9. Advancing, Empowering, and Leading Diversity & Inclusion with Cheryl Nash, CEO of Tegra118

There is no better time than now to advance, empower, and lead Diversity & Inclusion within the workplace. Our guest today, Cheryl Nash, CEO of Tegra118, has pioneered this effort for the last 35 years and changed the lives and careers of countless professionals in financial services and fintech.

In this episode, Cheryl Nash shares about wealth tech. As Chief Executive Officer of Tegra118, an established and trusted leader, she drove the strategic vision for our award-winning wealth tech solutions. You will learn how she 'grew up' in this industry and how she has held roles in nearly every business functional area, giving her true insight and appreciation for the contributions of the talented individuals. She deeply values the enduring relationships she has cultivated over the years and committed to pushing the boundaries of what's expected in wealth management with future-forward technology innovation. As a passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion, Cheryl is dedicated to doing her part to drive positive change by educating, empowering and championing others.

At Tegra118, they are driven by a single purpose: to build the future of wealth technology. As an industry leader for over three decades, the company has partnered closely with clients to deliver solutions that are relevant to their needs, today and tomorrow.

Cheryl’s unique perspective is informed by both deep industry expertise and a broader view of the fintech space and this inspires her and team to be relentless in their pursuit to advance the wealth and asset management. The foundation of all that they do lies in their proven, flexible technology, which grows with their clients as their needs change, to transform the way people interact with, manage, and grow their wealth.

Join the conversation to hear more about:

• How to be deeply admired and endeared in the financial services industry (04:20)
• The way to create a culture of belonging, acceptance, inclusion, and empathy (11:30)
• Leadership comes from you actually taking action and executing (15:20)
• Sometimes we want to take the chance, but we're not yet ready for what the position calls for (19:03)
• Practical ways to climb the career ladder (21:30)
• Building the future of wealth technology together with clients (27:19)
• Experience of being at the forefront of innovation (31:31)
• On developing location strategy (34:20)
• How to bridge software technology and financial services with the real world (39:02)
• We need to acknowledge that change is really hard for people (45:29)
• Being an incredible advocate for women (49:29)
• Think outside the box (52:39)
• Proper understanding of what a commitment would be like (53:39)
• Awareness of diversity and inclusion and organizations being open (57:39)

Referenced Materials

A Message from Cheryl Nash
Cheryl Nash LinkedIn
Tegra118
Fiserv
Money Management Institute (MMI)
MotivePartners

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📧 Want to get in touch? Email me at tina@growintentionally.com

Transcript

Tina Powell:

Hi. This is Tina Powell, host of In The Suite where I sit down with top women leaders and some of the biggest names in the financial services and the wealth management industry. Together, we'll discover some of their best secrets and top strategies to grow great business, build a strong brand and lead teams in the 21st century. I hope you'll enjoy hearing their amazing personal stories of triumph, trepidation and transformation in hopes of becoming better leaders ourselves. The time for you to lead is now and you're In The Suite.

Tina Powell:

The name Cheryl Nash is iconic in the fintech and wealth management industry. Cheryl's work and leadership spans over 30 years from Tegra118 to Fiserv to the Money Management Institute. As chief executive officer of Tegra118, Cheryl drives the strategic vision for scalable, mission-critical, industry-leading technology solutions in wealth management. Cheryl has over 30 years of experience and a deep appreciation and understanding of industry trends, priorities and challenges. She is a highly sought after subject matter expert and her consultative approach has yielded enduring client partnerships.

Tina Powell:

Cheryl is a pioneer who's lit the flame and carried the torch of diversity inclusion since the very beginning. But not only for women or gender by itself. You see Cheryl is extremely passionate around inclusion for every person in the deepest sense of the word and calls it a humanity imperative. And speaking to Cheryl on a June day In The Suite during the George Floyd riots, one central theme became crystal clear. Cheryl puts other people ahead of everything else. It's what I'm calling the Cheryl Nash Effect. Standing up for what's right, advocating for positive change and mentoring and sponsoring people in the industry that gives rise to a whole new generation of leaders, many of them past and future guests here in the suite.

