RUWAYDA REDFEARN

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At 29, I walked into my first audit committee meeting as a partner. I was the only person of colour, the only woman and the youngest in the room. The person closest in age was in his 50s. Nothing in the room reflected me. The faces around the table seemed to ask: what are you doing here?

I had wondered the same.

I had overprepared, staying up until 2am, anticipating every possible question. I wanted to demonstrate that I deserved to be in my position. My senior partner insisted that I present, so I explained a complex accounting treatment related to embedded derivatives and encouraged questions. The chair leaned forward and asked: “What is an embedded derivative?”

This moment reminded me that confidence doesn’t always precede action; sometimes it emerges afterwards. My guiding principle has always been; take action, speak up, and try even when your knees are shaking — especially when they are shaking.

That is why I say to every young woman considering auditing: feeling that you do not belong is not evidence that you do not. Auditing is one of the most powerful places to understand business, develop your voice and become a leader whose integrity is beyond reproach. It requires judgment, curiosity, courage, emotional intelligence and a deep sense of responsibility to society.

I did not grow up dreaming of auditing. My parents had little formal education, but together they built a clothing factory. As a girl, I thought learning business meant sitting in its small administrative office. But my father said I had to start on the factory floor. By about 13, I could sew on every machine and understood production. Only then did he teach me payroll, bank reconciliations and the forces affecting the business. That early exposure taught me that truly understanding a business means seeing it from every angle, not just from behind a desk.

Auditing offered that same view of how organisations work across settings. As a trainee, I moved between industries, smaller businesses, and multinationals, as well as listed and unlisted entities. I learnt how processes, systems and value drivers connect, and I made a point of engaging with CEOs and finance leaders early in my career. At 25, I travelled to New York for an audit secondment, applying the same global methodology in a new place and culture.

My generation did not merely open the door; we kicked it off its hinges

The profession gives young people responsibility quickly. A first-year trainee begins with simpler tasks; by the third year, she may lead a team. Soon she can be an assistant manager or manager, working with clients, partners and specialists while learning to manage people and a practice. Each year adds a skill — at least, it should.

My journey to partnership was deliberate. Most people become partners after 30, often in their late 30s. I set myself a different deadline: partnership before 30. To do that, I believed I had to gain 10 years of experience in half the time. That meant working twice as hard, learning faster and putting my hand up for complicated assignments, including leading a complex audit while still relatively young for that responsibility. It was not about proving that every woman must exhaust herself to succeed; it was about taking ownership of the goal I had chosen.

A mentor took a chance on me. Before my partner assessment, I called him in a panic and asked how he knew I was ready. He reminded me that I had grown from simply agreeing with him to proposing solutions, to making decisions, and to reporting outcomes. He saw my readiness before I did. A true mentor offers honest feedback, creates opportunities and sees your potential before you do.

Mentors matter, but representation matters too. A lack of role models can make it harder for women to see a path forward and to progress. When I joined the Deloitte Durban office in 1997, there were no female partners. By 2004, another woman and I were its two female partners, changing what others could only imagine. My generation did not merely open the door; we kicked it off its hinges.

When you start as one voice, it is tough. But when that one voice becomes two or three, you begin to reach a tipping point, a critical mass that can question old assumptions and make meaningful change possible.

As collective voices grow stronger, true progress depends on the environment leaders create: one where individuality and authenticity are not merely accepted but encouraged.

Leadership must leave room for authenticity. If I had a penny for every time someone told me I had “big shoes to fill” as CEO, I could retire by now. Yet one day, a colleague noticed my pink heels and said I looked comfortable in my own shoes. That permission mattered. Women should not imitate the leaders before them. Vulnerability, emotion and emotional intelligence are not weaknesses; they can strengthen leadership.

As technology continues to transform how we work, what will distinguish us most will not be technology alone. It will be how we bring people together, build trust, exercise judgment and lead through change. In audit, that human contribution matters deeply. Data, technology and AI will continue to reshape the profession, but we still need people who can connect insight with context, ask the right questions, mentor others and confront ethical decisions with courage. Young women can do more than enter the profession; they can help form what it becomes.

Firms must do their part. A woman’s decision to start a family should not slow her career, push her to work through maternity leave or allow men to advance ahead of her by default. Leaders must provide honest feedback, sponsorship, visible opportunities and access to the most important spaces within an organisation.

Stephen Covey, in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, urges us to “begin with the end in mind”. For the young woman owning her life and career, that means seeing her future clearly and taking deliberate steps towards it. Do not wait until you feel 100% ready. Put your hand up, prepare, embrace change and keep learning. Protect the habits that sustain you, including exercise and mindfulness, and keep going when a problem feels insurmountable.

Most importantly, remember the purpose. Audit gives confidence to capital markets; decisions affecting businesses, economies and even a grandmother’s pension depend on the trust our work supports. The future of audit will not be shaped by technology alone, but by the people brave enough to lead it with judgment, courage and purpose.