Latest / Leaders In Payments / Women Leaders in Payments: Maggie O'Toole, Chief Client Officer at Dash Solutions | Episode 410

Transcript

Women Leaders in Payments: Maggie O'Toole, Chief Client Officer at Dash Solutions | Episode 410 · Leaders In Payments

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Leaders in Payments podcast, where we talk to C-level leaders from across the payments landscape.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: We'll be discussing the products and services that impact the payment space today, as well as trends and predictions for the future of payments.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: We will also hear stories from our guests about their journeys to the top.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Hello everyone and welcome to the Leaders in Payments podcast.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: I'm your host, greg Myers, and this episode is part of our Women Leaders in Payments month, something we do every year in the month of July, and it's one of my favorite times of the year.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: This year's theme is redefining leadership, influence, impact and innovation.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: So those are some of the things you're going to be hearing about during the month of July.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: So first, a special thank you to our sponsors.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Our title sponsor is WorldPay, our participating sponsors are VisiPay and Payrock, and our episode sponsors are the Clearinghouse and Genico and PaySafe.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: So special thanks to those companies.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: So for this episode, I'm super excited for our guest Today we have Maggie O'Toole, the Chief Client Officer at Dash Solutions.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: So, maggie, thank you so much for being on the show today and welcome to the Leaders in Payments podcast.
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: I'm so excited to be here.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Absolutely Well, let's start with a little icebreaker.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: So if you could have dinner with any woman in history, past or present, who would that be and why, and what type of restaurant would you go to?
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: So there are so many amazing women that I love to sit down with and chat, but I think I would pick Brene Brown, as she is one of my role models.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: She is known for her research on vulnerability and courage and empathy, which are the qualities that are really undervalued, kind of in traditional leadership models but really essential to building trust and connection, which to me, they're really fundamentals of great business.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: So I'd love an opportunity to sit down with her and chat.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Plus, she's super funny.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: I'm just a little bit outside of Chicago, so there's a really great seafood restaurant called Bob Chin's here, so I think maybe that's why I would invite her for a chat there.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Awesome, awesome.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Well, let's talk a little bit about your background and career.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Maybe tell us a little bit about, maybe, where you grew up, what you studied, what led you into the world of payments?
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a lot there to unpack.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: My story begins in Poland, so that's where I was born, that's where I was raised, and I would say that from a really young age I kind of dreamed about coming to America and building a meaningful, amazing, rich life on my own terms.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: So after I graduated college, I made a life-changing decision about moving to Chicago, so that was 2001.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: You know, when I look back at that time, I think it was both crazy and courageous, but I was full of hope and dreams coming here and the one thing that stands out to me about that time is that I quickly realized that my mindset and my outlook would really play a big role in shaping my life really and I don't remember the exact moment when it clicked for me, but what stood out for me is that a lot of people successful people that I either encountered or studied I noticed that they had a different approach to life.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: You know, they weren't complainers and they were really proactive and focused and intentional and they took ownership of their path and that really inspired me to do the same.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: So in those early days it would have been so easy to focus on what I didn't have and what I lacked.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: You know, I moved here with $300 in my pocket that my grandma lent me, and I didn't know the language, I didn't understand the culture, I didn't have family or support system, right, so I was really on my own.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: But I chose to see this life as full of possibilities and I thought about language like I can learn it right, and money I can earn it.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: I'll figure it out A support system.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: If I focus on the right things, I can attract the right people into my circle.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: So that mindset served me really well.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: But I also don't want to paint an overly glamorous picture here because those beginnings were really hard.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: I took on jobs as a bartender and a waitress and secretary.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: But that chapter also helped me shape my vision for the future and fueled my drive to achieve more.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: I wanted more out of life so I was determined to create my own story, some doors for me here.
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: So I went on and I got my American bachelor's in business and then I got my MBA and that helped me a lot because it helped me be surrounded by like-minded people, both students and teachers, helped me think bigger about the world and opportunities that existed.
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: So that's a little bit of like the early days.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: And I didn't consciously choose a career in payments.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: I rarely meet anyone that does we kind of was like stumble upon it, you know, but my journey led me to it.
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: So my first professional role was at the bank.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: It was a JPMorgan Chase and I enjoyed it.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: It was a great entry point into financial services.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: I learned a lot, but I was missing a more creative environment.
