It’s a classic City tale: a meteoric rise through the ranks of one of the UK’s top banks, from junior hire to a seat in the boardroom. But Georgina Badine’s 14-year journey through the slick, performance-driven world of finance ended not with a champagne toast, but a sharp turn away from it all.
What she saw behind the polished façades and quarterly forecasts wasn’t the future of modern leadership, but an old boys’ club clinging tightly to its worst habits: toxic cultures, whispered harassment, and a chilling absence of real safeguards for the people keeping the wheels turning.
Now, she’s swapping shareholder value for social value.
Enter Invicta Vita – Latin for ‘invincible life’, though it might just as easily be City Speak for “enough is enough” – Badine’s new London-based consultancy that helps professionals navigate toxic workplaces, confront conflict, and reclaim their careers with spine and style.
“There’s this idea floating around that the industry has evolved,” she says with a half-smile, “but let’s just say the press releases are often a lot shinier than the lived experience. I’ve seen too many people derailed – not because they lacked talent, but because they challenged the culture.”
She’s not wrong. The Financial Times recently reported a two-thirds spike in bullying cases across financial services. Meanwhile, a Treasury Committee survey found that nearly half of the industry’s employees have experienced sexual harassment. And meaningful regulatory action? Still on the slow train, with updated FCA rules not due until mid-2025.
Not Your Typical Consultancy
Invicta Vita isn’t here to hand out glossy advice and an invoice. Its flagship programme, wryly titled Conflicts Are in the Rearview, offers a far more hands-on experience. Clients don’t just get career coaching – they get triage. Think psychological profiling, guided grievance support, imposter syndrome interventions, and bespoke training in how to neutralise office toxicity. It’s equal parts strategy session and therapeutic unravelling.
Photo by Soulsana (courtesy of Unsplash)
And it’s not just about damage control. Invicta Vita also works with those in mid-career limbo – the burnt-out, the overlooked, the ambitious-but-weary – helping them rediscover what once got them out of bed in the morning. There’s mentoring, CV surgery, excelling at interviews, even guidance on negotiating promotions with both confidence and calm.
Despite its London roots, the firm operates almost entirely remotely, offering structured sessions to clients across industries. And while the firm welcomes professionals of all backgrounds, its ethos is deeply informed by the gender imbalances that persist in business. In 2024, women still represent just over a third of senior roles in finance and secure a meagre 2% of venture capital funding. The pay gap? A stubborn 20%.
Empathy With Teeth
What makes Invicta Vita stand out isn’t just its insider knowledge, it’s the empathy that runs through everything it does, born of lived experience. Badine knows the emotional toll a hostile workplace can exact. She’s been the one on the late-night call, hearing the strain in a colleague’s voice as they doubt their own version of events.
“There’s a difference between enduring a career and owning it,” she says, “we help people find their centre again. On their terms.”
Invicta Vita doesn’t promise corporate revolution. But it does offer something far more immediate: a lifeline for those disillusioned by hollow HR initiatives and glacial policy changes.
As the financial world continues its slow grapple with reform, the real shifts may not come from boardroom manifestos, but from the quiet rebellion of those who know the game, stepped away, and built something better.
For more information on Invicta Vita and its services, please visit www.invictavita.co.uk.
Header photo by Andrea Scanzani, courtesy of Unsplash
