Inspirational Woman: Tanya Uniacke | Managing Director, Moneycorp

Tanya has been with Moneycorp for almost two decades, working her way up from Sales Executive through senior roles across business development and partnerships.

She’s highly committed to improving gender diversity in the traditionally male-dominated spheres of fintech and FX.

Tell us a bit about yourself, background and your current role?

I’m the Managing Director of Private Clients at Moneycorp, an established international payments fintech where I’ve worked for the last decade.

Finance and technology are still male-dominated industries, though that is changing. Because I don’t fit that mould, I can bring a bit of a diverse perspective and make sure we continually focus on the individual needs of the people we service – our clients.

It helps that I’m a classic people-person, too, which I think is a big part of what’s made me successful today. Perhaps that comes from going to boarding school – sleeping with 12 people in a room and playing sports every weekend. I got so accustomed to being in a group.

My mother is half Belgian and my grandmother lived in the South of France, so I grew up loving all things French. Little did I know that would pave the way for me establishing Moneycorp’s Nice office, its first in the Côte d’Azur, years later in 2014.

I also have two young girls. My youngest just started school this year, so I try to get more involved with the PTA and raise money for the school when I can. Every working mother can relate to the challenges that come with a career and parenting commitments!

Did you ever sit down and plan your career?

We did have career advisers at school, but that came with a huge undertone of exploring ‘traditionally female’ roles, which seems ludicrous now.

I come from a family of barristers, so naturally when I was younger that’s what I wanted to be. Then I moved from being a barrister to a television presenter – not an obvious choice. After that I fell into finance, a sector that – like so many others – is now partnered with tech.

I’ve been lucky to have some incredible role models in my life. They’ve given me insight into a world of work that I didn’t really get through school. I’m proud that at Moneycorp we’re able to do our bit to pay that forward through the Moneycorp Academy and with our work with the educational inequality charity Future Frontiers.

Through our partnership, we support disadvantaged school-age students, providing them with guidance, access to our networks and mentoring. Research shows that young people who recall four or more encounters with employers during their school years are four times more likely to be employed.

Have you faced any career challenges along the way and how have you overcome them

As a glass-half-full kind of person, I prefer to think of challenges as opportunities. And boy, have there have been plenty of opportunities in my career!

I would normally say hard work, a positive attitude and some determination can help you take many of these on. But one of the biggest career challenges is poor management, which can be really tough – and complicated – to overcome.

For the most part, I’ve been fortunate to have had supportive and motivational managers along the way – certainly at the beginning. However, as is sadly commonplace, I had a difficult experience with a manager during one of the most formative stages of my career.

What I found most important was to speak up and find trusted colleagues and friends to confide in. As it happened, I wasn’t alone. With a wider network behind us, my team and I managed to get through it positively and learn a lot about ourselves along the way. Funnily enough, I think the experience has made me a better manager.

What one thing do you believe has been a major factor in you achieving success?

The support of my husband – both professionally and as a parent – which is invaluable.

He’s in fintech too and understands the industry’s pressures. He’s also more stubborn and determined than me, so at those low moments when you might come close to giving up, I haven’t.

What top tips would you give to an individual who is trying to excel in their career in technology?

Don’t feel like you have to be techy! There is plenty of room for different types of people in this space, so don’t be put off by its reputation as purely a STEM sector. Moneycorp might be a fintech, but it takes collaboration from all of our teams to make us a success.

What does help, though, is a thirst for knowledge, not being afraid to get stuck in and do some research, embracing change, and saying yes to opportunities. This can mean doing extra courses, engaging in conversations, prioritising your industry development, or building and nurturing your network. It’s all important and will enrich your personal and professional growth.

Finally, recruit people better than you. It’s not a threat – it makes you better.

What barriers for women working in tech still need to be overcome.

As I said before, tech still has an image problem. It has traditionally been a male-dominated industry, as has finance. As a fintech, our challenge is twofold because it’s a coming-together of the two. We’re trying to change that. We have a female CEO and a strong female presence on the leadership team, all championing female hiring and progression in our organisation.

What do you think companies can do to support and progress the careers of women working in technology?

Training and development is crucial. We must embrace equity and be bold in trying to redress the balance. At Moneycorp, we’ve recently launched a Women’s Mentoring Programme designed to empower the women in our business to succeed.

Businesses also need to factor in some understanding of the challenges of parenthood. Before I had my girls, I often travelled for work. I really miss that part of my professional life. We must start expanding these opportunities to make them accessible to everyone – offering family relocation packages, for example. There are so many overseas opportunities, but if you have a young family tied to one place, you immediately feel disempowered to even consider them.

In an ideal world, how would you improve gender diversity in tech?

Firstly, it needs to go much further than the tech industry. We need to think beyond our organisations and start changing how we think and talk about parenthood for the benefit of everyone. It begins with language, like looking at how we’re talking about parental leave and whether that in itself perpetuates the problem.

If we start to talk about parental leave as something normal for both parents to take, then we’re already on a more equal footing. Then we need to champion it and encourage the men in our organisation to take it.

We also need to normalise men taking on more responsibility in the home. If they need to pick up a sick child, let them. If their child has a nativity play, go for it. If they want to get involved with the PTA, then please do. We need to get to a stage where involved parenting and a successful career aren’t at odds with each other – and that’s going to take change from men and women.

Nothing has been more rewarding in my life than to have had my two girls. But on average, women see a 4% drop in earnings for each child. Inversely, men see a 6% rise. As women and equally deserving people we should be able to take on parenthood without damaging our careers.

What resources do you recommend for women working in tech, e.g. podcasts, networking events, books, conferences, websites etc?

I’m always on the move, it seems. That means I mostly learn from podcasts. On my morning run I’ve been listening to Breaking Banks. It explores the whole gamut of fintech – from fresh-faced startups to big institutions like us – and allows me to keep my finger on the pulse of the latest in the industry. Then of course there’s the brilliant Emma Gannon’s Ctrl Alt Delete podcast, which is so popular for a reason!

So much of forging a career for yourself comes not from how much you know and how well-networked you are, but your sense of self and understanding what ‘success’ means for you. In fact, to drop in another Emma Gannon plug, I can’t wait to get my hands on her new book The Success Myth, which is about pretty much exactly that.

Feeling fulfilled and empowered in your work – no matter what sector you’re in – starts with being attuned to and at peace with yourself. So my advice would be to work on that first and the rest will eventually come, if you want it.