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: I didn't know what that was then yet I didn't have words for it, but I'm like, oh you know, my soul, my whole being kind of like, is missing something, you know.
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: And then I was recruited into a small payroll outsourcing company that was growing really fast and I think that's where I got kind of hooked on the fast-paced, high-growth environment business model.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: So a couple of years later I joined a company called Swift Prepaid Solutions.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: Now the company is called Anbi.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: At that time it was 30 employees.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: It was a small company focused on the prepaid world and we grew really really fast.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: I was able to wear multiple hats there and I had a front row seat to seeing how to operate a business.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: So I spent a decade there and really helping the company grow from the startup stage through hyper growth, you know, to a scaled enterprise, all while we also completed a successful M&A strategy.
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: So after a decade there I moved to a company called TebaPay, and TebaPay is a full stack payment processor.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: I think Rodney was maybe on one of your shows, their CEO and I really wanted to kind of round up my payments experience.
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: You know, I kind of grew up on the card issuing side and I understood that world really well and I wanted to get more intimate with money movement and more modern ways of payment that were sexy and acquiring world.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: So that really helped my understanding the two sides of the payment ecosystem and I would say that through all the companies I was always positioned to represent the company externally, either with clients or with strategic partners.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: I work a lot with Visa and MasterCard and processors all these different organizations which I genuinely really enjoy because I love building relationships and representing the brand.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: And today I am at Dash Solutions, an amazing payments and engagement company with great leaders.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Super happy to be here and be a part of this growth chapter for us.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Okay, great.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: So quick question on your background how and why did you choose Chicago?
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: So quick question on your background how and why did you choose Chicago?
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: You know, when I was in Poland, everyone, when you consider moving and I was just coming for you know three months, like that was the plan originally it's like I'm coming to check it out, right?
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: Everyone said, well, go to Chicago, because there are so many Polish people there, it'll be easier for you.
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: And then, moving here, I'm like, well, yes, there are a lot of Polish people here, it's a great community.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: But also I came here to, you know, build a different kind of a life too, but I've loved living in Chicago and it's been a great place to meet people and grow professionally.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: But, yeah, that's, that's kind of how it happened.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Okay, makes sense, cause you said you didn't have family here so I was kind of curious.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: So that makes sense, all right.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: So if you're walking out on stage at a conference and you've got a hype song, what would that hype song be and why?
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: So not if I walk on stage, it's when I walk on stage, Right?
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: I'm just joking.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: I would say I would go with a classic George Michael Freedom.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: Okay and why the 80s?
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: Why that song?
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: I kind of grew up, you know, I love George Michael and that song really kind of gets my juices flowing and I think it talks about freedom.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: I mean it's a wonderful kind of message there, so I can see myself definitely walking up to that song.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Okay, okay.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: Well, tell us a little more about your role at Dash Solutions and kind of what excites you and what you're working on today and what excites you the most about that.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: So let me tell you a little bit more about Dash.
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: I know our CEO, stephen Faust, did a podcast with you a couple of years ago and the two of you have a connection to Birmingham.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: I know that this is where our company is headquartered.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: I always say we're putting Birmingham on the map.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: You know, and I think we really are Stephen has done an amazing job, kind of evolving the company over the last 20 years through both organic growth but also really successful acquisitions.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: So Dash Solutions.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: I will say that the continued need that we see in the market is to solve for companies who are spending way too much time and energy and effort on payment operations that are not core to their business.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: So think about a healthcare company whose budget is spent on cutting and mailing paper checks or patient refunds, or an HR department spending way too much time tracking employees' expenses, or a company's top talent that's leaving because they don't feel valued or motivated or rewarded.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: So at Dash we can take all these scenarios and many more and transform them into a positive outcome for those companies by providing a modern, seamless experience for the people those companies want to recognize and want to pay with the most innovative solutions.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: So it's a long answer, but that's how I think about Dash, and I always think about us transforming those organizations, those companies that we work with.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: I joined the company a year and a half ago.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: I've been so fortunate in my career because I got to work with so many different companies in the industry, but Dash stood out to me very much so, and I saw an unlimited potential to what we can do in the market and how we can help these companies really transform.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: And, quite honestly, I think we're just getting warmed up, transformed and, quite honestly, I think we're just getting warmed up.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: So I have taken on a new role a few months ago to serve as the company's first chief client officer, and I'm very proud of this role and this recognition, just even thinking about where I was 20 years ago and where I am now and all of that.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: So I love the role because I believe it's really aligned with my skill set, but of course, it stretches me in many new ways as well, which I think that that's how it should be.
