League of Extraordinary Young Women: Eva Wong

Eva is a Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Borrowell, a Canadian fintech company that offers personal loans, free credit scores and personalized product recommendations. With a background in management consulting and business development, Eva has worked at Maple Leaf Foods, Oliver Wyman and a number of not-for-profit organizations. She has studied or worked in the US, Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Europe.

Eva was named one of "9 Canadian Women Changing The Game" by Elle Canada magazine, one of "30 Women in Canadian Tech Worth Following" by BetaKit and a finalist for "Fintech Woman of the Year" by LendIt, the world’s biggest show in lending & fintech.

Eva holds degrees from Harvard University and Queen’s School of Business. She enjoys food blogs and baking projects with her two kids.

Describe who you work for and why it's important to you.

I'm part of the team at Borrowell, a Canadian financial technology company. We help Canadians understand their credit so they can make the best financial decisions for their personal situation. We offer credit scores for free, personal loans and other product recommendations.

How does your role empower you?

At Borrowell, we're all empowered to think and act like owners. From setting our personal goals and contributing to our company-level objectives, to getting involved in interviewing and hiring new team members, it's very empowering to have a say in what we're doing as a company. Being at a small, fast-paced company also gives all of us lots of new learning opportunities, which is also really empowering.

What advice do you have to other young women looking to get involved in your field of work?

Do your research - use the products, go to tech events, meet with people who work in the field. Then, just go for it! Apply for the job you want, reach out to companies you're interested in, or start something yourself!

Who is your biggest role model, why?

That's a tough one. I don't have just one. I admire Sheryl Sandberg and a few others for their careers and what they've been able to accomplish. I have friends I admire for their patience with their kids, and others I admire for their faith and spirituality.

What book do you recommend every young professional should read?

I'm a big fan of "Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose" by Tony Hsieh, the founder of online shoe company Zappos. And I'm currently reading Adam Grant's "Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success" which I'm enjoying a lot.

If you could go back to your 16 year old self, what would you say?

Don't worry about what you'll be when you grow up - you don't have to pick just one thing.

Why do you think groups like YWiB are important?

Groups like YWiB are really important. I once heard someone say, "If you can't see it, you can't be it." I think there's some truth in that. I don't think it ever crossed my mind to become a tech entrepreneur when I was younger, and I think part of it is because I never saw anyone like me doing that. So planting the seeds of what opportunities are out there is really great.

What can our readers do to help you?

One thing you can do that would help me and yourself is to get your credit score at Borrowell! It's free, it only takes two minutes and it won't affect your score. It's the first step to understanding where you stand.

The other thing readers can do is look at our job postings, and apply or recommend a friend if there's anything that fits! One of our goals is to build a gender-balanced team, and the more women we can get interested in what we're building, the better