S3 Ep5: Women in STEM, Neurodivergence and Quiet Leadership with Akua Opong

What does leadership look like when you do not fit the traditional mould?

In this episode of the She Leads Collective Podcast, Mary is joined by Akua Opong, Senior Engineer at the London Stock Exchange Group, advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, mentor, volunteer and powerful role model for women in STEM.

Akua shares her journey from wanting to become a paediatrician, to studying computer science, working with Rolls-Royce and BMW, and building a career in technology. She talks honestly about being a Black woman in STEM, being neurodivergent, managing her energy as an introvert, and choosing to lead and influence without becoming someone she is not.

This is a conversation about quiet leadership, representation, allyship, social mobility, mentoring, and the importance of creating environments where different people can thrive.

In this episode, we explore:

How Akua found her way into STEM
 - Why representation matters in technology and leadership
 - What it means to be a quiet but powerful leader
 - Neurodivergence, ADHD, dyslexia and managing energy
 - The importance of mentors, sponsors and allies
 - Why organisations need to look harder at the data on women in STEM
 - How small acts of contribution can make a real difference

Akua’s message is clear: you do not have to change who you are to make an impact. Your difference may be part of your strength.

Connect with Akua on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/akua-opong/

🔗 Connect with Mary: marygregory.com

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 ✨ Produced by Mary Gregory Leadership Coaching

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Today I'm joined by a two of the engineer at the London Stock Exchange for Medical and Powerful Advocates for DICE, Equity, and Inclusion Experience. To mentoring the mentoring and community leadership, it's about two lessons. Be involved in text in schools. In volunteering text, while being very honest about her leads, about her introverten, about someone who is neurodivergent. And someone who is had to learn to manage her energy deliberately. I'm really looking forward to this conversation. As I know it's going to be one where we look at how you carve out your own path in STEM. Leading without changing who you are, and also what it really takes to contribute meaningfully and without burning out. Akiwa, a really warm welcome to you today. Thank you so much for joining me.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Hello, Mary. I'm so delighted to be here today and thank you for inviting me to speak on this podcast. And I hope it'll give a lot of insights to people, not only just on my career, but also help them in terms of their own careers, whether it's getting into STEM, dealing with what their own neurodivergence and many more aspects of their day-to-day life. So I hope to provide a nice holistic view for the listeners.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

I think you absolutely will. And that's what this episode is really about is the fact that it's not just about you becoming a female woman of colour in STEM, but also managing your own neurodivergency and also being an introvert, being a quiet leader. You're a great role model of what a quiet leader can look like. So we're going to explore this in our conversation. But let's start um back at the beginning, because I'm really curious about your story. Um tell me a bit more about how did you find your way into computer science and into STEM?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Yeah, sure. So my story, um, it's very interesting because as I was growing up, um, when I was around 13, maybe 14, going like going to 16 years old, I actually wanted to be a pediatrician. So that's a children's doctor. Um, it was just something about, I don't know, work like working or being in a field where you treat babies and children. It just kind of excited me, but I felt like I could also be a kid as well at the same time. But um, I imagined myself being a doctor that had a w a white cape on, um, had kind of the accessories around my neck, and then I had uh I yeah, I envisioned myself having rollerblades and roller skates that light up, and I thought I'll do that for the kids, and so that kind of approach excited me. And um, I was very into first aid as well, so I was always learning first aid as a child. And then when I got to about probably 18 or so, I was thinking about joining the army um when I was at university, and that was just because I felt that there's so much going on in the world in terms of when you watch the news, there's natural disasters, there's wars and things like that. And I wanted to join the army not just from a defense perspective and to do technology, but also to um help out with emergency relief. So what people sometimes don't see about the army is not just about fighting, it's also about helping during um conflict, even. So to actually get aid to places, it's not just aid on the ground. They sometimes need the army to take things there, like water, food supplies. And so that's one of the main reasons I wanted to join because I was just thinking to myself, not only provide defence, but also I could help in that way, shape, or form, so to get resources.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

