Other Women's Jobs // Zoë Cousens

NAME:  Zoë Cousens

AGE: 62

LINKEDIN PROFILE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoecousens/ 

JOB TITLE: Founder, Women's Investment Network

MOVED TO THE UAE IN: 2015

Zoë began her long career in wealth management as one of the first women to work in the London Stock Exchange in the 1980's. For many years, she worked with wealthy clients helping them to successfully invest their money in global markets. More recently she pivoted her business to provide an independent business advisory service offering practical and holistic solutions for entrepreneurs, with a focus on assisting female founders with capital raising.

Zoë is passionate about helping women to achieve financial freedom of choice, so in 2017 she founded the Women's Investment Network (www.thewomensinvestmentnetwork.com) to inspire women to become financially knowledgeable & independent, through sharing expert knowledge and money management skills. 

She has more than ten years' board experience in the UAE and Channel Islands, as well as Chair and Treasury Committee experience in the UK national charity sector.  Zoë has achieved a number of professional awards and is a regular speaker at events such as the World Women Leaders Summit and the Wealth Arabia Conference, as well as being interviewed and published in the UK and UAE media.

Currently she is studying for a Master's Degree in Executive Coaching & Mentoring leveraging her many years' experience to help clients to reach their full potential and achieve their goals. With an extensive global network and genuine multi-cultural knowledge having worked in the Middle East, Far East and Britain, she has consistently worked as a woman in a man's world which has given her valuable insights into the unique challenges experienced by women in the workplace.  These topics are explored in her transformational coaching program designed to boost confidence, build resilience and achieve a balance between professional success and personal well-being.

Every day is different for  Zoë, bringing its own joys and challenges to keep her busy, constantly learning and having ideas, so she's outlined below a recent day that was especially enjoyable for her.

8AM:  The 'crickets chirping' alarm sounds on my phone. Somewhat later than it used to, but post-menopause, I've added the luxury of an extra hour's sleep to my routine, having suffered a prolonged spell of disturbed sleep whilst my hormones were rampaging! Then it's shower time, a quick check of messages, and a scroll through the Arabian Business and BBC News to see what's going on in the world before I start my day. Only a small black coffee is allowed for breakfast as I'm doing some intermittent fasting which I've found to be a very efficient way of helping me to quickly lose weight whenever I see the scales start to creep up!

9AM:  Time to concentrate on my degree studies before I'm distracted by calls, messages and meetings as the day goes on. Today I'm setting out a plan for one of my coaching clients, a head-teacher living in Ras Al Khaimah, who's kindly agreed for a session to be recorded and submitted for assessment towards my Master's qualification. Although my career has been spent in finance, the particular challenges we face as women in the workplace apply across all industry sectors and I'm glad to have the opportunity to share my insights and experience with her. 

10AM: I've taken some much-needed IT lessons on how to update my website, so I spend some time tweaking the wording of some sections and working on the new training packages to add. By now, my Inbox is filling up so I reply to as many emails as I can before my 11am call with a young woman with whom I've been working for the past two years. Last Summer, she and her co-founder had the thrilling news that they'd been accepted to appear on the BBC's Dragons' Den programme where they successfully pitched for investment in their new price comparison app for beauty products, and we're due a catch up.

12PM:  I head out to a networking lunch event for Non-Executive Directors where the topic for discussion today is mentoring so that will be particularly interesting for me, and I'm hoping to be able to contribute some thoughts having been a mentor to many young people over recent years.   

2PM:  I'm keen to maintain a level of fitness but can't bear the gym, so I join my regular social group of padel tennis players for a friendly match.

4PM:  Back at home, I post a message on LinkedIn about an event I'm hosting for my successful young founder, then I reply to more emails, arrange meetings and prepare for a Workshop I'm providing for a corporate client tomorrow on the topic of 'How to Invest with Confidence'.

6PM:  Before sitting down to eat dinner, I have a quick call with my friend, a Feng Shui consultant, about a business idea we're working on together. We catch up every day for a progress report and it's a good way to keep ourselves accountable to each other in this shared project. 

8PM: I know I shouldn't, but I do another hour's work updating my leadership development program as I've received a new enquiry from a woman working in middle management who wants to learn the skills required to continue her career journey to the top of the ladder. She's asked to begin asap and I'd like to be able to give her a start date next week.

10PM:  I love to read books on all sorts of topics but now find I've accumulated a big pile to get through, so I've promised myself I'll dedicate an hour before bedtime every evening to light a candle, relax with a hot drink and read a good book to wind down and hopefully enjoy a good night's sleep, grateful for another day to look forward to.