Empowering Women through Financial Education: Insights from Tanya Rolfe, Co-Founder of Sophia

SpeakIn Podcast with Tanya Rolfe

Tanya’s Story of making Financial Education accessible to Women

It was an absolute pleasure to have spoken with Tanya Rolfe as shared her invaluable insights about her journey, experiences, successes and challenges. She gave her generous words of advice to the new generation of women - about finances, the value of networking and the importance of mentorship. So we asked Tanya…

What have been the three big milestones in your professional journey of co-founding Sophia?

“We need Sophia to get women engaged in money and mobilizing their capital”

“Before I launched Sophia, when I was working in law firms, it was there that I realized about some of the challenges that women face. Until I was probably about 30 years old, I don't think that I really acknowledged the truth that this was an issue. I remember coming away from working in corporate law firms with the birth of my second child and saying, well, I'm not going back to that. But what I'm taking away from that is that there's a huge issue in the world when it comes to gender. I didn't know at that time what to do about that, but I knew that there was something wrong. I'm a bit of an activist at heart. I filed that, shall we say. Then when I moved to Singapore and started to invest into females... I started to invest into entrepreneurs generally, just without a specific gender mandate. It took me about five minutes to realize that here in Singapore and Asia, and actually the whole world, but this is where I was based, there was a huge inequality when it came to female founders. And so I would say that was my second milestone, and I put that together with the first thing that I had filed a few years prior and said, I get it now.

That's why this is happening. And I understand that. And I drew from the workplace based knowledge, being in a corporate of what it's like to be a woman and then combine that with, oh, and also women led businesses aren't getting any money. Aha! And it was the birth of my child as well that really opened my eyes to the lack of things like women's health. I realized then when I had my daughter, there were so few options in many regards around birth and pregnancy, and things didn't feel like they had evolved. We live in an ultra high tech world and yet when you turn up to the doctors because you're pregnant or you're giving birth, some of the methods, the equipment they're using look like they're from the Victorian era. And that's probably because they are. We haven't moved on because, hey, we're just women and we don't need to invest into women's health. So I said, hah. And I put all this together. And that led me towards investing into female entrepreneurs. And then there I realized my final milestone, my final light bulb moment was that there were no women investors. So there I was championing for women founders.

But where were all the women investors championing for them? And I said, we've got a gap here because we can't constantly be beating the drum to get men investing in women. It has to be a collaborative effort. And women have got $93 trillion of wealth collectively globally. So it's not like we don't have any money. So It's just I think it's not, we didn't have the know-how, but we don't have the know-how. So that was my final light bulb moment of gender inequality. Then there were women founders not getting any funding, and then there was, but then there are no women supporting these women. That's why we need Sophia to get women engaged in money and mobilizing their capital.”

What would you tell your 30 year old self to strive towards success in your personal and professional life?

“I wish I had got onto that wagon early on and invested”

In my professional life; it would be to invest early, early, early. So get in, just a small amount. Just get going really early on and learn as you go. You don't have to know everything. And I think we women tend to be quite the perfectionists and want to know everything there is about everything before we make a decision and I think to let some of that go, a bit like the men do, and just take a step on the investment ladder, that would be my first thing I would tell myself. Then it would be something around not putting all of your eggs in one basket. And what I mean by that is, years ago, we used to think that you go to school, you get a job at the law firm or equivalent, and that's your income and you save all your money away, you spiral it away into the bank account and you're going to be set for life. And that just isn't our reality anymore. Our reality is that a lot of us have side hustles even if we're working in corporate. A lot of us work for SMEs for startups like you and I.

We need multiple income streams. But what does that mean? You can say that term to a lot of people and they're like, What does that mean? I've got my salary, I saved. What else do I need to do? I think I'm going to be good. But reality is, no, we need multiple income streams. So I wish I had got onto that wagon early on and invested.

And then in terms of my personal life, I don't know. I feel like I dreamed of having two children, a boy and a girl, and I had a boy and a girl. I perhaps wish I played more team sports and I hadn't had such a back injury and I could have continued with my netball career.”

What are three lessons that you would give to women who are starting their careers??