But you then pursued a degree in computer technology, um, which is quite a departure from wanting to be a paediatrician and joining the army. Yes, it was. Tell us how you how you've you've now um are working in STEM and working at the London Stock Exchange, quite a departure from your original aspirations.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Yeah, sure. Um, so I was as a child as well always fixing things at home, um, paying for my mum's took it. I even remember, even when my dad's glasses broke, that I would literally just say to my dad, Oh, give me again if I could take your glasses and I'll be fixing the screws at the side and things like that. And even at home, I was always creative. So I loved drawing and doodling. And then um, yeah, because I was fixing things at home, and even when my mum used to make comments that she would always say, You always got tools, or if I need something fixing, you could do it. And that kind of gave me the idea that I wanted to go into a career where I was fixing something or another. And um, yeah, then I looked at studying computer science or computing and IT at the time. And the reason why was not even just because again, I wanted to make a difference, help people, and I was quite creative, but when I was kind of going into that profession or even going into study, I noticed there wasn't many women in that profession. And that at first kind of made me think, oh, how will I succeed? Because even from studying IT at college and then going to university in my class, um, how it worked is we kind of mixed with uh mathematics, business management at university, and then engineering as well as um the IT part of it. So let's you got to meet different people throughout the university, which was great and it was really diverse because I studied at the University of Surrey, but when I went into the more computer science elements of it and engineering, there was very few women. Like at one course or module that we were doing, I think there was only about six to eight of us. And then when you break off into the modules you want to do as you get into the final year, it gets less and less. And so in a way, it I was always nervous about it, but it didn't deter me because I was always in the library studying or reading a book because I I was just like an avid reader, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and I I did face challenges through university. Like I remember in my final year, my laptop exploded. I don't know whether it's because I overworked it, but yes, and that was during the time I was writing my desertation, and I ended up borrowing my sister's laptop to just complete it, and I was lucky because I did backups of the files, so that kind of helped. But um, yeah, I just felt like I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, and I was also doing it for my family because there's not many people in my family that had gone to university, and for me, it wasn't just about me, it was doing it for them. Um, but I I I just felt like computing and IT was the right path for me just because of how my woman worked, because I was quite analytical, as I was saying, quite creative, and I could piece together dots and pieces of the missing jigsaw puzzle. So I just felt like that was the right career path for me.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

So it was really recognising what what drove you, your your personal drive, but also what you were good at. And that was a an area that seemed to match very well for you going into computer technology. Now I know that um you um during your experience you've had exposure to both BMW, Rolls-Royce, and even supported the Dubai Royal Family. What shaped your early ambition and belief in what was possible for you?

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Yes, definitely. Um, my placement year. So part of my degree was to do a one-year placement year in industry. And I remember looking at companies that I wanted to apply for. And honestly, I was trying to be quite ambitious about it. So I looked at banks as well as automotive industry, even defense as well, because of that aspect, thinking about the army and things like that. But then I and I remember looking at cut like companies such as GHCQ, um Secret Services. There there was a proliferal of different um companies I looked at. But I remember when uh the opportunity came up with Royals Royce and BMW because there was joint. I was what thought, let me apply to this because I thought I I'm gonna step out of my comfort zone because I wouldn't be staying in London as well, where I was based at the time. I was like, um having to again move out to another part of the UK and then like test how I'd work in a more kind of engineering logistics environment. Again, it was gonna be male dominated and I had to prepare myself for that. But I found it as one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life. And why I say that, it wasn't just the people, it was just the overall environment. And I learned so much about engineering as well as um the technology aspect of it, because I was in um an infrastructure role and where I was based. So when you go into the Rolls Royce Punt itself, because it was based in Chichester, so um the bottom area would be all logistics, so you see the base of the cars to when they go to the actual final finish stage, and then there was the mezzanine level, and then there was more the corporate functions. But when you walked into that every day and you just see just the office and the environment, it it was just beautiful. I'm gonna it in all honesty, it was just every day going into that kind of workplace. Um, yeah, it it was just fantastic, and I highly recommend it. It's very inspiring. Sounds very inspiring for you. 100% because when you're growing up as a child, you always envision what it'll be like to walk into your first time in the office or anything like that. And I think sometimes even as children, we shouldn't limit ourselves. We should think this is what I can do, and just have that level of belief in yourself. And even um, when I got the offer for Rolls Race, I was so excited, and then later on I got an offer for Lloyd's bank in London, but I was like, no, I'll wholeheartedly take the um Rolls Race one because I was just it's a different environment and it takes me out of my comfort zone. And I had, I think in life, all you can ever do is try, never be afraid to try a new experience. And so, yes, I um went ahead and moved down there, and then I did my placement year there. I met so many great people and I got to go to some of the other offices, such as um the Mini Plant and BMW plant in Oxford. Um, I spoke with loads of um colleagues that were based in different parts of um the company as well, and also I was chosen um as one of the placement students to help out at um Goodwood Festival Speed, and also at another event where we had to talk a lot about the different kinds of different vehicles at the time. So we had to learn about the phantoms, the spheres on their everything, and it was just so enlightening because that's some people's day-to-day role, and it's kind of like he was put into sales role for the day, and it was amazing. We one day had a whole heap of Ferrari cars come over. Um, yeah, there were so many different experiences that I can't even pinpoint one or the other. But I remember um at Festival Speed, um, I was I can't remember where I was in that whole kind of environment, but I just remember Lewis Hamilton was driving for Honda at the time. So this was when he was first starting out and just seeing his car just like rear ahead really fast, and you knew that he was going to be as successful as he is now because he just seemed amazing, and you could tell he had that drive and he had that focus, he had his eyes on the prize.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

