Women in Financial Services
Weekly Virtual Coffee Break – Joy Mpofu - Above keyboard dressing
Katie.Dix / 25 Aug 2020
Last week, our virtual coffee break welcomed Joy Mpofu. She is a Director in the Regulatory Relations Group at Morgan Stanley, advising the firm on the UK regulator’s expectations on financial risk from climate change, sustainability and credit risk. Joy is also an active E2W member and on our Alpha Challengers Advisory Board.
During lockdown, Joy took the opportunity to develop a side project based on her lifelong passion for clothes and personal style. It is called Rufaro Styling and it aims to empower corporate women by providing the most personalised styling service available to help them achieve their goals, both personally and professionally.
In our coffee break, Joy talked a little about her life, studies and career before focusing on this passion project and her innovative idea of ‘above keyboard dressing’ – how you present yourself when working virtually.
She talked about the role of workwear in a personal brand – and how the ways you dress can affect how you feel about yourself, as well as how other people perceive you. Her presentation had lots of audience participation, as she asked everyone to think about their personal style and how this has carried over from the office into working from home.
Joy also talked about the value of still dressing up to create a distinction between being at work and being at home – and what the future could be for work wear if home working continues into the long term. As she pointed out, “We all replicated our desks from our work offices, so why is that we were wearing smart clothes at work, but not at home.”
Her presentation had some great tips about ways to look smart and comfortable. In particular:
- Invest in well-made blouses that shape your body and make you feel comfortable
- Invest in comfortable loungewear that you would feel comfortable to wear in public
- Simple touches of jewellery can elevate your look with minimal effort
To hear more of Joy’s suggestions and tips, as well as the great discussion that took place during the coffee break, please watch our video on catch-up.
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