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Women Leaders in Payments: The Future is Human with Rachel Costello, Maverick | Episode 504 · Leaders In Payments

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Women Leaders in Payments Month, where we highlight and celebrate the women shaping the future of payments in FinTech through their leadership, insight, and impact.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: A special thank you to Payrock for sponsoring this year's series and for powering the continued advancement of women across our industry.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, on to the show.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, everyone, and welcome to this Women Leaders in Payments Month episode.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm honored to have as our special guest, Rachel Costello, the VP Platform Growth at Maverick.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, Rachel, thank you so much for being here and welcome to the show.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Greg.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: Exciting to be here with you today.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's start with a little icebreaker.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you could instantly become an expert in one non-work-related skiller hobby, what would it be and why?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's a tough one.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many great options that I'd love to choose.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: But honestly, I think I'd love to become a Sami and A.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason why is because whying creates shared experiences across people.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: But as you go through all of the layers, the science behind it, the history behind it, how it's made and how it comes together, there's so much there.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I just love things that bring people together and experiences together.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that'd be a really fun way of doing that.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great answer.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, we have yet to have anyone say the same thing.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: So everyone has a different answer to that, which is great.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in and talk about your background and your career journey.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: So give us a quick snapshot of your background, maybe where you grew up, what you studied, what led you into the world of payments in fintech.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I am a true Florida native, born and raised.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: There are many of us.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um I still live in Florida today.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: I went to school originally as a music major and then pivoted over to business and marketing.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of similar to my career journey.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: It never took a traditional path.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: I started in ad tech and e-commerce in the space and then quickly went into sales and marketing and go-to-market and revenue operations roles.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I am not unique in this case.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Payments found me.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't choose payments.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: I had a former colleague that reached out to me and said, hey, there's this payments company, and we're looking for an SVP of growth.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Would you be interested?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Hey, I'd love to learn more.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think what really just drew me is I fell in love with payments when I started there and really cultivated a passion for that because it really just brings together all of my background and experience.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: And the payments industry is unique in that sense and how it really just ties all those things together.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I happened to do payments, fell in love with it, and I'm still here today.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, as with most people, they fall into it and they just can't figure out how to get out, right?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So was there a person or an opportunity or maybe an unexpected moment that really helped you shape the direction of your career?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, for me, there wasn't one actual defining moment.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: It was really a combination of different opportunities over time.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it really came from leaders who trusted me when I didn't think I was ready, right?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so these leaders gave me additional responsibilities.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: They allowed me to raise my hand with new opportunities for things that were outside of my job description and really open those doors for me, right?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Whether that was strategy or technology.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: I started revenue operations before revenue operations was actually a thing in the marketplace, right?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, it doesn't come from one moment.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: It was the combination of all of those moments for me throughout my career and raising my hand, saying yes, even when I wasn't ready or I didn't think I was ready and great leaders that gave me the opportunity to do that.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, tell us about your role today at Maverick and what part of your work is like the most exciting right now.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: I am so excited.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: I joined Maverick as the VP of Platform Growth.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And my team is responsible for all of our strategic partnerships, our embedded payment strategy, as well as our go-to-market strategy holistically across the business.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And what I love about what we're building now that's so exciting is in the embedded payments space.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so looking at softwares that are actually truly looking to embed payments, have the right infrastructure in place and that shift that's dynamically happening in the market today around embedded finance, how things are changing, how monetization is differentiating in the market.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: And we really have a unique position in the market to be able to support that.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm really excited about what we're building.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pivot a little and talk about leadership and perspective.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: So this year's theme is the future is human.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: So when you hear that phrase, what does it mean to you as a leader in payments?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: As a leader in payments, for me, it means that technology amplifies the human potential, but it doesn't replace it, right?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just be really honest.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: AI is going to change almost every aspect of not only the payments industry, but industries holistically across the globe, right?
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: Automation's going to continue to accelerate, payments are going to become faster, smarter, more embedded, all the things we see.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, trust, judgment, empathy, relationships, those are all going to be human skills.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I fundamentally believe that those are going to be more important as AI continues to accelerate and not less important.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, as you just mentioned, payments is becoming more digital.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's more embedded and becoming more intelligent.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: So what do you think leaders need to keep front and center as this industry keeps evolving?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, really at the end of the day, I think it's where fundamentals began, which is the customer outcome, right?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's so easy to get wrapped up and excited about AI, right?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: We hear it every single day or APIs, real-time payments, right?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: All the buzzwords that are out there.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, customers aren't buying the technology.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: They're buying the outcome from that technology.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: So ensuring that everything is based and rooted in the fundamentals of customer outcomes, I really think is where it's going to become more and more critical as this continues to evolve.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what is something that you've learned about leadership that you wish you had understood earlier in your career?
