Louise Beazley, Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Meet Louise Beazley, General Manager Quality and Controls in CBA’s retail bank, winner of the WiBF Award of Achievement in Retail Banking and a self-proclaimed bookworm!

Introducing Louise Beazley, General Manager in CBA’s retail bank. Louise is on the Consumer Finance leadership team, where they design and manage CBA’s credit card, personal loan and overdraft consumer products. She leads the risk team who ensures they deliver quality products that meet their customers’ needs and expectations.

Louise attended WiBF’s 2022 Award Celebrations at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney on the 2nd of September and shared her thoughts with us. “It was a privilege to attend the event, to soak up the atmosphere and be a room with hundreds of talented women. There was a positive energy of support and celebration of one another. Smiles in every direction, people made new friends and reconnected with old ones. Being selected out of so many capable talented women is deeply humbling. I was overwhelmed and shocked when I heard my name. I truly had no expectations of winning,”. Louise adds that “the best part of these awards is that it created an opportunity for people to reflect on the amazing work that women are doing every day.”

We asked Louise what advice she had for standing out of the crowd at work and gaining recognition and this is what she had to say. “Firstly, be comfortable in being yourself, if you strive to fit in, you are aiming to blend in with the crowd. Be your unique self, it also takes a lot less energy to be authentic. And people are drawn to authenticity, it builds trust and mutual respect,”. Louise adds, “take time to understand what makes you unique, what is it that you really enjoy and then be deliberate in finding opportunities to get involved in this type of work. It will not feel like work, and it will be your best work.”

Louise shared with us her game changer moment which also doubles as advice for those wishing to grow a long and successful career within banking and finance. “years ago I realised that every person is uniquely special and valuable, including me. I stopped believing in the myth that you have to be rounded and all things to all people. I worked out that I am most effective in bringing together who has the specific expertise needed to solve challenging problems.”

Besides Louise’s impressive career, she shared with us that she is a bit of a ‘bookworm’, “nowadays I listen to books and book summaries at two times speed!” Wow, we are curious what Louise’s total
book count is to date! Louise also shared that she is studying part-time for a Masters in Business Psychology at the University of Newcastle. That’s incredible, best of luck Louise!

With a 2022 WiBF Award in hand, Louise leaves us with this last piece of advice – “if you have an interest lean into it, we are never too busy for the things that are important to us.”