A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. We celebrate International Women’s Day with you! In honour of this day, we would like to share with you the stories of our female part of the leadership team. Especially since the beginning of the pandemic, our lives have been guided and determined by challenges. But there is something positive about this, because out of challenges comes change! Therefore, we asked our female leaders about their personal business challenges & changes and share their inspiring stories with you.

Therese Brown, Head of HR

When did you join Greenman?
September 2019

What do you like about working at Greenman?
Greenman values and invests in its employees. We employ highly talented and amazing people. We have a fabulous culture that encourages and rewards hard work and innovation. We have offices across the globe with a diverse workforce. Being Head of HR for a company with these qualities is deeply rewarding.

What is the biggest challenge business-wise since COVID-19?
Looking after the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees during these extremely challenging times, ensuring they have the supports in place to keep well and work effectively from home when they need to, (depending on the government restrictions in their county). Ensuring employees remain highly engaged, onboarding new employees remotely and ensuring that productivity in the business is not adversely affected; has been and continues to be challenging.

From your point of view, what challenges do you think women still face in their careers today?
I think many employers are still innately sexist and women will always have a higher career ladder than their male counterparts to climb.

What advice would you give someone who is at the start of her/his career?
Work hard, always give 110%, believe in yourself and the rest will follow.

Maren Große-Löscher, Head of German Finance

When did you joined Greenman?
2015

What do you like about working at Greenman?
Greenman is always innovative and not afraid  to try new things.

What is the biggest challenge business-wise since COVID-19? that we see each other less Do you see positive changes?
That we invested in new ways to work together across different countries.

What was your biggest challenge in your personal career so far?
To grow the team in the same speed that the business is growing.

From your point of view, what challenges do you think women still face in their careers today?
Women still have to argue harder to be accepted or taken seriously

What advice would you give someone who is at the start of her/his career?
Don’t be shy to show your expertise and always state your opinion!

Caroline Vize-Boland, Head of Fund Services

When did you join Greenman?
I joined Greenman in early 2017, having previously worked in Wealth Management for a large Financial Services firm. Whilst in this previous role I was liaising with Greenman on a daily basis, and therefore I was familiar with Greenman, the staff and its unique investment offering, long before I joined Greenman.

What do you like about working at Greenman?
Greenman has a terrific team of employees that are hard-working, driven, dedicated and willing to go the extra mile – it is great to be able to work in an environment with colleagues like this. As a company Greenman really invests in its people and systems, and it fosters a culture that is very ‘open’ – being open to new ideas and new technologies, as well as having open lines of communication throughout the company structure, across the different cities and countries in which we are located.

 What is the biggest challenge business-wise since COVID-19? Do you see positive changes?
One of our biggest challenges that came with Covid-19, like for many other companies, was having to change the way in which we work from an operational perspective during lockdown – switching from working full time in the office, to working remotely. This brought with it many challenges, one of which was regarding induction and training of new staff members over the past year of the pandemic. I really took for granted how important face to face communication is, particularly in this regard. However, working remotely has also encouraged greater efficiencies and positive procedural changes in other areas operationally, that will continue to benefit us going forward when the lockdown is over.

From your point of view, what challenges do you think women still face in their careers today?
Even as we celebrate International Women’s Day in 2021, there is still a real lack of women in senior level positions in many companies. This has a knock-on effect, in terms of there being less of an opportunity for the women in these companies who are building their careers, to have access to female mentors in leadership positions.

What advice would you give someone who is at the start of her/his career?
Don’t be afraid to try something different – you won’t discover what you love to do as a career without trying out different roles and areas of work, particularly in the early stages of your career. Be confident in your ability and trust your decisions. Give 110% to everything that you do, no matter how big or small the task at hand is. Speak up and make suggestions if you see something in your company’s operations or product/service offering that you believe could be improved upon. Constantly trying to improve on what you do and what your company does, should be a perpetual driving force in how you develop yourself, your career, and the company around you.

Catherine Choo, Chief Information Officer

When did you joined Greenman?
2011

What do you like about working at Greenman?
There’s a really entrepreneurial attitude here where you’re given the space to learn, make decisions and create value for the company which I find fun and exciting.

What is the biggest challenge business-wise since COVID-19? Do you see positive changes?
Having to work remotely and not getting to collaborate across teams has really been the biggest challenge for me during COVID-19. It’s much harder work to keep the bigger picture and strategy in sight when you’re isolated from the whole team.
On the flip side, the pandemic has made video conferencing completely normal which is definitely making the world smaller. I’m easily able to check in with my team in Berlin without having to hop on a plane every week, saving time, money and the environment!

What was your biggest challenge in your personal career so far?
My biggest challenge has been to get out of my own way! I doubt my abilities and often fail to give myself credit on my capabilities and achievements. I’m learning to embrace the things I’m good at while still pursuing paths that push my boundaries.

What is your everyday challenge at Greenman?
I’ve worked my way up through the company and now I’ve moved into a role that requires me to think more strategically. I’m learning to take a step back and create time to think which is surprisingly challenging! I’m lucky I have a great team to support me and make sure things get done at the same time.

From your point of view, what challenges do you think women still face in their careers today?
I’ve been with Greenman for a long time now and know the team very well, they’re also a very supportive and inclusive bunch so I’ve been lucky! However, I do realise that in other situations, especially meetings, where women are often greatly outnumbered, atmospheres can be intimidating and unsupportive which often makes it difficult to articulate and argue your opinion. Hopefully diverse workplaces are becoming more commonplace, and with more women sitting at the table it will be a safe environment for everyone to speak up.

What advice would you give someone who is at the start of her/his career?
Take every opportunity that comes your way, whether it fits in your game plan for your career or not, and don’t feel like you can’t do it for any reason.