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, there's so many things I wish I understood earlier in my career.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think we all say that.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: But really for me, it's that leadership isn't about being indispensable, right?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to own everything.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to solve every problem.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: It really is about developing the teams that are around you, the systems that are making the work happen and making it where the organization can thrive without you actually being in every decision.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you create capability, then there doesn't have to be dependency.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I think empowering teams around you is fundamentally something I wish I had learned early on because I didn't have to have all the answers.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's double-click on that for a second.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: You said empowering your team.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe talk about a little bit how do you empower your team?
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I think empowering the team is trusting them, right?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: With where they're experts and where they shine, ensuring we have our aces in their places, the people in their strengths, and we're playing to their strengths and giving them the autonomy to make smart decisions for the business.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: And you do that in small ways and big ways every single day as a leader.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're growing up that next level of leaders underneath you, and you're up-leveling their skills and you're giving them that room to learn and grow and for them to take that opportunity to raise their hand, maybe even if they're not ready, to open that door outside of their job description and say, hey, I want to learn that and I want to try that.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: And you can empower them to take those steps.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk a little bit about the human side of payments.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: We we talked about that sort of as a theme, and you mentioned many of the kind of skills and things like empathy that humans have, right?
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So you know, behind every payment, there's actually a person, there's a business, you know, a need or some kind of moment in time.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: So how do you think about the human side of payments in the work that you do?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think every payment has a story, right?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's really important to remember, you know, it's that business owner who's trying to make payroll.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's that family who's trying to put food on the table, it's that healthcare provider who's providing patient services to them.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: And really remembering at the end of the day, payments is much more than a take rate or an authorization rate or, you know, a card that's being tapped somewhere.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's just remembering to keep that perspective of that end user at the end because they are human and they are just like you and me.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: And they're just trying to do what they need to do to survive in life and for their family and what's next and whatever their mission that they're called to do is.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: And we're just empowering and enabling them to be able to do that in our payments technology.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, as you know, trust is such a critical part of payments in fintech.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do you think companies can build and maintain trust as the industry becomes more and more automated and technology driven?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, at the end of the day, it gets back to the theme, right?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: People create trust.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, technology creates the credibility, right?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: The 99.999% up time, it does matter.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, trust is formed from transparency, from consistency, accountability, being there.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: If something doesn't go right, they should be able to call your payments provider and have a conversation, navigate through that together, right?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: As a part of that together.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Customers don't want industries and businesses to be perfect.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: They aren't perfect.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: We're all imperfect humans.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: They're looking to build that trust with an actual partner.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what's really differentiated in the market today.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we often talk about payments as a utility and it, you know, it always works until it doesn't, right?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's that that 1% of the time that it doesn't is is when you have to have built that trust, right?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: And without that, right, where where do you navigate from there and where do you go from there?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it's uh so incredibly critical.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in your opinion, what is one trend or maybe change in payments that you believe will have the biggest impact on people or businesses over the next few years?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: This answer probably isn't going to surprise you.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely, I I actually believe embedded payments and embedded finance are going to have the biggest impact.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think more software platforms are becoming commerce platforms.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think they need to.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think customers are asking for them to, and they're looking for those turnkey solutions, especially in this world of automation and AI.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: How are they scaling their businesses faster?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: How are they seamlessly embedding payments, whether or whether it's lending or risk management or payroll or whatever that might be, and having that turnkey solution, I think we're just going to continue to see more and more of that get embedded into these native software platforms.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I really see that's where it's heading.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just getting started.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: So you you mentioned a phrase there.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: I want to double-click on the commerce platform, kind of be in a future vision.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: So for the audience that doesn't live in this embedded finance space, like we spend a lot of time in, maybe talk about like what does that really mean to a business?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you maybe walk through a little bit of how Maverick views that, if you don't mind.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a software platform that is creating a solution for your veterinary office so you can book your patient appointments, that's only one part of your customer's journey.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, ultimately, you need to accept payment for your services that are rendered.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And having a partner that makes that really frictionless and seamless for you to do makes that easier for both you as the business owner, but also for your customer, right?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: A customer is looking for, I want to make my payment in the easiest way possible and making sure that I can submit my tender type that I would like, whether that's ACH or it might be a credit card or even an alternative payment method, like a Clarona or an firm, because maybe that bill was a little more than I expected it to be.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I think these platforms for these businesses, by having that option and that opportunity, you don't have to maintain something outside of that.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: You can really seamlessly run your business.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: And for the software platform, you're providing that value to the business as well as their end customer.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's just gonna become more and more important.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's talk a little bit about mentorship impact and sort of what's coming next.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, who has influenced you along the way, whether it's directly or indirectly, and what did you learn from them?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I love this question.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And this was actually a really hard one for me to sit down and think about and answer because there's been so many different leaders and peers that have influenced me throughout my entire career.