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Roxana Mohammadian-Molina.

“I chose finance to be free. Now I want other women to do the same.”

“I wanted to work in finance because I wanted to make money. That’s the truth.”

There’s no hesitation in her voice. Only clarity. Ambition. A steely will to take what she needed: financial independence. Because sometimes we don’t work for passion. We work for freedom.

Roxana Mohammadian-Molina does not sugar-coat the past, nor does she make excuses for the present. Internationalist, strategist, advisor, investor - she’s one of those women who walked through fire and came out the other side saying, 'I know what I’m talking about.'

She began in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis, when the world was crumbling and banks were falling apart. First Barclays, then Morgan Stanley. Commodity trading - oil, gas, metals. One of the most male-dominated corners of an already male-dominated world: finance. After years in banking, in 2015 she pivoted into tech and fintech.

“There were very few women at the time. And I thought fintech would be different. It wasn’t. We were still few and far between.”

Her words carry weight. Not because they’re bitter, but because they’re honest. They tell a story of bold decisions and endurance, in a world that changes far too slowly. A world that, despite some progress, still wears the face of structural inequality.

“I was expecting to see more women. But the problems of access and progression are still there. Even in the startup world. And it gets harder when a woman decides to become a mother.”

Finance is conversation

It’s not just a question of technical knowledge. Roxana says it plainly:

“Women have money. But they often just leave it sitting in a bank account. And not investing means you’re missing out. If you could get a 5%, 10%, 15% return and you don’t… That’s a missed opportunity.”

There’s a cultural block behind all of this. Women don’t talk about money. They don’t ask their friends how much they earn. They don’t discuss how they grow their savings. And so they stay out of the most important conversation: the one about freedom.

“Money shouldn’t be a taboo. We need to normalise these conversations. We need to feel comfortable talking about money.”

Opening up about these topics becomes an act of rebellion. Over the years, Roxana has worked in elite banks, invested in technology, fintech and real estate. She’s seen first-hand what really holds women back from finance: it’s not just a lack of skills. It’s silence.

“Men sit together and say, ‘Where are you investing?’ ‘What opportunities have you come across?’ Women don’t do that. We talk about many things, but we don’t compare portfolios. And that’s a huge mistake.”

Breaking that taboo is urgent. Because the truth is simple: no one really teaches you how to invest - unless it’s someone close to you. And if women keep avoiding the topic, they’ll keep feeling excluded - and they’ll be excluded.

The roots of courage

When I ask if she’s ever felt underestimated because she’s a woman, she looks at me calmly and says, 'not me, but many have'.

"I have a strong personality. But I’ve seen so many who couldn’t handle the pressure. Yes, it depends on the person. But it also depends on the environment.”

And the environment wasn’t always kind.

“I remember a young graduate who died after working 24 hours straight. That’s how it was back then. Today banks have come a long way in terms of mental wellbeing, support for parents. But in start-ups, for example, there’s still a lot of work to do.”

Motherhood, she says, is still a massive barrier to women’s careers.

“After kids, it’s extremely hard. The costs of care, the lack of real support… Sometimes it’s not even worth going back to work. That’s why women are missing from the top. It’s not a mystery.”

Self-confidence is a theme that comes back again and again. Because in finance - as in life - the numbers matter, but it’s our relationship with them that makes the difference. As Sam Sims of National Numeracy puts it, improving the nation's number skills means tackling the confidence gap between genders.

“We believe everyone can improve their numerical skills, but we can't improve the nation’s numeracy without addressing the huge gender gap in terms of confidence with numbers,” - Sam Sims, CEO of National Numeracy.

And to build that confidence, you have to start with education. Truly inclusive, accessible education. No need for complicated formulas. Just practical tools and safe spaces where people can ask questions without feeling judged.

The investment gender gap

Claer Barrett in the Financial Times also reports this gender confidence divide, underscoring how it contributes to broader financial exclusion.

In the UK, the gender investment gap is approaching £600 billion. But data from the start-up Young Juno - a finance app that makes money management feel as accessible as Duolingo makes language learning - shows something else too: when a woman starts investing, everything changes.

She gains autonomy, control, freedom. However, many women and non-binary people still feel excluded from the world of finance: 72% of Young Juno’s community says they feel overwhelmed when trying to understand the world of investments.

Yet too many stop before they even begin. Because no one ever told them they could. That’s why, according to Roxana, real change won’t come from quotas. It’ll come from schools.

“If you force a company to hire a woman just to tick a box, that’s all it is. But if you prepare her from the start to apply, to work with numbers, to believe she can… Then everything changes.”

Programmes like Numeracy Champions and new financial education modules in some secondary schools are trying to rewrite the rules.

The goal is simple: to normalise the use of numbers. To make sure percentages, budgets, and data aren’t scary words, but tools of power.

Because real change starts with a conversation. With a girl who asks, 'how much do you make?' without feeling awkward. With a friend who says, “I invested here, what about you?” without feeling ridiculous. With a woman who looks at a job posting and thinks, “this could be for me too.”

And when I ask Roxana what she would say to a young woman who feels excluded from the world of finance, she smiles.

“Finance is only scary if you look at it from far away. It’s the idea of it that scares us, not the reality. Before skills, women need confidence. And confidence comes from education.”

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