Exceptional Female Role Models – Syreeta Brown

Syreeta Brown is Group Chief People and Communications Officer at Virgin Money.

A member of the Executive Committee, she leads a team of 150 staff across HR and Corporate Affairs ensuring the management of critical HR and Communications processes and leading on Change and Culture Transformation, including the ‘A Life More Virgin’ colleague proposition.

Previously a Managing Director at Citi, she spent 11 years working in a number of HR roles, including Head of HR for Global Functions, Operations and Technology, leading the HR strategy for 20,000 employees across 52 countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Syreeta is an expert in cultural transformation, talent development and building a workforce that is fit for the future. She also has extensive senior-level experience embedding a digital agenda within major financial services businesses.

She won the ‘Leader in Financial Services’ category at the 2018 Black British Business Awards. She was also included in the UK Powerlist 2022 and named as an Involve Empower Role Model 2022.?In 2023, Syreeta was included in the UK Powerlist Top 10 Most Influential Black British People.?

Syreeta is an advisory Board member for the Black Talent charter initiative in the UK led by Harry Matovu KC; a Board Trustee of the ALETO foundation chaired by Sir Ken Olisa; and Vice Chair of the Change the Race Ratio Campaign chaired by Sir Trevor Phillips.

Syreeta actively advocates for and supports parents who have children with Special Needs focusing on Autism.?

Can we start by understanding more about your childhood background?

My Grandparents emigrated to the UK from Jamaica as part of the Windrush generation. My parents were aged 10 and 11 when they arrived, so they went through their high-schooling here and through tireless hard work evolved from their working class roots to become middle class, buying property and thriving in their careers.

My Dad became a Heating & Ventilation Engineer working on a variety of large projects all over the country, including the development of Canary Wharf. My Mum spent several years working as an Auxiliary Nurse, before becoming a Clinical Administrator.

I was an only child for 9 years, before my twin siblings arrived, and I had a fantastic childhood that included a lot of travel and some wonderful holidays.

Originally born in Dulwich, we moved to Wallington in Surrey in the late-1970s when I was still young, and were the only black family on our street. I was raised a Catholic and went to a convent Catholic school, where I was also the only black pupil for the majority of my schooling.

My parents are very authentic and naturally loveable people and so we were actually warmly welcomed in our community. Of course there were still racist comments made by people who didn’t know us, but on our street I spent my childhood happy in and out of all the neighbours’ homes.

My earliest childhood memory is of my parents did sitting down and talking to me about how different I was and what I needed to know as a result of this. They educated me regarding the names people would call me, and the importance of how I should carry myself in the face of racial abuse from strangers – always with pride, grace and with my head held high.

My parents talked to me about work ethic and how I would be required to work harder than others in order to succeed. I suppose to a certain extent when you hear these things at the tender age of 4 years old, the innocence of childhood is lost a bit, but I found this news both empowering and a little damaging.

One thing I identified was that whilst you are faced with this burden, it is still your choice how/if you carry this as a burden through your life. My Grandmother had a huge influence on me, and she always encouraged me to carry myself in the way that I wanted others to treat me.

I like to think this helped shape who I became as an adult, I was very aware of often being the only person who looked like me in a room, but I also became equipped with the skills to learn how to navigate this difference, and wherever I faced prejudice I learned how to work through it.

I developed comfort with being authentically me, I really came to value the saying ‘You can’t be anyone other than yourself’. In my opinion, the minute you start deviating from this you set yourself up for problems. I urge people to think more along the lines of ‘be yourself and if others don’t accept you, that is because you are not meant to be around those people, or in that job, or in that space’.

After my A levels, I studied English Literature at the University of London, then a Master’s in Human Resource Management at Westminster University, before joining the HR graduate programme at BT.

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What valuable nuggets of wisdom do you wish you had learned earlier in life?

Don’t go too narrow too early.

Have the attitude that you want to gain knowledge and experiences in areas you aren’t currently familiar with.