Tina Powell:

Cheryl's credentials include her appointment to the Money Management Institute, MMI board of governors and selection as co-chair of the MMI Women in Wealth Management, a program dedicated to ensuring women in the workplace, zero to five have an enriching start to their financial services career. She's also a board member of MMI's leadership pathway, a former co-chair of MMI's technology and operations committee and she currently serves as Investment Institute's on-campus advisory board member and leads the Women in Wealth Management Initiative, a program dedicated to inspiring, advising and educating career-focused women Cheryl chairs the diversity and inclusion committee for Tiburon Advisors and is measurably driving a more diverse audience and speaker roster to the Tiburon CEO summits.

Tina Powell:

Cheryl has received numerous awards for her contributions and achievements including Money Management Institute's Pioneer Award, Gold Stevie Award for women in business family wealth reports, women and wealth management, individual contributor award, MMI Barron's industry award to Envestnet Institute on campus and the doing good category, a program for which Cheryl Nash and Tegra118, formerly Fiserv are key contributors, InvestmentNews 2017 Women to Watch honoree, the FTF News 2018 Editor Choice Award, ThinkAdvisor's 2019 Top Women in Wealthtech and most recently a 2019 Savvy Ladies Change Maker of the Year Award.

Tina Powell:

Finally, if there is a female leader we can all aspire to be, it's Cheryl Nash, a change maker, a champion for others and a culture driver of diversity and inclusion humanity initiatives that will stand the test of time and value each human being. I hope you'll enjoy this episode of Cheryl Nash In The Suite.

Tina Powell:

Wow. Cheryl Nash, it is an absolute honor and a thrill to have you In The Suite today. Thank you so much for joining us for this episode and making the time. Today is June 4th and there's a lot more going on in the wake of George Floyd right now and the current environment right now as it relates to not only coronavirus, but race relations. So I'm really happy that you're here. Just before we get into the broadcast today, your name has been iconic in the worlds of fintech and banking and wealth management and women.

Tina Powell:

And your leadership as CEO of Tegra118, all of your work and your presidency and tenure at Fiserv, you've done so much with women and Money Management Institute. But I have to say that one of the reasons that I think that you are so admired and endeared in the financial services industry is because you're a person that understands the current environment as well as the trends. And I think a good place to start, I was really moved two days ago when you said this. You said how do we get to a place where hate and discrimination have no place in our world. It starts with everyone, the word everyone in caps making it a priority.

Tina Powell:

Let's all create a culture of belonging, acceptance inclusion and empathy. The responsibility is all on us, #togetherwecan, #togetherwerise. Just fundamentally, your leadership, you are a person that gets it, Cheryl. So why don't you talk to us about what it's like to lead right now in the current environment being that things are so, so volatile and heated right now in race relations especially.

Cheryl Nash:

Yeah, Tina, thank you for that. So it is. It's really interesting and you have to be very, I'd say careful and very really personal about how you lead today especially when it comes to the George Floyd situation. It took me when I started seeing everything happening and then last weekend things really went out of control. We saw some nice peaceful protesters out there. But then we started seeing at night some of the rioting. And just it really is something that made me think as a CEO as a woman and as just a human, there's something that needs to be done here.

Cheryl Nash:

The whole incident is just horrific. So I sat down Sunday night and I put together a letter to my entire team. It literally took me four hours to do that because it's so sensitive. But it has to come from a real place. And that's where I really said in Tegra118, our culture should not ever allow hate or discrimination. And I also think as a CEO, you have to stand up right now. You have to say that you're committed to foster a culture that cares about its people, that deeply values diversity and inclusion and that's something that I've been talking about for a long time. I'm really passionate about diversity and inclusion. And it's inclusion of every person, right?

Cheryl Nash:

It's not just bringing more women in on gender, it's not just religion, it's not just racial, it's everything. So it's a business imperative, it's a humanity imperative, and right now there's so many challenges out there right now with COVID, with all this that's going on. But right now is a time for leaders to stand up and say, "I'm not going to take it anymore. Come together." And really you care about their people and make sure that there's resources available.

Cheryl Nash:

What I did on Monday was I made sure that our teams understood that our black employees, their families our employees with blended families, which we have quite a few are tired, are scared, and are angry. And it's a time like this that we need to reach out to them, we need to listen to them and really important that we need to seek to understand how they're feeling. And that was what Monday was all about. So it's just ongoing. We have a #togetherTegra118, and this is really the time to come together, one voice. That's my focus right now with our organization even with my own family talking about this and my friends.

