20 questions with....The Bossmate

Sometimes, a girl needs to start these things honestly; before I met Will, I was pooping my pants.

He was the CEO (yes sometimes they do scare me), of IFX Payments. The firm I had heard so much about. I thought he was going to be verrrrrry hipster, drinking chai lattes and telling me about things completely above my head.

Oh, I was so wrong.

Firstly he is Northern which immediately makes him 80% nicer than most English people (lol soz Londoners), but his approach to leadership is so intrinsic to the way he hires, that as we began to work together I started to notice one of the truest cultures coming through that I have ever encountered.

The way Will has built values into the every day at IFX is a masterclass. In the sector IFX operates in, there are some real cowboys but IFX has set itself apart by keeping the entrepreneurial spirit and curiosity, and hiring with an ethos that takes their corporate and social responsibility to heart.

A "chef's kiss" culture for anyone in compliance, FCC, or risk (not to mention Will can talk FCC gossip with me like he is an MLRO).

I still have the resounding feeling that Will is the kind of leader whom you might accidentally forget is the "big boss", and start telling about your funny story in the weekend....

I have coined the term "bossmate" for Will; he is most certainly a boss and has a leadership energy about him that you cannae fake, but at the same time, somehow, maintains an equal air of being your mate.

Bossmate.

So without further ado: "20 questions with....The Bossmate "

1.?What does your morning routine look like?

I’m usually woken up by my 2-year-old daughter at around 5.30 am where we typically have a bottle of milk and coffee together watching Peppa Pig. I’ll try to read the news where I can until I’m shouted at for not paying attention to Peppa’s latest exploits.

I’ll then either walk the dog or do some exercise for an hour aiming to be at my desk for 8.30 am. I’ll run through any unanswered emails before my first meeting which will be around 9am/9.30 am

2. Do you prefer WFH or office, personally?

Without a doubt the office – I really enjoy spending time with people and feeding off the buzz of everyone being together. I love the knowledge-sharing aspect of being around colleagues and find that we’re able to have really great discussions when in a room together.

We also pride ourselves on our culture at IFX; we’ve got a collaborative group here where everyone is encouraged to speak up, challenge, and share new ideas so why wouldn’t I want to be immersed in that?

That’s not to say that I think working 5 days a week in the office is the answer – its important to have a balance and offer a hybrid working environment so when the need arises, we have the opportunity to work from home – sometimes when work piles up, you just want to focus on getting some jobs done so it’s great to have that flexibility.

3.?Tell me about your first financial services job and how you got it

My first role was a temporary paralegal contract at a corporate advisory firm called Salamanca Group which focused on investment and real estate management services. I was tasked with the administration of their group structure and understanding the intricacies of how that all worked from an investment perspective.

It was weirdly a sliding doors moment in my career - I was waiting to hear about a final interview for pupillage when a recruiter called me to talk about this role at Salamanca. I was pretty confident about my chances of pupillage and was due to hear back imminently so was quite keen to just head go on holiday until that started.

I called my dad who told me exactly what he thought of my decision and convinced me to take the contract. About a week in I received the dreaded pupillage rejection email and later that day got offered a full-time position, where I stayed for four years. I got the opportunity to work with some brilliant people and was extremely grateful for the support they gave me during that time.

Then in around 2017, Salamanca sublet some of their office space to a new, exciting fintech called IFX Payments. And after the businesses relocated a year or so later, IFX called me and the rest is history.

4.?What do you love about your current role?

I would say the people side of managing the organisation. I like the idea of affording opportunities to enhance people’s careers and professional development thereby building a culture that fosters curiosity and creativity. We’re able to do that by exposing our teams to new and exciting work as we grow as a business and financially supporting them through training and education programs.

More often than not we promote from within when opportunities arise (unless it’s a brand new venture for us of course) so I love seeing those people kick on either at IFX or go on to do great things elsewhere.

5. What do you love the least about your current role?

Doing my expenses! I always forget my receipts and spend a good chunk of my time apologising to our finance team.

6.? What does a typical day look like for you?

It is a massive cliché, but there is no typical day. I wouldn’t let grandiose titles fool you either;?my days can have some serious range from working with the board on strategic initiatives and meeting with our banking partners to discuss new opportunities to drumming up ideas with our great product team and even deciding on chairs for our new office!?

I like to get involved in all facets of the business where I can; I do enjoy the commercial side of the business and identifying new partnerships that will help raise brand awareness, as well as attending industry events to understand what the latest trends are. There are probably some common themes and reoccurring jobs that appear over time but it really just boils down to what the needs of the business are that day or that week.

7.??What’s your best advice for the most junior person in your team

Act like you’re doing the next job.

Worry less about the 5/10/20 year plan – things change and having a rigid plan that far ahead is only going to hold you back – so just think about the next role you want to do.

"Worry less about the 5/10/20 year plan – things change and having a rigid plan that far ahead is only going to hold you back – so just think about the next role you want to do. "

What are the attributes and knowledge requirements to be successful in this role??Then start working out how you’re going to show the business that you’ve got those. It might be by taking on new projects, saying no to irrelevant ones, or going on a training course. You’ll only know once you’ve identified what you want to do.

You also want to be seen by your peers as someone who is the obvious choice for that role, so they will take you seriously when you get it. As you move into senior roles your responsibility and accountability increase and therefore your relationships internally change so laying those foundations can help make that transition.

8.???What’s the best advice for the most senior person in your team

Invest a lot of time in your team.

