Women’s History Month | Meg Michiels
AFSA is celebrating Women’s History Month by featuring outstanding female leaders in the consumer credit industry.
I sincerely appreciate AFSA Women’s Leadership Council celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) and Women’s History Month (WHM). I currently Co-Chair the Citi Women’s Network Chapter in the Washington, DC Area, and as we have worked on aligned initiatives this month, I’ve been thinking a lot about what WHM means. To me, it represents momentum and inspiration. Momentum, because there is tangible progress and growth for professional women. Increasingly women are not just at the table, they’re at the head! Our firm is led by the first female Wall Street CEO. I am continually inspired by people I work with or know that are collectively pushing, blurring or erasing boundaries to make inclusion in the workplace a reality rather than an aspiration. I’m grateful to be even a small part of helping support women around me. My career has focused on working in law, finance, and government affairs – none female-dominated fields. But that’s changing too. I would have loved to tell (and somehow to have convinced) my younger self that mistakes are teachable moments where growth and improvement take root. Thankfully, I’ve been fortunate to have several influential mentors – both women and men – throughout my career, each that provided cherished guidance. A mentor from a general counsel’s office early in my career had a favorite saying, “The time to take a tart is when the tarts are being passed.” He taught me to seize opportunity and accept change when it’s there being offered to you for the taking. Have faith, make the leap, and take the tart!
March 13th, 2024 by gmcgurn@afsamail.org