Tina Powell:

Well, I certainly think that the way that you've addressed the issue head-on is something that every single female leader listening right now to this podcast can take a page out of the Cheryl Nash leadership playbook, and that is that you lead by example and your leadership comes from you actually taking action and executing. It's not just saying things but your leadership is more from your actions more than it is from your words. And I think it was an incredible foresight that you wrote that letter on Monday.

Tina Powell:

Again, right now like it's Thursday. Before things even were heated that you took the time to actually write that, to communicate your thoughts. That's exactly the type of servant leadership that the world needs right now, not only in financial services, but in all organizations and it's how you win. I'm not surprised that you've been a champion of diversity and inclusion for your entire career here. And I forgot to mention, you're also the chair for diversity and inclusion for the Tiburon CEO summits. So that's really an impressive career.

Tina Powell:

Now, you've been involved in financial services for over 36 years though. The audience can't see you right now, but I can certainly see you right now recording this, and that seems pretty impossible. I want to acknowledge that your name is not only associated right now with Tegra118 but president of Fiserv and you'll demystify the Fiserv-Tegra118 coming to together for us. But here's something that I did as a fun thing to do knowing that you were going to be on this episode.

Tina Powell:

So I figured 36 and nine months that you were at Fiserv. So my daughter is a math major, Cheryl and she's an eighth grade teacher. You'll appreciate this, 36 and nine months equates to 13,413.75 days and 107,310 hours. So I want to use that stat as a benchmark against Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 rule which he basically states that any discipline requires 10,000 hours, yet you have almost 10 times that number. You're beyond an expert. You are an oracle, an absolute oracle, a guiding force in this industry. So can you tell us a little bit about how you started your career at Fiserv and more importantly, I'm deeply curious, did you think that you would be here 36 years, nine months later? It's incredible.

Cheryl Nash:

Thank you. No, I never did. So I can easily say that I never thought I'd, first of all, make my way up to president, let alone CEO. So it's been a fun experience. So I've been with the same business my entire career, but I didn't started Fiserv. I started at a small company called Security APL out of Chicago. I was actually the fourth hire at that company. I was hired to help onboard clients and as you do in any small firm, I ended up doing a lot more than that and I learned a lot. I raised my hand to move to New York in the mid-'80s with the founder and to set up a new york office. I look back at that time. I've never been to New York.

Cheryl Nash:

I didn't really know what I was doing or what was expected of me when I got to New York. I was in my 20s. I packed up my life. I said goodbye to my friends and family and I went to start up a New York office. And I will say I never looked back. It was a really amazing experience, one where I really learned a lot and I think it's helped me reach where I am today in my career. In May of 1996, Checkfree acquired Security APL.

Cheryl Nash:

So Pete Kight who led Checkfree was way ahead of his time. Pete was really thinking about banking and brokerage and how they can come together. So we were a wealth technology platform. Checkfree did all banking, core banking platforms and electronic bill payment. He saw that, that there was a big need for banking and brokerage to come together and obviously way ahead of his time. But I learned so much at Checkfree. At Checkfree, I mostly led and sat in his client services reps, led client services. I was in sales and ultimately I was leading implementation. So I played a lot of different roles when I was at Checkfree.

Cheryl Nash:

Then in December of 2007, Fiserv acquired Checkfree. So that was my second acquisition. We remained a separate business unit. So we remained a separate business unit at Checkfree and at Fiserv. So I became the president over time of the Fiserv Investment Services. So Fiserv, I worked at for 13 years. Amazing experience, great company, great leadership. I learned a lot from Jeff Yabuki, Devin McGranahan, really great company.

Cheryl Nash:

And at Fiserv, I spent a lot of time before I became president focus on product management, product strategy, strategy marketing. So I really became well-rounded in some experiences that really led me in 2011 being named president of the firm. So it was really exciting. Obviously, being president is a lot different than running and being in the business itself. It's pretty lonely at the top, but I did learn a lot and I surrounded myself with some really good people. And I think that really has led me to where we are today.

