Diane Bailey: Inspiring Courage & Contribution at All Ages

Shot Caller: A Podcast by Shannon Sagawe

After graduating from Harvard (JFK School of Government and the business school)Diane went into investment banking. She began her banking career over 25 years ago. A fortuitous trip to the UK and falling in love meant she decided to build a life there. Her interest in making sure bank legal documents "reflected" the intent of the transaction. This led her to get a law degree with Kings College in London. She has been a transactional, legal banking lawyer since then.

Diane became a single mother as she continued to build her career-which was no small feat. She eventually relocated to Zürich with Credit Suisse and continued to thrive. A variety of changes at the bank and her approaching a "certain age" meant that she was faced with some very challenging career decisions at a point in her life when she should have been reaping the rewards of years of hard work.

In this podcast, Diane shows us her tenacity, her vulnerability and her willingness to invest in herself by learning new subjects and skills in the midst of one of the most difficult times in her life. We get an insight into trying to survive those "banking reorganizations," the importance of not tethering all of your personal self-worth to your career status and how being open to learning as an adult can bring wonderful, exciting new opportunities!

After leaving Credit Suisse and figuring out her next career move, Diane pursued the topic of "social responsibility" with absolute gusto. She rallied a wide variety of top alumni groups in Zürich to work together to host events around the most pressing social issues we are facing. This had the side benefit of massively increasing her network and exposure to a plethora of fast growing businesses. Thanks in part, to her enrolling in the Oxford University Blockchain course Diane has since gone on to nab the CEO position of a social media start-up with blockchain technology, Vitae.

This podcast is for anyone who has had a door shut "on them" and needs to hear how this could instead be a door shut "for you!" This podcast is about inspiration in the darkest of times. Investing in yourself and knowing your worth- holistically- is what we should all be doing. Topics like age discrimination in the workplace need to also be addressed.

As we age longer and better- the definition of 'mature' needs to also change. Corporations need to look at their diversity and inclusion from a "multigenerational" perspective as well as the other metrics; sex, race, etc. Interestingly, the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurs in Australia is the over 55 segment!

Please let us know if this podcast moved and inspired you!

Reach out and connect with Diane on LinkedIn. I am sure she would love to keep you updated on her very exciting start up- Vitae- as they go to launch.

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Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, check out some of our other podcasts with revolutionaries, change makers and inspiring people!

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