And I think that's again is quite inspiring because it's someone in a slightly different field to who I am in, and yeah, they've got that drive and ambition, and it spies you as a person looking at that, and um from what you're sharing, what a positive experience it was, even though you noticed that you were one of few, that that you're you were a a woman of colour in a male-dominated environment, it was still an enormously positive experience for you. Was there ever a moment that you questioned whether you belonged in that space? Or were you did you ever feel unc uncomfortable?

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yes and no, I'd say because um I was grateful for the mentors I had around me at the time. So even um there was one amazing guy called Les, he looked after a lot of the placement students, and he was kind of like one of our confidence there. And um also my two managers were amazing as well. So my man well, my direct manager was a um a lady, and then her boss was a male, but they were both so supportive, and anything kind of I took to them, whether I had an initiative or an idea on something, they were willing to listen and they helped me kind of drive it like they pushed me. And even there was times where I kind of was kept challenging myself and I was just like just giving more work, and it kind of showed my level of ambition at the time as well, and they were constantly like push me into projects and new things. So even I remember I created um this cyber uh this um security awareness um leaflet for the whole of the company and had the anaesthetics designed for a marketing company as well. So this was to give our staff um kind of cyber security awareness training. And that was really new to me because it's just that I I kind of came up with this idea and I suggested as well that um because of th there was a few things that I recognized and I was like, you know what, this would be really good for new starters, and this actually helped me when um later on in kind of my future careers as well, but because when it comes to certain processes and procedures, because I learned it and executed it there, I could apply it in the future. And that was the the great piece of making the link. Like you can learn things when like from 10 years back, 20 years back, but you can still always apply it. And I think that is kind of the art of learning.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Yeah, so could recognizing when it can contribute to other parts of your career. So let's move into more into your career then. So um you're now a senior engineer and stepping into a group level leadership role within the London Stock Exchange Group. What is that transition required of you?

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Yes, so yes, so I'm currently um a senior engineer um at the London Stock Exchange, so I work under infrastructure and cloud um digital operations, and um, in terms of that role, it's so varied. Um, I get involved in again a lot of projects. I've always been like that. I get involved in multiple things. Um so I'm so multifaceted as an individual. Um, in terms of this role, I I definitely see myself staying here and getting into a direct level role at some point in my career here. But I and that's the ultimate ambition for me here. But um, in terms of my role, it varies, it's day-to-day. So sometimes I help with support migrations. Um, we soon got um a massive office move, so we're gonna be moving from being at the St. Paul's headquarters to more towards Canary Wharf, um, because our whole office is going to change. So it's a kind of two-free year plan that is public in the public domain now. But um, with that, there'll be a lot of moving parts from like moving equipment across sites, and I get involved a lot in the tech sustainability piece as well. Um, even the joiners, move as leavers. So I was part of um a workforce team in terms of improving when someone joins the company, moves across company, like um from one site to another, when someone leaves the company, even um I work quite close with the early careers, so I do a lot of the IT inductions for the apprentices, the graduates, and um also the interns as well. And that's quite nice because that comes together a lot with um what I do in terms of social mobility here and the charity outreach. So a lot of the times, um sometimes on my LinkedIn I advertise about certain job opportunities as well. Because do you know what I like to see young people prosper and I really want them to be successful? So even if some of the students afterwards reach out to me, I'm happy for them to kind of like jump on a call with me, we go through their CVs, try and get them into roles. And I've always yeah, I've just really enjoyed that because even recently there was a work experience student from last year, and um she was like literally she was so she she was so tenacious and she was had that perseverance and drive. And recently she told me after speaking to her that um she got offered an internship role, and I was so happy for her because it's like the female pipeline, you want to keep it going. And I remember when she first reached out to me, she was like, She'd love to come back to El Seg on an internship programme or the grad programme, and we stayed in touch. And even um, I remember when I first saw her in the Work Experience cohort, and I remember marking on paper going, This is one to watch, and she's still one to watch for me for the future, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

So that is great. So that that is to me demonstrating how much you are an ally, an advocate for supporting women um in STEM. As you've become more senior yourself, what do you feel you've had to unlearn?