Cheryl Nash:

So in 2020 the Fiserv Investment Services Business Unit was sold as a joint venture to Motive Partners. Motive Partners owned 60% of our business and Fiserv still owns 40%. Back in February of 2020, I was named CEO. And again, when I think about my career and when I started way back when at a little company called Security APL as the fourth hire to where I am today. I really think what got me to lead this business was all the experiences and the ability to be able to sit in client services and lead client services, sit in product management and lead product management. It was those experiences that really enabled me to continue to stay in the same company.

Cheryl Nash:

And when you think about it, it's not the same company because it's had three acquisitions. We build our platform for largest asset managers and broker dealers. So we're in front of clients and firms all the time helping them with their strategy. So it's a really interesting organization. I always tell the people who work for me that if you're ever bored for a minute, it's your own fault because we've got so much going on and there's just still more to learn. So it's great.

Tina Powell:

So when you took on all of those different stretch assignments, right? So you had nearly every single type of job that there was to do.

Cheryl Nash:

For development and QA.

Tina Powell:

So then part of it, was there literally a change in your job description or job title where you have one title and then starting to get your feet wet by taking some of those stretch assignments and then easing into the role. And the reason I ask is again, because there's a lot of great female leadership right now on this podcast and we're looking to you, Cheryl for advice in how we manage our own careers. And sometimes we want to take the chance but we're not yet ready for what the position calls for. So as you climbed the career ladder and then took on all of these different roles, was it you applying for those jobs or was it more of an evolution of your skill set and or people recognizing like, "Wow. Give it to Cheryl. Cheryl can do everything."

Cheryl Nash:

It was a mixture. So in some cases I applied and in some cases I was given the opportunity. I will say as I think about my career and think about all those different roles that I had, I wasn't always comfortable getting to the next level or taking on all the roles, but I never said no. And I think that's a great message for women especially. Make sure that even if you don't think that you're 100% there and you're 60, maybe only 60% there, take that stretch whole, get yourself a mentor or some help. Surround yourself with people who can help, you who have different skills than you and really lean into that job.

Cheryl Nash:

I think that in most cases, men don't have any issues taking on roles that they know they need to learn. And women have, they're much more nervous to do that, but don't, don't. Just take the role if it's given to you even if you don't feel comfortable with it and put everything into learning, but really more importantly, put everything into learning and getting to know people who've done that role before or leadership in your organization that you know you can turn to if you need some help.

Tina Powell:

That's really great advice. I do want to emphasize the fact that you said to just say yes. Say yes to the role even if you don't feel that you are ready. That is an unbelievable piece of advice and I want to say to that, you had mentors, advocates, sponsors in your own career trajectory and that there are things that people see in you. There are people that saw things in you, Cheryl that maybe that at the time were exactly what the role needed, but yet again, learning the role is something that we can all do. But either you have the qualities or you don't. So the qualities are much more important, I think and maybe you would agree to this than aptitude. The aptitude, the technical can be taught. The technical can be learned.

Cheryl Nash:

Absolutely.

Tina Powell:

But if you don't have the right mindset and if you're not hungry for it and if you don't take a chance, you're not going to get the opportunity.

Cheryl Nash:

Yeah, we always say hire for talent. You can teach skill. Hire for the right talent. That person who you believe is just going to come in and roll up their sleeves and do the job, and if they need to learn the skill, you can teach them the skill. But that's a great point, Tina. It really is don't be afraid and bring in the right people that you think can do the job. Don't always look for those experts that have done the job before.

Tina Powell:

Well, anybody that's following you on twitter, Cheryl Nash @cherylnash2 will see that you have an amazing organization of women and men right now who are obviously part of an incredible culture at Tegra118. I would love for you to explain about Tegra118 and how it's how it's different from the prior environment, how it's different from from Fiserv. I love the brand. I want to talk about that as well too, but just spend a minute just clarifying for us who Tegra118 is.

Cheryl Nash:

So I love talking about in Tegra118, so I'm happy to do that. So Tegra118 is the new leader in wealth technology. We were Fiserv Investment Services. We were Checkfree Investment Services. Out of a big company and into a much smaller standalone business where we really have the opportunity to grow and invest in our business. We're the leading wealth and asset management industry and we really on purpose made sure that we had a fresh, bold perspective and strategy. So that's the name more bold than you'd expect from a fintech company.

