FSC Empower Women are delighted to start our Empower Member series, where we spotlight our members. Our first profile interview is with Angela Meyer, a passionate advocate for financial wellbeing and gender equity specialist in the financial services industry.
Angela’s work and insights are helping to reshape women’s relationship with money and how the financial services engage with women.
Mark your calendars for the launch of her new book, co-written by Rachel Davies, Money, Money, Money. FSC Empower Women are proud to sponsor the Auckland launch - RSVP to come along at one of the following cities: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Queenstown.
Here’s to getting more money in the hands of women!
Let’s start with you: what drives you, and how has that shaped your career journey?
What drives me is fairness, possibility and collaboration. I’ve always been interested in who gets access to power, voice, and opportunity, and who doesn’t. Over time, I realised money sits underneath almost everything: confidence, choices, safety, and freedom.
That’s what led me to found Hi Money with Rachel Davies and to spend the last decade researching women’s relationship with money, not just the numbers, but the system and the psychology around it.
In your current role, what challenges or opportunities are front of mind right now?
The biggest challenge, and opportunity, is moving beyond education alone. Women are more financially literate than ever, yet our Rich in Context research shows women are twice as likely as men to report frequent financial stress affecting their mental wellbeing. Women can’t grow their wealth if they are broke and exhausted.
The opportunity right now is for financial services to genuinely design with women, not just market to them. That means understanding that women experience money differently. Acknowledging factors like unpaid labour, career interruptions, caregiving, pay gaps, longevity, and power dynamics - and building advice, products, and conversations that reflect real lives.
What are you most excited about in 2026 personally, professionally, or for the financial services industry?
I’m excited about the release of our book "Money, Money, Money” and what it opens up - deeper conversations about money that move away from blame and towards systems, context, and compassion. Feel free to pre-order for you, your friends, buy a class set! Empower women are all warmly invited to the launch. We'd love to see you there.
For the industry, I’m optimistic about a growing recognition that success doesn’t come from returns alone, it comes from trust, representation, and relevance. If we get that right, 2026 could be a turning point for how women engage with financial advice and long-term wealth building.
What advice would you share with women navigating their own growth in financial services and growing their financial wellbeing?
Cindy Gallop, entrepreneur and provocateur, gives my favourite career advice when it comes to pay: always ask for the highest number you can say without laughing. It’s a great reminder, especially in an industry that is well paid, yet still under-represents women in senior leadership and continues to undershoot on closing the gender pay gap. We need more women in decision-making roles, and we need to be bolder about valuing our work.
Second, nothing is “wrong” with you. If money feels confusing, overwhelming, or emotionally loaded, that’s a rational response to a system that wasn’t designed with women in mind.
Third, I've found that confidence follows action, not the other way around. You need to start, ask questions, and build your own way over time.
And finally, surround yourself with people and professionals who respect your humour, intelligence, lived experience, and goals. I’ve been genuinely supported since joining the financial services industry, and I’m grateful for the colleagues and allies who have created space, opportunity, and encouragement along the way.
Looking back, what’s a career decision or turning point you’re particularly proud of, or learned most from?
Founding Hi Money was a real turning point. It meant stepping away from more traditional measures of success and trusting that creating something values-led, research-driven, and community-focused would matter.
What I’ve learned is that impact and credibility grow when you’re willing to name uncomfortable truths, especially around money, gender, and power, and to stay the course even when it feels easier not to.
How do you stay balanced or refuel outside work?
Honestly, I am not that great at this. But, I love to return to my theatre roots, so show me a karaoke machine! I love being in nature too, sailing, hiking. Mostly I find being with my friends is where I recharge. Laughter truly is the best medicine.
Bonus question
What change would you most like to see in the financial services sector over the next five years?
Two things. First, mandatory gender pay gap reporting across the financial services sector. We can’t manage what we don’t measure. Until we consistently name the gap, understand it, and make it visible, real progress will remain slow. Transparency creates accountability and accountability drives change. Empower Women are leading the charge here!
Second, a genuine shift towards recognising that women experience money differently. That means the sector fully let go of the idea that women are “behind” or need fixing. The real shift will come when we acknowledge that the system — from pay to policy to product design — is what needs updating.
If we design financial services around real lives, real careers, and real constraints, we don’t just improve outcomes for women, we improve the system for everyone.