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: So I'm responsible for our client success organization, which focuses on client experience at large, so that includes client onboarding and ongoing relationship management with our clients.
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: What I'm really excited about this role is that I'm being close to the values I deeply care about in business, but also just in life in general.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: So building relationships is something I just love, and building relationships with our clients is kind of core to this role and to what me and my amazing team are trying to do here.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: My team will often hear me say businesses are people and people want to do business with who they like and trust, and at Dash we believe that cutting edge product and technology are necessary.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: I mean that's table stakes and we have those, but that's not enough.
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: Real success will come from collaboration and trust and exceptional service, and that's where those relationships really come into play.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: So I'm on a mission to take service to the next level and really make it our differentiator, because it really matters in business, and so we're really focused on how we show up for our clients and the value we create for them.
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: And when clients stay and grow with you, I mean that is success right there.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: So relationships like I'm most excited about it, and then there's like this other part of I would say like at the back end of the relationship is when I think about is is time as our most precious resource.
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: So I'm thinking always about how do we protect more time, how do we create more time to spend it on the things that matter the most?
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: So, if we want to be spending the most time on those relationships and being present and being in front of our clients and creating deeper connections, there's things that we have to also remove and I call it we got to remove the noise.
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: Okay to remove, and I call it we got to remove the noise, okay.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: So really, you have to understand where the noise is coming from.
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: Internally, what's distracting us from being more involved with clients?
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: Maybe it's internal processes that are outdated, that don't support execution.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: Maybe it's redundant communication, manual ways of working, exploring AI, right, all of those things.
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: So there's the relationship component, but there's also, almost like this, operational and efficiency-driven component, but really in support of this main objective.
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: So I am excited about kind of both parts of this role and about working smarter so we can spend more time with our clients.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: Okay, okay, great Thanks for sharing that.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: So let's talk a little bit about leadership.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: So, as you well know, leadership is always evolving.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: So how do you define modern leadership and how do you embody that?
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: This is such a big topic, greg.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: I mean leadership is definitely evolving in America.
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: You know, we see it.
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: We still have work to do, but I'm really happy to see the corporate world changing and you know we're trying to get away from the authoritative and command and control model that was present right and really leaning.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: We're leaning more into the authentic leader as a coach kind of a model where the leader gives support and guidance rather than instructions.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: And I like that it's very aligned with me.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: I always think leadership is situational.
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: So what I mean by that is that we need to assess how to best lead based on the situation, the maturity of your team or your team member.
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: You know where they are in their growth journey, how self-aware are they, knowing what motivates them, and kind of collecting all these different data points and then applying the best leadership model to this scenario and the team or the team member.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: When I think about leadership very holistically, I think about who we are as human beings in our core and we're all different but we're kind of all the same and we already know that people want to be seen, want to be heard and want to feel valued, and not just for what they do but for who they are.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: So I think a great leadership is a response to that.
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: It's creating spaces where that exists, so where people feel seen and valued and heard, and I think when that happens it creates unbelievable results for the individual and the business.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: But there's a nuance to that.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: There's an important aspect that I really this is something that I'm very intentional and I try to practice this a lot we need to first align the people with their strengths, with the role, the expectations of the role in the particular time of where the company is in its life cycle, because otherwise there is a misalignment.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: And if there's a misalignment it doesn't serve the individual and it doesn't serve the business.
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: I'll give you an example.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: When I was asked to lead our client success, you asked about how I embody this.
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: This just seems relevant.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: When I was asked to lead the client success department at Dash, we sat down with every single person in that department.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: We were kind of bringing people together who are a part of the team and we had a very honest conversation.
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: Our company is evolving and so is this role.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: We have a stronger than ever mission to elevate the relationships with our clients and we also have higher expectations for your role.
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: Let's talk about your strengths and discuss openly how to best utilize them in this role or a different role at our company.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: Reactions varied right, most people really leaned into it, into this new chapter, but some said I love Dash, I understand the mission and I agree with it, but what I really enjoy is this operational side of the equation.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: Great, okay, now we can have a conversation about that.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: So to me, these are critical conversations and many leaders stay away from them because there is discomfort.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: There can be discomfort, but I think these conversations are necessary and if you approach them with care and compassion and honesty, the results can really be transformative.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: The other thing that you know when I think about leadership is I always go back to it is not about me, really, it is not about me, it is about others.
