Vicky Ngoma left a career in theatre to pursue financial advice, and it has not taken her very long to understand the huge potential to do good that this industry offers.
Ngoma had worked as a box office manager at The Other Palace theatre, an experimental venue previously owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber in London's Off West End, until covid hit.
The lockdowns saw her being moved around venues until eventually she decided to call it quits and embarked on a training programme in mental health and wellbeing.
She came to financial advice in the beginning of this year through Women's Wealth, an appointed representative of Professional Financial Planning Group, having originally looked for jobs that were wellbeing-based and focused on female empowerment.
"No one in the industry really looks like me, or talks like me, or is even really my age," she says, but adds she was hoping that she could "fall into this industry, make a true new start and hopefully thrive in it".
She says financial services had always been at the back of her mind as a potential second career choice, as she was looking for a job that allowed her to "make a true impact", was flexible and gave her full autonomy.
At Women's Wealth she became part of "a dynamic dozen", where people were actively encouraged to come through a career change and learn the technical skills of being a financial planner. "But actually, the overview and ethos of it is that you are empowering women to make better financial choices," she says.
"So knowing how I could link that to the work that I was doing around mental health was how I came into financial services."
Help is needed everywhere
Ngoma says she really hasn't had to look far to realise how she added value through this industry.
"All I have to do is scroll facebook almost on the daily and someone goes 'does anyone know a good financial adviser?' or 'does anyone know any female financial advisers?', or all of my friends... I tell them what I'm doing and they [ask] immediately [for my help]."
Ngoma says she was instantly attracted to the atmosphere, culture and ethos of Women's Wealth.
She started in the April cohort and now has two years to pass all her R0 exams with the CII, which she funds herself as a self-employed person.
Meanwhile she works as a money mentor with Women's Wealth, helping out with admin and meetings but not giving any actual advice.
The whole point of Women's Wealth, she says, is to "break the bias, challenge the industry, and get away from the stereotypes of middle-aged white men giving advice, really angling towards what women want in financial services, the language that they want, how they want to be collaborated with."
The financial planning service is offered through a subscription model based around three tiers, depending on the level of wealth or complexity of the client.
