Today we’d like to introduce you to Urmi Hossain.
Hi Urmi, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story is one of a kind. I work in the financial services industry and use my free time to give back by mentoring women and speaking at events for women in finance and women in leadership. When I was younger, I used to think I would become a therapist. I was always very keen on learning people’s stories, listening to them, and providing advice. As I grew older, I shifted away from this career path (although in my free time, I do act as a therapist for many of my friends) and went towards finance.
Finance was never in mind. I enjoyed math classes a lot, but I have never had a taste of finance until I started university and wanted to attend a class. I would say it was love at first sight. I remember enjoying each one of my classes, taking exams and never feeling tired of how much there was to learn. I enjoyed so much studying that my grades in finance classes allowed me to enroll in the Honours program and gave me the chance to write my thesis about Art and Wine Investing.
Upon graduation, I started my career in finance through an internship which turned into a full-time job. I worked in medium and large-sized financial companies and pursuing a certification in finance such as the CFA program until I finally landed a job at a well-known and recognized investment firm in the financial industry. It was always my dream to work for this firm and upon enhancing my knowledge and skills, I finally got into it. I feel everything worked perfectly in terms of timeline and sometimes some rejections are needed to bring us to where we are meant to be. We just need to be patient and resilient with our goals.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, definitely not and I don’t think events in life are supposed to be smooth. We need bumpy roads before getting on the right road. The main challenge was basically my lack of connections with people in the industry.
I knew I didn’t know many people and I knew that I needed to network and build a profile on LinkedIn to get myself out there. I somehow neglected this aspect of building a presence online which has disadvantaged me.
I felt I had a lot to offer to potential employers, including skills, knowledge, and expertise yet not having a personal brand and social presence did come at a cost. When applying for jobs, I remember being asked many times if I had a LinkedIn profile that people could look up to so that they could learn about me, and I would just answer that all I had was a resume.
What I learned through time is that first impressions matter a lot and people will always look you up online to learn as much as they can about you.
As a consequence, I struggled a lot in finding jobs initially and even subsequently once I was inside the industry and as stubborn I was, I never believed in the power of networking until I finally created my LinkedIn profile after five years of being in the industry and that’s when I realized that Linkedin and building connections are powerful tools to land your dream job, to create an online presence and to build eventual partnerships.
Since then, I have met many people through LinkedIn who sought help and advice for me and vice-versa. My lesson learned here from this experience is: always keep your LinkedIn up-to-date and optimize it as much as possible.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Besides working full-time, I dedicate a lot of time to promoting and spreading the message of women’s empowerment. I volunteer for many female-based organizations as a mentor.
For instance, I handle the social media account for Women In Leadership in the Victoria Chapter in Canada. Over there, we hold events about career building, writing resumes, leveraging the power of LinkedIn, and more with industry experts and career coaches.
We organize virtual and in-person events for women wanting to break the ceiling and become leaders in their fields. We organize Instagram Lives with the members of the community where we talk about hurdles women face in the work field and provide tips with real-life examples to face challenges.
In addition to this, I am also a blogger, a self-published author, a speaker, and a YouTuber. I create a lot of content on my youtube channel and blog where my goal is to promote self-development and self-growth: there is nothing more rewarding than spending our time to invest in ourselves. Lastly, I am a mentor for 100 Women in Finance where I mentor young female talents who want to learn from professionals on what it takes to study and work in finance.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I was born in Sicily which is mainly surrounded by sea. My favorite memory was walking on the beach and hearing the sounds of the waves and seeing the waves. It was relaxing, made me forget all the issues of life, and made me present at the moment.
Contact Info:
- Website: myways.ca
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urmamio/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urmi-hossain
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@urmihossain
- Other: https://www.womeninleadership.ca/victoria