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: So I think being in a leadership position is an honor and privilege and I constantly challenge myself, asking myself how am I showing up for my team?
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: Am I helping them unblock unnecessary barriers, right to help them be more successful?
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: Do I empower them to make decisions?
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: And I think being reflective on our own performance in these roles is required when you're a leader.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: I mean leadership is a big topic and I can go on.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: You know we can spend a whole day talking about it.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: But the one more thing I'll mention is when I think about leadership, I think about it's a sum of all intangible small things that you do each day that maybe nobody notices in the moment, and maybe it's encouraging somebody to present at the town hall, or helping them build confidence to use a new tool, or picking them up on a tough day or frustrating day, or reminding them of their talents or pushing them to try new things.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: But all these things they compound to something bigger.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: And maybe it's a year later when you, as a leader, you sit there and you see a person and a new light, and maybe it's how they've handled the client interaction with more confidence, and then you say to yourself wow, they've grown.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: So to me, those are the moments to cherish in leadership.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: That's what it's all about.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: Okay, great.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: So during your career have you had one of those I call them aha moments, but one of those really moments that maybe kind of defined you or your career?
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: You know, when I look at my life and I think about kind of the most, if I think about the best decision or the most important decision that impacted my life and my career, I mean it's moving to the US, so it wasn't directly, you know, connected to my career or anything like that, but it was the beginning of forming this life and this vision for what it can be.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: And when I look at my life I always kind of point to that decision as my defining moment.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Well, what's something that you believe female leaders can bring to the table that the industry needs more of?
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: Well, I will say that what I'm observing in the industry is with, I will say, a lot of admiration and pride is that more and more women demonstrate their presence with confidence and boldness, proving that they belong in this field, which really was a male-dominated field for a very long time.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: And so what do we bring?
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: I think we bring a whole different world of experiences with us.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: We bring a unique and valuable perspective to the industry.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: I think what we talked a little bit before is like we are redefining leadership by embracing transformative styles that prioritize teamwork and prioritize empowerment, and there is a more compassionate approach to managing teams.
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: You've got to have that alignment and strengths, but, like you know, there is the compassionate approach, right?
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: I think that the impact of women in leadership positions extends beyond any type of metric.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: We love to measure everything here, but I think this is something that is so intangible and so important.
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: When female leaders serve as role models, they inspire young girls to aspire to roles that were traditionally more man-dominated, and it has a ripple effect.
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: It encourages more women to pursue higher education and career aspirations, and I think when that happens, we're just fostering more inclusive and equitable society.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely agree with that.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: So let's talk a little bit about innovation and influence.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: So, as we've talked about, and everyone knows, this industry is changing fast.
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: I mean, maybe every industry says that, but certainly the payment space is changing fast.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: So how do you stay innovative as a leader?
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Number one.
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: I love that it changes because otherwise we all would be bored, right, right.
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: So it's changing and it evolves.
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: It attracts, I think, people who really thrive in that environment.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: When I think about innovation, to me innovation starts with curiosity.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: It starts with curiosity and connection.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: So I personally just actively seek out different perspectives and I really enjoy that beyond my day-to-day.
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: So that's maybe staying in touch with my mentors and leaders from other companies, with peers across the industry.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: Those conversations always spark fresh thinking and kind of get my juices flowing.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: You know, at work I love when we get to challenge assumptions and explore possibilities.
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: So my motto here is question everything.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: You know and it might be.
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: You know what if we had to start from scratch?
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: You know what if we're doing this project again?
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: You know how would we design it today?
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: Or you know what processes or industry norms are we just blindly following?
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: What do we have to challenge?
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: You know what would we do if failure wasn't an option?
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: When we ask really good, almost provocative questions, you engage with people and your teams differently and that leads to sharing different perspectives and opinions that maybe wouldn't normally surface.
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: You might know this, greg, but for the audience at Dash Solutions.
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: We were named one of the Fortune's most innovative companies in 2025.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: And this recognition, to me, reflects more than product evolution.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: It speaks to a mindset and we really foster psychological safety and embrace a growth mindset.
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: And that's an environment that you need, where people feel safe to challenge the status quo, to ask these questions, and I think that's where kind of bold ideas initiate.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: So what's one thing or one trend in the industry that you're watching closely?
