The importance of celebrating success

By Ben McAlary

Creator of the #CelebratingWomen campaign, Dr Kirstin Ferguson, was the guest speaker at the last The Circuit event for the year hosted at PwC in Sydney recently.

The Circuit is the FSC’s exclusive under 35 event series and provides a platform where the brightest young minds in the financial services sector can come together to further their ambitions, insights and success. The events include thought provoking debate and unparalleled networking opportunities.

Dr Ferguson began the #CelebratingWomen campaign by accident, “I was in a hammock on a beach and I was angry. It started with Hilary Clinton and an opinion piece… my mother was the first person I profiled for the campaign which now has spin-offs in Tokyo, Singapore and PNG.

During the keynote Dr Ferguson emphasised the importance of education and the power of social media to build a career and personal brand, “I love to learn and I’ve been to university many times, but I can now publicly state that I am never going back... Mm learning now is through others…I love connecting with others and what is happening around me through social media.”

She also provided those in attendance with insight into her career, lessons learnt and the best advice she had for future leaders in the financial services industry, “Say yes to opportunities and be brave. Stop trying to predict what’ s around the corner and instead seize every experience and trust that you will be successful.”

You can listen to Kirstin’s full keynote address and her Q&A with Ellen McDougall, Operations Lead Retail Insurance, Metlife here, if you are new to the FSC podcast and would like to subscribe, or leave a review, head over to iTunes and search for the Financial Services Council podcast.