Veronica's journey in fintech has been filled with a whirlwind of challenges and accomplishments. Her career evolved from operational streamlining to the forefront of sales and business development. At every professional milestone and turning point, Veronica’s path in fintech has been marked with constant learnings and a commitment to empowering both her own growth and that of others in the industry.
Veronica’s career began amidst the tumultuous financial crisis of 2008. Working in operations within an asset management firm during this period exposed her to the criticality of efficiency and process optimization. The challenges that the industry faced during this time cultivated Veronica’s inclination towards improving workflows and operational efficacy.However, Veronica began to feel that her role in operations missed a critical relationship building aspect, prompting Veronica to search for a more client facing role instead. She transitioned to a position as an Account Manager at Institutional Shareholder Services where she unlocked a new world of understanding: The pivotal role of technology in transforming customer experiences. She relocated to San Francisco where building relationships and client trust with customers in Western US and Canada became key priorities.
The Silicon Valley chapter in her career was particularly pivotal and fostered a newfound interest in sales within the burgeoning fintech landscape. This passion led Veronica to Veoci, Inc., a start-up specializing in crisis management solutions. Wearing multiple hats — from business development to product management — shaped Veronica’s understanding of diverse customer needs while promoting an environment of diversity and inclusion within the organization. After being at Veoci, Veronica moved to Smartstream Technologies where she led the launch of SmartStream Air in the US and secured the first client in the crypto exchange domain for the company. Veronica dove deeper into the fintech world with every career change and gained valuable industry knowledge and expertise at every company she joined.
Her current role as Business Development Director at Encompass Corporation marks another chapter in her continued quest to enable financial institutions to improve their customer experience through automation and operational efficiency. Encompass is on a mission to present financial institutions with a full Corporate Digital Identity (CDI) to provide a unified source of truth into risk.
Encompass’ solutions make it much easier for banks to turn their manual KYC policies into efficient automated processes. Financial institutions are presented with a real-time digital complete KYC profile, combining authoritative public information with private information to enhance the overall customer journey. Collaborating with global financial institutions, particularly in the Northeast and Canada, to enhance KYC processes through automation, Veronica is motivated by the goals to streamline onboarding, reduce manual efforts, and improve the overall client experience. Optimizing operational efficiency is a thread that Veronica consistently weaves into each role she takes on.
Beyond technological innovation, Veronica is also driven to empower others, especially women in fintech. Through engagements with groups like NYC Fintech Women, Latinas in Finance, Women in Revenue, and programs like Money 2020's Rise Up, she aims to inspire and guide rising executives, young professionals, and startups entering the fintech and regtech space. With empowerment and inclusion being core to her personal mission, Veronica also leads conversations around self advocacy. She recently hosted a discussion, "Leveraging Your Identity Superpower in Your Career", at Money 2020 Las Vegas, that championed leveraging individuality as a strength while navigating one’s career.
Veronica’s involvement with the fintech community, beyond her day-to-day job, points to her commitment to creating an environment that elevates and supports each other's growth within the industry. The fintech landscape is constantly evolving, but Veronica’s professional and personal goals remain steadfast: To drive technological advancement to enhance financial processes and empower individuals to realize their fullest potential in fintech.
More on Veronica
Where you currently live: Forest Hills, New York
Favorite part of your day: Morning yoga & matcha ritual
Favorite hobby: Flamenco dance classes, yoga, traveling, museums, live music
Favorite show to binge: Most recently, White Lotus & The Bear
Favorite fintech media (blog, podcast, newsletter etc) that inspires you: Humans of Fintech
What is one piece of advice someone told you that resonated with you that can give to other women in FinTech?
Crisis equals opportunity.
Change is guaranteed in your career and with each hurdle there’s an opportunity to learn and leverage your strengths to carry you forward ultimately building resilience along the way.
What's the best job decision you ever made?
The biggest risks I’ve taken in my career have also opened many opportunities. Leaving an organization where I had established credibility and was seen as a subject matter expert to my first revenue-generating role at a start-up in a new industry was both scary and exciting at the same time. I’ve learned to trust my intuition when to make calculated risks for growth opportunities and align with a strong sponsor to achieve career growth.
Do you have any productivity hacks? What keeps you motivated? How do you maintain a work/life balance?
I take the time to conserve my energy. As a social introvert, my battery needs to be re-charged and protecting that is essential so that I can give the best version of myself during the day.
Daily Diary
6:15AM: Wake up and if I don’t hit snooze, I do 10-15 minutes of yoga
6:45AM: Get ready for the day, make breakfast, caffeine intake, write in my 5-minute journal and respond to any urgent emails
7:45AM: Commute into the office + podcast, audio books, newsfeeds
8:30 - 9:00AM: Arrive in the office set up for the day
9:00AM: Each day looks different than the previous. I spend most of my time prospecting, scheduling demos, sending follow-up materials, meeting with potential customers
11:00AM - 12:00PM: Weekly North America Sales meeting with the team
12:30 - 1:00PM: Eating homemade lunch and checking my inbox on industry newsletters
1:00 - 6PM: Mixture of client calls, prospecting, internal meetings, and status updates on my ongoing opportunities with leadership
6:30 - 7:30PM: You are equally likely to find me at a dance class, yoga class, dinner with friends or family, or networking event in NYC
8:00PM: Downtime
10:00PM: Lights off
Get your brain going with more than 50 escape rooms! You will not have an easy time solving the five to ten problems that are included in each area. backrooms game
Veronica, absolutely love this sneak peek in to your journey and how your story encapsulates success and driving impact in your work and the community!