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Yeah, I'll just I'll still say that I'm still making it there because even um at ELSEG, and uh everyone knows this, I I don't directly want to be um become a manager of any sort. I'd rather be an individual contributor. So at ELSIG, we do two streams. You either go into people lead or individual contributor. And some people might say to me, Why do you want to go down the individual contributory? It's just because I still want to remain technical, but still have that way of influence wherever I can and be an advisor because I think like I really enjoy helping shaping policies and procedures because it's so important to me, and also shaping changes within the organization and culture for the future, because I thought having an individual like that in an organization is so important when you have your eyes and ears on the ground and you want to always change hearts and minds. But I have come I get I'm so fortunate and grateful where I can have conversations and have a great relationship with senior leaders in the organization. And it's just because I feel like as an individual you should get to know the human behind any like any leader. It's so important because let's say when a person comes in the door in the morning, leaves at the end of the day, they're still that same human being that they come into the organization. The only difference is they have different responsibilities and accountability. But the fact is in El SEG we're so lucky where we have leaders that can have open conversations and listen to us. And so for me, I'm learning and also shaping my future aspirations and goals of some of the role models here that I see at work. Because for me, I've always believed that in any organization, it having good role models, mentors, and sponsors that actually helps shape an individual as they go through different levels of an organization. So for me, I always look out for who is that leader, who's that role model.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

So being a role model is really important, and that's helped you, and you want to be a positive role model for others. And I think you absolutely are. But I also hear that you're you're wanting to influence and you you are human-centered in terms of wanting to influence and shape the culture as a person of expertise rather than um a people leader. Is that what you're saying?

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Yeah, 100%. Um, because you you need that something you need a bit of balance of both. And in any team, you you always need someone that's an uh subject matter expert, and then you need someone that's more people-centric for it to work because it's kind of like sometimes when you say in a classroom or say to like a someone, this is a good cop, bad cop, you need both because they both offer different aspects and perspectives, and that's so important.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Yes, and I hear you know, you're a reverse mentor, you're actively shaping the organization. What do you think leaders do not fully understand about inclusion in tech?

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Uh I think if uh, for instance, in an organization you're always getting the same individuals in, uh that for me is a problem because you need diverse uh perspectives and opinions. Even at board level, we are always seat sometimes and we're just like it's always the same kind of people get into board roles etc let's change the dynamics because how can you improve things if you always have things the same but that that never would change anything. So having more diverse voices and perspectives because even I would say a board needs people different ages, different demographics um different gender, different ethnicity, you need that because you're no one's ever going to have the same shared experience. And so for me it's so important even I um I've been on a board for like two years and I recently stepped down from it just because of um personal reasons but I learned so much in that short space of time because I've never been on a board like I've been in committees at ElSeg but to be on a board it's that element where it's more strategic leadership and the governance around a lot of things and there's so many perspectives you need to look at and it it's totally different and for me it's changed my perspective on how I want to be as like a better lead in the in the future from an individual contributor point of view. Because I always have said that I'd I'd always love to be some kind of thought leader. Some people might say I'm already but I think it's so important because I'm a person that I I feel like you need to have empathy. Because it so how do you understand individuals if you don't have that level of empathy or that emotional intelligence. Like even when um I I I always see myself even in in my workplace as a confident like if something is going on with someone like I would see some people like pass me by and you could sometimes I could feel or tell if someone's not their normal self and I I would try to say do you want to go for a coffee or do you want to have a chat reach out to them because I think in this life you have the ability to be that support network to someone else and why not so much goes on in the world. So many people are facing challenges that actually I don't think leaders in organisation know about and the fact is if you don't get to know your team on a one-to-one level or sometimes do well-being check-ins how do you expect your team to perform at their best and be efficient for the organization and that is part of the whole kind of culture as well your leaders getting to know their people because if they don't then yeah that organization is not going to thrive or be as successful as it could be because you need like for me I think for a team to really work you need to know how people tick. Like you need to know okay for instance like let's say a team of four we've got Annie Mary Joseph Joshua and it's kind of like okay what are their strengths what are their weaknesses not even weaknesses developing points that's what I call it. So for them to all work with one another if that you don't know how they tick or what are their hobbies you cannot get a team working as well. And for me that's so important.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

So that's where the real personal touch comes in of really understanding each individual great okay I want to move on because um I think what really impressed me when we have protocols 5045 but you do a lot of the way that you contribute so you contribute in the area of sports charity and mentoring what's driven you to do that?

