Marie Boyagi (pictured) wants to empower and inspire women across the financial services industry.
Boyagi, the head of strategic partnerships at Shift, which provides a credit platform for SMEs, has had a well-rounded career of over 20 years in the industry and is excited to still be a part of it.
Boyagi said she was grateful for the leadership and support from CEOs at Shift who have provided flexibility to achieve success during a challenging period over the last two years, which included managing a career and being a mother of two.
At five months pregnant, Boyagi received a promotion which she considers a career highlight.
“I love telling this story,” Boyagi said. “I was pregnant at the time and working hard on establishing my career. Doubt crept in that I would not necessarily be given the promotion at that time. It was such a surprise to receive the promotion and was a motivating factor to be a part of that organisation at that time which was inclusive and had a positive workplace culture. It shined a light on the type of behaviour which should be normalised and not the fear factor of not going to get it.”
Boyagi said she appreciated the supportive mentorship she has received from female and male leaders throughout her career, pushing her to excel and become the type of leader she aspired to be.
Her current role includes many different facets, however her core focus is working in tandem with key partners including aggregators and industry bodies to support clients’ needs.
“My journey with Shift started two years ago and I have loved it so far. I enjoy engaging with current challenges brokers face and work hard to alleviate their issues,” Boyagi said.
Boyagi said she realises the financial industry is vast and there are female leaders and mentors across the industry who are great examples for others.
“It is not just CEOs or CFOs but other colleagues within the industry that encourage women to do the best they can,” she said. “These include brokers, lenders, and industry bodies. These women are smart, resilient, humble, assertive and action orientated. Authenticity and genuine characteristics are so powerful, and I inspire to be one of these great role models.”
Prior to joining Shift, Boyagi was a credit manager for 10 years. Shift has recently pivoted from lending to small businesses to becoming an all-in-one high-tech credit platform for SMEs, providing finance on demand facilities so they can trade, pay and access funds.
“Having interaction at the decision-making level put me in a good spirit and strong foundation for where I am today,” Boyagi said. “There was an importance on empathy as it changed the way I would have conversations with brokers and fellow colleagues. It also led to better outcomes and sparked greater chance of finding a solution when working together, so to instil that with my work ethic is very important to me.”
Boyagi said Shift’s needs and challenges are ever-changing so “it is important to channel the growth mindset with our product and our platforms.”
Shift has revamped its broker portal, Shift Connect, which is a powerful integration system that seamlessly supports brokers to join the digital accreditation network in just a few clicks.
Read more: Shift gears up for tech transformation
“Shift Connect has been well received by our partners and is an encompassing platform which drives conversation with our customers, along with being very quick and easy to use,” said Boyagi.
After joining Shift in 2020, Boyagi said she was proud the company continued to be a positive workplace environment, embodied so well by the team.
In November, Shift established a 26-week paid parental leave program which supports families, a program Boyagi said she was very proud of, knowing that not all women in the workplace are able to experience this support. You can read the report here Shift launches 26 weeks paid parental leave.
Boyagi will be celebrating this International Women’s Day with women at the CAFBA awards.
“CAFBA are always supportive to women in the finance industry and continue to do excellent work. Last year I was awarded the WLA (women in leadership) scholarship through the support of Shift where women can apply and CAFBA support the winner to further their financial education,” she said.
