Diverse pathways into insurance – Hamide’s story

Hamide’s inspiring career journey from Turkey to the UK

To celebrate our 10-year anniversary and to highlight our ongoing work to help improve social mobility, we’re bringing you a series illustrating diverse career pathways into insurance.  

This month we’re excited to tell you about Hamide’s journey from Turkey to the UK, one challenge at a time. Hamide’s career story is one of challenges overcome. But what makes her journey so interesting is they were often challenges of her own, deliberate making. Not only have these challenges steered her career through a number of industries and countries, they have also given her the powers of resilience and adaptability. Hamide’s story exemplifies ‘stepping outside of your comfort zone’ to learn, develop and ultimately fulfil career aspirations.
 
Hamide holds not one, but two, degrees in Industrial Engineering and Business Administration, from the University of Instanbul. Her academic success kickstarted her career as a business analyst at a local bank. After three years, Hamide was ready for a new challenge. Her appetite for change led her into a new position in the bank’s Business Continuity Management team. Hamide confesses she knew very little about business continuity; however, her willingness to embrace a new experience was motivation enough to learn, adapt and succeed in the role.
 
After seven years at the bank, Hamide sought a new challenge. To gain international experience, she accepted a Business Continuity Manager position for a payment systems company in Germany. The move presented challenges as well as opportunities, with having to learn German at the forefront. While weekly lessons and learning on the job, were a great help in learning this notoriously difficult language, Hamide recalls making the most progress while attending knitting classes. She found the more relaxed environment a perfect place to learn and ultimately become fluent in German.
 
Hamide later joined Deloitte as a consultant. Though her German lived up to the expectations of her clients, she recalls feeling like an imposter for listening in German while translating into Turkish in her head. It is an experience that has not left her. Hamide is the first to empathise with and support colleagues who also speak in a language different to their mother tongue.
 
In 2020, amid the pandemic, Hamide made another, now characteristic, bold move to the UK. Tapping into her previous experience and resilience, Hamida learned to work in a different cultural environment, work remotely and, as lockdown eased, create new social connections. In these unique circumstances and without meeting her colleagues in person for the first year, Hamide successfully led her team and integrated into her new role at CNA Hardy.
 
Hamide attributes much of her success to her resilience. As such, it is somewhat unsurprising that she continues to grow her career at CNA Hardy where she now leads a diverse team spread across Europe, managing business resilience.
 
Beyond her professional achievements, Hamide is passionate about sharing her journey and inspiring others. She runs a podcast in Turkish aimed at helping people step out of their comfort zone to achieve their goals. Through her podcast and mentoring within her company, Hamide shares the lessons she’s learned, offering guidance on both professional and personal growth.
 
Hamide’s story is a powerful reminder of the importance of embracing challenges and the impact of resilience. Her advice to others is simple yet powerful: “Don’t be afraid of challenges because you never know where those challenges will take you.”

 
At IICF we believe that the industry can be a united force for good. Through our focus on social mobility, we are helping to unlock potential, open doors and changes lives by uniting the industry in grants, volunteer service and leadership while helping build a more inclusive industry. We hope this story inspires you to pay it forward and help change a young person’s future, perhaps as a mentor or volunteer with an IICF charity partner.  

Find out how you can get involved