SPEAKER_00 25:41

Children are the future and I think for me um and I think maybe this is where it links to um wanting to be a pediatrician and then breaking away and going to another career but I think children are the future every child should have the right level of access um to resources education food water etc and for me um when I watch the news and I don't watch it as much anymore because of everything that goes on I feel sad and hurt when I see people suffering and also that's where there's the element of charities. I think everyone in this world in this lifetime if we stop for a moment and it's not always about giving money it's sometimes just giving time giving help support resources the way we could really change the world for the better is so important. We sometimes see leaders or prime ministers, presidents etc governments on TV talk about XYZ but sometimes they're not actually dealing with the actual root causes that affect that specific country and I don't want to go too much into politics because politics can be scary out there but I think sometimes we're not seeing enough of some of the countries that are really suffering and they're not getting the right resources and things that they need to get on a level playing field with other countries. And for me it's sad and it hurts. And so working with certain charities and initiatives especially in terms of social mobility we want to level that play level playing field so that we bring people up so they do have those opportunities and when I sometimes like we have um some of our charity partners come in and some non-charity partners come in for career insight days, things like that when you actually speak to the students and do you know what there's so many talented young people out there but they've never been given an opportunity. They've never been given a chance and even the most thing that I've realized is sometimes people don't talk to them or treat them as equals so they they feel like sometimes they have to hold back and what I love about when we sometimes have students in is when they get to do the speed networking part where they talk to different individuals in the organization and we just say to them like all questions um like no questions are off limits apart from payoff of course but we say to them ask us anything and it gives them the opportunity where sometimes they can't get that it within the classroom and for me that's it's it's quite nice to hear their perspective and you see some of them light up when they come to an organisation for the first time because in any other time they might not have that opportunity to come to organisations like us and so we try to offer that out because it's great for so that's the charity that in in the in the London Stock Exchange and you're very actively involved in that.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

How do you fit in all the other charities you're involved with outside the volunteering that you do with with the athletics and netball for example?

SPEAKER_00 28:38

Yeah um I I just make it work I'm so um I'm uh a like a really good planner so I plan out my years by quarter and so when I'm doing certain volunteering I I try to do one or two like per every quarter. So for instance um sometimes I volunteer at netball at the start of the year end of the year middle of the year because of how the season works. So the good thing about some of the sports I volunteer with so it's um England netball, um athletics and the odd football um it's based upon their seasons and the netball season sometimes ends around the same time as football and then athletics is more in the summer so I can make it work but also the charity so I'm a charity ambassador for a few within LSEG and then there's a few charities I raise awareness for um outside of work like Crohn's and conitis because I I have Crohn's myself and um yeah there's a few linked to schools and everything. One charity that I work with quite closely at LSEG for instance is Blind and Business. So it's about helping uh partially sighted students get into employment or get access to kind of um skills for education, urban synergy through mentoring and um yeah there's a few others like City Harvest. So that's a food bank that helps local communities. So there's different ones that I help with quite a bit and then the last thing that I mainly do is a project whereby we repurpose laptops and equipment and other items as well that we give to schools. So we've given well donated um laptops to like places like Ghana, Peru, Tanzania, South Africa and we're gonna do um a donation ref roughly in the next month or so. And I love it because a lot of the laptops we've given to schools they've helped things like code clubs for instance just help schools and other people like get access to equipment they normally wouldn't and for me that is I really I really hear your passion and your wanting to make a difference.

SPEAKER_01 30:45

And what's underneath all of that is giving people equal opportunity and making it anymore we're going to talk about your energy and how you manage that in a minute. But if someone's listening and feels they don't have the time but would like to contribute um what would you say to them?

SPEAKER_00 31:18

I I would say even if you could provide half an hour a month, that that's enough like even mentoring mentoring can be half an hour, an hour a month and it just sometimes is about giving time and also getting contact and um I could share resources about where to mentor charities that we're involved in and also you can have a look at the LSEC Foundation online and it has a lot of details about what we do and what our ethos are and everything. But yeah the LSEG Foundation's amazing and for me it's given me skills that I never would have thought um I would develop over time directly myself.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

So that's the London Stock Exchange group that they do yeah so worth looking at it into that. Okay well let's move on to talk about your energy um and also your the fact that you're an introvert and you're neurodivert, you were diagnosed with ADHD how does that show up for you in your day-to-day work?

