Exceptional Female Role Models - Yvonne Bajela

Yvonne Bajela is a Founding Member and Principal of venture capital firm Impact X Capital Partners, investing in companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups – such as black female entrepreneurs. She has already invested over $200m in various start-ups across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

She previously worked for Goldman Sachs, Hymans Robertson, and Mitsui & Co.

She also serves as Finance, Audit & Risk Committee Chair at City Gateway - a charity partnering with young people, women & families in some of London’s communities most impacted by social and economic inequality.

She was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2020, for Europe and Finance.

Yvonne is an advocate for entrepreneurship & female empowerment, delivering talks and workshops on women in leadership and how to scale early-stage companies.

#ExceptionalFemaleRoleModels

What influenced you to enter finance as a career?

Absolutely my Dad! When I was very young, probably around the age of 10, all my friends would be playing outside, but my Dad had me in the house reading the Financial Times and The Economist!

I used to complain at the time, but looking back it really did instil in me an understanding of how financial markets worked and it started to make me interested in pursuing finance as a career.

I was always very good at Maths too, so that helped. But I remember when I went into the 6th form, because my Dad had sparked my interest I really wanted to study Economics at A level, unfortunately they didn’t offer the course at my 6th form, so I decided to teach myself and did a self-study A level in Economics – which I went on to pass! I then went on to study Economics at university.

Thinking back, what skills do you wish you had learned earlier in life?

I wish I had learned more soft skills – when I entered Goldman Sachs I felt very socially awkward, I realised it was a great place to start my career, but I was the only black woman on my team and it was a very laddish culture where everybody would spend all Friday night in the pub. I really didn’t feel like I fitted in, and I found myself questioning ‘Am I meant to be here?’ and dealing with imposter syndrome.

I think creating an inclusive working environment is so important, there were so many conversations happening in the pub on Friday night that I wasn’t a part of, and then also these continued into Monday morning back at work. I really battled with this and for a long time felt quite excluded.

A few years later, I managed to get a mentor who acted as my career coach and she helped me to understand that many people, especially women, feel imposter syndrome and that this is normal and you need to develop skills for framing it in your own mind and learning how to push through it.

She helped me to learn ‘Know what you bring to the table’ – to have confidence - but I wish I had learned at university to develop more soft skills and confidence to navigate different workplace environments.

Best pieces of advice you have ever been given?

Think of your career as a marathon and not a sprint – I think when people leave university they often have this expectation that they should have everything figured out and a very clearly defined career path for their next 20 years.

However what young people starting out in their career need to see is that this is a long-term game – it’s okay not to have everything figured out on day one.

An extension of this advice is that it pays to take some risks in your career – looking at my own career, I made the transition from investment banking to corporate strategy to venture capital. When I left university, I didn’t even know what venture capital was!

I remember when I made the decision to leave investment banking my parents thought I was crazy! But taking a risk really did pay off and it absolutely led me to where I am today.

Particularly at the early stages of your career, be prepared to take some risks and if things don’t work out you can always return to what you were originally doing.

What life lessons have you learned?

Focus on using your time to do the things that mean the most to you – last year my Dad passed away, it really taught me that life is so short and you should cherish the moments you spend with your family.

As someone who has always worked very hard, when my Dad became sick I spent a lot of time with him and I realised that life is not about what you do in your career that matters most, but you finding time for the things and people that mean the most to you.

Work hard to find your balance.

How important have mentors and sponsors been to you?

Absolutely pivotal. I remember when I joined Mitsui it was very challenging, I was in a quite senior role and given responsibility for a team, however I felt completely out of my depth. I had never done any investments before, and I was thinking how can I lead a team when I don’t even know exactly what I’m doing.

I was really lucky that I managed to find a mentor – she was actually introduced to me by my manager – and she helped me so much. She helped me navigate my expectations for the role, and she really worked on getting me to show up and be confident in what I was doing.

I was also very fortunate to have a great sponsor – this individual wasn’t even in my team, but for some reason he believed in me. He was very senior, and he always used to tell me that I was capable of so much more, this gave me lots of confidence. He continuously put in good words for me, he continuously advocated for me and because of him I actually got promoted within 9 months of joining the firm.

Because of this, my responsibilities expanded and I gained new experiences which became pivotal moments in my career.

How important have visible female role models been to you?

I think it is incredibly important – for example in venture capital there are very few senior black women. I remember when I joined the industry, I was looking for a black woman that I could look to for advice, but I couldn’t find anyone.

Nowadays I get a lot of messages via LinkedIn and Twitter, and I think it’s so important that people see that this can be done, and despite the fact that it’s not a diverse industry at the moment, that doesn’t mean that you can’t do it.

Can you share strategies around how you deal with challenges you face?

Don’t be afraid to ask for help – be your authentic self; be open; be transparent; don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and discuss where you perceive you have weaknesses.

It is also really important though to not be afraid to go for it – don’t fear going for a job that you might not be 100% equipped for. I think as women we often will look at a job spec and see that we only have say 8 out of the 10 things required, so we decide not to go for it.

For me whenever I pushed myself forward these resulted in life-changing opportunities. I had to work a little harder, and get people around me along the way that would support me. But just be honest with yourself about your gaps, and go out there and get the help you need to be successful.

Another piece of advice is to get yourself a morning routine! Mine is to get up every day at 6am and to make sure that I do not look at my phone for the first hour of the day. I spend time doing fitness and I write a journal – I note down all the things I am grateful for, what made the previous day great and things I might want to improve upon.

I also have identified that I find cooking really therapeutic, so I always try to cook in the evenings – I enjoy winding down by experimenting with new dishes.

…and sometimes I binge on Netflix aswell!!!

Can you speak about the challenges you see being a black woman in business...and give your advice for overcoming them?

I see efforts to bring women of colour into the room, but then when they arrive in the room a lot of businesses really struggle with an inclusive culture and retention.

In my own journey, there has been times when I didn’t feel supported and I felt like an outsider, and often that the challenges I was facing weren’t even understood. My voice was often not heard, and I felt like I wasn’t seen.

I think this is a fundamental issue with getting more black women into positions of leadership, as in so many organisations when it comes to promotion time, they just aren’t front of mind candidates and get passed over.

I would encourage companies to think more about mentorship and making it known that the work and perspectives of black women is highly valued.

Companies need to think more deeply about creating an inclusive culture, and make sure they aren’t just paying lip service to diversity & inclusion.

When I advise the startups I work with, I often advise them to understand the nuances around culture and to find more ways for all people to feel included - for example, going to the pub certainly isn’t for everyone!

With one of the companies I’m working with, we have created a forum where employees meet with leaders in a safe space and be totally honest - they share their views, their perspective, their experiences and then make suggestions - and most importantly their voices are listened to and acted upon.

Another thing that helps massively is when companies hire people into their leadership team that are more diverse and representative of different cultural groups.

What does success mean to you?

When I think of success, I really see it as fulfilling my potential. Being able to have an impact. Use my abilities to their fullest. Create value. Live out my purpose and be my true authentic self.