Felicity Holloway, head of mortgages at Moneybox Homebuying, leads a team of experienced mortgage brokers, qualifiers and case managers. Prior to joining Moneybox, she was a regional mortgage manager with Yorkshire Building Society.
Have you always wanted to work in the finance sector? (if not, what job did you picture yourself doing?)
FH: I studied marketing at university and fully intended to work in that field, but I fell into a job in finance and loved it straight away.
How did you get into the industry?
FH: I worked as a cashier in a bank and handled a lot of the mortgage leads for the mortgage adviser. Because of this experience, I quickly realised I wanted to become a mortgage adviser as I just loved helping people achieve such an important financial life goal, I felt like it mattered and made a real impact in people’s lives.
Have you ever found it quite hard to fit in as a woman?
FH: I’ve been lucky to work for some really inclusive companies alongside a number of really inspiring female leaders. For this reason, I’m grateful that I have never found it hard to fit in or progress in my career.
Have you noticed a change in the number of women in the field since you’ve worked in it?
FH: Notably, the number of female mortgage brokers has increased significantly in the industry in recent years. Our team of mortgage brokers is 50/50 gender split. There is also a much better representation of female leaders across the industry which is a great thing as for far too long the wider industry felt very male-dominated.
What are the greatest improvements the finance sector has made in relation to gender equality?
FH: Ensuring that there is a better spread of female leaders, brokers and business development managers across the industry. The more younger women see and are inspired by other women in finance, the more gender equality will continue to improve.
What would you say to encourage other women to join the finance sector?
FH: All the roles, I have held in the finance sector have been extremely fulfilling. Mortgages in particular is about helping people take their first step towards owning a home – which is a huge life goal. Being involved in that and seeing your customers get the keys to their very first – or even their next dream home is so rewarding.
What skills or qualities do you believe you bring to the role?
FH: I am a compassionate, action-oriented leader and motivate people by ensuring all feel that they are on this journey together, sharing, collaborating, and striving for clear goals, together as one. That’s been especially important in my role where over the last two years we’ve recruited our team of mortgage brokers, qualifiers, case managers, and administrators from scratch, worked together with the rest of the business to launch and grow the homebuying business into an established brokerage and end-to-end service.
How does your role fit or benefit your lifestyle?
FH: Helping build and grow a business is challenging and very rewarding so I’m motivated to work hard and strive for better. At the same time, I’m able and encouraged to maintain a good level of work/life balance.
What are your hobbies?
FH: Traveling. I am always planning my next trip and love experiencing different countries and cultures.
What improvements regarding gender equality would you like to see in the finance sector?
FH: I’d like to see certain stereotypes around the type of roles ‘suited’ to women in the finance industry removed to encourage more amazing women into the industry. There is room for improvement in how we recruit and explain the various career paths that are possible. There is also a need to ensure companies are developing and nurturing a strong pipeline of female leaders, supported at every stage of their careers.
Which women in the finance sector or corporate world inspire you most?
FH: I’m very lucky to have worked with some very inspiring women in my career to date many of whom continue to mentor and encourage me. Tina Hughes at Yorkshire Building Society really helped build my confidence and ignited my ambition. Cecilia Mourain, my current line manager and the MD of Moneybox Homebuying, has such belief in what I can do that it really drives me to learn, develop and grow.
What is a life lesson or piece of advice that helped to shape who you are today?
FH: My biggest life lesson was that identifying my limiting beliefs is critical to building confidence in my abilities.
I used to be very nervous and hesitant to share my ideas and opinions at work. A manager invested in coaching me and helped me recognise the limiting beliefs that were subconsciously holding me back. They put me in a lot of situations that I didn’t really want to be in at the time, where I had to speak up in a room full of people and pitch my ideas. As time went on and I saw a lot of my ideas being implemented across the business and my self-belief and confidence grew.
By understanding the limiting beliefs that were holding me back, I could take little steps, consistently to prove to myself what I was capable of.
How do you apply that to your working life?
FH: Working in the fintech industry has really helped me to hone this practice. Scale-ups like Moneybox are often very fast-paced environments, and we continuously strive to identify new ways to shape and grow the business and better serve our customers. I always try to be mindful of any limiting beliefs creeping in and of helping my team do the same.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
FH: I can’t see my passion for helping people achieve their homeownership goals diminish, so I fully anticipate that I will still be working in this sector. I hope to have played a critical role in driving customer-centric innovation and to be still leading a team that prides itself on delivering an amazing customer experience.
