Gliding and funds management share a common characteristic and that is male dominance, gliding even more so. But fortunately, while male chauvinism is entrenched in both fields, I’ve encountered encouragement from males who chose to support me and take me seriously and have viewed females as their equals.
I’m sure many women working in finance know what it feels like to not be taken seriously, no matter how experienced or well-qualified they are. The fact is, some men really do think women belong in the kitchen, or elsewhere.
Yet I have been welcomed on airfields. I started glider pilot training in late 2021 and I achieved flying solo in July 2023 after many months of training. All instructors (bar one) have been male. During my PR career advising mostly males, some have readily sought and accepted my advice. But far from all have listened.
Some men, while paying me to give advice, have ignored it, preferring to stick to their own story or defer to a male manager. Sometimes, when I got wins for clients, some men claimed them as their own. Others were unable to look at my face, distracted by my breasts. One male client even described me as a ‘laugh’ to his male boss, even as I got regular media mentions for them.
Yet I brushed it aside, it’s just the way things are. I haven’t suffered the imposter syndrome in finance. I’d flown through university with distinctions, a first-class honours in law and a bachelor of economics; I never doubted my academic or professional abilities. While top-tier law firms rejected my applications for a job, as Anglo and male peers got multiple offers, I knew the reason was my Greek name; I never doubted my abilities. I’ve confidently given PR advice, even if that has meant telling clients to offer more wisdom and less spin. My advice has been informed by my experience, after 20-plus years reporting for business publications including the WSJ/Dow Jones, SMH, The Australian, the AFR among others.
But in gliding, the imposter syndrome touched me. What on earth am I doing, I asked myself many times, as I drove out to an airfield, more training sessions and more mistakes. After successfully landing a glider many times in strong X-winds in mid 2022, I later lost my confidence. One instructor suggested I’d never be able to land the plane as I was doing a circuit.Two others suggested I should get off the airfield and into the clubhouse, after safely landing the plane both times, just not perfectly. I knew both men thought I was an idiot. And perhaps, just then, I believed it too. Yet I stuck to my guns: I learned from my mistakes rather than let them, or those men, finish me off.
I persevered with the help of a male instructor and mentor who both encouraged me to pursue my goal of going solo.
So here, I thank all those men in gliding and finance that took me seriously – and looked me in the eye.
In this age of diversity talk, it’s great when one walks the talk.