Rachel is also the lead for Working in Mortgages and has been working in financial services for 8 years.

What does your journey into the mortgage industry look like?

I started working in financial services out of pure jealousy. I worked as a Deputy Manager at a bookmakers, and after 3 years there I grew bored of watching the staff at the building society across the road leaving work at 5pm! I started working at that building society as a Branch Assistant, and from there I moved around between banks, credit unions and two further building societies (I’m outing myself as a serial job hopper). When I started in mortgages, I was managing an underwriting team and this path led me to AMI.

What has been your best moment in the industry?

Being at AMI and leading Working in Mortgages (WIM) has been a prolonged best moment for me. This is the happiest I’ve been both personally and professionally. I can’t thank Robert (Sinclair, AMI Chief Executice) and Monty (Andrew Montlake, Chair of the AMI Board) enough for taking a chance on me and handing over the reins of WIM.

What has been your worst moment in the industry?

This might be a bit of a superficial one, but several years ago I applied for a promotion (I was already doing the role and had been for many months) only to be turned down due to lack of experience. This obviously stung, but it was made all the more terrible because my boss had chosen my 30th birthday to give me the news, even though I’d already asked him to wait until the next working day regardless of the decision, because I didn’t want the possibility of bad news on my birthday. Worst present ever.

What is your experience with D&I both personally and professionally?

For me personally, when I take stock of what shaped me and had the biggest impact on my life from a D&I standpoint, I’d have to say that my socioeconomic background as a child has been the biggest challenge. In the interest of keeping this brief and not wildly oversharing (for once!), I grew up separately from my birth parents in a very interesting, not at all legal, ‘adoption’ situation – one that I don’t think would fly with the social service standards these days. The adults around me were struggling with alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence was a regular occurrence and financial stability was something I thought I’d never achieve.I remember thinking as a child “I am a good person and I haven’t done anything to deserve the hand that I’ve been dealt”. I also remember having this moment of absolute clarity that this is the hand that I’ve got so what am I going to do about it? Slowly but surely, I pulled myself out of that situation. I made the difficult decision to cut off people that didn’t have my interests at heart, and I had to learn how to feel comfortable prioritising myself.I think that the best thing that has come out of my childhood is a strong sense of empathy, and a drive to help everyone to be as happy, healthy and supported as possible. It has been difficult managing imposter syndrome along they way – this sense that I’m taking up room in spaces I don’t belong has really stopped me putting myself forward for things, but I try to remind myself that my experiences don’t mean I am worth less, it just means I have a different and nuanced point of view.

Being involved with Working in Mortgages has been so cathartic and healing. I can’t express properly in words what an amazing experience it has been to meet and work with so many passionate people who also want to help improve the industry, and life in general, for everyone.

What keeps you in this industry?

I feel like this is such a stock answer but it’s got to be the people! Genuinely, the people I’ve managed to meet throughout my career in financial services have been some of the best, most interesting people that seem to possess boundless passion. In so many of my previous roles I’ve been that boring person prattling on about D&I, so its been amazing to not only have people who listen to, and engage with, my thoughts and opinions, but also share them. I’ve never felt so included and seen.

Do you have any advice?

Get stuck in, put yourself forward for anything and everything you’re interested in. What’s the worst that could happen?