At Nucleus, we’re celebrating the amazing women at the helm of everything we do. We’ll be introducing you to the fantastic female leaders making waves within our organisation.

Introducing Jo Stafford

We welcomed Jo to our team back in 2018, when she joined Nucleus as Sales Support for the Direct Sales team. In her role, she supported the field sales in both the UK and India, covering all 3 products (Business Cash Advance, Property Finance and Cash Flow Finance) offered by us at the time.

Jo was no stranger to the finance world when she joined us, having previously built up her knowledge at other well-known financial institutions. She started her journey at Santander Consumer Finance, Redhill, as a Sales Development Consultant. After that, she moved on to various other roles, including being Regional Account Manager at Blue Helix Ltd, Internal Sales Executive at Siemens Financial Services and an Account Manager at a brokerage.

Rapid Career Growth At Nucleus

Bringing with her a wealth of experience, Jo was soon promoted, and after just a year with us, she took on her current role, becoming the New Business Manager at Nucleus. Initially, she managed the Business Support team, but after making such a success of it, Jo progressed to managing the entire BDE team too. She’s a well-valued member of the Nucleus team, never shying away from challenges that come her way and being confident enough to speak up when problems arise, a trait we value highly at Nucleus.

Her team look to her for guidance, and it’s often her fun, charming demeanour that pulls (and retains) talent to the New Business Development team.

Here’s something that Jo had to say about what she learned in her journey as a female leader at Nucleus:

Women in leadership bring a new way of thinking to the roles at Nucleus. Having powerful and personable women at the top, I believe, encourages those people around them to strive for better things.

Women bring a different approach to leadership in my eyes; they look at the bigger picture and don’t seem to be blinkered by things that may be looked at by male leaders.

Having worked in many male-dominated companies in this industry sector, it is nice to see now so many more women taking on the top spots and leading those departments to great things.

My advice is don’t be discouraged if you are overlooked for a role – maybe it’s just not the right time or even the right company.

When you find the right company, they will recognise your worth and give you the leadership role you deserve.

My Personal Trifactor to Success in the Finance World

Jo concluded with her 3 best tips for how women can carve out successful leadership careers for themselves and help empower the next generation of women after them.

1. Be honest

The more open and honest you are with your team and those above you, the more feedback you will receive and the more open the team members will be with you.

2. Make time for everyone

If someone needs your help, make time for them. What may seem like a small issue to you may be a huge problem for them.

3. Involve the team

The people doing the job should be involved in any discussions on how things may change going forward. Have brainstorming sessions to get their thoughts so you can ensure you’re being inclusive with everyone, as every opinion matters.