People of Privalgo offers an insight into the people and culture of Privalgo. For the first installment, given yesterday was Mothers Day, we are celebrating one of our amazing working mum’s, Nicola Sawyer!

Join us as she talks about her career, feminism and finding a perfect work-life balance.

Tell us about yourself?

I am a born and bred Londoner and I love to bake and decorate cakes. A mum of two children, I’m a proud feminist working hard to give my kids a better life than I had growing up. My childhood was happy, but we didn’t have much – I grew up in a single parent household in a council estate. My mum worked her butt off to send me to private school so that I could do better, and I refuse to let all that go to waste. I’m fortunate to have a lot of strong women in my life and I celebrated all of them on Mother’s Day, not just my mum. My greatest achievement is being kind to my kids, despite their smart answers.

And the children?

My 11-year-old is a sports fanatic and is top striker for his school team. The seven-year-old is a computer nerd who loves to code and is an expert on Minecraft! She loves books and despite her tender age, she is already a free reader.

Tell us about your role at Privalgo?

I am the Settlements Manager which means I am responsible for the smooth running of the Settlements team and for ensuring all of our clients’ transactions are settled in good time. I work closely with our tech team and have also helped to build the majority of the features in our in house back office system (it’s officially called RockIt) and continue to monitor and improve the system. I am also a member of Privalgo’s leadership team and help to maintain a strong relationship with our banks and counterparties (so basically those relationships that we have with people who aren’t clients)

How did you start at Privalgo?

I always joke that I worked for Privalgo before it existed. I was there building the back office system before Privalgo even had a name. The founders and I have worked together since 2004-2005 and have always had a strong working relationship. We all grew up together! None of us were married or had kids when we met and we have all grown up and done those things at the same time, which makes us all feel more like family than colleagues.

Describe the pressures of a working mum?

I wouldn’t be able to pull off such a good work-life balance without Privalgo. To do it without the support of Privalgo. They are great when it comes to flexible working and were very supportive in letting me decide a working schedule that works for me and my family. I always say I have two jobs, and I finish work at Privalgo then go home to do another day’s work. It’s a struggle, for sure, but Privalgo make it way easier than it could be!

What does Privalgo mean to you?

Privalgo has given me the opportunity to live the feminist dream! I am empowered to actually do it all – be a mum and have a great career. Not many people are as fortunate as I am.