#IWD2018 Who Inspires: Georgina Breeze?

Name: Georgina Breeze
Job title: Wealth Manager
Company: Barclays Wealth

Georgina looks after high net worth clients and ensures Barclays Wealth takes care of all their financial needs.

Which woman has inspired you most?

The women in my family. My Gran ran a business when she was young, as a single woman raising a family which couldn’t have been easy in those times. My other Grandma was in the land army during the war and my Mum helped my dad to run his business and renovate a run down farmhouse into a beautiful family home.

Which famous/historical woman inspires you most?

Emmeline Pankhurst – fighting for women’s right to vote was the first step in making us truly equal.
Also Karren Brady, she has shown to millions of young women that you can go into a male dominated career at a young age and carve out an amazing career for yourself, aswell as have a family.

What does feminism mean to you?

I think feminism means that I can do anything that a man can do and there shouldn’t be any barriers to that. That can apply to anything in life, whether you want to become a formula one driver or CEO of a large company, I think that as a woman the same doors should be open to you that would be to a man. If those doors aren’t open I believe we as women need to challenge those situations both for ourselves and for future generations.

Have you found your industry to be particularly tougher for women? If so, how did you overcome this?

Whilst financial services is traditionally a male dominated industry I haven’t found this a disadvantage or something that has made my career tougher. I am lucky in that I work for a company that understands the need for flexibility to ensure that a career is compatible with family life.

This year’s #IWD2018 theme is #PressForProgress how do you feel, as women we can push for equality faster?

I feel that the main stumbling block to equality is still attitudes to women in the work place. Whilst we are now much more diverse than we have ever been and there are some fantastic employers out there who celebrate diversity it is still not the norm across all industries. Once the value of women’s contributions to the workplace is fully appreciated, whether they work part time or full time then I feel that equality will be achieved faster, because once that happens the opportunities available will increase.