Congratulations to Isabelle on launching this platform and putting African women’s holistic wellness to the fore. Stories remind us of how intertwined our lives are and that we are never alone on this journey, so it is essential that women and girls tell our stories, our way. My name is Patience Mutesi. My greatest joy is family so allow me to add that I am a wife, and mother of two boys. I am the Country Director of TradeMark East Africa (TMEA), an aid-for-trade organization that aims at increasing trade in East Africa. We do that by working with national governments and the private sector to remove barriers to trade and increase private sector competitiveness. By increasing trade, we contribute towards increasing economic growth, reducing poverty, and improving the prosperity of Rwandans and East Africans. I have been blessed with a career that has been a platform to impact to my community, so I feel honored to be part of the work we do in East Africa.
For someone who knows the history of our beloved country, my journey is no different from many Rwandan women’s journeys. It started in a village called Murang’a in Kenya where I was born to refugee parents as the second in a family of four. My parents had fled Rwanda for Uganda in 1959, and later moved to Kenya. Dad was a teacher and mum took care of us. My family moved from Kenya back to Uganda where I had most of my early life and education. I loved and enjoyed my childhood but disliked school (a great deal!). I found education was not about bringing the best out of a child but about memory and compliance (boring, says the rebel). By Grace, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Quantitative Economics in 2004 from Makerere University and later an MBA in Finance from Maastricht School of Management in 2012.
Immediately after university, I worked in at the Intercontinental hotel but that did not last long. I moved to Rwanda Microfinance, working with small businesses borrowing up to Rwf 1 million to fund their growth. I loved working with these entrepreneurs, structuring short term financing and providing ‘technical support’ in bookkeeping. I learnt through this work that what businesses need from a service provider is a partner with whom they can build trust. In 2005, I moved to (then) BCR, the oldest commercial bank that had just been privatized. I worked in marketing, then product development and strategy but my heart was with SMEs. In 2008, I became a relationship manager in Corporate banking, working with businesses – originating, negotiating, structuring, and executing financing transactions. In 2011, I moved to Ecobank as Head of Corporate Banking and later overseeing Corporate Banking business in six countries for the pan-African bank that is present in 36 countries. In July 2016, I changed course from Banking to Trade development.
The transition from finance & banking to trade development was one of the key highlights in my career journey. I have learnt lessons that I love in sharing in the hope that someone will avoid making the mistakes I made, and hopefully pick something to replicate where I got it right. So here goes…
Aim for excellence, not perfection. As women, most of us have been raised to believe we should be the perfect daughters, wives, mothers, have perfect children and homes, be spiritual and intelligent, look stunning and still maintain our mental wellness. So, when the question is paused, can women have it all? The images that pop up in our minds are women who we feel tick all those boxes, and more. Unfortunately, that is the greatest misconception. We can and should aim at having all those things, but most likely they will come in at different times/intervals. When I made the transition from Banking to Trade development, I was the mother of 2 boys that were both under 3 years of age and I was venturing into new territory in my career. On the outside, things looked great. On the inside, my life was a mess. I went to bed exhausted every night. My husband and son saw very little of me. I constantly beat myself up about the things I did not know and yet I really enjoyed my work. As a woman, you will go through periods of sacrificing some aspects of your life, to let other areas thrive. In those moments, I say strive for excellence in the responsibilities, but not perfection. Perfection is an enemy of progress.
Collaboration, not competition. In my generation, the one thing I am excited to be seeing is more women celebrating each other and collaborating to maximize the impact of their work. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case, and female rivalry in the workplace is still commonplace. Each one of us brings something unique to the table so, as opposed to seeing another woman as competition, how about we use our skills to fill each other’s gaps for a common good? I believe that every generation of women has its own story to tell, and hope that ours will be that we are the generation that learnt to collaborate in the workplace.
For us to choose excellence over perfection and collaboration over competition would mean choosing courage. For me, courage in the workplace has been acknowledging that there is so much I do not know and being able to ask for help. This is not easy to do because we have been taught to be tough in the workplace and that admitting that you do not know is a sign of weakness. It also means embracing vulnerability, which is uncomfortable, but therein lies real courage.
Earn, but do not forget to learn. I have found that a lot of us struggle with this decision when making a career move. How much will I get paid? How much do my peers earn? Kanaka is paid so much… etc. I am a strong advocate of equal pay for equal work but also like to encourage younger people to look beyond pay. Someone close to me was once offered a job in a Central Bank (not in Rwanda), and another in a ‘Big Five’ Audit firm after she completed her bachelor’s degree. The central bank role was offering her a big salary and the audit firm almost one third of that. On assessing the opportunities for growth, she learnt that an entrant to the Bank role had very little room for growth while the audit firm was offering her an opportunity to pursue ACCA and guaranteed growth every year. If earning and learning are conflicting, I like to say (especially to younger people), choose learning. The lessons you learn and then apply are what will later help you earn more in future. If you get both, congratulations – it is a blessing.
Challenge yourself. Take that leap of faith, especially when you most doubt your abilities. Almost everyone I know has once felt underutilized at work. We were created with an innate desire to be productive. If ever you are at that point of dissatisfaction, please dare to change course. That might mean taking on a new project, learning a new skill or changing jobs. When I took the leap of faith in 2016, I had been in banking for 12 years. As much as loved banking and was good at it, I was not growing any younger and I desired a change. I had a young family and no formal training in trade development. Everything within me said I could not do it, but I knew I wanted to try. Taking the decision to apply for the job was risky because it meant embracing the disappointment that would have come with rejection. Looking back, it was possibly the most exciting career decision I took. Making the decision to challenge yourself will be discomforting, but that is when you will feel most alive. Go for it.
Develop networks that know and can speak confidently of your abilities. I worry sometimes that we have got networking wrong. Our idea of networking is attending cocktails, handing out business cards, following up with emails and newsletters and the like. I find that the most reliable networks are made of people who have experienced you deliver beyond their expectations and can speak confidently about your skills and capabilities. Your network only becomes your net worth if it is made up of people who mention your name where you need it to be heard. I believe the best way to network is first and foremost to be excellent at what you do and let the work speak. I call this network developed ‘unconsciously’ through your work ethic. By all means speak about your work, but do not let the actual delivery be a disappointment. I will leave us with a question – do you think your work ethic today will open doors for you today or in future?
Finally, keep doing, learning, and applying lessons learnt. As in Theodore Roosevelt’s words in his “The Man in the Arena” speech: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Thank you and God bless you as you keep growing.