Portability & Passion: Grace Motsi's Personal Journey

Grace Motsi is a global pensions consulting actuary, who also has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). Originally from Zimbabwe, she’s studied and worked in a number of other countries, and now lives in Atlanta in the United States – eagle-eyed readers will note her American spelling! She writes about her studies, her career, becoming a mother, and balancing work and motherhood i.e. ‘being pulled in all directions’. Ambition, perseverance, growth, values, family, and service – here is Grace’s story: 

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​“I grew up in Zimbabwe with my three siblings – who are still today three of my favorite people in the world. I never laugh as hard (or loud!) as when I am with those three! Our parents threw all they had into us and had very high ambitions for all four of us vana... 

As a teenager in high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up in terms of work. What I did know was that my career had to: 

• be different from what everybody else was doing (for the bragging rights) and 
• offer a strong earning potential (I had seen my parents struggle to make ends meet in their pursuit for a good education for us all and I didn’t want that for me, and I also knew they didn’t want that for any of their children).  

When I had two years left of high school, a careers advisor came to our school to talk to the seniors. My class wasn’t in that meeting, but that session still changed my life! When the senior students came out from that meeting, there was some chatter about something called an “actuary”. You had to be good at mathematics (check!), it was a unique and sought-after profession (secure – check!, earning potential – check!). Apparently, there were only 12 actuaries working in Zimbabwe at the time and 10 of them were from other countries. There wasn’t even an actuarial degree offered in Zimbabwe then… I didn’t know how, but I was going to be an actuary!

Getting started
I don’t even remember how I got the name of someone who worked for Old Mutual Zimbabwe (a big local insurance company), but ambitious and naive Grace sent him a letter expressing interest in becoming an actuary. I got a response! When I looked at the signature and title, I couldn’t believe it – I had sent a letter to the chief actuary of the company! He was kind enough to respond with information about a bursary to study actuarial science in Cape Town, South Africa, that Old Mutual offered. Brilliant, I had a next step! I applied to the University of Cape Town and for the bursary. After several rounds of interviews and some tests, I was awarded the bursary and off I went to South Africa at age 19! 

The University of Cape Town (UCT)

Grace with one of her many besties on campus

​The power of perseverance
The degree was very challenging. It’s probably the hardest thing I have done in my life to date – even harder than qualifying as an actuary! Giving up wasn’t an option as my family would have to pay back the bursary money. That experience taught me perseverance and showed me I had the ability to power up and hunker down to see things to the end. These days we’d call this ‘grit’. I have drawn from this experience at many points in my life since then – while I was writing professional exams during those first few years of working, when I had to juggle work and kids when my family was young, and when I have faced tough projects at work with unforgiving deadlines.

Working abroad
When I finished my actuarial degree, I experienced for the first time one of the many advantages of an actuarial career. I didn’t want to return to Zimbabwe given the state of the economy at that time. I set my sights on Europe, but again I just had to be different... I chose Ireland rather than the United Kingdom (UK) as in my view, everyone else was going to the UK at the time. I got a graduate position in Dublin as a trainee pensions actuary at Irish Life. So, I got a job overseas with nothing but my actuarial degree from Cape Town, South Africa! I have since then worked in the UK and now I am based in the United States. My career has paid the bills and fed my sense of adventure!​

I spent three-and-a-half years in Ireland, working with an incredible group of people who took me in and made me feel at home in Dublin. The girls in my office even went with me to see Westlife in concert! We were an island of twenty-somethings in a sea of what seemed like all the teenage girls in Dublin! Belting out “Queen of My Heart”, “My Love” and more of course… 

​After Ireland, I moved to the UK, and I took up a position in a life insurance company because I wanted to experience something different from pensions. I am curious and not afraid to see what else is out there for me. But sometimes you don’t like what you see! And that’s okay because you learn something about yourself... I didn’t enjoy life as an insurance actuary so after just shy of two years I moved back to pensions but this time for a consulting firm. I have been with this firm for  more than 15 years now, so I guess I’ve found a home of sorts. 

Becoming a mommy 
The UK is where both my children were born. One of my big dreams, in fact my biggest dream (way before careers and money were ever a thing in my mind) was to be a wife and mother! I knew I wanted to take time to savor the baby phase with my kids, but I was apprehensive of what time away from work would do for my career. It was the first time my drive and ambition for my career clashed head on with one of my core values. While I was deliberating how much time I should take for maternity leave, one of my very wise colleagues – single and male might I add – asked me if it would really matter for any job or project in two decades whether I had 20 years’ or 19 years’ experience! No, it wouldn’t! I took a year off when each of my two kids were born and never looked back. (At the time a year was the maximum my company would be legally obligated to a keep a job for me). 