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Yeah um I would say so just to give a bit of context on that in terms of um neurodiversity so neurodiversity um in just in case some people are not fully aware of it it means um how humans kind of vary in terms of um cognitive ability so that means in terms of how they kind of think and process information um and it could vary individual by individual it depends on um your type of neurodivergence um and also just to make it clear as well different individuals can name neurodiversity or neurodivergent in different ways it depends on the individual um I would say in terms of language some terms sometimes you could use the term neurominority as well or neurodistinct um and also for individuals not um neurodivergent or has a different profile it it could be that they're neurotypical and also just to talk just to say as well sometimes in terms of language around it um you could have individuals that have like intellectual disabilities mental health conditions or something else like that so um I would say language is quite important around it but um in terms of neurodiversity as well some neurodivergent individuals can have um more than one neurodivergent um trait or variation so with myself I'm I ADHD and also dyslexic um just to put that into context so um I was diagnosed with my neurodivergence back in I think it was 2020, 2021 21 yeah maybe and um yeah I I feel like I when I was younger I kind of nuke just because of there was just certain traits of mine that I felt like okay um I might be neurodivergent but I kind of overlooked it and was just kind of yeah just went through school and everything and I still got my GCSEs my A levels my university degree but I kind of always felt a bit different but then I kind of felt like sometimes people call it a superpower but I just felt like it was just me and so and I felt like I used it as a strength rather than anything else um and I feel like when you're neurodivergent you can strive and be successful but it's only if you're in the right environment or you get the right support as well. I think those are some of those factors in there. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:51

How did receiving the diagnosis help you?

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Well at the time when I received the diagnosis I was doing 12 exams. So um yeah I I I was deep into all my tech exams at that time and so when I got the diagnosis I was like great but I was like I've got an exam next week so I need to focus on that. So once my exams were over then I went back to okay let me look into this more and it was interesting as well because I was one of the chapter leads for um our accessibility network which was called network at the time and so I was doing a lot of this research to help members in our network and speak into a lot of individuals and um yeah it was interesting because one of my colleagues at work said to me I thought you knew and I was like no I I didn't know I was literally just doing it to help colleagues at work. So um yeah that was quite interesting actually um so yeah but um it yeah it didn't really change that much about me just made me more aware when I I'm working on certain projects and working on a lot of initiatives how I kind of process information and manage my time because that can be quite um important and not to overwhelm myself. So for instance um in terms of ADHD so that's um attention deficit hyperactivity disorder um that's where energy passion and creativity comes in and it's so interesting because a lot of my colleagues at work if you speak to them from networks they always link to me energy and passion and now it all comes into play why so it's in yeah it's interesting what they always say that and then in terms of my dyslexia that is more creativity um just in terms of visual creativity thinking and like the authenticness in certain things that I do so that's where that comes into play but it it's it it's really interesting because I'm a bit sometimes a bit of a street shooter with my honesty even my team would be like oh my god but yeah but um no no because I I just think like even one of our values at ElSIG we repride ourselves on integrity and I think that um it's so important to kind of mean what we say but when you do it have that element of kindness behind it because again you never know what someone's dealing with or struggling with and you have to just be careful about the levels and tones and how you approach people about things just because yeah again you never know how to be sensitive but be sensitive to people.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

So coming back to your energy then I mean you are involved in so many different things and I know as an introvert um yeah I've got colleagues I'm an extrovert so I get my energy from people but those that introvert tend to need to have space away so how do you manage that when you're you've got so much going on how do you look after your energy um I I have to factor in so even sometimes I plan trips like I sometimes go to the theatre by myself even the cinema because I just sometimes need the me time and that's not me being selfish whatsoever.

SPEAKER_00 37:59

It's more a case of I just need time away from people just to process things and just kind of like build my energy back up. And why I say that is so important because even um a couple of years ago going back to maybe 2022 I actually took out about I think four maybe six weeks plus from work because I just felt so overwhelmed by everything. I was doing volunteering, I was doing charity work fundraising and don't get me wrong, I love it all but I just felt like my cup had overflown with like so much and I was piling on more and more and then it got to a stage where I just felt I'm not happy anymore. I love doing all this stuff but none of it is making me happy like all my everything that I thought like this is my purpose I don't feel like it is anymore. I'm just churning it away or just kind of kicking stuff off for the sake of it. And I was like this is not me. And so I had to pause and take a step back and be like let me take some time off work decompress like get my energy levels back up. And yeah for me that was key.

