Her Story
About Gabi
My career in finance has been anything but linear. I started in 2017 as an accountant doing fund administration, really just wanting to get my feet wet with general finance. From there, I decided to pivot to the financial planning and analysis route and joined Mercer, an HR consulting company, where I've been for about 8 years now. I've worked across different areas of the career line of business, and most recently, I had a segment in the UAE region supporting the IMEA CFO, who oversees India, Middle East, and Africa. As a senior finance manager, I do the traditional finance business partner work like month-end processes, forecasting, and budgeting, but what makes my job special at Mercer is that I serve as the connecting tissue across controllership and operations teams. When there's an issue with someone in my business, I step in to troubleshoot, which isn't generally in my scope of work, but really just serving as a guide and solutions expert is what makes my job special. Looking to the future, I plan to gain broader leadership experience over the next three to five years. Right now I oversee one financial analyst, but I want to eventually oversee a team so that I can support their development as well as my own, and eventually become a more seasoned executive.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Gabi
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say grit and the ability to stand when you may have been kicked at some point in life. It's really about perseverance and grit to overcome all obstacles that come my way, whether it's a hard day at work, finding some time to breathe, or making sure that I'm staying grounded for what I hope to achieve at the end of the day. Even when things get challenging, I focus on keeping that perseverance and not letting setbacks define me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think there is a misconception that women can lead with emotion, but I would say that sometimes you need to block out the noise that you hear in terms of misconceptions and stereotypes for women in finance. Really just build who you want to be. Without you knowing what that picture looks like, you're going to be easily defined by the words around you. Don't let others define you through their stereotypes. Focus on building your own vision of who you want to become in this field.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say the most important value to have is empathy. I find that we live in a world where we have selective empathy towards the topics that we care about, but just having empathy for all of the hardships that are happening to all people around the world is something that is so often forgotten and so needed in a time where we're living in uncertainty. It's about extending that empathy universally, not just to the causes we personally connect with.
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