step, but isn’t that the case with most professions?
Third, fighting stereotypes and sometimes even your own loved ones may be part of the game, but that would not just help you move ahead as an individual, but your beloved family, too.
To sum up, put self-doubt aside. Become self-reliant and march on unapologetically. There’s more to these five journeys that we have captured. Once you are able to put your financial life in place, there’s another road you may want to take, one to explore the world on your own.
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