This story was taken from a true conversation recently with a young lady who aspired to work within the upper echelons of Investment Banking until she actually did.
I grew up in Brixton, raised as a London born Nigerian. My parents instilled a culture of respecting my elders and remaining silent and obedient in their presence. This would partly come back to haunt me.
My parents always wanted me to do as well as possible in my education and progress to a secure, well paid job in the city for a well respected brand name. Basically affording me better opportunities than they had, like any loving parent would want for their child.
I ended up graduating from Cambridge with a 1st class honours degree so my grades, along with the institutional prestige of the university, served as badges of honour on my CV. However there are lessons learned in Private school which I was not taught at Cambridge.
I genuinely thought it would be a level playing field when I transitioned into a professional job.
I applied to a hand full of investment banks for Equity Sales roles such as Goldman Sachs, UBS, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. I was over the moon when I landed the job at Morgan Stanley but won’t forget the weird feeling when I realised after a month that there was only one other black person on my trade floor and no black Executives at the board level. Research had made it evident that Investment Banks were male dominated, but it seemed to omit the reality about the lack of ethnicity.
If there are no ethnic minority females in leadership, should I limit my career aspirations?
It didn’t feel like a lonely place at first, I did all I could to fit in such as attend the pub drinks and socials after work, talking about sports I had no interest in such as Rugby and I performed to a high standard like my colleagues. 6 months in and I started to feel alienated as jokes with cultural references rooted in middle class upbringings confused me. I was called anti-social as I no longer attended the after work drinks and lengthy conversations about the joys of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race bored me.
Another young, enthusiastic mixed race man did eventually join the team but he seemed to fit in a little easier than I did as his parents were millionaires from Kenya and Ireland. He attended private school all his life before completing his degree at Oxford and culturally was a more seamless fit with the work environment. I knew I didn’t belong although I made every effort to help any new black recruits to feel more at home when they joined.
I lost motivation for going to work as I could only be 40% of myself there. I felt as if I couldn’t bring my authentic self to work and have conversations about Hip-Hop, the lack of financial inclusion across Africa or debate why Nigerian Jellof rice is superior to our Ghanaian counterparts’.
My parents struggled to understand why I traded in such a highly sought after job to start a startup but I had to prioritise my dreams over their dreams for me. My new business focuses on a space where I feel comfortable bringing my ‘whole self’ to work. I made the decision that if I can’t join a culture I feel comfortable in, then I will create one myself.
Don’t compromise who you are or what you believe for a job you don’t feel at home fulfilling. Make decisions tied to your core values.
I don’t share this story because I am ungrateful for the opportunity I was awarded. I learned a lot and gained relevant transferable skills. I share this cautionary tale because as we dedicate so much of our lives to work, it is important to be able to bring your whole self there. I encourage all young people people breaking into careers to deeply evaluate the culture and environment of the companies they aspire to work for before taking the leap into the business world.
Sound advice. Environment is everything. Even doing something you love dearly--even your passions, will be hindered by a negative atmosphere
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