She came from a very lively and out-going family but as a young child was slow to read and converse despite teachers believing her to be intelligent. It transpired that she was not an introvert but dyslexic.
Once this was discovered she was able to develop the skills to manage her dyslexia and as everything started to ‘click’, her pro-active parents moved her to a school where she could make a fresh start and achieve her potential. After that had occurred, the real Edwina would emerge.
That person was very academic but with a strong disposition towards Maths and the three sciences and later on after GCSEs, Economics. She was also very sporting, an accomplished runner among her many pastimes. In so far as she had contemplated a career choice at this tender age it was as a doctor or vet and nothing within finance.
A pivotal moment came when she had to decide what to read and where to apply to university. It was suggested to her that she might chance her arm at Cambridge, studying either Economics or Natural Sciences. Her instinct was that this was way too ambitious. Her mother thought otherwise urging her to “Take a look” and “What do you have to lose?”, important themes which have stuck with her through life ever since.
Rowing at this level at Oxford or Cambridge is not for the fainthearted. It requires pure resilience. A typical week would demand a dozen training sessions, usually early in the morning and in the rain.
She was admitted to Cambridge to study Economics. As matters evolved, unofficially, she actually undertook a degree in Economics and Rowing. Having never been in an Eight before, one became her second home. She rowed in and then captained the female first boat at her college (Christ’s) and then moved up to university level ending as the Lightweights captain in her final year. Being quite tall, she also had to be disciplined in her diet to qualify.
Rowing at this level at Oxford or Cambridge is not for the fainthearted. It requires pure resilience. A typical week would demand a dozen training sessions, usually early in the morning and in the rain. Edwina would make it to the lecture hall by the skin of her teeth but frequently still wet to the bone.
As preparation for life, however, rowing is a unique experience. It is the ultimate team sport. There is no room for extravagant individualism (quite the opposite, it would be a disaster for your fortunes). It also requires serious leadership. This was the first time that Edwina had this level of leadership responsibility to undertake, and she soon found out that she needed not only to be determined but also empathetic. It was an important learning curve as to how to motivate a team through highs and lows, something that has been valuable in her career to date. Above all else, securing an impressive degree while rowing at this standard and with leadership responsibilities meant being very organised.
After four years alternating between lectures and lycra, it was time to contemplate being employed. The natural route for a Cambridge economist of that era would have been banking (that is, after all, where the money was located), but this was the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis and banking suddenly had a reputation akin to that of armed robbery. Edwina turned her mind to the obvious alternatives of management consulting or accountancy.
The virtue of accountancy was it offered a skill set that was likely to be portable in almost all conditions. She did not suddenly think “I want to be an accountant”, she still does not think of herself that way.
A close family tragedy played a part in the final decision which shook Edwina badly (as it would) but also made her realise the frailty of human existence. Anything could happen to anyone at anytime. The virtue of accountancy was it offered a skill set that was likely to be portable in almost all conditions. She did not suddenly think “I want to be an accountant”, she still does not think of herself that way. Nonetheless, the die was cast and having offers from all the Big 4 , she signed up with PwC.
She trained as a chartered accountant but concentrated on tax rather than audit. From relatively early on she thought it unlikely that she would build a thirty plus year career there, despite enjoying working for several inspirational leaders and finding the academic aspect of the work appealing. Rather than being an advisor, she wanted to be in house solving the problems her clients faced. She therefore jumped when the opportunity for a secondment came up with Seqirus, part of CSL (a major Australian pharmaceutical conglomerate). It was a very, very big jump upwards for her and having supported the CFO through a transition period, she was made the tempting offer to take on the position of Global Head of Tax . She had, however, spent 15 months there during a period of rapid change and she sensed that stability was approaching. That might have appealed to some, but she had determined that what stimulated her was the fast-paced vibrancy associated with a rapidly growing and evolving institution, even one little more than a start-up firm.
So, she returned to PwC briefly and then signed up as a Long/Short Equity Analyst focused on China tech companies at Sloane Robinson LLP, an insurgent hedge fund. It was extremely different to PwC, and enabled her to acquire knowledge of financial modelling that would have been unobtainable if she had stayed where she was. She had more tools in her box but wanted to see how she would fair in a start-up.
And so she found herself at Trouva. As a marketplace, it is essentially a complex technology platform enabling customers from around the world to discover and buy products from hundreds of unique, independent Boutiques
Edwina’s time there has been, to put it mildly, pretty wild but immensely rewarding. It has had many components that aspiring CFOs should consider when planning their own career development.
First, it has required striking flexibility. Her roles have covered finance, legal, people, culture, performance marketing, logistics and customer operations. She started with a small team and has had to build it on the run. She was Head of Business Operations then the Finance Director and after that the CFO (with much more exposure to the Board and responsibility for trading and logistics). She has had to become much more technical herself as her roles have involved working closely with product and data teams. There was also maternity leave thrown in (she is now on her second stint). Oh, and Brexit, COVID-19 and the cost-of-living crisis created a few complications too.
She concedes that youth can be a disadvantage at times: It means more hours of preparation for board meetings than might otherwise be the case, plenty of advance consultation before potentially contentious decisions are addressed and that she’s made mistakes
Second, the ownership structure of the company has (due to no fault of Trouva itself) been the subject of considerble convulsion. It was initially backed by venture capital firms with funding rounds and debt raises being the key focus in the first few years. As part of the leadership team, she then sold it to Made which seemed like a strong fit strategically and culturally. Made, alas, went into administration within 6 months of acquisition, necessitating Edwina and the COO to find a new owner for the Trouva group under immense time pressure and with the added complexity of being a solvent business under a parent destined for administration. She successfully sold Trouva to Restore as majority owners (‘it’s not every year you end up selling the same business twice’), but with additional Angel/VC fundraising on the horizon. For customers and the boutiques, mercifully, much of this has been invisible but it had an impact on the team and taught Edwina a lot about effective communication and team management at times of crisis.
Finally, through all this Edwina has had to function while being obviously atypically young. She assumed the title of CFO barely a dozen years after leaving higher education. She concedes that youth can be a disadvantage at times: It means more hours of preparation for board meetings than might otherwise be the case, plenty of advance consultation before potentially contentious decisions are addressed and that she’s made mistakes (she is a real believer in taking measured risks and failing quickly). She balances this with a real appetite for learning, significant hard work and the experience that comes from such a broad role in a rapidly growing company. Recently, she has hired a great number two (with help from EquityFC!) and has also learnt that while careers are long, children are young for only a short time. Personally, she has found that becoming a parent has helped her become a better employee, bringing a new perspective and laser focus on the highest impact areas. She is a strong believer in the importance of supporting parents in the workplace.
All something of a whirlwind. Yet, despite the drama, an exciting one. She has a front-row seat in an amazing space and place. The bottom line is that the counsel her mother offered on her university choice remains true not only for Edwina but universally: “Take a look. What do you have to lose?”.
