Tannia Munroe, Director – Emerging Markets Product Manager at Tradeweb, won Excellence in Trading Platforms at Markets Media Group’s inaugural Women in Finance Latin America Awards, which was held in Mexico City on March 6.

Markets Media sat down with Tannia to learn more about her background and career.

What achievement, personal or professional, are you most proud of?

One that really stands out for me is the recent transition to the new OIS rate in Mexico. It was such a success and involved a lot of collaboration between so many different parties. It really was a kudos to the team. It wasn’t just my success—it was Tradeweb’s success. It was an important milestone for the market, and to be part of it from the very beginning and see it through was something I’m really proud of.  In the beginning, people wouldn’t even listen when you tried to talk about it. They’d say, “Oh, that’s two years away, what are you talking about?” And then you get to the day-of, and it actually happens, and you see it take hold in the market. That’s incredibly rewarding.

We’ve done quite a few of these transitions to risk-free rates across the swaps markets, so we’ve got a process around it. But it’s never simple. There’s always an education phase, then the planning, and then the testing phase. It never just happens overnight.

What have been the biggest challenges in your career, and how did you address them?

I’ve done a lot of different things in my career—always on the FinTech side—but I started in a very different part of the business. I was doing accounting. One big challenge has always been embracing change. There’s no forward movement without it. If I had stayed in accounting just because that was the track I had in my mind, I probably wouldn’t have been as successful. It didn’t really match my personality or what I liked to do. So being able to pivot and take an opportunity that came up and say, “Okay, yeah, I’ll try this,” was really important. Coming here was a huge change for me, and I’m super proud of the work I’ve done here alongside my team. You don’t always feel 100% comfortable, but you have to be willing to take the risk and accept that change can be a good thing.

The other challenge, honestly, is being a mom. That’s probably my biggest life achievement. And being a working mom is a challenge no matter what you do or where you work. I’m lucky to be at a company that’s super supportive. And my team has been supportive too.My kids are older now, but that’s always been something women face in their careers. Getting through it meant not just looking for a company that would support me, but also requiring that same support in my personal life—from my husband, my parents, my family. It was, and still is, a group effort. No one can do it all on their own.

Who have been the main influences in your career?

I’ve had a lot of influences. I’ve been really lucky to work with some great people. And here in particular, there’s a huge team that’s super supportive. There’s someone I consider both a mentor and a sponsor—though I don’t even think he knows it! That’s the beauty of it. It’s not an official program, even though we do have one. We never sat down and said, “Hey, I want to be your mentor.” It just happened organically. I think we both saw a willingness to help and recognized what we each bring to the table. He’s been really helpful to me.

What advice would you give to young women starting—or considering—a career in finance?

First, like I said before—be open to change. Don’t let fear stop you from seeing an opportunity and going for it. We often hold ourselves back. We don’t feel qualified enough, or we think we haven’t done something before, so maybe we shouldn’t even try.

But the truth is, most people start a job not 100% qualified—because otherwise, you’re not stretching yourself. And what’s the point of moving if you’re going to go do the exact same thing?

So get comfortable with that. But also work really hard to become qualified, to improve your skills, and to get to the level you’re expected to be at. It’s all about continuing to grow, continuing to change, and working toward that level of expertise and confidence.

What does the future hold for you?

There’s still a whole world in EM that’s unexplored. Our biggest goal is to provide a super comprehensive, holistic solution for clients in the emerging market space. And we’re a good ways there—we support interest rate derivatives, cash bonds on both the local and hard currency side, EM ETFs, and now EM repo. I think that’s where a lot of our future development is going to be. We have a great repo product, and we’ve just extended it to EM. As that grows, we’ll be able to add another layer—that funding piece—for clients.