Thought leadership is an outcome, not the goal

I never wake up thinking, "Time to be a thought leader!" Instead, every morning, I wake up with a fire in my belly, ready to make the world better for women and their communities ??

Purpose pushes me past insecurities, tiredness, and personal agendas. Purpose is what drives me to dig deep and combine my understanding of finance - its power and limitations - with my ideas, voice, and skills - to challenge the norm and build new solutions to age-old problems.

Purpose alone has powered the actions placing me as a Thought Leader of the Year finalist in the 2023 Women in Finance Awards. I am in equal measures startled, honoured, and grateful to be a finalist this year. Because it is my hope that this nomination will not raise me personally, but raise the profile of the important work we are doing so we can reach more people.

Super Fierce is my answer to my personal experience of financial vulnerability. Today, drawing upon my personal experiences and financial services experience, I am determined to empower women with the financial freedom to choose – to stay or leave, to have children or not, to work and live on their own terms.

I envisage a world of equal opportunity and I am determined to help close the $30 trillion global gender wealth gap.?

The need is too great to wait for glacial political and societal change. And financial education is not enough. Until appropriate, affordable advice is accessible to all women we cannot close the gender wealth gap and democratise economic security.?

Thank you to the women quoted here, and the others who also contributed, who acted as supporters with generous ?? character references. I love being a part of the finance and innovation community with you all.

I believe leaders cast long shadows. And so, my approach to thought leadership stems from the mind and involves raising my voice, but its true power comes from walking-the-walk.?

My impact as a leader in the industry is the result of my consistent commitment to speaking up, sharing my personal stories, educating key stakeholders, empowering women with knowledge, and backing it with credible research and compelling data. And I combine deep financial services expertise and experience, with an innovative mind, flair for financial and digital product engineering, to deliver real solutions which empower women to act.?

Super Fierce is a revolutionary social enterprise challenging the wealth and superannuation norms.

Independent and unbiased, our financial empowerment platform unravels financial product complexity and delivers customer-centric tools with affordable single-topic personal advice women can understand and trust.?

I am incredibly grateful to the financial services and investments community for their ongoing support and to the many people who nominated me for this Award. There is no such thing as a leader who operates in isolation. Whilst my actions are my own, my ideas are the combination of years of experience, the contribution of others, and the privilege of standing on the shoulders of the giants who went before us.

This nomination reflects the power of purpose, not just for me personally, but for the important work we're doing.

So today, I say 'thank you'! And I ask you to work with me to:

??Challenge the norms so we can build and deliver innovations that will drive meaningful change ??

???Spread the word, so that together we make a lasting impact on the lives of girls and women, creating a better world for everyone??

Join me on this incredible journey. Together, we can create a brighter and more equitable future for all ??

#ThoughtLeader2023 #WomenInFinanceAwards #SuperFierce #FinancialEmpowerment #GenderWealthGap #ThatsSuperFierce #ThoughtLeadership #WomenInFinance #Superannuation