What do I do?

"Congrats on the new role.... but what exactly will you be doing?!" "Awesome title Rich....but what the hell does it mean?" "Er....what? Have you found the light?!"

These were some of the comments I had on my new role announcement, which are completely understandable because up until a few months ago I’d never really heard of a Chief Evangelist either!

Theo Priestly summed it up quite nicely in this article and made reference to the real pioneer of the term 'Chief Evangelist', Guy Kawasaki, who created not only the title but the way of life during his time at Apple. But I thought I’d share my own views on what it means to me.

Telling the Currencycloud story

First and foremost, this is about creating and sharing an inspiring and transparent story. I am immensely proud of where we at Currencycloud have come and what we've achieved.

To be a successful Evangelist you must believe in and be driven by a purpose or a cause (for those who haven't seen Simon Sinek's wonderful golden circle illustration and explanation of the 'Why' then check it out). I've spent the majority of my career in a sales role directly, or indirectly, selling to customers and carrying a quota with the aim of making money. But, as Kawaski puts it, Evangelism is not about selling, rather education and expressing your beliefs. 

Our purpose at Currencycloud is to "reimagine the way money flows to create a better tomorrow for all" and, together with others in the Fintech space, we are doing just that. We are building products to allow everyone to have access to the same financial products and embedded finance is ensuring that all businesses, not just banks or financial services businesses, can offer the right financial products to their customers in a way that is beautifully packaged and easy to understand and consume.

Having an opinion on the industry

I'm also really excited about the future and what lies ahead; the industry is exploding right now and Currencycloud is uniquely positioned for continued success. I am constantly amazed by the products and services our clients have built over the last few years, as well as others in the industry, and what they have planned for the future that will fundamentally change the game for how people interact with financial services.

For me, 'creating a better tomorrow for all' isn't just about the unbanked or the developing world. There are some incredible companies with a deep focus on those markets, but there are other companies who focus on children, who focus on students, who focus on investors or high(er) net worth individuals. 'For all' means just that - everyone

It's about changing the world. 

Our technology can be embedded in all sorts of applications and what drives me and inspires me is seeing our clients create or transform amazing businesses to service a whole array of end users. 

Many of you will have that one relative who will constantly remind you that "opinions are like ****holes, everybody has one" so it's no surprise that an Evangelist should have an opinion as well. I'm not saying my opinions are right (at least not all the time) and there are plenty of people who know far more about this industry than I ever will, but it's important for me to be opinionated, both internally and externally, otherwise there will be no passion. Passion is what inspires. And Evangelism is all about inspiration.  

Connecting the dots

Finally, my role as the Chief Evangelist is to 'connect the dots' within our organisation. I sit at the intersection of our sales, product and growth teams and I work with them and for them. They do not work for me. My job is to listen to what they are saying, to understand what our customers and prospects are telling us, and to learn more about what is happening in the industry so I can ensure transparency and clarity of message across everyone in the organisation to the benefit of all. 

A key part of how well you connect these dots and how well cross-functional teams operate comes down to the overall health of your organisation. We have spent a lot of time working on becoming more 'healthy' (huge shout out to Alan, Joe & team at The Table Group and the book The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni) and the clarity framework we have allows us / me to reinforce this clarity across our business. It all starts with transparency of communication - a story, our story, that inspires passion and belief across a highly capable, highly motivated workforce that, for Currencycloud, is reimagining the way money moves to create a better tomorrow for all. 

I hope that helps, if only for my family & friends who wonder what it is I do all day.