And so Imalia was born – a seemingly crazy idea at first. I recall the days and nights we spent as keyboard warriors researching everything around women’s experiences with the financial services industry. It was not a pretty picture – women around the world were being short-changed to the point where the industry was the cited as the one industry least liked by women.
What was even more surprising was that this research was available to everyone including the big financial services players, and yet no-one seemed to be doing anything about it. I recall pulling up all the big retail banks websites and typing in “women” or “female” in their search boxes and coming up with nothing. We knew we were onto something.
Carole-Anne and I love a creative challenge and, whoosh! The ideas began to flow. We would spend hours on the phone at night thinking about women’s lives, their needs, their aspirations – their desire for connectedness, their sense of community, their different life stages. With a blank piece of paper, we would put women right at the centre and develop product ideas around them.
To the extent that the banks and other financial institutions were doing anything targeting women (few were), it was to take their existing products and rebrand them using pink flowers or a stereotypical pictures of women, for example. What appalled us even more was that these initiatives were led by men. Women were seen as just another marketing channel with no genuine attempt to understand their lives.
The market was ripe for Imalia. Carole-Anne and I put a lot of thought into the design of our products and why we believe they are right for women. We came to realise that many men were looking for change too and would value our products – both for themselves and for the women they love.
That’s the big picture. At a more personal level, I am a very busy woman, my house is a mess, there is microwave spag bol in the fridge for when my daughter comes home from school, the cat needs taking to the vet, the mail lies unopened and on and on... So when it comes to my financial life, I want peace of mind but I don’t have the time to find someone I trust to understand my life and have my best interests at heart. I love Imalia for this reason alone. Needless to say, Carole-Anne has been fantastic in helping me protect my financial future.
And like many women, I enjoy helping others: I value community and I see all around me the difference that single acts of kindness can make. Women are more powerful than they often realise, especially when they come together. When women are empowered, the whole world benefits. This is why I joined Imalia, and this is why I belong to the Wolfpack.
If you are inspired and would like to join the revolutionary movement that Imalia is creating, you can request to join our Facebook group The Wolfpack, to share ideas and learn from other like-minded women.
