Female Executive in Fintech Talks: Yulia Tereshchenko, Operations Manager at PLUGIT - Fintech is a Progressive Industry in terms of Gender Equality

As a prime financial software provider with international presence, PLUGIT has a proven track record of excellence and years of experience in the FX industry. This year will mark the 10th anniversary of the company, and Fazzaco took the chance and invited back Yulia Tereschenko, the Operations Manager who had an interview with us last year​, to talk about her thoughts on gender equality in finance, among many other topics.

​Fazzaco: Hi Yulia! Good to see you again! Got any plan for the 2022 Women's Day?

Yulia: Hello, great to speak again indeed! My plan is to celebrate the great women in history and all the women in our present contributing to this world every single day, including my mother, grandmother, and myself of course. Apart from that nothing extraordinary, it will be a regular day at work for me, just with a slightly higher attention from the male side of my workspace probably.

Fazzaco: Which female was your childhood heroine? Why?

Yulia: My mom. She showed me that you don't need to have rich parents or come from a special background to get to where you want, if you have your mind set on it and are willing to do the work. She has made remarkable achievements in her life all on her own, with just her will and determination. A very bright woman, yet very fragile and sensitive. Throughout her life she fought through multiple challenges to give me everything I need in order to have a good life, and I am forever grateful to her for that.

Fazzaco: Do you believe that women have a tougher time being heard in the fintech industry?

Yulia: Not really. I think that on contrary, because there are much fewer women in the industry the ones that speak do stand out. Being heard or not is more related with one's personal qualities, knowledge, experience, and credibility. It's not really about your gender or race. There are many outstanding women in the Fintech industry that are well acknowledged and respected.

Fazzaco: Any secret to balancing work and life?

Yulia: The secret (which is not really a secret) is to plan your day. Simple. Making sure that you dedicate the time in your day to the activities that contribute to your mental, physical, and emotional health. Any kind of sport or physical activity, any form of meditation, as well as spending time with the people you love, family and friends. Writing it down on paper, and having a clear schedule for everything, instead of keeping things in your head. Staying focused on one thing at a time. There's just too much to remember, and in today's reality with the constant information overload it is easy to forget something important. We have plenty of time in a day for everything, but it is the matter of smart time management to make the most of it. There is time for work, and there is time for everything else.

Fazzaco: Nowadays, we're seeing many people going too far to make a point, including numerous radical feminists. What does a real feminist look like, in your opinion?

Yulia: I guess that's someone who sees people as equals in terms of their right to be heard, treated with respect regardless of their gender, someone who advocates social, political, economic, and intellectual equality for both women and men.

Fazzaco: Do women in the finance industry have to pay a higher price than men to step out of their comfort zone?

Yulia: Any job is a personal choice, there are many different roles and opportunities in the financial industry (like many other industries), some roles are more suitable for, or better handled by women and others by men, but again it depends more on one's personality and skills. Even in the male dominant positions, more often than not women are still respected and given fair opportunities, as our industry is very progressive in terms of awareness, work ethics, and other sensitive gender and ethnic issues.

Fazzaco: Let's get back to your profession. We talked about the YOONIT updates in our last interview last year, any exciting news about it you can share with us in the year of 2022?

Yulia: This year we are celebrating our 10th anniversary and it's a significant milestone for our company. We've been working relentlessly the past year on a new version of our YOONIT system and getting ready for the big launch in a couple months which will have major updates and will come with a robust CRM system. We have big plans for the upcoming year.