During both spells of maternity leave, I was able to just focus on being mommy and it was great. I was able to take long trips to Zimbabwe and the US to visit my family there and give them a chance to bond with my little ones. After my first maternity leave, I also made the decision to work part-time. I thought it would probably slow down my career trajectory, but I also knew that being an actuary was a respected and valued career, and I would always have a job, so I took the plunge. 

I love to pour into women in the circles I am in, to remind them of their value and worth especially in the workplace and give them confidence and just basically be their cheerleader...  
​I have gained so much more than I have given to the village that surrounds me"
GRACE MOTSI, Protagion mentor

Returning to work
After my first maternity leave, I came back refreshed and ready to take on the world. I was also allocated a new portfolio of clients. It was exciting getting back to work and working with new people and learning the nuances of my new clients.  

Settling back in after the second stint was a lot harder. I felt like my peers had left me behind in terms of career progression (not true), and I also suffered from what I now know is called imposter syndrome. I wish I'd had then the vocabulary to articulate what I was feeling and the knowledge that this wasn’t unique to me – it’s a problem that many women and men face. 

But l persevered and eventually found my confidence and my groove. I do remember the days of being pulled in all directions with kids and work. Even with my incredible, “hands-on dad” of a husband, it was exhausting! I learned a lot from those experiences, and now, true to another core value of mine of serving others, I love to pour into women in the circles I am in, to remind them of their value and worth especially in the workplace and give them confidence and just basically be their cheerleader. 

Taking time away from work does not delete all that experience we’ve built over years, our raw talent, capabilities, and unique skill set, not to mention the valuable skills we acquire while away from work. Often (just like it was for me) the women I have spoken to over the years don’t see just how much they are absolutely crushing it. And, that even if they dialed it down a notch or several at work, so they could concentrate on their self-care, they would still be knocking it out of the park.

​As women, we have so much stuff we are handling, and we need a community to keep us grounded or else we’d be blown away by the craziness and chaos that is life. I can honestly say I have gained so much more than I have given to the village that surrounds me. 

Moving to America
When our kids were four and seven and I was beginning to feel like ‘yes now I can really dig back into my career, perhaps even go back full time’, Family vs Career Clash Round Two happened.  We felt a pull to move closer to our family. My husband’s siblings and parents had by that time all moved to America. The move presented a challenge career wise for us, but we knew our family would thrive and it has. After not a lot of deliberation (!), we moved to the US. I was able to stay with my company and move to another business unit (thank you portable career and skills!). While the motivation for the move was family, ironically the first few years in America was probably when I felt I neglected my family the most as I concentrated on work. Thankfully, I have come out of that fog and feel a lot more centered and at peace now that my actions are aligned with my values.

​I have continued to pursue growth in the US. I did an MBA degree at Emory University in Atlanta, so I could explore the business side more deeply. I'd always done actuarial work in some form or another throughout my career and was curious about what else I could do. Coming out of that MBA experience, I knew I couldn't simply continue doing what I've always done... I have since bought a small business with my husband that we run alongside my career. (By “we” I mean mostly him!). We are the people that draw the lines in parking lots. Not at all actuarial but our necessary service makes for a stable growing income and I get to put that MBA to use to our direct benefit.

Lessons learned so far
Along the way I have learned that my core values are putting family first, being of service to others and pursuing my own growth. I admit, it took some work to reveal what those core values are. I had to look back at decisions I’ve made, chances I’ve taken and when I've been at my highest on the happy scale during my life. Knowing my core values has made setting a course for my life and career a lot easier and helped me make key decisions. 

I have learned resilience and grit, adaptability (thanks to all the countries I have lived in and all the different people I have lived and worked alongside) and not least of all grace (pun intended!) - I’ve  learned to dish grace out in spades because I have needed so much of it on my own journey! I have learned to be ambitious for me and that it’s okay if my goals and my life look different from the next person’s.

I'm grateful for my chosen career that has afforded me with so many opportunities and has led me to a place so far, geographically and mentally, from the place of my childhood. I am grateful for my parents who dreamed big things for their children and actively (and sometimes sacrificially) worked to support those big ambitions for us. I'm grateful for my husband and family, my very own little tribe!

I remain curious and open. Looking ahead, I see a lot more growth, a lot more hugs, love and laughter with my family and friends and maybe another business or two or even another country move!”

Grace spoke as part of the ‘Career Breaks & Returning to Work’ panel during Protagion’s Professional Development Conference in March 2021. She discussed her experiences, and answered questions from the audience. Watch an excerpt of the panel below. The full recording of the hour-long panel is available to Protagion subscribers.

She also hosted an interactive in-a-group discussion with Protagion subscribers on 'Moving Countries for our Careers' in August 2022 and is available for one-on-one discussion/mentoring via our protege platform.