Judy Shaw (Music, 1981)

Stockbroker

I remember my Oxford interview well; with a charismatic, effervescent gentleman who charmed me into believing that a sixth former from a comprehensive could win a place at Oxford. Here was a man who inspired me to believe anything was possible and I left Oxford that day filled with a new belief in myself. Thanks to Neil Tanner’s vision I went on to study Music at Hertford, followed by a postgraduate year as a cellist at the Royal Academy of Music. I then changed direction (having to admit that I was not a world class soloist!) and joined a City stockbroking firm, reminding myself of Neil’s words to ‘believe in myself’. After all, what does a cellist know about stockbroking?

Nearly 30 years later, I am a Managing Director of Bank of America but much more importantly to me, I am a mother of two wonderful daughters and a wife of a professional violinist. Balancing a career and a family has been an incredible challenge, even harder than winning a place at Oxford! As a woman with children on a City trading floor I am, today, still very much in a minority. Oxford has embraced its women but we still need to fight for change in the City; for a work life balance that allows us to combine our families and careers. Neil Tanner and my Oxford experience equipped me with the resilience and belief to find a pathway to succeed. For those of you heading into the financial markets today, it’s an invigorating and challenging world and your demands for change will, I am sure, shape its future!