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: I'm watching a lot of trends.
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: There's a lot of buzz about a lot of things right, ai, stable coins, all of that.
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: One of the things that interests me is the executive order that was issued in March of this year that mandates that US Treasury eliminates paper checks for all federal disbursements by the end of September.
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: So I think from the overall industry experience perspective, the government was always the slowest to make any changes and adapt to more modern ways of paying.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: I think it can set a tone for other sectors in the market to re-evaluate how they're managing payments.
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: At Dash we have leaned very heavily into the healthcare space and we've seen a lot of success there Patient refunds, co-pay, reimbursements.
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: Historically, healthcare was also not the fastest sector to embrace change, but they really started to recognize that they had to start meeting their patients' expectations for how they wanted to get paid.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: So that means immediate, contextual kind of choice-driven access to money.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: So I think between healthcare making strides moving into the digital payments era and the government transforming, maybe who will follow suit, what industry will kind of get next?
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: Because I really want to help them, take them into the future or the present, you know.
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: So we'll see, but I'm kind of watching what's going to happen there.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: Okay, okay.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: Well, we've been talking about the death of checks for a long, long time, so maybe we're still alive.
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: Can you believe we're still talking about checks?
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny because we don't write checks.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: We pay everything online or whatever.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: And my dad, who's 82 years old, I mean, he still writes checks for, like, his credit card bill, he gets it in the mail, he writes a check, he writes a check for water, like he's going to the post office every other day to put checks in the mail, so it's always out there.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: But I think you're right, it's one of those things that I think over time, you know, if the government pushes it at, some of these bigger industries that have been slow to move start innovating, then maybe we'll actually see that happen.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: I hope so.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: So how do you think women can influence the future direction of payments in fintech?
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: Greg, I don't know if you remember when we met I had asked you, greg, how many women did you have on your show?
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: You had over 400 episodes and I think what you shared with me it's about 20-25% probably, the woman ratio.
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: So for me that kind of tells the story a little bit about where we are.
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: I'm like, oh, 25% is not enough.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: So when I think about influencing anything, really the best way to do it is through a collective right, because we are so much more powerful when we work together.
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: So to me, if I think about the industry and women, I think the first step is how do we convince more women to enter and stay in payments?
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: And I think we have to show them what's possible if they do.
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: If an organization has many inspiring women in leadership positions, it naturally encourages other women to aspire to reach to the top.
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: It creates the domino effect.
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: That's really important.
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: One of the reasons why I joined Dash was we have a lot of women leaders and this is something we care about and we invest in.
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: And I think, secondly, women have the power to redefine leadership in this space by modeling this more inclusive, human-centered approach and creating room for more voices to be heard.
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: So I think, at the time where our industry is under greater scrutiny and is being held to higher standards, all good things Our influence won't come from just being bold.
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: It will come from being consistent and trustworthy and deeply people-focused, and I think these are the qualities that most women leaders already embody, and it's what the industry just needs more of right now and in the future.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that's kind of a good segue.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: Let's talk about mentorship and impact.
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: Have you had mentors from the industry, whether close or from afar, and who are they and how did they really influence you?
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: So many really directly know, directly and indirectly having an impact on me.
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: But the one person that comes to mind to me is Nancy Gensberg, and Nancy is the co-founder of Swift Prepaid Solutions, which is the company I spent 10 years with.
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: She co-founded that company with her best friend, both of them being in their mid-60s.
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: So when I joined the company, nancy was in her early 80s.
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: She was, and is, unbelievable.
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: She was the first person in the office answering customer service calls.
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: She was always positive, always with a new idea and believing that anything is possible.
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: So when I looked at her story and I was early in my career I'm like this lady started a business in her golden years without a business background.
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: She was an artist, okay, I'm like she didn't have to do any of it, but she did and it inspired all of us.
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: So being around someone like that early in your career really normalizes.
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: It normalized my vision for a life with big dreams.
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: So I always want to give her, you know, give thanks to her for starting the company and really inspiring all of us.
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: And I ask this a lot as kind of a follow-on question because I think it's important and especially with the different sizes of companies that are on the show, right?
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: So we're going to have really big companies and smaller companies.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: The really big ones might have formal mentorship programs that women or men can get involved in, right, so it's structured programs that women or men can get involved in.
