Financial Changemakers Gretchen Betts

Welcome to the Financial Changemakers podcast with Gretchen Betts – Managing Director at Magenta Financial Planning and Olivia Parnell – Coach, New Horizons, Voluntary Norfolk. This podcast series is for you if you are interested in learning about diversity and inclusion and are keen to embrace and make positive change in your life, business, management style or company ethos. In this introduction to Series 2, hosts Gretchen and Olivia, discuss the reasons as to why they started the podcast series initially. What they felt were important topics to focus on for this series, and what listeners can expect to hear about in Series 2. Following global events in 2020, Gretchen reflected and felt that she needed to gain a wider understanding about diversity and inclusion, personal and professionally. Gretchen attended a Next Gen conference and heard Olivia present, discussing discrepancies within the financial services professions, especially in relation to the Advice gap versus Advisor gap. They then teamed up, with a vision to create a safe space where topics and issues could be openly discussed. Following Series 1, it became clear that some of the topics required further discussion, or a different approach. Equally that, whilst the conversations were initially around the Financial Services Profession, they really can be applied to any business, industry or individual.   This podcast series is about creating a safe place for discussion and ultimately enabling you, our listener, to be a Changemaker. Let’s listen. Let’s Discuss. Let’s Learn. Let’s Implement Positive Change.

Welcome to the Financial Changemakers podcast with Gretchen Betts – Managing Director at Magenta Financial Planning and Olivia Parnell – Coach, New Horizons, Voluntary Norfolk. This podcast series is for you if you are interested in learning about diversity and inclusion and are keen to embrace and make positive change in your life, business, management style or company ethos. In this second episode, hosts Gretchen and Olivia, discuss Privilege and Fragility with their guests ·        Dr. Bel Kerkhoff-Parnell ·        Brett Davidson    Educting ourselves and being more open and applying ourselves means giving up a proportion of our privilege so that we can empower people who are marginalised and are discriminated against.How much of a barrier is fragility and how quicky do we become defensive? The key takeaways from this episode are: ·        A big part of fragility is not wanting to be criticised or challenged. We’re never going to get to a more open inclusive world if we don’t talk, engage, and collaborate. ·        If you’re a manager, listen to your team, and act on it. Don’t just work together, empower each other, and take ownership. Learn from others and listen to feedback, then apply your learnings! ·        From a Financial Services Profession perspective, companies and firms need to pay attention and act. These subjects cannot be ignored, they must be addressed, and culture changed. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Don’t be complicit. If you see something is wrong, say something. This podcast series is about creating a safe place for discussion and ultimately enabling you, our listener, to be a Changemaker. Let’s listen. Let’s Discuss. Let’s Learn. Let’s Implement Positive Change.

Welcome to the Financial Changemakers podcast with Gretchen Betts – Managing Director at Magenta Financial Planning and Olivia Parnell – Coach, New Horizons, Voluntary Norfolk. This podcast series is for you if you are interested in learning about diversity and inclusion and are keen to embrace and make positive change in your life, business, management style or company ethos. In this third episode, hosts Gretchen and Olivia, discuss Allyship with their guests ·        David Villa Clarke - Founder and director of DVC Wealth Management Ltd ·        Adam Owen - Director and Head of Content at NextGen Planners Allyship is a subject which has been discussed within the Financial Services Profession increasingly over the past few years. Not everyone is able to put into words, what they know they should be saying, when they know something is not quite right. Empowering people to come forward and say things. Enabling people to have the strength of their words and their actions, and to gauge situations is critical. There is a need to create more allies, more safe spaces where understanding can be discussed openly. You can’t be what you can’t see. Within the Financial Services Profession we need to acknowledge that there is an issue with diversity. There is a lack of broad representation within the Profession. We need to educate young people that this is a profession which they are welcome in and capable of entering, whatever their background. We must act and start to inform and encourage. To be a profession for everybody, we need to be a profession of everybody. It is vital that we start to adapt and that we understand how best to serve everybody, whether it be through offering advice, or offering a career opportunity. People want to be represented by people like them. Recruitment is important. Creating structures which open leadership opportunities. Recognise your own privilege within the workplace, and take action to support people around you, to have the space to have their voice heard. It may mean letting someone take a step forward, or you taking a step back. It means making room for new people, new ideas, new concepts to take centre stage. Key Take Aways from this episode   ·        Educate yourself. ·        Be bold – put yourself out of your comfort zone. Ask your colleagues how you can help. ·        Be the voice in the room, for those who aren’t in the room. Represent everyone. ·        Challenge – faced with someone (any human being) looking for support, advice, guidance. What would you do for that person if they were a white male? Do the same. If we all did this, we would make huge steps forward. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Don’t be complicit. If you see something is wrong, say something.  
This podcast series is about creating a safe place for discussion and ultimately enabling you, our listener, to be a Changemaker. Let’s listen. Let’s Discuss. Let’s Learn. Let’s Implement Positive Change.

