You have 4 children under the age of 8. How do you juggle with your work life?

It is very intense but it is very important to have a good structure at home, it’s very important for women to make good decisions in their life and make sure you find a spouse that is supportive of you. It is very difficult if you have a spouse that perhaps doesn’t envision the same type of woman that you envision yourself to be, so I have that at home and I think that’s absolutely fundamental. And another piece of advice I love to give women is: ”You make your own luck, I don’t believe in luck. You make it; you make your own luck.” You ask for everything that you want, just ask for it, believe in yourself, believing in yourself is more important than what the company will do for you. Go ask for it! Worst thing it happens it doesn’t happen! Go for it!

If you could give one piece of advice to your young self, what would that be?

The biggest thing that I think, at least for me and my younger self, and a lot of women, I think this is a common thing and a common occurrence, is: DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE FUTURE. Whatever you are concerned about or you are anxious about today, more likely than not, it’s not going to happen in reality, so don’t fear about the future, live in the present, maximize every opportunity, make your own luck, luck does not happen, you make it, you drive your future, take hold of it, and don’t fear about the future. Enjoy and maximize the present!

Are women getting the support they need from their employers to be ambitious?

It’s so key because you hear a lot of talk about this, you hear a lot of talk from the big banks. I think we are moving into the right direction. There is a self-selection process, so a lot of women have children and they think: ”I want to devote my time to my children” and that is a very fair response. We’ve been there and we all understand it.The way employers can help women stay in the workforce is by offering what they need: flexible work hours, this is a digital world now. Women are hard workers; of course, it’s hard to generalize but we tend to be very good at multi-tasking, very productive, and we can be equally, if not more, productive in a remote office or by phone rather than the old model which is in the office, 12 till 14 hours a day. That is the way to keep women involved; offer flexible work hours, offer maternity leave policy that is fair and just, and have confidence and trust in your female workforce.

What main change would you like to see for young girls in the next generation?

I would like young girls to realize that they can excel in STEM for example Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. We see women very underrepresented in this field and I think a lot has to do with societal expectations, as girls get older. So, it is important to start with that when girls are young. If they are interested in STEM, if they are interested in engineering, in math, in finance which I am in, then that mothers, fathers and schools should try to cater to women and make them feel invited and part of that field.