At 25 years old, I had quite linear vision – informed by my environment, my ambitions at that point, and my perceived likes. One thing I have learned is the value of being open to many and varied things, don’t rule anything out because it doesn’t fit with your narrow view of your expected path.

For example, graduate programmes are the beginning, not the end, of your journey. Do your due diligence and explore the many opportunities that are out there for you.

I believe that particularly young people from underrepresented groups don’t see certain corporate careers as open to them. I would encourage everybody to be open-minded and go for their dreams.

Do the work to know yourself.

To equip yourself to explore these opportunities, do the self-work and start to cultivate the skills you will need.

Ask yourself difficult questions like…’How brave are you?’ ‘How confident are you?’ ‘Where are you on figuring out what you do want to do vs don’t want to do?’ ‘Where do you need help?’ ‘What is your story?’

Put time into pros vs cons lists. Do a journal and start recording your thoughts and ideas, then reflect back on these, and understand what actions you can take to turn them into action or who you can reach out to help you.

Most people are really kind and if you reach out for advice or mentoring they will usually agree to give you some time, but these people are also very busy and so will expect you to have put time into figuring out exactly where you need some help. Put some thought into ‘What is your ask?’

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What is the best advice you have been given?

Setbacks are good for you.

As my life has progressed, personal and professional curveballs have come along, and as I’ve faced and moved through them, I’ve realised that this is where my growth took place.

I think that especially in today’s society, young people are sold a perfect dream. In the contrived pictures of life provided by social media - every picture is perfect, every moment captured is beautiful.

I don’t think we do a particularly good job of preparing our young people today for the curveballs, and appreciating that working hard to overcome these curveballs is the only way you will learn enough to lift your trajectory.

Nobody who is successful in life has achieved this through only winning. Success often follows a mistake, or a learning, or a pivot, or an iteration, or even a complete rethink.

I encourage people to work on being comfortable with setbacks, and take reassurance from the fact that in overcoming each one you are learning something that is good for you.

Be brave, have courage.

You will be faced with situations which require bravery and courage, both personally and professionally, throughout your life. If you haven’t developed the skills to dig deep and handle these, then you will become dejected and likely eventually fail.

Everybody feels anxious and nervous, especially when they are starting out on a new journey. Once we understand this we can find the confidence to seek help.

We need to be intentional about finding our people. We all need sounding boards and safe spaces. We all need mentors and people that we trust. Don’t seek a prescription, look for people who will help you explore how you can develop. Find the people who will develop into long-term relationships and become your support network.

My other piece of advice to build bravery, is to challenge yourself to do something every month that frightens you! This doesn’t have to be some kind of extreme sport! Just something that genuinely takes you out of your comfort zone.

I remember a big one for me was after my divorce, finding the courage to go to the cinema on my own – I had literally never done it before and was dreading it. Having overcome this fear, I now love it - and I actually find it quite annoying now when somebody comes with me and sits next to me eating their popcorn too loudly!

Finally, develop your self-love – you really don’t need other people to affirm you, just learn to love yourself.

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What is the biggest life lesson you have learned?

The essentialness of compassion, tolerance and patience – both to yourself and to others.

People are all different, nobody needs to think exactly the same way that you do. Even when you think they are thinking bad things, few things are either/or – usually there is a third way.

I have 2 children, and my daughter Chloe is autistic. She has taught me so very much about these humanistic values - which has then led me to becoming a much better leader in my working life.

Consistently from the beginning of time – probably handed down from my parents – is the importance of integrity. It is an absolute core value for me that you have a moral compass regarding how you show up in life.

Finally, please don’t take yourself or life too seriously!

Stuff happens that feels like the end of the world, but – as one of my wise colleagues used to always say – 'this too shall pass'.

Appreciate that your career is a long journey, it will be filled with curveballs, but in almost all situations – with the benefit of hindsight – you will look back and laugh. Don’t allow your potential to be stopped by taking yourself or life too seriously when you feel these challenges arrive.

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When you are faced with adversity, do you have any tips for dealing with this successfully?

