We've welcomed so many exceptional women into roles across Monzo since we first started. And they all have a unique journey that brought them here. 

This International Women's Day, we’re sharing a few stories of how our employees who identify as women got into Fintech. Not all of them had initially considered it as a space for them, which likely means that other women out there probably have felt the same at some stage. 

Representation matters, and seeing real stories like these show that though a background in STEM is important, it’s not always the only road into Fintech.

From customer service roles, interning at start-ups and aspirations of being a librarian, read on to hear how the women at Monzo worked their way into Fintech.

“Before Monzo, I wrote about everything from fashion to public policy. Each new industry meant learning a new set of jargon and acronyms. It felt like I had to learn a whole new language each time I started a new job.

I love that clear, concise writing is so important to Monzo’s mission to make money work for everyone. It’s what made me so keen to work here, even though I never thought I’d end up in Fintech. Knowing that our tone of voice makes money just a little less overwhelming for people is what it’s all about for me. 

Banks are some of the worst offenders when it comes to unnecessarily complex language that alienates large groups of people for no good reason. Money is already extremely stressful for people to deal with. Why throw in an extra hurdle?”

“If someone had told 16 year old me that I would one day end up coaching the frontline workforce in a Fintech business, I would have honestly laughed in their face - but here I am! 

I started my career working in customer service roles, mainly retail, and had never considered working for any business that included the words 'financial' and 'tech' in the title. I always thought I'd need to be a whizz at maths and computers (both of which I am not!), but the opportunities I've had access to here have transcended any scary, tech-y labels that I had assumed as an ‘outsider.’

It's been a long and at times difficult journey, navigating this ever changing world as a woman with a neurodiversity, but I'm so grateful for the many opportunities that have been thrown my way. Working within a multi-faceted team of people from all walks of life, where our strengths and our differences are celebrated just re-affirms that this is where I'm meant to be.”

"Coming out of university I was convinced I wanted to be an Events Manager, and I was lucky enough to get a first job organising meet-ups for tech entrepreneurs. This was an amazing introduction into the world of start-ups, which made me realise maybe this was more for me than events. So I started interning at a couple of Fintech companies that helped people manage their financial lives - which better matched my values. 

Another stroke of luck, I joined Monzo in a Customer Operations job when the company was fairly small, and I've been part of the team ever since. I wouldn't have imagined either a Fintech or Customer Ops job as my dream role until I started, but what I love about it is the complexity of the problems we're trying to solve and seeing the results from our customer feedback when we do this well.”

“I started out working in a law firm after university, then moved into consulting on all things Risk and Compliance. 

Since my husband whipped out the hot coral card on a European city break way back in 2016, I started scanning the Monzo careers webpage waiting for the right opportunity to come up, and when it eventually did I practically begged my now boss to hire me and let me be part of its exciting future.

It's been 5 months and all I can say is I intend to be a lifer - I LOVE working in Fintech, I love the fast pace, I love the refreshing, diverse all inclusive culture and I love the shared values that put our customers first.”

“I’ve been into science and maths since I was small, so I studied Chemistry at uni, and at one point almost learned to code. But the room the computational chemists sat in was in the basement, while the organic chemists had big windows on the top floor, so I went for that instead!

I did get the coding bug after all, while doing a graduate job in trading analytics. From there I went into a Fintech startup where I was able to improve my code and work with other data scientists, and I’ve been in Fintech since.

I definitely thought then that I wanted to do machine learning and fancy statistics, but in my data science journey since I’ve realised I get a lot more from telling a story and finding insights in data. Now I’m using the scientific method to run experiments, so in a way have come full circle back to my academic roots.”

“I started out in law firms where I met some great people and was part of really fun teams. From there I realised I really wanted to be part of questioning the status quo of banking, so much so I applied an embarrassing number of times to Monzo!

December 2018 was the right time for me and I’m now 3+ years into my Monzo journey. I get to work with some incredible women leaders, some of who have gone on to superstardom elsewhere. I’m proud to challenge the status quo - I love working in Fintech, I can’t imagine being anywhere else!”

“When I moved to London, I started co-organising a monthly meet-up and got to know a few banking engineers through that. I started thinking that it would be really cool to learn how banks work - so following my lifelong rule of “if you never try, you’ll never know” I applied to Monzo and got the job!  

I joined the Financial Crime team, it’s fascinating and complex and I get to learn from many anecdotal stories. I felt proud of the work we were doing and I felt like I found a good home in Fintech. It’s hands down the best step in my career as a software engineer, because it’s challenging, satisfying work and also because it carries real responsibility.”

“I’ve always loved writing, and I wanted to be a librarian or tech journalist, breaking down gnarly subjects in a way that made sense to everyone. I got to spend a good chunk of my time with some inspiring and intelligent software engineers and technical writers, and knew I’d found the sweet spot of writing and tech.

After a tour of tech writing in government, I’m now Monzo’s in-house librarian. A few years on, it’s hard to think of anywhere that’s a better fit for me. There’s a vibrant community of people working fiercely hard to make money better for everyone."

“When I moved to the UK 4 years ago I knew I wanted to work in a tech startup. I had always worked with big companies and so startups really fascinated me. The opportunity to wear multiple hats and work with people from diverse backgrounds was something I was really interested in.

Monzo was my first bank account in the UK, but I never considered applying here or any other Fintech as I thought I lacked the experience. A few months later, a friend shared a role in the Operations team and I applied without expecting much from it. 

Happily, I was wrong! I ended up getting the job and started my journey in Fintech - helping people manage their finances better. I have been part of the Operations team since then and get the opportunity to do all the things I ever wanted alongside a great team.”