The 8th March is International Women's Day, and this year's theme is 'Embrace Equity'. This focuses on achieving a world free of stereotypes, bias, and discrimination, and making the world more inclusive.

To celebrate International Women's Day, we asked Dawn Wood about her role at Monevo and what International Women's Day means to her.

How did you get into your current role?

Following taking my GCSEs I was unsure on what I wanted to do next so I went to college rather than staying on at school to do A Levels, I saw this as a path to university which I didn’t think was for me although many people told me that was the only way to succeed. At 16 I took a part-time job in the call centre of a Secured loan brokerage and as they say the rest is history! I worked my way through a variety of roles across that business until the financial crisis hit in 2008.   

I joined Quint when it was a start-up 14 years ago as employee #2, with experience in Secured Lending and armed with a limitless can-do attitude and a firm belief that you get out of things what you put into them to embark on a journey of improving consumers' access to credit. Applying hard work with a massive amount of drive and determination has led me to becoming Territory Director for Monevo where I am responsible for the performance of the business, a job I thoroughly enjoy and share with the job of being a mum. 

How do you apply your knowledge and skills to the role?

Joining at ground zero means my route to my current role meant I worked within all functions and at all levels.  This experience gave me forensic knowledge at a granular level of every function’s day-to-day desk level activity that drives value.  This means that problems are identified extremely quickly and the relevant stakeholder has the luxury of being supported by a member of the Senior Leadership Team who completely understands the challenges, and can work closely and support to deliver the required improvement process.

"Leading by doing" and "setting new bar heights by example" are the rules I follow. I believe in always being on call, living and breathing the day trading KPI delivery whilst maintaining sight of the strategic goals  - this has been fundamental to the year-on-year redoubling of the Group’s growth.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

International Women’s Day means a number of things for me. On a personal level it’s about reflecting on my past, what I have done well, what I could have done differently and what advice I wish I’d been given. I wish people would have told me to believe in myself and aim high, and you don’t need to go to university to achieve what you want.

On a global and professional level, it’s about looking at what value women bring to business and situations, and what can I do to encourage young women to reach their potential. 

At work I sit at boardroom level. It’s important to have International Women’s Day to remind ourselves that although more women are making it into the boardroom, the corporate world still has a way to go to achieve an equal balance.