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: Right, so it's structured, it's on you to do, but you have something to follow.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: Smaller companies and even some mid-sized companies just don't have that.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: So any thoughts on, like a female and their kind of mid-level manager maybe, and they're looking for mentors or they want to be a part of some mentorship type thing Any thoughts on what they could do or should do?
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: We do that at Dash.
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: We kind of kicked off that program and we're trying to make it not super formal.
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: It needs to be a space where younger people who want to aspire and grow their careers want to learn or different perspective from a senior leader.
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: So we've matched up a person from each department with a senior leader for a kind of very casual one-off our conversation a month and then it's the mentee who's supposed to bring any topics that are important to them, and it might be career growth, but it might be.
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: Hey, I have this challenge with a client that this is how I approach it and maybe it backfired on me.
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: How would you handle it?
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: You can bring in a situation that is important to you, either short-term or long-term.
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: So I think it puts the mentee in a very powerful position to drive those conversations in a way that's most meaningful to them.
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: I always tell everyone you're the CEO of your career.
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: So also I will say don't wait for a mentorship program, don't wait for certain things to be created for you.
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: If there's things that you want, you've got to go after it, you've got to ask for it.
• 34:12
  Speaker 3: But what is the worst thing that's going to happen really?
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: And when I think about some of my most meaningful mentorship moments with women or leaders.
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: Sometimes it was a five-minute elevator ride.
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: It was a talk in the kitchen while we're grabbing coffee.
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: It wasn't anything huge, it was, you know.
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: Here's this opportunity.
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: Can I ask a question?
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: Or I'm curious about this what are your thoughts?
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: So we try to make it sometimes bigger than it needs to be, but it's these interactions and I think everyone should feel empowered to kind of go after that if it's what's important to you.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: Right, right, well, broad question.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: If you could give just one piece of advice to a female coming into this industry, what would that one piece of advice be?
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: Well, I don't think I'm in a position to be giving advice, but I have a lot of learnings okay to be given advice.
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: But I have a lot of learnings okay, and I think one learning that I'd love to share for anyone who's considering entering the space or is starting out, and I will say finding your tribe is something that I keep going back to, and what I mean by that is you might be a superhero, and you probably are, but you can't always do it alone.
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: So finding a really strong, empathetic group at work who can help you see your unique gifts and your talents, but can also help you cope with inevitable frustrations and challenges that come from career journey and growth.
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: So I would say, when you consider your next move, don't just look for your dream job.
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: Look for your dream team, the one that will inspire you to deliver your best.
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: I think that is the foundation of anyone's success.
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: There is the saying show me your five closest friends and I'll tell you who you are, because we're an average of those friends.
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: That environment really matters.
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: So find your tribe.
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: That is, I think, one of my most important learnings.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: You call it learnings, which is fine, but either way I think that's great advice, or learnings.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: So one final kind of fun question before we wrap up the show.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: So if you're looking at your phone, you've got all these apps on there.
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: What's the one app that you use the most, that's not business related, and what does that say about you?
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: Well, you're going to tell me what it says about me, but I'll tell you the app.
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: It's Insight Timer, so I use that.
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: I do a lot of meditation and affirmations and it helps me.
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: It's just my routine now.
• 36:59
  Speaker 3: Every morning, when I wake up, you know, I go for a walk and I listen to some of those guided meditations and it helps me stay grounded and centered and I think, especially when you're in a fast-paced environment like we are just having tools to help yourself be grounded and come back to your core is really, really important.
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: That works for me really well.
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: So I use that app a lot.
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: Okay, okay, that's awesome.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: So before we complete the show, I just want to give you a final chance.
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: Is there anything else you'd like to cover, anything else you'd like to say before we wrap up?
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: I would say that this is a journey for all of us.
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: You know life really Sure payments industry.
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: You know where we are, but we got to remember to also have fun and just not take ourselves so seriously.
• 37:51
  Speaker 3: So this has been a lot of fun.
• 37:53
  Speaker 3: Greg, thank you very much for having me and inviting me on the show.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, maggie, thank you so much.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: I know your time is very valuable, so I really appreciate you being on the show today.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: Thank you, and to all you listeners out there, I thank you for your time as well, and until the next story.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us this week on the Leaders in Payments podcast.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Make sure you visit our website at leadersinpaymentscom, where you can subscribe to the show and where you'll find our show notes.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: If you enjoyed listening, please share on your social channels as well.