No one person can do everything. Successful businesses need to be well coordinated and people need to be empowered to make decisions. They’re able to do that when the organisation’s strategy and values are clearly communicated and senior management has spent time with teams training, supporting, and investing in them. By devoting that time, you will find you can rely on your team more, and this gives you more time to do the things you need to do.

9.?If you had to name one personal trait which makes you good at your job, what would it be?

I’m compassionate and empathetic. I’m not very good at blowing my own trumpet but if you’re going to force me to then I’d say I can forge good relationships with most people because I’m able to understand and relate well to others. In doing so I can understand what people want from their jobs and their employer, meaning we help people get what they want in a way that helps drive success in the business and create a really positive and supportive culture.

10.??Who do you look up to?

Honestly, I don’t really look up to anyone anymore.

Definitely, earlier in my career I looked up to people and really admired them – I remember working closely with the old CFO at Salamanca Group and I really enjoyed that part of my career because learned so much from him. And the more and more I do this job, the more I realise that that’s what it's all about; learning.

Everyone is just trying to work their way through it all – progress up the corporate ladder, start their new exciting businesses, make more sales - whatever it is they’re doing. We’re all human and we’re all going to make mistakes – even the super successful entrepreneurs – so when you break that down and you stop looking up to people from afar, you can think more about how you can study or speak to that person to see what you could learn from them both through their successes and their failures.

11.??What is the biggest challenge of being a CEO?

There are lots of challenges, I’m not sure I can rank one as the ‘biggest’ but one aspect of the role that definitely is a challenge is getting the right balance of communication throughout the organisation. Too much or too little can cause their own issues. ?

Communication is key to building a successful enterprise but it’s about getting the right information across. You need to be crystal clear in your vision and your strategy so people know what they’re working towards and how we’re all going to get there. But the next stage of what additional information goes with that needs to be thought through so that we don’t overshare and make our message confusing or leave room for misinterpretation.

12.??What do you think makes a good CEO?

?There are so many ways to skin this cat. Everyone will have different demands of those in leadership positions and there are numerous ways to be an effective CEO based on a multitude of factors not limited to your personality type, the industry you’re operating in and the team you’ve built around you.

I look at the role of CEO as the person who is taking the decisions that drive the business to where it wants to get to and being good at that role means you have a really clear plan and your team understands and supports the decisions that you’re making. I think more and more people want to feel like they’re working towards a goal that is adding genuine value and is providing a stimulating challenge so an effective CEO is able to create a working environment that achieves that.

?13.??What do you say you do, when asked at a BBQ

I’ve learnt to make this as simple as possible – I’ve killed a number of conversations dead in their tracks when I talk about virtual IBANs and my mates don’t let me forget it.

So now I say ‘I work for an FX and payment provider that helps businesses move money from one country to another’. If people are interested I can then dive into the intricacies of our multi-currency ‘ibanq’ platform and how we help money move quicker, safer and easier than ever before. If not, I can make a quick exit.

14.??What tool do you think is the most useful in doing your job?

?Coffee. I’m in for a bad day if the coffee machine is broken.

15.??How do you keep up to date with industry knowledge?

Two things; reading and events.

You need to read the news (both national and industry), keep up to date with regulatory changes, and review the content and data that other businesses are putting out in the form of white papers, blogs, and interviews. You need to know how you’re positioning yourselves in the market and how you’re communicating your USP so this sort of information is imperative for you to be able to do that.

Events. There are some fantastic ideas out there and the fintech industry is a very collaborative, thought sharing community so it’s a great way of not just sharing ideas of how to overcome existing challenges but also contribute to the discussion of how we evolve as an industry.

16.??What do think will have the biggest impact on financial crime in the next 12 months?

I’m really intrigued by the introduction of MiCA which is designed to prevent market abuse for crypto assets. My interest is really born out of the question of ‘what impact will this have?’ rather than it will have the biggest impact – but then again, it might have the biggest impact!

I suspect that how far regulation evolves may be driven by its success in implementation rather than in support of promoting innovation and new ideas.?

17.??Who do you think is stand out in the industry at the moment?

Can I say IFX? It’s probably a cop out isn’t it? I am going to say Anastasia Demetriou who is our General Counsel and Company Secretary. She’s absolutely revolutionised our business and has rightly been nominated as a ‘Rising Star – In-House’ at this year’s British Legal Awards.

18.??If you could have another career, what would you have done?

?I’d have loved to have been an astronaut and gone to the International Space Station but I’m not sure chronic motion sickness is an attribute NASA look for.?

19.??What do you look for when hiring people and how does someone impress you?

First things first - are you just a good person? I want people who here who are supportive, considerate, and collaborative – the rest is important but it can follow – but I believe in trying to build a team for the long term and investing in them so making sure we’re able to build that culture is critical.

To impress me – it’s about your work ethic and being able to demonstrate that. You’re in the interview because your CV shows you could do the role so 10-20% is about validating that but the rest is about finding out what drives you, whether you’re proactive, why do you want a role here and why do you want to contribute to this company? We get lots of people wanting to work at a ‘fintech’ because it sounds cool but if candidates can explain why they’re suited for the role and can evidence a track record of delivering results it’s a slam dunk for them.

20.??Finally – what is one thing you want to learn more about?

Switching off and letting go a little bit. As you’ve probably guessed I don’t mind picking up emails and having calls over the weekend, on holidays, etc – it’s part of the role really - but I sometimes catch myself doing that when I’m spending time with my family and I feel terrible for it. I’ve started creating a few mental rules around putting my phone in a drawer between certain hours to make sure I’m making time for the people that matter.?

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