SPEAKER_01 39:04

So learning from that how do you manage your energy now on an ongoing basis? I mean you mentioned to me how your friends and your network are now trained not to get in touch. When you're being quiet they let you be quiet. So that sounds like a really good thing that you've done and it's clear that you need to have downtime how do you manage that so your cup doesn't overflow as it did that time when you need to take six weeks off.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Yeah sure I I set up boundaries and non-negotiables like when there's me time or even there's times when I take breaks from social media I just think I I stick to it because it's so important because if not it's kind of if you don't say no to certain things and set boundaries then it's everything's going to stay the same because it's kind of like um if you don't change your mindset or even you say you're unhappy with something but don't want to change aspects of your life then how are you supposed to get happier? So you as an individual have um the strength from within and also have it in your power to kind of focus on okay what do you need in this immediate moment? And there's also a line I I'm not sure whether it's from the Dalai Lama or something but there's um the line about self-care is where you take your power back. Oh I haven't heard that before that's a great one can you give us an example of a non-negotiable boundary? Yes so even um times on the weekend especially Sunday I don't really do any chores that day I really use it to like relax um go for a walk go to church even um just read a book and I kind of set a boundaries like there's odd times I might meet up with friends but I'll do it like probably around lunchtime and that's it. So anytime after four or five it's kind of for me to be at home or around family because it's just that if I don't set those boundaries at Monday to Friday I've given I'm given so much of my time to work and other things. So the weekends are kind of for me like especially Saturdays is a really kind of day where I barely meet up with friends or anything. I'm at home with family tidying up at home because I do you know it's it's really interesting to say this but I love like washing up I love cleaning no honestly for me cleaning is therapeutic because it's kind of like you're decutting you're you're kind of setting everything nice and new again and so I love cleaning at home like sometimes my mom's quite a mindful activity actually like when I when I was away recently and I was in Ghana my cousins just said to me you just love washing up and I was like it's really good for you because you have a bit of time where it's peace and quiet or you can put on music when you're doing it and I love it.

SPEAKER_01 41:38

Yeah yeah yes yes it's like it's about being very mindful while you're doing it as well. You've also spoken about you have a five year plan um and that you check in with that every quarter to see how you're getting on. How does that support you in practice as well?

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Yeah sure it holds them accountable so it kind of makes them look at okay if I want to change roles or move jobs etc I I I keep referring to it every so often and even anything I want to study like I'd love to do um a master's or diploma or MBA of some sort and um yeah even in in terms of my three to five year plan it's like short um medium and long term goals and they're not just professional they're personal as well. So even I had um on some of my plans for things linked to like sports so to uh go to another Commonwealth games and I'm doing that this summer um as well as athletics from going to the European athletics um to work there um as a volunteer but it's things like that and it keeps me going because it's nice when I can look back on things and be like oh my god I can't believe I achieved this and so and for me I think um always setting goals is really good because that's how you grow and evolve as a human. You can never say like you oh I didn't do that in the future but if you didn't put your forward for put yourself forward for it then how can you achieve it and for me I think I've got to a point in my life where I say never leave a life of regret so if you want to go visit a country go to it if you want to take up a hobby take up that hobby but life is too short to live the life of regret where you say oh I wish I'd done something and didn't so it's like take that leap of faith and one thing I'll say to people as well sometimes people are scared of doing things alone. Don't be scared to do things alone because it changes you as a person and it also helps you grow because there's I'm not saying that it's just to be by yourself but you can and yes you do things a lot faster as a collective but in life there are some times you may need to do stuff um alone like you might need even you might need to travel somewhere alone but it's not a bad thing. It opens your horizon think about all the people you meet along the way as well so massive growth experiences is what I'm hearing as well.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

So let's just conclude and and return to Your advocacy and your stance for women and diversity and being a great ally to that. You're really committed to closing this gender gap in STEM. Why is that so important to you and what keeps you going? Because it's a it's a it really is a long-term journey doing that, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 44:21

Yeah, 100%. Um I because I just think why shouldn't there be more women in STEM? Look at everything that women have achieved in STEM so far and more. And for me, um I don't like when I don't see that again, it's all about the level playing field. There's so many talented women across the industry in STEM, and that's why now there's that women um in tech um or women in STEM task force. And I know they're going to, I think, Parliament this week, and also they're doing initiatives around AI, uh, cybersecurity to get more people in that field. But I just think there's so many talented women that are overlooked, and one of the proof around it is um the film Hidden Figures. So there was about Katherine Johnson and all the other amazing women in STEM, and it's kind of like, why should their light be dimmed? Because at that time it was male dominated. And I think it it's sad to see, and I think organizations, you need to be um people of your word where you you kind of keep driving that. For instance, even the tele acquisition HR recruiting teams, if you're not getting enough CVs from women in STEM or even other areas, look at why you're not getting it and even try to divert it where you look at and think, okay, do we need to go to other um other organizations or sorry, not organizations, but other recruitment firms and see where how we can get women in that way, or is it we're not promoting from in? There's always the reason behind it. Look back at your data, compare the last five years and see how many women you've had in certain areas of the business, even at leadership level. And if it's if the data's telling certain stats, you need to think, okay, we need to make a change, but it's got to come at that level, and I think sometimes not enough is being done with it because you cannot, as organizations, keep saying, Oh, um, we need more data from you've got the data there. Using always saying we don't have data, we don't have the stats, that's you just glancing over it. But it's so important to kind of make these changes. We you can go to schools, that there's so many things they can do around it. Like I can name about a hundred things, but I could say all this or send the stuff, give the data myself, but if they're not willing to make the change from within, all this data, all this information we're providing, it what does it mean in the end? And there's a love lace report as well that's been out since last year, and I still think um loads of organizations should be using the love lace report as an indicator to say, okay, these are the challenges, and keep going back to that document and going, okay, use it as an audit. Are we doing this to improve our um the women in our organizations and keep going from there? Because for me, I'm already like in a demographic where um I'm a black woman in STEM and neurodivergence. So imagine others like me, we're still we're trying to fight the same fight, but also you're constantly asking those in these groups to constantly keep fighting the same fight, but we need more of our allies to step in, our sponsors, our mentors to be like, look, okay, we're not going to stand for this anymore. Let's make the change together.

