Mercer New Zealand: International Women’s Day
At Mercer, we believe that inclusion and diversity power us to do what we do best: Provide trusted advice and solutions to build healthier and more sustainable futures.
Shen Chen – Mercer, Auckland
What is your role? Financial adviser
What are your personal interests or hobbies? Travelling, swimming and trying out different cuisines.
Who is your inspiration? Ellen Pao, tech investor and former CEO, because she is a trailblazer for women in technology and shows us that it’s possible to achieve your goals. I also admire her courage for standing up for what she believes despite adversity.
What's the best piece of advice someone has given you? Rome wasn’t built in one day.
What career advice would you like to share with young women? You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.
What excites you about working at Marsh McLennan? The great team that I’m a part of, and the many growth opportunities that Mercer provides.
Mariyam Umar – Mercer, Auckland
What is your role? Communications coordinator for the Consumer Wealth team.
What are your personal interests or hobbies? I have developed a green thumb recently and want to gradually grow my collection of indoor plants. Apart from that, we absolutely love going out for walks as a family. I also love to bake homemade treats for my little ones.
Who is your inspiration? My mum’s resilience while facing health challenges inspires me to stay strong, my two girls teach me the importance of forgiveness and setting aside differences. Acts of kindness from strangers, like someone paying for another person’s bus ride, remind me of the goodness in people. The list is endless!
What's the best piece of advice someone has given you? My dad always says, “Good manners and politeness cost you nothing, but will buy you everything.” This is a life lesson which I’ll also pass on to my kids.
How do you bring your "whole self” to work? By acknowledging my strengths and weaknesses, and by being authentic in my interactions with other people where I do not have to pretend to be someone I’m not.
What excites you about working at Marsh McLennan? My team and the work culture! Going to work and feeling valued and acknowledged is incredibly exciting and rewarding.
Kelly O’Brien – Mercer, Wellington
What is your role? Senior product consultant. My main responsibility is ensuring Mercer produces regulatory required documentation within set time scales.
What are your personal interests or hobbies? Anything new! I’ve got a short span of attention and I’m always pushing myself to live a very full life. This summer I learned to surf – not particularly successfully and had a go at paddleboarding. I’m also learning Spanish because I have family in Spain who I visit often.
I regularly volunteer at Kaibosh, a Wellington based food rescue charity, as well as take part in beach cleans to help keep the Hutt Valley looking beautiful.
A key part of my role is encouraging colleagues to volunteer in the community. For the period between Valentine’s Day and International Women’s Day, we support the ‘Love Grace’ Handbag appeal. This is an international appeal empowering the victims of domestic abuse in honour of Grace Millane, a British tourist murdered by a man she met online in Auckland in 2018. So far, we have donated 18 handbags filled with essential items that are donated to women’s refuges.
What's the best piece of advice someone has given you? Listen, really listen. Stay focused on the speaker, don’t ‘plan’ what to say next, and don’t judge or interrupt.
What career advice would you like to share with young women? Get involved and become part of your workplace. Volunteer, get to know your community and be part of it. The day to day role is important but being part of something is even better.
What excites you about working at Marsh McLennan? He tangata he tangata, he tangata. Whilst I am not native to Aotearoa, this Māori proverb sums it up for me: the people, the people, the people.