International Women's Day 2022 - Alysha Goddard's story

For International Women’s Day 2022, CGWM talked to allies and colleagues that identify as women about their experiences.

Here is Alysha Goddard’s story.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I love numbers, so prior to joining Adam & Company I studied maths with finance at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. During my undergraduate degree, I undertook two internships within the finance industry, one of which was with Adam & Company in my penultimate year. In September 2019, I joined Adam & Company’s private banking graduate programme. Whilst it was a great experience and I sharpened my client skills, I wanted something that was more numbers-focused, which I discovered in my investment team rotation! In November 2020, I rolled off the graduate programme early to join the investment team as an investment analyst. Since Adam & Co became part of the Canaccord Genuity group in October 2021, I began the sign-off process to become a fully qualified investment manager in June 2022.

Tell us more about your job. How do you serve our clients?

As an investment analyst and assistant investment manager, I regularly engage with our clients. I figure out client priorities and how their investments can help realise those goals and aspirations. It involves a lot of communication and I think the strongest relationships are those that are two-way. When you’re able to add value by keeping in mind a client’s aspirations and desires, you’re able to show the benefit and impact you can bring. This leads to a long and fruitful relationship.

I also check in on clients on a regular basis. Sometimes their life priorities shift, or they may find themselves in positions that they’re unsure how to deal with. By building a relationship with clients through regular communication, we are able to help them navigate those situations as best as we can.

This year’s International Women’s Day focuses on #BreakTheBias. What does this mean to you?

Breaking the bias to me means treating everyone with equal respect whilst providing or working toward an equitable playing field.

It also means challenging our own thoughts and biases. We need to not only improve awareness generally, but also to acknowledge the internal biases that we have- and work towards remedying them.

Have you done anything to help with advocacy or empowerment that you’d like our readers to know about?

At Canaccord Genuity and Adam & Company, I helped co-launch the Women’s Network which I’m really excited about. We’re hoping to create a safe space for women and male allies to network, discuss and collaborate. For colleagues that are more junior in their career, I hope this creates the visible role models that I wanted to see when I embarked on my career.

What are some key changes you’d like to see in the finance industry?

It’s no surprise that the finance industry is male-dominated, so I’d really like to see more visible female leaders.

When I previously mentioned challenging our own thoughts, this also means looking at all possible reasons why women feel they’re unable to progress and develop in the workplace. For example, are maternity policies equitable? Are there other avenues to achieving equity on boards and in senior roles?

Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Two things that aren’t talked about enough are imposter syndrome and intersectionality.

I’ve found that we as women can easily succumb to imposter syndrome in the male-dominated environments we work in, whether that be finance or any other industry. I think this is where allyship becomes extremely important – allies should be able to put themselves in the shoes of their female colleagues in order to make a difference.

Different types of women have different types of needs, which are all valid. True equity won’t be achieved with a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Some women will have various cultural, religious, socio-economic or other needs, and the discussion on breaking the bias should consider those factors too.