This year, Mortgage Solutions has spoken to women across the financial services sector to mark International Women’s Week (3-9 March), which includes International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March.
The theme of this year’s campaign is Accelerate Action, meaning as well as celebrating the achievements of women and advocating for progress with issues that affect women, there is also a focus on how to speed up the rate of change and work towards a more inclusive, equal society.
In this, we speak to Rachael Hunnisett (pictured), director of mortgage distribution at April Mortgages.
Who are you and where do you work?
Rachael Hunnisett, I lead the distribution strategy at the modern five- to 15-year fixed rate lender, April Mortgages.
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How long have you been working in the sector?
I started out as a mortgage adviser 12 years ago.
Have you always worked in financial services?
My first job actually was in horseracing. I used to work on a stud yard breeding flat horses. I did that for years before deciding I couldn’t quite face another cold winter outside watching mares’ foal in January.
When did you realise financial services would be a career for you?
Very early on, I can remember so clearly the first mortgage I advised on, I could see the impact my advice had on the young family I helped and from that moment on I was hooked on all aspects of consumer finance.
Do you feel like you worked harder than your male counterparts to get where you are?
Perhaps controversially, no I don’t. I’m surrounded by a lot of fantastic men who really work hard and do it while advocating for others. I work as part of such a fast-paced team, if you aren’t pulling your weight, it shows very quickly. Earlier in my career, I certainly felt that my gender impacted the way I was perceived – I was in my early 20s when I was a London business development manager (BDM), as a young female I certainly felt I had to work harder to be taken seriously.
In what ways do you try to support women already in the sector or those wanting to join?
It’s so important to nurture new talent, I really enjoy being a mentor. I mentor a young woman at the moment who has a really bright future ahead of her. I learn as much from her as she does me to be honest. In terms of support, I feel privileged to be in a position in my career now where I can call out misogyny or discrimination when I see it. I see it as my responsibility to advocate for those who don’t necessarily feel they are able to advocate for themselves. We need to understand the balance of power here and how hard it can be for junior people in particular, to call out bad behaviour or micro-aggressions.
The theme of IWD this year is ‘Accelerate Action’, highlighting that there is still a long way to go until we reach genuine gender parity. Do you feel like the financial services sector is progressing at a satisfactory pace?
Yes and no, there has been a huge amount of work done in the financial services sector, I hugely commend the efforts of our sector on this – however, as I imagine you’re going to uncover in this piece, the experiences of women in this sector vary widely.
What more can be done?
Accelerating action to me means not only having this as an agenda item in meetings and conferences but truly embodying this in everything we do. We need to also bring men into the conversation more: does everyone understand what it’s like to be a woman in financial services? By seeing the world through the eyes of others first, naturally, it’s easier to identify ways to support.
When it comes to gender equality, where do you think financial services has done well?
It’s impossible to deny the progress that has been made, we are seeing increasing focus on gender equality in senior roles – I believe that strong representation does so much to open doors for those who follow after. I certainly know I’m standing on the shoulders of giants who have walked before me, and hope to also hold that baton well in my own career, continuing to break the glass ceiling for female finance professionals.
