“It is only with determination and confidence that more women will succeed in achieving the senior ranks of the profession,” says Melissa Collett of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), and Insurance Business UK’s Elite Women of 2022 display those qualities en masse.
Read next: Find out more about IB’s Elite Women of 2022
Each of IBUK’s 63 Elite Women in 2022 are renowned not only for their standout professional performance, and their ongoing commitment to DE&I, volunteering and charity work - but also their dedication to ultimately achieving full gender equity in the workplace. Among those recognised is Donna Scully of Carpenters Group who shared a great deal of quality advice to those looking to pursue a career in insurance.
“My advice is to not live your life looking to win awards,” she said. “Live it being your true self, fighting for what you believe in, and doing your very best at all times.”
Scully noted that she was taught very early on in life to treat others as you wish to be treated and that this “simple but great mantra” remains key to her own ethos today.
“I hope that I have been chosen because of the good I bring to the table, for being a mindful human being,” she said, “and not because I had a desire to be perceived in a particular way.”
Lending her perspective, Nousheen Hassan, of Innovative Risk & Audit Solutions, highlighted that while the past year had been challenging for all, there had been a shift in the insurance industry to get more women in senior leadership roles than there had been in the past. Sharing her advice to other women in the profession, she invited them to “go out and do something different”.
“Don’t be afraid to put yourself forward for initiatives and do not underestimate how capable you are,” she said. “You can bring a different perspective to ideas, teams, leadership roles and so it’s about being confident and facilitating the shift through your own actions. Have the confidence and believe in yourself. You can do absolutely anything you want if you truly put your mind to it.”
Explore more: Find out more about IB’s Elite Women of 2022