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: But when I boiled it down, it all came down to one thing.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: They all did really well, and they all shared this one quality, and it was resilience.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: And when I think about what resilience means, right?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: They stayed calm in uncertainty, they made decisions with imperfect information, they kept moving forward when outcomes weren't guaranteed.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that really stuck with me, right?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because they acted as mentors for me.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: They gave me those opportunities.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: They advocated for me when I what when I wasn't in the room, right?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: They're saying, hey, you know, give Rachel this opportunity.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: They taught me in the importance of paying that forward.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I really do believe that one of our responsibilities as a leader is to also pay that forward.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're talking about empowering teams, right?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Especially for future women leaders.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so what I kind of boiled down all of the great mentors and leaders that I had, it really kind of boiled down to those areas.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Did you have like any formal mentorship programs that you were in, or was it always, you know, more, more informal?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: For me, it was always more informal.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: I spent a lot of time in startups and in growing and scaling organizations.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I was very lucky that we had a lot of great leaders that mentored informally and grew me in my career, as well as other leaders, maybe if it wasn't somebody I directly reported to that was willing to be that mentor and helped shepherd that dialogue and that conversation.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so I love the informality of that component of it because it organically happened throughout day-to-day conversations and dialogue.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what advice would you give to the next generation of women that are just entering the payments and fintech industry?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: I love this one.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I say it to anyone who's even considering not just payments in fintech, but overall, don't wait for permission to contribute.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: You have a right to contribute your value, your perspective in those conversations.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe you don't have a seat at that leadership table today, but you do have that voice and that influence to provide your insights, your strategy, your fill-in-the-blank, whatever that might be.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so you don't have to wait.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: You can raise your hand.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to wait till you feel confident and ready.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: Because at the end of the day, confidence comes from having those dialogues and those conversations and starting to raise your hand even when you're uncomfortable.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's okay to be uncomfortable.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: I always say to the team, get comfortable with being uncomfortable because that's when you know you're doing it right.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, what do you think about, you know, what would your opinion or advice be to someone who's like starting in the industry and they're they're trying to consider smaller companies versus bigger companies because this industry obviously is made up of startups all the way to the big guys.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: What are your thoughts on that?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, my my advice is find the right fit for you.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think there's one size fits all.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: A small startup might have a high velocity of work and you work really well in a fast-paced environment.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: A larger organization, maybe the pace is a little slower from a deliverable perspective, right?
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: You're not burning and churning, so to speak.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: And find the right cultural fit for you.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: So as much as it is about payments and learning the industry and coming in, stay curious, stay hungry, but really find that culture fit that aligns with your values and where you want to head, where you're gonna have that opportunity to continue to learn, grow, and develop.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned a word there, culture.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to talk about that for a second.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I I feel like at some point it's connecting two kind of different things.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: So AI and what it's doing for companies positively mostly, and culture and how are those things in your mind like how do you maintain and build a culture knowing how fast everything is moving and you know how automated everything is getting?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe talk about culture a little bit, if you don't mind.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, absolutely.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: And and automation is great.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: It makes you work smarter, not harder, right?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can you have more outputs.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, the body of work that we do, it gets back to everything we've been talking about.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's very human and it should remain very human.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, I think that creating a culture of transparency, creating a culture of trust, creating a culture of curiosity, right?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: That natural curiosity that a lot of people innately have and really cultivating that becomes even more critical because of some of those automations and AIs and other things that didn't exist before.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, it all comes back to the people and the people that you surround yourself with and that you learn from, and that you can, you know, laugh today, you can cry tomorrow, celebrate the wins together and celebrate those life moments together.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you do that in just big ways and small ways.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you might see behind me, it's one of my mantras, today is a good day for a good day.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I fundamentally live by that, right?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's you know, you can find that good in every day.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And as a leader, you can project that and cultivate that within your team.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Even in those tough days and those hard days, there's always an opportunity to learn something, but it can still be a good day.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's wrap up the show with one final fun question.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: What is one app, podcast, book, or maybe TV show or hobby, or maybe even favorite way to unwind that gives us a glimpse into who you are outside of work?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, outside of work, my favorite role, honestly, is being a monk.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: My son just graduated high school.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: My daughter is about to be a senior, and I'm just really excited to see where they go in their life journey and where they continue to shine and flourish and where they go.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm also a self-proclaimed foodie.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: So uh love cooking, think chopped in your home kitchen.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what what can you put together that you wouldn't normally put together?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: And it might be terrifying, but it turns out amazing.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: And living by the beach in Florida, the sun sets in the beach, that is my happy place, is where I go to unwind, recharge.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, in those moments, I come up with some of my best ideas and in the most random of ways, and it's a great reset for me.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Rachel, I think that's a great way to wrap up the show.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I know your time is very valuable.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I really appreciate you being here today and participating during this month.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Greg.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: It was an honor to join you today, and I really appreciate you having me on the show.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: And to all your listeners out there, I thank you for your time as well.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And until the next story.