In today’s fast-paced business world, seamless transactions are the need of the hour. With Adyen, businesses experience more approvals on every single payment with local and global payment processing, data-driven optimizations, and powerful risk management, all within a fully connected single payments system. Joanne Liu, Team Lead for Account Management at Adyen is creating waves as she and her team are responsible for managing and growing the company’s largest global enterprise relationships which further advance opportunities for everyone in FinTech.
Full name: Joanne Liu
Current job title: Team Lead, Account Management
Current company: Adyen
Current location: San Francisco
“Together, we develop innovative payment products and unlock new regions to help our merchants expand their businesses and reach more customers all over the world.”
With an MBA from the Wharton School and a B.S. in Business Administration from UC Berkeley, Joanne went on to become the Vice President of Partnerships at Boku, a mobile payments company that went public in 2017. At Boku, she launched and managed their key enterprise partners, including Apple, Sony, and Facebook, and led their APAC business development efforts. Having worked for more than 10 years in account management and business development roles in the payments space, Joanne finally took on the role of Team Lead, Account Management at Adyen.
Adyen is the payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, providing a modern end-to-end infrastructure connecting directly to Visa, Mastercard, and consumers' globally preferred payment methods. Joanne is creating an impact on the FinTech industry through Adyen as the company delivers frictionless payments across online, mobile, and in-store channels. With offices across the world, Adyen serves customers including Uber, Spotify, Facebook, Adidas, Bonobos, and L'Oreal.
The accelerated growth in the shift from in-store to online purchases is a development in the FinTech industry that Joanne is excited to see evolve. “Since COVID has already further accelerated this trend, I’m excited to see how this shift has made online shopping even more convenient and many goods and services more attainable for everyone.”
Joanne and her team work closely with merchants to understand their global payments challenges and objectives, helping them build and fulfill their global payments strategies. “Together, we develop innovative payment products and unlock new regions to help our merchants expand their businesses and reach more customers all over the world.”
Prior to beginning her career, Joanne faced her first big challenge while pursuing her MBA at Wharton. “I loved my new classmates and was interested in running for Student Body President. However, when I looked at a list of names of the former presidents hanging in the school cafe, there was only one woman on it, and none of the names sounded Asian. I immediately felt discouraged but decided to go for it. With my incredible running teammates, the campaign process ended up being fun… and successful! That leadership experience was unforgettable, and I hope to be able to continue to represent women and minorities throughout all aspects of my life.”
Having been surrounded by strong women, Joanne is greatly inspired by Aura, her former boss at Boku. “Aura was promoted to COO during her maternity leave. She accepted the challenge and was such an inspiration to me, leading our pre-IPO company while raising two young children. Aura truly cared about my career development and personal well-being, encouraging me to take on uncomfortable new opportunities while celebrating achievements together. She was always open and transparent, and would share her own projects and lessons learned with me, even when things weren’t going as planned. I strive to be as authentic, direct, and caring as Aura, in everything that I do.”
More on Joanne
Currently live: San Francisco
Family at home: 2 kids
Favorite hobby: Writing music
Favorite part of your day: The morning- when my toddler runs out of her room and jumps into my bed with a huge smile
Favorite show to binge: Mare of Easttown
Daily Diary
Monday
7:30 am: My daughter runs into my bedroom, ready for our morning sing-along. I skim the news while nursing my infant, then make breakfast and walk to my home office (aka my dining table).
8:30 am: I join a call with colleagues from our Amsterdam headquarters to discuss how we want to approach pricing for an exciting new massive merchant opportunity.
9:00 am: During a regular one-on-one, my team member shares the news that her largest merchant has shifted all of their payments volume to us because of our risk and fraud tools and dedicated account management. I wish all Monday mornings were like this!
10:00 am: Adyen offers weekly virtual Masterclasses to facilitate continuous learning, exploration, and mindfulness. Today’s session is about cognitive flexibility and understanding how life experiences influence the way the mind interprets events.
11:00 am: On another one-on-one, we discuss ideas around merchant expansion opportunities and personal development goals.
12:00 pm: Nurse baby, dig for leftovers in the fridge.
1:00 pm: I interview a candidate for our Senior Account Manager position. She has worked in sales and account management for 12 years and even helped build out an AM team in New York and Amsterdam. She shares incredible stories about the different countries she has worked in and visited, and I realize I’ve lost track of time because of the fun conversation.
2:00 pm: I jump on another interview, but for our Associate AM position. He has only worked for two years but is excited to learn more about the payments space. His energy is infectious, and I can’t wait to introduce him to my teammates.
3:00 pm: Our monthly company meeting includes a dedicated section for our Account Management team’s updates and merchant growth stories. I block time to work on the deck for this week’s presentation.
4:00 pm: Nurse baby, set up Facetime for my daughter’s daily call with Grandma (free virtual babysitting!).
4:30 pm: I sync briefly with a teammate to review an RFP that is due tomorrow and finish the deck for our company update.
6:00 pm: Dinner then children’s bedtime - time to divide and conquer. I nurse the baby while my husband brushes our toddler’s teeth. He reads two stories with both of them on his lap. I take pictures of them on my phone, because little kid PJs are just adorable.
8:00 pm: The girls are finally both asleep. I hop on the spin bike in the middle of my living room and spend the entire time texting my friends about a new boba shop we need to try. Definitely did not reach my target heart rate today.
11:00 pm: I fill out notes from today’s interviews while pumping, start watering some house plants, realize I should just do this tomorrow, and finally go to bed.
Saturday
7:30 am: Human alarm.
10:00 am: I meet my neighbor for our favorite blueberry pancake brunch in Downtown SF. Mimosas are optional but recommended.
12:00 pm: We grab a coffee from Philz and walk along the Embarcadero waterfront, enjoying the outdoor crowds that have returned to the city and chatting about future trip ideas.
2:00 pm: Both kids go down for a nap, breathe a sigh of relief, and go for a quick jog.
4:00 pm: Think about cooking but order delivery instead.
8:00 pm: Binge watch Mare of Easttown. Get ready for bed and realize I never finished watering the plants.
Reach out to Joanne on LinkedIn.