Contact your people – this could be your family, friends, mentors, or colleagues you trust, but find someone - it is essential that you talk it through with people. I feel that the root of most mental health issues is that we just don’t reach out and talk to people enough when we are struggling.

Dimension the feeling – find an outlet that allows you to express your feeling. I personally am a big fan of journaling. I don’t always write 1,000 words, sometimes I’ll draw pictures or write pros vs cons lists. Journaling is a really expressive way of getting your feelings out and looking at them, then going back and reflecting.

I also find journaling a huge help in looking back over a longer timeframe and understanding how you felt in particular moments and your journey of development. I swear by it.

Don’t catastrophize – look at challenges that you are faced with objectively, remove yourself from the situation and tune into the fact that sometimes the emotions you are feeling are little more than your inner voice catastrophizing in your own head.

Master your ego – on other occasions that inner voice is actually your ego talking! Sometimes the dents to your ego are totally valid and the frustration you feel is justified, but there is little doubt that your ego is a terribly damaging thing – especially when you are trying to build your career.

Ego will usually blindside you to the bigger picture. Remember that to be a successful leader you have to learn compromise.

Just breathe!...I would absolutely advise you to learn a relaxation technique for yourself, I personally am a huge fan of yoga. Learn how to breathe and surface calmly from the panic that adversity causes.

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You lead the agenda on future of work as part of the ‘A Life More Virgin’ colleague proposition, can you tell us more about this?

‘A Life More Virgin’ is a very fortunate alignment of my personal values and experiences, merged with what David Duffy (the CEO of Virgin Money) was envisioning for the organisation and people.

In today's society, things are very complex. People are juggling so much complexity in their lives. What we're trying to do is acknowledge that the world of work has to look human because the people that we need to work in it are human and they're managing all of this complexity.

A lot of inclusion happens because of flexibility – economically, physically, socially. This is an inclusive agenda and allows us to treat people like human beings. It gets rid of the clinical interactions that are part of the traditional model.

‘A Life More Virgin’ is a values-led approach to flexible working. We have said goodbye to full-time, 9 to 5, office-based roles, and instead, invite colleagues to work remotely, using offices or stores as hubs for collaboration when needed.

Perhaps one of the most compelling parts of ‘A Life More Virgin’ is the additional time given for colleagues to focus on their wellbeing. On top of 30 days annual leave, bank holidays and the option to buy an extra week of holiday, colleagues receive 5 wellbeing days every year. This means people could take approx. 50 days away from work each year.

Throughout my career, flexibility and having choice has enabled me to progress to my current level as a leader.

I have had 2 children whilst progressing my career, and particularly having a child with special needs, the sheer volume of appointments that I needed to be able to attend and the flexibility that my past employers have needed to support me with was essential to me thriving at work. I am grateful to have worked (and currently work) for organisations that are thought-leading in this space.

When David first spoke to me about ‘A Life More Virgin’ as a concept it immediately resonated as a ‘Wow, this is my life’s work, this is my mission’ moment.

My role has been to take this idea and turn it into a tangible reality with no gimmicks. Before I arrived the team had already looked at policies and practices incredibly deeply. They surveyed 3,000 people internally and externally, asking the question ‘How do people want to see the world of work nowadays?’

‘A Life More Virgin’ was then built on quantifiable and qualitative people perception, and led by a CEO and Executive Committee who encouraged colleagues to fully engage with it by role-modelling themselves; it was a way of giving permission to the organisation by posting about what ‘A Life More Virgin’ meant for them.

We are a business that has had all the same pressures to navigate that other retail banks in the UK have had in the recent past - multiple wars, political and economic disruption, rising interest rates and cost of living - but during this time our employee engagement rate has risen from 67% in 2021 to 82% today.

For me this is the seal of approval. We don’t expect people will be happy every day at work, but what we are proud of is that our colleagues get what we are trying to do and the culture we are aiming to foster - we are trying to engage people in a productive way and that they can understand what the organisation is trying to do and they believe in it. I’m tremendously proud of this.