''Most companies will need to engage with my generation differently to how they may have engaged with customers in the past''

On the back of our market research that those in their 20's feel underrepresented in the FinTech industry, we have set up 2020 - we will be posting 20 articles with 20 people in their 20s...

Today for our 2020 series we speak to Joanne Goldy, a 27-year-old marketing specialist at CoinCorner, one of the UK’s leading and oldest Bitcoin exchanges.

Tell us about Coin Corner...

We’re based in the Isle of Man but primarily help customers in the UK and many other countries around the world to buy Bitcoin. 

How long have you worked in FinTech?

 My career in FinTech started almost 18 months ago when I joined CoinCorner in February 2018. I wanted to shake up my marketing experiences and what better way to do that than by working in a young, emerging sector?!

Did you aim to work in FinTech?

No, I didn’t set out to work in FinTech - I never knew what I wanted to do when I “grew up” and I genuinely fell into marketing after realising that a lot of the subjects/activities I enjoyed doing also perfectly aligned with jobs in that field (e.g. writing, creative thinking, planning, events, designing, customer service).

FinTech is something that I became aware of a couple of years ago and gradually became more interested in after working at a law firm. I was lucky to know someone who already worked at CoinCorner and through that connection, I learnt more about what Bitcoin was about and decided I wanted to get involved.

What attracted you to FinTech as an industry?

 For my generation especially (millennials), technology has generally played an immense role throughout our young lives - for example, we grew up alongside the mass introduction of the Internet and online services. 

Despite these, innovation in the traditional financial world isn’t something that has really been on the radar until very recently. I wanted to be a part of progressing Bitcoin’s role as a financial technology to challenge my own understanding of money and the economy, and to help more people to learn about what Bitcoin is/does and the advantages it offers over traditional fiat currencies (e.g. it’s borderless and is an easy way to pay friends/family in other countries).

What do you do in your current role?

As a marketing specialist, I’m an integral member of the marketing team. I’m involved in all activities to promote and raise awareness of CoinCorner’s products/services, including educating people about the Bitcoin industry more generally. Our goal is to make Bitcoin easy for consumers and businesses to get started with. In this way, our team is fortunate to be able to work on a huge variety of projects, rather than specialising in a particular niche as often happens at bigger companies. 

Do you enjoy your job? Why?

Yes, I really enjoy my job at CoinCorner! First and foremost, I work with a team of fantastic people - we’re a family and are very supportive of one another. Secondly, I love the variety of tasks I get to work on. Although our office is based on the Isle of Man, CoinCorner’s target audiences live globally and it’s exciting being able to develop campaigns/messages that are seen by people around the world. 

We recently did some market research that suggested those in their 20s feel unrepresented in FinTech media and at events – do you think this is true?

Yeah, I do agree that there is some under-representation. However, I generally see attention being focused on young business owners or high-up managers (which is still very positive!), but rarely any focus on young people working in non-managerial FinTech positions. 

This isn’t just exclusive to FinTech though, I think it’s a bigger issue that needs addressing more widely, especially as non-managerial positions are as important as managerial. I feel there may be a little too much pressure on young people to aim for the c-suite/managerial job roles while still in their 20s. There is nothing wrong with working up to these positions (if that’s what someone wants to do) and taking the time to gain business experience along the way. We shouldn’t feel that we have to rush our careers!

What can companies do to make you feel more represented?

FinTech companies have a unique opportunity to shine a light on younger members of staff because they’re disruptive, or are supposed to be. They need to disrupt more than the financial services/products offered to the consumer market and also prioritise support for workers in their 20s. For example, CoinCorner offers work experience and internship opportunities each year for local young people and has taken on several work experience students as full-time employees afterwards. As well as helping to create jobs, this is a fantastic way for companies to encourage new faces and ideas into the industry.

Finally, this definitely has to extend to the University and high-school curriculum too. I never studied business at school as I thought it sounded boring (none of my teachers tried to convince me otherwise either), yet here I am 10 years on enjoying a career in business and finance! 

What does diversity and inclusion mean to you?

Diversity and inclusion means that everyone and anyone has a voice, and if they have something to say, there should be a platform for them to speak from. 

Do you feel you are included / listened to in your workplace? 

Yes, 100%. Although our office is majority male employees, I feel fully included and listened to. At CoinCorner, we’re all challenged to be our best selves and to reach our potential, irrespective of gender. Every day we have opportunities to share our views/opinions, make suggestions for improvements to the business and get involved in projects outside the scope of our specific tasks. I’ve never felt more at home or supported at a company. 

Do you think companies would gain more by listening more to your age group and if so, why? (ie. What could we learn from you?)

Companies would definitely gain valuable insights by listening to our age group more. In most cases, people in their 20s are quickly becoming self-sufficient, including gaining spending power as they go. 

From a marketing perspective, most companies will need to engage with my generation differently to how they may have engaged with customers in the past. We expect a lot from our consumer experiences and we’re not afraid to shop around to get what we want. It’s worth taking the time to get to know us now as our customer journey has only just begun!

What do you think of the gender landscape in FinTech?

Historically, the Bitcoin industry has attracted more interest from men than women (we see this in our customer base at CoinCorner), although it’s accessible for anyone with an internet connection! 

I think that some of this is due to education around technology subjects. For example, I studied I.T. at GCSE and aside from myself, the entire class was male. I took I.T. because I was interested in it, but I don’t remember there ever being a push to encourage more female students to try it at the time. Hopefully this has changed now for the next generations coming through, but I think it’s a good example that there’s still a lot of work to be done to help young people understand that their gender doesn’t restrict what they can do in life. 

Do you feel you have enough exposure to successful women in this industry to inspire you?

I think the answer to this is very dependent on the definition of “success”. There are many inspiring female entrepreneurship stories out there for example, but I don’t really relate to those as I’m not aspiring to be like that at this moment in my life. 

In this way, I would like to see more women my age and job level in FinTech being showcased as being as “successful” and redefining what that means for them. To me, successful is doing a good job at work, helping my industry progress, making mistakes and learning from them - it shouldn’t just be about accolades, promotions or reaching a certain level of seniority by a particular age. 

How would you describe FinTech as an industry to someone at the beginning of their career?

FinTech is taking how we all typically view finance and turning it on its head. It probably means different things to different people, but to me at least, it’s encouraging people to take a new approach to how they transact with one another. 

For people at the beginning of their careers, I’d give the advice of not knocking a FinTech career until you’ve tried it. It may seem daunting from the outside, but it’s far from stuffy and is likely to offer you a great range of experiences.

What advice would you give someone looking for their first job?

FinTech is like any other industry in that the jobs are the same, but people are doing different activities within those jobs (e.g. there are still people working in marketing, accounts, compliance, tech, customer service etc). It’s all about finding a role that works for you and your skills, just in the FinTech environment. Start by figuring out what kind of job you might like and from there, look for FinTech companies that offer those opportunities.

We love a bit of reverse mentoring, what advice would you give to someone at the top of their career about looking after their employees?

Don’t underestimate a person’s knowledge or ability just because of their age. As I explained in another answer, there’s a lot to be learnt from our generation about what it means/feels like to be young today. It’s all too easy to judge young people based on a headline or story, but I think it’s important to sit and listen to our views on the world as we may be able to offer different insights to those who have come before us.

We have a 2020 coffee morning with 3 speakers talking about how to progress your career in your 20s - book your space here as there are only 20 seats available.

DiversiTech Hub is a FinTech community launching in September, promoting diversity and inclusion in FinTech. 2020 is the first in many series we will run to give everyone a voice and a platform to progress in their career with equal opportunity.

If you would like to join the community email here to find out more.