Embracing Equity | International Women's Day at Carbon - Polly Reaves

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, we speak with financial planner Polly Reaves about her experience to date.

What does your role involve?

I’m a financial planner with Carbon and my main role is working with our clients to really understand what is important to them, what their concerns are, and what they want to achieve, and using this information to develop an appropriate, straightforward plan to ensure that they can live the lifestyle they want to live.

What do you enjoy about your job?

It's rewarding to see our clients be able to turn their dreams into a reality. I love working with people to make positive changes to their lives, such as removing uncertainty and providing peace of mind. The people focused approach that Carbon use in our methodology suits my personality too. It’s not all spreadsheets and data, it’s about relationships, understanding and coaching.

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

I trained as an accountant after university and once I had qualified, I was unsure if this was the right career path for me, so I decided to explore other options. Making this decision was pretty daunting, and I kept asking myself if it was the right thing to do as I had to start over again, learn a new job, and undertake more exams but I’m proud of myself for having the courage to go for it as it has paid off!

Tell us about a woman you know who inspires you

It is difficult to choose one particular person! I am very fortunate to have a close group of female friends, and my mum, who are empowering, supportive and compassionate which are traits I really value, and they inspire me every day to be the best person I can be.

How did you get into the financial planning industry?

It was after I had already decided on a career on accountancy, I decided to make the switch as I wanted to combine my financial expertise with my passion for helping others so financial planning seemed like the ideal option.

Why would you encourage other women to join the industry?

I would encourage other women to explore careers in this industry as it combines so many different skills into the one job role which allows for diverse, passionate, and intelligent individuals to be created, no matter their gender. In the past, there has perhaps been a perception that the industry was male dominated, but I certainly don’t see this being the case going forward, and Carbon specifically is very diverse. It’s a very varied career, and yes, it’s challenging, but so rewarding knowing you can make a positive difference to people’s lives.