SPEAKER_01 47:28

What role do you see men playing, particularly where you're in the area that you're in in the London Stock Exchange Group?

SPEAKER_00 47:36

Yeah, men have to be massive advocates and be sponsors where they're speaking uh like saying women's names in certain rooms that they're not in, for instance. And even I had that recently where a male colleague um he's put me forward for a project, and it's just because I spoke to him about a few things, but I never said, Oh, these are the challenges. But that just shows the allyship level there because we had a conversation and he's making that happen. At times we don't see enough of it. We say males going, yeah, we're mentors, we're sponsors, but what I put back to them is when was the last time that you helped a woman get promoted? It's just like asking a company, you say you do this or that for black colleagues. When was the last what was the last action you did for a black colleague? How many black colleagues have been promoted in the last five or six years? All these things is where you hold companies accountable. And if they cannot present this form of data, then it shows that they're not doing enough.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

So what I'm hearing is people are voluntarily like that colleague of yours, put your name forward. But you so there are people doing good things and acting as allies, but that just needs to be spread and made more widespread.

SPEAKER_00 48:46

Definitely more, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:48

Great. Okay. Finally, then if someone's listening today and feels like they don't fit that mold of leadership and what a good leader looks like, what would you want them to hear or to learn from your story?

SPEAKER_00 49:02

I would say um it's just like uh Michelle Obama's book, which is amazing becoming. Um, you strive for change and to make a difference. And I think you always want to become a better version of yourself. So always don't think or have that self-limiting belief that I can't do it. You you always can do it. It depends on yourself. Like you need to have the confidence and belief in yourself. And I would always say never let anyone dull your shine. Like if you're doing great work, shout about it. And also, um, one of my friends, Amber, she she talked about this keeps like an achievement or wins tracker, and it's definitely worth doing because when each time when you think to yourself, I can't do something, go back and look at that, and it just shows you you can. And it's just all about the belief within yourself. So always look back at your achievements and think, wow, I I really did that. And I would say every month, like even when I set my goals, at the end of each month, I go back to it and not I don't always like let's say do every single thing that I set out to do, but as long as I've done like, I don't know, 60, 70% of it, I'm happy because we're human at the end of the day. Things happen in life that direct us in another way. But yeah, we've all got the abilities to keep striving and be successful.

SPEAKER_01 50:20

I think where you're so strong as a role model as well, Akiwa, is that you really play to your strength. So what makes you different is also what makes you strong. And also I love that bit of wisdom at the end about keep a track of your achievements because it's so easy to forget what we've already done and keep thinking about I've still got all this to do or I still want to go in this direction. But by recognising what you've already done, that helps you sustain your confidence and your belief in yourself. That's a really great thing to share. Thank you. So, how can people connect with you?

SPEAKER_00 50:54

Um, you could connect with me on LinkedIn, um, mainly because yeah, that's the only socials that I tend to um yeah, share out. But um, yeah, Ethan, if you wanted to drop me a message and ask a question about something, I'm always happy to respond. Um, but I one thing I would say is I'd love people to connect with me and get involved in let's say supporting some of the charities and that we have here at the Elsex Foundation, um, especially Urban Synergy Mentor and Yes Features. We're always looking for mentors um for different projects, Kajigo as well, Elevate Network. So if people want to become mentors, especially for women in STEM and girls, like please get in touch or uh students because yeah, there's loads of them that need mentoring and sponsors. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:40

That's fantastic, and that's a great invitation to people to actually make a difference and become allies themselves as well. 100%. Yeah. Akiwa, thank you so much. It's been an absolutely fascinating conversation. Thank you so much, Mary, and lovely to speak to you again. Thank you so much for listening to the Tea Leader Collective podcast. If this episode resonated with you, follow this below. Or share it with a friend and leave us. Or leave us a comment. Join us to the conversation so let's keep this ongoing. Listen for the next episode and join me as we keep lifting the load on the stories that matter. Take care and keep leading with us.