Kirsty Coulston
Product Owner of Portals, EQ Shareholder Services
Introduction and what your role is at EQ
I am the Product Owner of Portals for Shareholder Services, meaning I am responsible for working with our Engineering Teams to prioritise new developments across our portals. Currently we are working on three main initiatives: redesigning our existing core UK portals, to improve visual consistency and usability, launching a new Share Registration app for UK shareholders and launching a new EQ Portal where any EQ customer can view a consolidated view of all their EQ products.
What office are the team located at?
I am based in Worthing, but like many colleagues, my time is split between home and the office. I love going into the Highdown House office as I enjoy catching up and collaborating with my colleagues face-to-face. But, the most special thing about my home office is being able to spend time with my dog while working. He does love to occasionally make a guest appearance on calls!
Explain a bit about your role.
I started my career as a Business Analyst and did this for a total of eight years before moving into Product Ownership. In that time, I achieved a diploma in Business Analysis from the British Computer Society (BCS) and worked on some major projects for EQ. I have also worked across multiple products as a Product Owner at EQ, from the original EQ Insight US product, the tOption .NET portal and the core UK Share Registration product.
I am currently studying for my Senior Leadership Exec MBA which presents an exciting opportunity to develop important leadership knowledge, skills and behaviours that can be used in my role.
What do you like about EQ?
I have been fortunate at EQ to be given many great opportunities, from supporting the migration of the Legacy Wells Fargo Transfer Agency business (now EQ-US), to working with a variety of colleagues across the globe (UK, India, Netherlands, Poland and US). My experience of EQ is that management are very supportive of promoting and mentoring staff through opportunities as they arise, stretching them to achieve new things outside of their normal everyday duties.
Our teams biggest EQ achievement.
My biggest achievement was a very recent one, I was asked to speak on stage at the EQ Conference 2024. Having never spoken on a stage in front of a large audience, I was both excited and apprehensive, but with the support of my colleagues and management, I jumped at the opportunity and received some lovely feedback from both colleagues and clients.
What are you looking forward to in the future at EQ?
I am looking forward to unlocking the potential of our portal's estate! Engaging with our customers and clients on user testing and feedback gathering, to take a data-driven, user-centred approach to future developments.
What hobbies do you and your team enjoy?
I enjoy going to the gym and do a lot of free weight training. I like to push my personal best with the weights that I can lift and particularly enjoy pushing a heavy sled as part of conditioning.
A big thank you to Kirsty for sharing her thoughts with us.