105: The leadership advice every woman needs to hear with Laura Hancock

But an incredible journey.

And I think something that really stuck out then is what was it like? 'Cause, um, being a female and being an account manager where, you know, a- and we're talking, you know, a few years back now, I, I guess today might look very different.

What was your experience then, um, you know, going to these brokers and, and pitching and discussing?

Yeah.

It was, um, I didn't think at the time anything of it.

I just thought it was part of the journey, but it was difficult.

I had one or two brokers who wouldn't deal with anyone female.

Um, so I had to kind of navigate that.

I s- sat in meetings with my manager where they would only talk to him and not me.

I mean, I was young and I was female, so, um, yeah, both of those aspects play into it.

Um, but I, I, the first broker visit I ever had, he was angry with something that was going on at the time, and there was desk thumping and standing over me shouting about...

And it wasn't me, it was because of the s- the, the, the situation that was going on with the insurer at the time.

But you take all of that as an account manager.

You absorb all of the frustrations of the broker.

So it was challenging, and I think I learnt quite quickly how to stand my ground and how to, I guess it gave me a, an element of resilience, um, not in a, yeah, it wasn't a fluffy kind of way of learning resilience, but it was a way of learning resilience for sure.

But it also was the start of me seeing the difference between how men were treated versus how women were treated in the sector.

So yeah, it was, it was a learning curve for sure.

[laughs]

I was gonna say it was a lesson for sure.

Yeah.

But, uh, I was gonna, I was gonna ask as well, um, and I, I, I can imagine w- that would be one of them, but were there, what were some of the early moments that really shaped you?

Um, I think, I think I'd probably always draw on the difficult moments, um, where you've got a very angry customer or, um, or you're feeling like the only female in the room who's being somewhat overlooked.

So, and I've said this to people in my team now, those, those difficult moments and coming out the other side are always what you draw on years down the line.

They're where your development happens.

Um, so obviously I don't, I don't kind of think that it's a real positive to have loads of conf- conflict in your role or, or difficult situations, but they do, they do shape you 'cause that's life and that's, um, that is kind of how you come out the other side.