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The Origin Story of Georgina Smith
As INN8’s Head of Distribution and Client Services, advisers are familiar with the energy Georgina Smith and her team bring to the company. Her unique approach to client service has made all the difference in our business. We sat down for some virtual coffee to find out more about what brought her out to South Africa and how she found herself where she is today.
Georgina Smith is a force to be reckoned with. Whether it’s chatting about how INN8’s investment platform can assist your business or how someone’s cycling form is affecting their performance, she is always eager to impart some wise words or witty one-liners – and the below conversation is not that different.
George’s journey to INN8 is an interesting one – but before we get into it, watch the short video below to learn more about her role as Head of Distribution and Client Services, what INN8 means to her, and what the future might hold.
Tell us about the career journey you have been on to land where you today –
Errr, where do I start? I left school in the mid-90s at 18 and went into telesales. Not many people like telesales, but I loved it. I sold CAT 5 data cabling to lots of IT managers across the UK.
I still remember the thrill of landing an appointment, which was worth 50 quid, and then the subsequent sale could bring in big bucks. I kept that job for the whole duration of attending the University of Southampton where I did a very broad degree in Management Sciences, aka underwater basket weaving and flower arranging!
My ‘easy’ degree gave me plenty of free time to play sports and travel up and down the country playing rugby, a passion that became a huge part of my life, but that’s another story. The problem with doing a very broad degree is that you think you can do and become anything at the end of it. So, I thought I’d become a finance manager and I joined Unilever in their graduate trainee programme, and before long I was sitting my CIMA exams, and predictably, I became a finance manager.
I quickly realized I wasn’t like all the other finance managers: I was good with numbers, but it bored the hell out of me. When they offered me the role of finance manager for peas and carrots (aka the frozen division), I knew it was time to find something else. So, I moved into drugs! I joined Pfizer where I thought finance managers who sell drugs might be more interesting – and yes, rubbing shoulders with the Viagra team was interesting…for a while.
A couple of years later I was asked to train up a group of grad trainees in “finance for non-finance managers”.
That was it. I was hooked on developing people and helping them be more confident with things they previously didn’t understand. I’d found my calling in training and I became a trainer with a specialty in finance for the next 12 years, working across most large corporates in the UK and several overseas.
During this time, I was continually astounded at how a lack of understanding of numbers and financials psychologically holds people back. I would often coach very senior individuals (both men and women) who were amazing at their jobs but suffered from terrible imposter syndrome because they didn’t have the confidence to speak up in meetings about anything financial. It was a real blind spot for them. Giving people the confidence to do something they couldn’t and didn’t do yesterday, but today they are taking baby steps to remedy that, really lights my fire.
Training and development were things I could fit in around having a family and working with my husband, a dentist, and together we built a successful multi-disciplinary and multi-location dental business in the South of England. Running your own business brings with it another set of skills from leadership to sales to survival which every entrepreneur develops on the fly. You just hope that you have enough in your kit bag from the school of hard knocks to make you resilient enough to build a great team who run a great business. Thankfully, we did and for 11 wonderful (and sometimes scary) years we built a successful dental business.
What made you choose the financial services/investment industry?
I think financial services chose me. We (my husband and I) made a life choice to simplify our lives in 2015. We sold our dental practices and moved to South Africa for more connection with nature, a better climate, and to spend more time with our two girls who, at the time, were six and seven. We wanted a more connected and family-focused life, which we have created very happily here.
So, when I met a friend at the school gate who was asking me for some advice on training for a new platform, they were building called INN8, I never cared that it was in an industry I hadn’t worked in before. For me, it was about the people in the team, what they were trying to achieve and whether I could help them reach their potential and really make a difference.
What has been the most significant turning point in your career – or describe an accomplishment that shaped your career?
Since joining INN8 as a training manager in 2017, I’ve since taken on running the sales team and now, the client services team also falls under my umbrella. There were many raised eyebrows when INN8 gave me those increased responsibilities, as traditionally those sorts of roles have gone to tried-and-tested, dyed-in-the-wool financial services stalwarts. I’m proud to work for a company that took a risk, recognised the value of ‘different’ thinking, and allowed itself to be challenged.
Keep doing what you’ve always done, and you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got. INN8 really showed the industry that it wanted to be different and a big part of that was taking a punt on me.
In May this year (2022), we did our first adviser feedback survey. Advisers overwhelmingly praised what we do here at INN8 – and from a service and relationship management perspective, they put us on par with the top two industry-leading platforms in the market. That felt really good, particularly to reach such high acclaim in such a short space of time That told us that the gamble of different thinking, a focus on great teamwork, team development, and recognition is paying off.
Is there a personal project within the business or out of it that you are currently working on?
I’m thinking about and planning my next big swim. Watch this space…
What advice would you give to someone who is wanting to take your current position?
We’re in the business of people, not money. The sooner you realise that the quicker you’ll progress.
What do I mean by that? I mean placing more emphasis on EQ than IQ and understanding the importance of empathy (being human). Empathy and EQ are both learnable skills and the importance of developing them cannot be overstated. I learned this working in dentistry. When we meet patients (or clients) for the first time, it’s a critical point in relationship building and exploration of trust, and if we don’t have the skill or the inclination to take that further then we misrepresent our patients from the very start and anything we do after that is less likely to be successful.
There is growing evidence now that one of the best ways to develop empathy is to read (not watch) fiction. When we read fiction, we transport ourselves into the world of the characters and we see the world through their eyes. That is empathy.
Emotional intelligence is different and that’s the ability to alter your persona, your language, or your presentation to be in keeping with the circumstances in which you find yourself (as a result of being empathetic).
Combining empathy and emotional intelligence creates an extraordinarily powerful combination in any environment, in any industry.
So, when people come and ask what they should do to further their careers, I suggest concentrating on developing these two traits. Go and read His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, or The Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean M. Auel.
To understand emotional intelligence, I suggest they read Daniel Goleman and his descriptions of the different types of intelligence and in particular his insight into emotional intelligence and I reiterate that EQ is a totally developable skill.
Because no matter what business goals you have, it’s better first to be human.
What makes you excited about Monday?
My first telephone calls of the week to my team. I love the way they make me smile.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
No.
Have you ever watched the film, Sliding Doors? The smallest change can sometimes have the biggest impact and if I hadn’t made all the mistakes I have, I might not be where I am today.
What would you tell your younger self about the road to get to where you are today?
If you are as old as me, you may remember a song called Wear Sunscreen by Baz Luhrmann which was number 1 at the turn of the millennium. That’s all!