Nicola Wealth executive and 2023
BCBusiness Women of the Year
runner-up Selena Woo has been
moving the dial on representation
and diversity in finance since coming
to Vancouver after graduating from
the University of Calgary.
We met at Nicola's South
Granville office to talk
about work, life and
creating a better future for
the next generation.
by Nathan Caddell
You're a known
name in Vancouver
business circles. With
that comes some
responsibility. How is
the business scene in
Vancouver growing?
Am I right in saying
that you seem to have
the goal of making
sure the industry
supports women in
the right way?
Definitely one of my goals as I'm grow
ing within my career is to make sure I'm
bringing people up with me. When I look
at the business scene, I think of the men
torship piece and sponsoring and champi
oning: I will bring my colleagues with me
to events or invite other women. It's about
building community, not just business; it's
the deep connections where you're rooted
together with purpose. With community,
you keep opening your arms and welcom
ing people in.
Do you feel you were supported
adequately that way when you were
coming up? Or do you feel there's
more work to be done and that's one
of the reasons why you're doing it?
I think there's more work to be done
[laughs]. I get asked a lot about role models
and, to be quite frank, early in my career,
growing up in Calgary, being in the finan
cial services sector as a young woman, I
didn't see any role models who looked like
me. There were very few Chinese women
executives. It was challenging. As you
progress in your career, you gain more
confidence in being your own best role
model, in terms of trying to find your
voice to be confident and asking for
what you need.
The
CONVERSATION