Cheryl Nash:

Our focus is to provide our clients powerful technology, exceptional innovation, amazing experiences and collaborative partnerships. So one of the things that's different and that motive has brought to us is they are very collaborative with their clients. A lot of them come from consulting backgrounds. So they really know how to go and listen and bring back solutions to clients instead of just saying, "Here's what you got. Here's what we have. Take it or leave it." So we are really enjoying working with Motive.

Cheryl Nash:

One of the things that they are very... They say the word co-create a lot and it's co-creating with your clients. Don't go in a room and create something and if you build it, they will come. We really build it alongside our clients and that's different for us. We are really enjoying that, as our clients. But we always say we're building the future of wealth technology together with our clients. The foundation that we have really does lie in the proven, flexible technology that has grown with our clients over time. It's transformed the way people interact with manage and grow their wealth, but our unique perspective is formed and really informed by a broader view of the fintech space.

Cheryl Nash:

It empowers us to drive change and that's really... Being part of a PE company, we weren't ever... This is also new learners for me working with a PE firm. And I'll talk more about doing that in a time of crisis. It's been really refreshing because it's a blank sheet of paper. There's a lot of opportunities to look at firms that we should partner with, to look at firms we should acquire. We're actually going to announce our first acquisition next week, which is exciting because we haven't had an acquisition since 2010.

Cheryl Nash:

So big parties over conference calls and Zoom. And for that, we're really excited about it. But we'll continue to interact with influencers like yourself, Tina and others. I mean, this has been a great opportunity I think to showcase a new company even though we've been in this industry for 35 years. It is a bolded company. So it's different. Our clients are feeling it. Our people are feeling it. I think it's been a really interesting change.

Cheryl Nash:

We've always been focused on technology. We will continue to be focused on technology, but we're really into the innovation stage and really driving some change in growth in this industry and giving our clients what they've been waiting for. So it's exciting times.

Tina Powell:

That's really exciting and I want to state for the record that I had no idea of the acquisition which of course when this podcast... Today is June 4th. But when this podcast is out, then the good news, so I congratulate you and Tegra118 on the good news. I was lucky enough one day on LinkedIn to tune in to you and April Rudin and you explain some of the origin of the name of Tegra118. And again, this sounds like it's something very collaborative, very different that it is starting to just have an ethos and an energy of its own.

Tina Powell:

So for those few people who weren't listening, there were a lot listening that day, can you kind of explain the origin story of the name, because I think that as we are going through naming different things in our organizations, even just if it's an entrepreneurial initiative to give it a name gives it a life.

Cheryl Nash:

It does.

Tina Powell:

So explain the life behind Tegra118, the naming of it.

Cheryl Nash:

So first of all we worked with a branding firm who I don't know... This is the first time I've done this too where you're in front of a branding firm, they're interviewing you and your clients, we had the leadership across Motive and Tegra in the room. We voted on the name. We landed on Tegra118. I'll admit that wasn't my first choice, nor was that my favorite, but after 24 hours, it really grew on me and actually now I love it. It's interesting because I thought about Tegra118, what actually does that mean? We didn't want to be another just normal wealth tech name. So it was fun to do that. It was a lot of fun.

Cheryl Nash:

And like you said, we had the opportunity to name it whatever we wanted. So we wanted a name that was bold. I remember calling people the day that we announced it and they were like, "Tell me about that name. That's an odd name for a fintech company. So really, it's about a bold, different perspective. Our new logo and visual identity. So we have a new logo, we have new colors. Our colors are purple, blue, yellow, really nice colors. It reflects the heritage of our business, our deep industry expertise. Our bold mission to create a new standard in fintech innovation, and it really pushes the boundaries of what's expected in wealth management. That was our goal and that's what I think Tegra118 does.

Cheryl Nash:

We made sure that it was fresh, that it had a modern look. It's synergistic with our vision to be at the forefront of innovation. So we really wanted to make sure that even the logo itself wasn't just a plain logo, that it had some life to it. It signifies our proven and future proof technology. It's dynamic. It's nimble and it's collaborative. So it's really creates a culture. It resonates with the culture we want to create.

Cheryl Nash:

Tegra speaks to our company's integrated seamless technology and my favorite part of Tegra is it also stands for integrity. Integrity of our mission to redefine how people interact with, manage, and grow their wealth and the integrity of our people who come to work every day on behalf of our clients. 118 was interesting. 118 reflects the number of elements in the universe in the totality. So that's what 118, the number of elements in the universe. And it's really around-

Tina Powell:

That is awesome.

