Lucy Mullins
Co-Founder at Circles
Please introduce yourself and your background. What has brought you into finance?
I’m the co-founder of Circles powered by StepLadder. It’s a global fintech business that helps people reach their financial goals using collaborative Savings Circles.
I came into finance and fintech from a fitness background . I started my career as a personal trainer and fitness instructor and went to university to study Sports Science.I got my first graduate job in banking at HSBC. After this I ran a finance institute at the University of Oxford. From fitness to finance, I’ve always been driven by helping people reach their goals, and so building a fintech that helps people reach their goals has been a great next step for me.
As a female leader in fintech, how do you feel diverse management influences the business?
If you want to build excellent and inclusive products you need a diverse team, and to do that you have to start with the leadership. My Co-Founder, Matthew and I, have different but complementary styles of leadership. I know some people in the team respond better to my style, but Matthew is able to get the best out of others in the team with his approach..sa.
What personal or professional qualities, in your opinion, should female professionals embrace to succeed in fintech?
Essentially, it’s about being authentic, bringing your genuine self and not trying to be something you’re not. What matters is embracing your personal characteristics and strengths, and working out how they can have a real impact on the business.
Passion and energy are really important, and particularly in startup life!. These two things combined get people excited about joining your team, using your product, or investing in your business.
How can fintech businesses support women's career growth?
Opportunities for flexible or remote working and investing in coaching are at the top of my list. The latter can unlock a huge amount of potential and help build the confidence needed to take the next step, or unleash some hidden superpowers
As for the changes I’d like to see happening in the industry, getting girls into tech and coding at an earlier age is essential.. It’s a sad truth that it’s easier to recruit women into marketing roles, and men into tech/developer roles. The salary gap between these roles is big, so investing more in education and early-stage career development for women in tech can help eliminate this gender pay gap.
