Passion & Change

Last week my professional update was shared on this platform, with a somewhat personal spin. Trusting my gut both personally and professional was a skill/muscle that has developed over years with many instances of trial and error. As a leader, one of my superpowers has always been my ability to empathize, connect and understand a wide plethora of people. There is an art and a science to being in the Talent org. The best leaders are as comfortable being data driven as they are being transparent, direct and vulnerable with stakeholders and colleagues. The lines between our work lives and personal lives have been blurred with the pandemic. Being personal and trusting my gut is part of my superpower as a leader, so I've learned to accept and celebrate this part of myself. With that vein in mind, I'm excited to share that I've joined Chainalysis as their new Global VP of Talent.?

Chainalysis was the company that I just didn't see coming. Their mission is to build trust in blockchains to promote more financial freedom with less risk. Chainalysis is the data platform for Blockchain – a SaaS company attempting to do good in the world, through transparency and compliance, tied to Blockchain, a technology that has been buzzing around for the last 7+ years.?

This sounded compelling enough for me to meet with Michael, their CEO, last fall, which led to deep conversations and eventual mutual excitement. It became clear as the conversations progressed, this was an opportunity I could not let pass by. The company and the people were compelling, and the role was one where I could have an insurmountable impact on their trajectory and success. But before accepting, I did some serious soul searching that brought me to where we are today.

The work: When thinking about what gets me most excited by my work, I realized it was the ability to be part of a company in a category defining space. When I joined Twitter over 11 years ago, Facebook had not yet IPO'd and many people (other than tech insiders) could not quite understand the magic or power of this new platform. Social media was at its infancy, and now we find it hard to imagine a day when it is not mentioned or used in our daily lives.

When joining Slack over 6 years ago, being able to precisely describe the unique transformative power of our tool to potential candidates or even family members was often an arduous task. A work productivity tool that is the platform for all your work software took a couple of years to articulate, and now most of the world cannot fathom working without their digital HQ.?

In the last few years, Web3, cryptocurrency, NFTs and Blockchain technology have become some of the most debated and talked about technology within tech. The data platform that Chainalysis offers has been a large accelerator into making governments, financial institutions and regulatory industries more comfortable with cryptocurrencies – which in turn has helped to drive Blockchain technology into being more mainstream. It powers investigation, compliance, and risk management tools that have been used to solve some of the world's most high-profile cyber criminal cases and grow consumer access to cryptocurrency safely.

The people: As a woman of color, diversity and inclusion has always been important to me. Seeing strong female leaders was where I pulled some of my biggest inspiration during my career. Additionally, as a displaced Canadian living in the United States, I constantly looked at the world from a global lens. People in other countries and cultures have always been those in my circle I'm most drawn and intrigued by. In meeting our European co-founders Michael and Jonathan, I instantly felt at ease. While getting to know the rest of the Executive team, I was delighted to realize that the leadership team was 50% female and 50% ethnically diverse. This diversity of background and thought further solidified that this was the right team, at the right moment in time, and the perfect company for me.

The role: One of the most strategic aspects to a fast growing organization is its Talent function. With the great reshuffling (or the war on talent), this is becoming more and more apparent across tech. Never in my career has our function been so in demand, nor has it been so critical to the success of tech companies from seed stage, to high growth to the Fortune 500s of the world. Last year the company doubled in size, thanks to the hard work and dedication of the existing Talent and Hiring teams. This year, Chainalysis, kicking off even more accelerated hyper growth. Reporting directly into Michael, helping to drive strategic decisions related to growth and talent, all while having the opportunity to build the talent infrastructure and function of my dreams? The opportunity to have this level of impact excites and inspires me everyday.

When making any big change in life it's important to know what's important to you. Impact, people and the company space, was clearly the challenge and opportunity that I wanted next. Whenever making a life changing decision, it’s critical you give yourself the time of reflection and clarity to identify what is most important to you. Always follow your gut.

BTW, I'm hiring like crazy. DMs are open :)