Cheryl Nash:

Isn't that cool?

Tina Powell:

Yeah. I mean, that's really cool. I went to the website and I'm really, really impressed. I love marketing, I love design, but I love you. I love amazing UI and UX. And I think that what has stood out for me from a brand perspective is not only the colors, it's the entire integration exactly what you're talking about is the integrity of the brand that every single design element, and you learn this. When you're learning marketing, it's part of the foundational concepts of marketing and branding is that every single brand element has to stand for something and have a reason behind it.

Tina Powell:

Here's one of the things that stands out to me more than more anything, Cheryl is that you and yourself said like, "Wait, I wasn't sure at first that I needed a day to kind of sit with it." But here's the thing. So many organizations, and this isn't... I want to acknowledge that change is really hard for people, that changing a name, rebranding is an unbelievable process. You're not just slapping on a new UI/UX and getting wonderful T-shirts and all of that and drinking the Kool-Aid. It's not that. Change is just fundamentally hard.

Tina Powell:

What is your advice to different business leaders that should envision a new boldness for their company especially as it relates to fintech and wealthtech that are being very ultra conservative because it's coronavirus and because this is going on and that's going on when they need to act bold? What's your advice for those business leaders?

Cheryl Nash:

Step out of your comfort zone. That's what we had to do honestly. We had to step out of our comfort zone and we had to think outside the box. When you look at the names of fintech providers in our space, they're all great names, but they're all about investment or about things that you would expect. So our mission, when we went to do this was create a name that is unexpected and step out of your comfort zone. Like I said, Tegra118, it's not a name you'd expect a fintech company to have, but once you explain what it means and you look at the logo and you look at how the T in the logo stands tall and the digits after are really leading forward. It means a lot.

Cheryl Nash:

It's this actually great exercise. Not everybody is creative, right? Not everybody has that brain that could think like this. So you've got to bring in the right people too on the team that's going to choose the logo and choose the name because those are the people that are going to set you up. Don't think you have to bring in the people that are the conservative folks. Do something bold. Bring in different people that are going to help you choose that name. We didn't bring in my entire team. We actually unveiled it. And after it was chosen, so we decided that we were just going to have some folks from the senior team and some folks are Motive Partners senior executive, but actually our executive chairman, Rob Heyvaert, he brings a whole different level of creativity and he's the first one who fell in love with the name. We listened to him and why he thought it was such a great name. But bring those people who are creative into the process as well. It's fun to do this. Think outside the box.

Tina Powell:

One of the things that I love is first of all, I will never forget that I will always look at the number 118 and think of you and think of Tegra118. I love how it's depicting the elements of the universe, right?

Cheryl Nash:

Yeah.

Tina Powell:

And so what a time. Now, this was already in motion prior to the last five months of the financial services and of the world in general. The most volatile time that we've ever lived. And what an occasion to be re-branded and be poised for volatility change and for pushing the boundaries. That's what stands out to me as being the wow factor.

Cheryl Nash:

I like how you put that together, Tina. That's exactly true.

Tina Powell:

That wasn't in the script by the way. It's just coming out. But here's something that you have done which also too, I love this whole philosophy of just change and adaption. And you now have even a new webcast series and it goes back to your strengths with communication and being very transparent and servant leadership. You have a new webcast series called Connecting, Communicating, Leading and Learning Through Crisis with you and leading industry consultant, Suzanne Siracuse who we all know very well. Most recently, you had a conversation with Burt White, managing director and chief investment officer at LPL financial. So tell us a little bit about the series and some of the insights that you've already gleaned from Burt's episode and subsequent episodes.

Cheryl Nash:

We just launched a new webcast series as you just talked through. It's a three-part series. Those of you who don't know Burt White, you should get to know Burt White. He's probably the most energetic enthusiastic leader in our industry and he's just a lot of fun to talk to. So I'll talk a little bit about that one.

Cheryl Nash:

Next up is Evamarie Schoenborn who's president and CEO of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management. It's funny. When Evamarie and I met, we met actually as we were trying to connect through Tiburon, but when we met and started talking to each other, we've got a lot of the same leadership values I would say. And so we had a great time talking about that.