Welcome to the Financial Changemakers podcast with Gretchen Betts – Managing Director at Magenta Financial Planning and Olivia Parnell – Coach, New Horizons, Voluntary Norfolk.
This podcast series is for you if you are interested in learning about diversity and inclusion and are keen to embrace and make positive change in your life, business, management style or company ethos.
In this fourth episode, hosts Gretchen and Olivia, discuss Body Image with their guests
·        Suzanne Samaka – recent founder of #HonestyAboutEditing Campaign to protect young people’s self-esteem and help them have a more positive body image.
·        James Rae Parnell - curator, educator, and dancer based in the Hague, NL
The subject of Body Image affects every one of us. The expectations we have in ourselves are ingrained in our unconscious bias.
Body image is extremely fragile, more so than we sometimes realise.
Within the corporate world, a lot is needed to be done regarding what is deemed ‘Professional’ from an image perspective. From hair styling, body piercings, clothing choices, make up choices.
Individuals should be able to express themselves openly. It should not be a tick box exercise, actual change is needed, now.
People need to be able to bring their authentic self to work. If people aren’t given the environment to do this, they’re never going to produce their best work.
Representing as many people as possible within your business, encourages people to be more comfortable with themselves, in the workplace. In turn, offering clients more confidence that they are represented, and will received the best service, for them.
A more diverse work force makes a better workplace. Individuals who are better skilled, and better equipped to offer more options for clients, which makes for good business!
Taking the time to understand the importance of greater diversity within the workplace and taking steps to encourage and actively seek a greater diversity can only be a good thing.
Key Take Aways from this episode
It's Important to understand that having positive body image doesn’t mean you have to love every bit of your body. It’s understanding that it’s not the most important bit about you, and accepting yourself as you are, not allowing negative thoughts to be all consuming. If you are struggling with body image, try to ask yourself why, where does that thought come from? How can we actively change those thoughts of ourselves? Research ways to combat those feelings and find those who represent you. In our ever-increasing online society, remember that nothing we see in that space is real. So don’t compare yourself. Comparison is the thief of joy. So don’t compare yourself.  
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Don’t be complicit. If you see something is wrong, say something.
This podcast series is about creating a safe place for discussion and ultimately enabling you, our listener, to be a Changemaker.
Let’s listen. Let’s Discuss. Let’s Learn. Let’s Implement Positive Change.