1. Have the confidence to speak up

“We often tend to think that our opinion, our voice is not valid because we're so young or inexperienced”

“That's a great question. I think one of the things I wish I had appreciated about myself, and I think this probably goes for a lot of young women, is we often tend to think that our opinion, our voice is not valid because we're so young or inexperienced. Against the backdrop of people that have been in the industry, whichever industry you're in, for 20 years. But the reality is that the world is moving at such a pace that you as a 25 year old probably have much better handle on. Let's say you work in sales or marketing, or you're using Instagram, you're using LinkedIn, you're using TikTok, whatever that is, probably the reality is you have a better handle of that than these 20 year experienced people. So don't hold back with your voice. You can obviously do everything in a respectful manner, but I think having the confidence to speak up is very important.”

2. Building your Network

“Nurture your network and build your network and give as much as you take from it”

“And the second thing I would say is something that's really important is network. I remember when one of my companies closed down a few years back, it was a really tough time for me personally, and professionally, it kind of led between the two. And it was at the start of COVID and I remember it consumed me. And I remember the single thing, the biggest thing that pulled me out is that I had spent years remembering people, connecting with people, remembering their birthdays, being thoughtful, making connections, introductions, just checking in with people and that pays dividends because when you need that network. Let's say you're looking for a new job, you lost your job, you move into a sales role, and you need to connect with people in a certain industry. If you've got a network already, it's really, really valuable. So nurture your network and build your network and give as much as you take from it.”

3. Find a Mentor that you trust

“Mentors for me have been significant, and now I would say I provide that role to younger women because I really know the value of it”

“And then the third thing would be a mentor is to find one person that you really trust. At least one person. But I often find that, especially in the startup world, if you have five, six advisors, everyone gives you different advice because everything's an opinion. It's a bit like if you go to the doctor with a sore foot, you're going to probably get five different opinions because it's based on their experience as a general practitioner, what they've seen before. So it's similar to your advisor, you're going to get five or six different opinions. So I would say pick one or two that you really trust and keep in close contact with them. Mentors for me have been significant, and now I would say I provide that role to younger women because I really know the value of it.”

What is one example of a time where you had to mentor or coach a team member or a friend to help them improve themselves?

“We're not all supposed to fit every mold, because that's the beauty of being human. We're all so different, and we all suit different things”

“Yeah, that's a good question. This was before, in my law firm days, she was a bit younger than me, a little less experienced. And she was getting some feedback that she wasn't dressing appropriately, she wasn't communicating in the way that a big corporate law firm would expect one to communicate and behave. She was casual, she was relaxed, and she had an accent. And in England, you know, we're very hierarchical and classist about our accent, and so she didn't quite fit the mold. And I remember I was the person that had to give her this feedback, it was a very tricky situation for me to do that.

But I remember thinking, we're not all supposed to fit every mold, because that's the beauty of being human. We're all so different, and we all suit different things. Many people I know would just literally roll over and die inside a startup and vice versa. In a big, corporate, rigid environment, some of us don't do so well either. And I remember thinking and racking my brain to see how to handle this, and I thought, she's such a bubbly, lovely person, and she has so much to offer.

She's just in the wrong environment. So I remember having to have that conversation with her, and it went along the lines of, this is the environment you're in, and this is your personality type and your approach and your style, communication style and I don't see the two meeting in harmony. And that just means that you haven't found your people yet, you haven't found your place. And she said, yeah, you are so right. So instead of being told you need to change and fit and become “corporate in a black suit and be super quiet and speak when you're spoken to”. She actually went off and found her own environment, and she's still in a small company now, and she's loving it. So I think it's possible, but it's super challenging.

But I hope that I somehow impacted and influenced her for the better.”

More about Tanya Rolfe

Tanya Rolfe is the co-founder at Sophia. Sophia is a financial education platform for financial services companies and corporates who want to offer financial education to their female customers and employees. After years of working in corporate law firms and seeing huge gender issues, Tanya decided that it was time for a change and address gender equality.

About SpeakIn

SpeakIn is Asia’s largest digital learning platform for executive learning. SpeakIn brings together the best of thought leadership, ideas, and discussions. In this inaugural podcast by SpeakIn, we bring the best of thought leaders and their leadership to the region.

This brings us to the end of our conversation. It was an absolute pleasure to hear from Tanya and the wonderful words of wisdom from her.

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