Breaking the Bias at Limepay - International Women’s Day 2022

Sarah and Jessica love working at Limepay and encourage other females to find their place in tech.

On the eve of International Women’s Day 2022, we sat down with two of Limepay’s leaders to talk about their role in a male-dominated industry.

Limepay is focused on closing the gender gap and fixing the imbalance in fintech – starting now. 

Sarah Amos is the Product Manager at Limepay. She’s the link between business outcomes and delivery success by executing the business strategy while ensuring Limepay products solve customer problems. 

Jessica Turnbull is Head of Marketing. She’s responsible for defining the strategic vision, branding and Go-To-Market strategy while determining the best way to execute across marketing, PR and investor channels.

The technology sector, especially fintech, is known for breaking barriers and blazing a more modern life. But unfortunately, the industry as a whole is lagging when it comes to gender diversity and breaking the bias. 

“At Limepay, we realise that a diverse workforce with high cultural intelligence is more productive. And that a diverse team outperforms homogeneous teams,” adds Jessica.  

A McKinsey study from 2019 confirmed this. They found that “the most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform less diverse peers on profitability.”¹

Limepay staff recently embarked on a diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) training program to help build knowledge in this area. Jessica notices, “It’s an ongoing program, but we can already see that DE&I has become part of a broader conversation within Limepay.”

Sarah says tech isn’t any different from other industries. Men and women both have egos. Being hyper-competent leads to heightened egos, so it’s how you approach breaking the bias.

“Challenges come with asserting yourself as a domain expert. But these challenges are easier once you identify the advocates who support your success.”  

Jessica also finds that male-dominated workforces aren’t isolated to tech fields. “A lot of corporates and boards for that matter are dominated by males. At Limepay, our CEO and Managing Director Willie Pang recognises the under utilised pool of talent that women represent and is ready to change the status quo.” 

To make sure their DE&I efforts resonate with all employees, Limepay invited staff to complete a survey. The responses helped them uncover the current state of inclusion across Limepay, which they’ll use to set business goals. 

Sarah appreciates Limepay’s awareness that there’s a gap between women and men in the tech industry. “They’re actively making changes in the business to establish more women in all roles, at every level of leadership. But more importantly, they understand that it isn’t done overnight and that it takes commitment.” 

Technology guided by empathy is being used to foster inclusive company cultures.² 

When asked what advice Sarah and Jessica have about getting into the tech industry, Jessica highly recommends finding a mentor, and Sarah says to dig deep to find your ‘why’. 

Before joining Limepay, Jessica worked for Westpac, where she found a highly-accomplished female leader to mentor her. Three years later, Jessica and her mentor continue to talk weekly.

“Limepay encourages the time I spend with my mentor. But what’s more exciting is that I have now created a 3 x way mentorship program with Limepay’s CEO and my mentor.” 

The mentorship has been so successful that Limepay is considering rolling out a program to more employees.”

Sarah’s advice is similar – get to know other people who work in tech. It’s not easy to know why you’re passionate about working in the tech industry when you’re starting out. But employers will ask, so it’s good to learn why others are passionate.”

“Look for others to talk to. There are inclusive groups that want to help women articulate their why and build skills. My fav is Girl Geeks Sydney.”

As a society, we’re progressing, albeit slowly. Companies like Limepay are at the forefront of ensuring diversity and inclusion are widely adopted and accepted throughout the industry. 

Technology may be the answer.

Technology allowed Jessica to manage working from home during the pandemic. “Technologies such as video conferencing, collaborative digital workspaces, and project management platforms have played a huge part in creating more equality throughout the pandemic.”

Yet, the proof that the divide is slow to close resurfaced early during the pandemic when women lost 49% more time than men by the end of 2020.³   And as a result, women are leaving the workforce at higher rates than men. 

“Companies need to provide opportunities for women to fail safely by creating environments where having a crack is more important than being perfect for a role,” says Sarah. “We need to elevate women who are prepared to grow their skills.”

Sarah and Jessica are passionate about working in the tech industry and encourage other females to find their place in tech. But if they could go back in time, what would they say to their younger self?

Sarah’s advice is to lean into what makes you authentic and do it more often. Everyone struggles with imposter syndrome. Be bold!

Jessica would say, never compare yourself to others. You can only control one life, yours. 

International Women's Day and Limepay have a shared mission to embrace and cultivate an ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

If you’d like more information, please contact our Marketing Team at support@limepay.com.au

1 McKinsey: Diversity wins, how inclusion matters
2 Forbes: How tech can help bridge the equity divide
3 Cleo: State of working parents study