Welcome to the Financial Changemakers podcast with Gretchen Betts – Managing Director at Magenta Financial Planning and Olivia Parnell – Coach, New Horizons, Voluntary Norfolk.
This podcast series is for you if you are interested in learning about diversity and inclusion and are keen to embrace and make positive change in your life, business, management style or company ethos.
In this fifth episode, hosts Gretchen and Olivia, discuss Neurodiversity with their guests
·        Emily Kenna – Director at Sense Risk Solutions
·        Tim Mann – Director of Blackfield Creatives CIC
For Tim Neurodiversity means simply a ‘different functioning brain’. For Emily, the same, that the brain is wired differently to that of someone who may be ‘Neuro-Typical’.
We discuss that our guests believe businesses are missing out on a huge trick is they are not Neurodiverse. Like those with physical disabilities, if the tools and solutions are put in place, (a wheelchair ramp for example) individuals can thrive.
We all like to surround ourselves with people who are like us, naturally. So we struggle to be around those who are different, but we must learn to break down this ingrained characteristic.
Between 15-40% of people are Neurodiverse, so if businesses are not looking at their workforce and actively seeking diversity, they’re not catering for the wider population. By not thinking the way that society does, businesses are limiting what they can offer to clients.
Embracing differences can be a positive thing. It can feel uncomfortable for a lot of people. But as a business, it’s important that people are open minded and open to thinking about different ideas. Bringing neurodiversity into your workforce can only have a positive impact.
Building in bridges to enable everyone to take part and everyone to come up with solutions. And to listen to the difference and not be intimidated by that difference.
If you bring more differences into an organisation, some people may feel that they’re losing out. There may be less opportunities for those who previously have had the whole ‘playing field’.
It’s tough to talk about, but society can only be a better place if more people are accepted into the working environment. Businesses would be more successful, more creative, and become more appealing to potential clients.
It is extremely hard to get large organisations to embrace these changes, if it hasn’t been touched them. If individuals haven’t had an experience which has impacted them. For so many people, they struggle to embrace this topic.
Key Take Aways from this episode
We must all recognise that there is difference, rather than right or wrong. For those who have a neurodiversity, realise your own strengths. ‘They will try to teach you how to stop shining, and instead you must shine on.’ Don’t be put down by other people, trust yourself. Just because you’re the only one with that opinion, doesn’t make you wrong. Whilst you may not think that it affects your world. There are people around you, who don’t know how to reach out.  Help to make these people shine, help them to flourish. We’ve created a world where we expect everyone to fit into a box. And so when people don't we are fearful of that, be mindful and supportive. This podcast series is about creating a safe place for discussion and ultimately enabling you, our listener, to be a Changemaker.
Let’s listen. Let’s Discuss. Let’s Learn. Let’s Implement Positive Change.

Welcome to the Financial Changemakers podcast with Gretchen Betts – Managing Director at Magenta Financial Planning and Olivia Parnell – Coach, New Horizons, Voluntary Norfolk.
This podcast series is for you if you are interested in learning about diversity and inclusion and are keen to embrace and make positive change in your life, business, management style or company ethos.
In this sixth episode, hosts Gretchen and Olivia, discuss Social Mobility and Positive Inclusion with their guest  Ben Sampson – Head of Employment & Skills at Voluntary Norfolk.
What social mobility means is to ensure that the circumstances of which people are born into, don’t dictate what they achieve in their life.
We’d all like to live in a country where people born into low-income families, have the same opportunities as those born into more privileged circumstances.
Unfortunately, in the UK this isn’t the case, we have one of the poorest levels of social mobility in the developed world. Something as a country we need to reflect on.
Nearly 1 in 3 children in the UK currently live in poverty. By the age of 5, children from more deprived areas are only achieving 75% of their key stage 2 expected levels, compared to those of privileged areas achieving 97%.
Social mobility affects us from birth, through early years childhood to education. Meaning if you’re behind at 5 years old, chances are you going to be behind and have less career opportunities, and less social opportunities to pull yourself out of that social area when you’re old enough to make your own decisions and choices.
We are all born into a society, and we grow up in it. As we grow we develop biases, unconsciously. Positive and negative. We happen to like people who are the same as us. It can lead to biases about people who are different to us. Gender, race, sexuality, geography.
Awareness isn’t enough, but it is the first step.
Do you know your workforce?
Do you know their backgrounds?
By having that information, you can provide a more inclusive environment. It enables you to get more out of your staff. It’s a great place to start. You can then alter your recruitment process to encourage getting more diversity through the doors.
If businesses start to focus less on experience and qualifications and more on what applicants include in the personal statement, they will open a huge portfolio of incredibly talented individuals who have great ideas and who would be huge assets to a company.
Give people a chance to talk about themselves, and you will uncover all sorts of people who haven’t come through the standard system.
Key Take Aways from this episode
Awareness and being self-aware is the first step. Being social aware is the same as being physically active, check yourself like you check your smart watch. Be aware of how big the problem is in this country. We’re in an affluent Country, but the statistics are terrible and heading south. Inequality is getting wider; we are not closing the gap. The average life expectancy of someone living in more affluent county of Berkshire is 16.5 years higher than someone living a the more deprived area of South Wales. That 16.5-year difference is roughly the same, as the difference between the UK as a whole and Sudan as a whole. Re-read the last sentence and think about it. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Don’t be complicit. If you see something is wrong, say something.
This podcast series is about creating a safe place for discussion and ultimately enabling you, our listener, to be a Changemaker.
Let’s listen. Let’s Discuss. Let’s Learn. Let’s Implement Positive Change.