Embracing Equity | International Women's Day at Carbon - Felicity Jones

On 8^th March 2023, we celebrate International Women’s Day, this year’s theme is embracing equity, promoting a world free or bias, stereotypes and discrimination.

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. Carbon is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive environment for our team and clients. We believe that cognitive diversity across gender, ages, race and religion has a positive impact on our internal teams and our external interactions with clients. It is becoming a more important focus of clients, borne out in our recent client survey whereby feedback on ensuring a strong female presence in our planning team was important to them.

As a people focused organisation and an employer of several women in key roles, Carbon is using the opportunity of International Women’s Day 2023 to celebrate the achievements of our team, showcase their talents and help #Embraceequity in the finance industry.

In this edition of our International Women’s Day series, we speak to Financial Planner, Felicity Jones, about her role, her achievements and inspiration.

What does your role involve?

I’m a trainee financial planner based in Carbon’s Edinburgh office. My role involves supporting the financial planners, attending client meetings, and assisting with meeting preparation and follow up with a view to taking a lead in client relationships in the future.

What do you enjoy about your job?

I really like the diversity of working with so many different clients and assisting across the whole planning team. I get to meet with a broad range of families and individuals who all have different lifestyles and queries about their finances. Also, when you realise that you have made a positive impact on their lives, it’s really rewarding.

Can you tell us about something you are particularly proud of?

I’m originally from Northwest England, so when I decided to pack up my life and move to Scotland, it was a bit of a leap to make. I also started my role with Carbon at the time, so it was a period of complete change and I’m proud of how I organised and handled the transition. I’m also so glad I took the plunge, as I love where I’ve ended up and working for Carbon.

Tell us about a woman you know who inspires you

In the public eye, I admire Sandy Toksvig, I love her intelligence, breadth of interests and quick wit. I hope I pull some of that off myself, but I’m not sure I’m fooling anyone!

How did you get into the financial planning industry?

I studied an unrelated degree and ended up finding work in a financial advisory firm in an entry level admin function. It was there that I found a passion for the industry which has led me to working with Carbon, originally as a paraplanner and then progressing to the role I’m in now.

Why would you encourage other women to join the industry?

Of course, I’m generalising here, but women often have great soft skills which are so valuable in building trusting relationships with clients. I also think it’s great for women in general to ensure they have a good financial education. We know that there is a gender pension gap in the UK so improving financial education for women is particularly important.