Spotlight on Women: Laura McCarthy
At Valentia Partners we focus on making our workplace a more diverse and inclusive environment for everyone. Operating in a male dominated industry, we wanted to shine a spotlight on our women and enable them to tell their stories of success and what inspired them to pursue a role in Management Consulting. Below you can read more about Laura’s experience.
Laura McCarthy | Consultant
What inspired you to pursue the career path that you are on?
Consulting is very much a people and problem-solving focused career, for me they are the two areas I am most drawn to. The ability to work across a wide variety of Projects in your career also was one of the main reasons for pursuing it, helping our clients to grow, transform and to be successful means I am constantly learning and developing.
What does a typical day for you look like?
Ask any Consultant you will get the same answer – every day is different which is one of the best parts! Especially in Valentia you are encouraged to drive your career in areas you are passionate about and come up with new ideas to help the company grow. We have a wide variety of work through our clients, which means different problems are arising at different times and new skills are required every day. All of this keeps me motivated.
How do you continue to grow professionally?
Learning from those around me and surrounding myself with motivated, hard working and supportive people, which is at the heart of Valentia. Always trying to take a task one step further, thinking outside the box and looking for new ways to challenge myself. Continually up-skilling when it comes to learning and development and keeping informed with relevant topics to my work.
Tell us about an accomplishment you are proud of?
Professionally I am most proud of my background of onboarding and helping those joining Consulting straight out of college as graduates and helping them learn the ropes and feel confident starting their career. I want others to feel as supported as I did, as every new job and venture usually is a little bit daunting at first. I am proud of my work ethic and give 100%. Personally I am proud of the great family and friends I have around me.
Tell us about a woman who has made a positive impact on your career?
I have been lucky in my career so far that the women I have worked with and work with are all extremely supportive of one another. There are many women both in my work and personal life that have made a positive impact, having a support network around you to bounce work related questions, lifestyle, fashion tips and to support each other through the highs and lows is so important.
How do you define success?
Success for me is feeling motivated, accomplished, and enjoying what you do. I think by constantly developing and pushing yourself to achieve your goals you will get the feeling of success in your own career.
How do you achieve balance between your work and personal life?
In consulting there can be busy periods approaching clients go-lives, deadlines and other such demands. However it is not always like this, so appreciating the less busier times is really important for me and I try plan as much as I can for the week ahead to maximise my time and finish in the evenings with some free time to look forward to. I try have a gym/yoga class booked in for after work that I have to attend, make plans with friends for dinner and catch ups and my top tip (that I go by) is always try having something booked either a holiday or activity you enjoy to have something to look forward to and focus on outside of work. Working from home has made it a little more difficult as your home is now your office too, but turning off the laptop and not going back to it to “check that one small thing” is key.
What advice would you give other women starting out in their career?
Be confident and be yourself, don’t be afraid to use your voice. Challenge where you believe needs to be and work hard to achieve the goals you have set for yourself and believe that you will. It is important to support the woman and men around you, always keep empathy and positivity as the back of your mind.
What has been the best advice you have received to date relating to your career?
Always give 110%, mistakes are not a bad thing and don’t mean failure they are positive if you can learn from them as they are now a new thing you have learned and another thing to help you develop. Learn from those around you and listen, those at the very top are still learning and still listening which is why they are where they are. Feedback is so important, always be open to it and do something with it, either improve at what needs fixing and grow and build at what you are good it.
What do you enjoy most about working in Financial Services?
What I enjoy the most about Financial Services is helping our clients become more efficient, helping them out of challenging times and making processes that are more robust. It is also a very exciting place to be at the moment, lots of innovation and change happening with the use of IA, data and analytics and digital currencies to name a few.
What makes a great leader?
A great leader is empathetic and motivates others while staying true to themselves. They inspire those around them and set clear objectives which are achievable for those around them to successfully meet and succeed in. They value from the bottom up and are respectful of those around, reward and allow for positive change to happen around them and create a space for the success of others.