Cheryl Nash:

And then last but not least Joe Nadreau who's managing director, independent brokerage and platform services at Wells Fargo Advisors. So I chose these people, but also the firms that they're associated with. Just because they're big names in our industry and when you think about big names in our industry, they're going through the same things we're going through. So how do leaders in these large firms really support. So the series is focused on leadership, it's focused on how we're leading our business, our people, our advisors and then ultimately because we're all focused on investors, how do we support investors through a crisis.

Cheryl Nash:

And each of the leaders and the firms that we talk to are going through so much. So Wells Fargo, Joe said they have 270,000 associates and they had to move them remote. So when you think about just that sheer number of people, we have 480 that we had to do and that was something that was an undertaking. I can't even imagine doing it with that large number of people and they did it really well. And he talks about how they did that and how important it was to do it really well.

Cheryl Nash:

And then Evamarie was much more on the personal level, how she's leading people. The fatigue that we're all feeling right now with... You've heard the Zoom fatigue and video fatigue. I think Bloomberg had an article that everybody's working at least three hours more a day in this work at home remote environment and people aren't giving themselves permission to get up and take a walk. So she's instituted some pretty neat things in her organization where a 30-minute meeting has to end five minutes early. 16-minute meeting has to end 10 minutes early and that's to get people get up, get some water, take a bio break, whatever it might be. Probably you too, Tina.

Cheryl Nash:

We're back to back all day and it's just really creating some fatigue in people. So in each episode, the real personalities of these leaders shine through, you have to watch it to see what I mean because they've all got their own personalities. But the end of Burt White's, you have to make sure that you see the end of Burt white's discussion. Burt is a funny guy and he really shows that at the end of his.

Cheryl Nash:

The reason we decided to do this was, it's a time to learn from each other. Like Tina, you said while you're doing this, it's really a good time to learn. It's a time to share best practices. It's actually a time to hear how some of the biggest firms in our industry are dealing with and managing through crisis. So that was really why we decided to do that and actually it was a lot of fun. The next episode is coming out Monday, June 8th. So by the time this... We'll probably have all three out, but it was really good experience and it's good to hear from other leaders in the industry.

Tina Powell:

I think it's wonderful the way that you're pulling all of these resources together and that you're making these dialogues accessible. And this is a video webcast series, which by the way that obviously you could still listen to the audio portion of it. But yeah, I started to watch it the other day and I was really intrigued with you and Suzanne. I think there's a lot of great chemistry over there. I didn't see it until the end, but yes, I will definitely go back to it and check out some of the episodes.

Tina Powell:

I also want to touch upon the fact that you just stated something that I know a lot of business leaders are dealing with and that is this whole premise of work from home. And the velocity or the acceleration of the work from home movement initially when the crisis first hit us was very, very quick. And now, I feel that business leaders are wrestling with is everybody going back to work? So I'm just curious, you leading an organization of 480 people, are you giving Tegra118 employees the opportunity to choose for themselves or how do you make these decisions? How do you satisfy all stakeholders? How do you make everyone happy when we're still in the midst of this chaotic environment.

Cheryl Nash:

That's a great question. So first and foremost, I sent a message out about two weeks ago letting everybody at Tegra118 know that we're still going to be working from home through Labor Day. And the reason I did that was people are still in this, how long is it going to be until I go back to the office? Should I buy that big monitor? Should I go get a printer? Should I move off my kitchen table and into a guest bedroom. So I made that decision so people knew that this was another three months.

Cheryl Nash:

Also, I don't know what it's going to look like when we go back. We've been starting to talk about that, but I know some of our colleagues in the industry are starting to go back potentially even next week. But they're doing it with different smaller groups. They're having thermometers, taking temperature, plastic up at the reception desk, no conference rooms. You still take meetings in your office or cube.

Cheryl Nash:

It's working for us from home. We're actually doing a great job. I have an 8:30 am meeting with my entire team. We do it via video. So we're still keeping close. So I'm not sure when we're going to go back and what that's going to look like. It's going to be dependent obviously on what the governor is going to say, but we're looking at our real estate strategy. We're looking at our location strategy. We've got some small offices that we may not need anymore, because it's working for those folks to be remote.

