Meet two of Bermuda’s newest female actuaries — Alana Anderson and Cherie Dill.

It’s taken them years of hard work and sacrifice, but now both women have earned a spot in the traditionally male dominated field.

They’re now hoping to inspire other women to enter the competitive industry.

Alana’s story:

Alana Anderson was a high school student when her mother introduced her to Gina Blakeney Smith, the first Bermudian female actuary.

She had no idea what an actuary was, but the meeting had such a big impact on her she decided to make the career her focus.

“I remember that meeting like it was yesterday,” the 34-year-old said.

“At that time [she was] only the third Bermudian actuary. She was also awesome, cool, funny and stylish, so who wouldn’t want to be like her?”

Mrs Anderson maintains she wasn’t particularly gifted when it came to maths, but she desired to get better. And she worked hard at it.

Maths became her major at Spelman College; she got a master’s degree in statistics from North Carolina State.

Still, there were times when she questioned if she was cut out for the competitive industry.

“The actuarial exams were challenging in many ways,” she said.

“Physically, because you need to have the stamina to study, mentally, as you have to try to figure out what new questions they are going to ask and emotionally, considering the excruciating wait between sitting the exam and results day, and then the complete euphoria of passing to the pain of failure.

“I went through the first few exams pretty quickly, but then as I received more responsibility at work and trying to have some semblance of a marriage the later exams proved to be very challenging.

“I hate to say it, but I was on the failure side of the fence more times than I wish to admit.”

Her motivation to finish came from her family. She wanted to provide for them. She also didn’t want the months the exam process took her away from them to have been in vain.

“Then there was that voice inside of me that didn’t want to be a failure,” she said. “Giving up just didn’t seem to be an option.”

She now underwrites medical malpractice insurance at Endurance Specialty Insurance. She became a fully qualified actuary last July.

She said it felt “awesome” to have reached this point in her career but there is also a little bit of nervousness that comes from trying to figure out what’s next.

One thing she’s sure about is the need to encourage other young women to pursue careers in business.

“I feel it’s important for the actuarial industry to be as diversified as it can be — with both men and women of all colours and races,” she said.

“It’s important for a young 13- or 14-year-old girl who is trying to figure out what to do with her life to see someone who looks like her as the chief actuary, or CEO, or senior vice president of a company.

“For many, seeing is believing and that is what they need to motivate them to not only rise to those same levels, but to surpass them.”

Her advice to anyone looking to pursue a similar career? Keep going, even after things get tough.

She also encourages people to develop good networking skills and keep in touch with people you meet throughout your career.

As you progress, those relationships can help get your foot in a door which might otherwise be closed, she said.

Cherie’s story:

Cherie Dill always excelled in maths and economics.

Despite that she still found it challenging to become an actuary.

“The exam process was a very humbling experience for me,” the 32-year-old explained.

“Up until then things came pretty easy to me. I had never failed anything or even come close to failing anything academic related in my life.

“Then somewhere in the middle of the exam process I got stuck.

“Failing the exams was becoming a new norm for me and I realised they wouldn’t come to me as easy as I initially thought. I would really have to work for it.”

Although still able to advance in her career, she knew she could only go so far without the exams.

“So I studied some more,” she said. “When that still didn’t work I came to the conclusion that in order to pass the exams, it would require even bigger sacrifices, major sacrifices that friends and family members who have not been through the process will never understand.

“I think that was the hardest part, to take my focus from all the other demands and enticements of the world and focus solely on passing the exams.

“Once I accepted that was the level of sacrifice required if I ever wanted to get through the process, studying became a bit easier and I was able to achieve success.”

She thought of quitting a few times. What kept her going was her desire to make the people in her corner proud.

“People were excited to see Bermudians entering the field so I had a huge cheering squad along the way,” she said.

“There was a point where I could rarely walk down the street in Hamilton without someone asking how the exams were going and saying how proud they were of me and to keep it up as they were looking forward to hearing of my success.

“I didn’t have the heart to disappoint everyone so giving up was not an option.

“Some days it was frustrating to have to face all that pressure, in particular when I wasn’t always sure I would get through, but today I am grateful to each one of those persons.

“I love what I do and I’m not sure I would have continued on without all their encouragement.”

Another thing that helped her get to this point? Having two great female mentors who helped her early on in her career.

Susan Cross, global chief actuary of XL Group, made a big impact on her during her first summer internship at XL Mid Ocean.

A few years later Mrs Dill found lots of encouragement and support from actuary Jennifer Caulder at PricewaterhouseCoopers, her first full-time job.

“Both of these women gave me the impression that if you can show that you are reliable, take pride in your work and are good at what you do, it won’t matter whether you are male or female,” she said.

These days it feels great to have some of the exam stress behind her, having achieved her designation in December 2013.

There’s also a huge sense of accomplishment.

Mrs Dill still has two more exams to pass before becoming a Fellow. She currently works at Everest Re Bermuda.

She encourages anyone looking to enter the field to consider it carefully.

“As rewarding as the career is, it’s not for everyone,” she said.

“It’s designed to be highly competitive and filter for the best and the brightest.”

In addition to hard work and dedication, you also need to be well versed in a variety of disciplines and be able to handle pressure well.

Women especially, have to have a tough skin, maintain their professionalism at all times and keep focused, she said.

“It’s easy to get overlooked so you have to speak up, be assertive and proactive in taking your career in the direction you want it to go,” Mrs Dill said.

“And once given the opportunity, [try to] excel much further than their expectations. [You should also] strive to be the best at everything you do and success will come your way.”