Cheryl Nash:

I had to send a message and tell people to take time off. Nobody is taking time off because where do you go? You're in your family room. You go to your living room. Because nobody's getting on planes and taking family vacations. I literally had to tell people take time off. I gave them a list of staycation things to do and drives you can take. But I never in a million years would thought you'd have to encourage people to take time off. But nobody's taking time off either because they're so afraid because videos are even harder than being in person and there's nowhere to go. So I think that's going to be the next thing is that these companies are going to have to really figure out how they help their teammates know that it's open. Here's some ideas to do so.

Tina Powell:

I'm really impressed by that. The fact that I love the these ideas of the staycation and sharing it with your team and ending the meetings a few minutes early or 10 minutes early if it's that hour. I never even thought to do things like that. That's such like a wow. What a simple thing to do. What a simple thing to do, but yet what a powerful thing to do. And yes, I can attest that working from home 100 exclusively is very, very difficult. Yesterday, I literally didn't take a shower for the whole day. I have never used my bath more than I've ever used it before as like a form of relaxation and going to the CVS and buying bath salts with lavender for the first time in my life as a matter of fact to try to find ways to actually cope, so that as we're all working together then I can bring my best self to the equation and not show up just being totally exhausted.

Tina Powell:

So it is a wonderful thing that you're doing, again testament to your servant leadership. You've been such an advocate for your team, for your organization, but you've also been an incredible advocate for women and all of us who know Cheryl Nash, you've carried the torch for the movement of recognizing women in fintech and wealhtech. And one of the things that I discovered about you is interesting we had Dani Fava director of institutional innovation at TD Ameritrade on episode seven and guess, whose name she brought up In The Suite? And that was Cheryl Nash.

Tina Powell:

You have a great deal to do with... She gives you a lot of credit to her being able to take chances and risks because of your mentorship for her. I thought it was really powerful. So when you're not in the room, there are many, many stories being told about you Cheryl Nash and how you're advocating for that talent.

Tina Powell:

One of the questions that I thought about when she was explaining this to me is I said, "Wow, how does someone get lucky enough to get Cheryl Nash as a mentor?" And we were ending the broadcast so I didn't ask her and I think better to ask you because I do want it from your perspective. Again, you have worked with tens of thousands of people. What's your advice? Does talent come to you or do you recognize certain qualities and certain attributes and other people and say this is a superstar. This is just someone very, very special. How is it that someone is lucky enough to be mentored by leaders like you?

Cheryl Nash:

I love it too so thank you for that. She's awesome. I mean, she's somebody when you look at her career how she's grown and she's also somebody who takes risks all the time. So thank you for telling me that. So I've been in this industry my entire life. I've seen how hard it is for women to get ahead. I've experienced that. I found good mentors and good sponsors and I've always wanted to give back. So I've mostly been asked by somebody, can you help with this one person or take a look at this person. You could probably give her some support because right now she's going through a rough time.

Cheryl Nash:

Also, MMI does a great job with their... They have a leadership pathway program that they bring in up and coming leaders and they they assign them a mentor. So two of my mentees have come from there that I will stay close to forever. But it really comes from people reaching out to me. I've been lucky because I'll tell you, one of the women that I've worked with, her name is Stephanie Foster. She worked at Fiserv and she's just got a new job. But she's been involved in a lot of women programs and she was a rising star. She was invited into Money 20/20 Rise Up program and that's how I saw her. She was on a Fiserv... Congratulations, Stephanie, Money 20/20 Rise Up.

Cheryl Nash:

I reached out to her and we formed such a great relationship. Thinking about her career, she wanted to grow. She wanted to become you know more of a leader and she learned she had to move outside of Fiserv to do that, but she is phenomenal and somebody that you would want to mentor because she has plans. She's got a playbook. She's got even her own, "This is where I want to be in my career." She's got a map, a journey map. And I've been able to really you know help her through that. But that's how I usually get people.

Cheryl Nash:

I'm sure, Tina, you've mentored people too. It's a two-way street, right? The people that I mentor who I think are the most successful are those who put a lot into it, and those are the ones that I really thrive with. The ones that are coming to me and saying here's exactly what I need or there's five things that are going on, and I help them maneuver those or I help introduce them to people that can help them. That's how I grew, right? I've learned that you can't do it yourself. You need to rely on people. You need to have that personal advisory board where you can call somebody and say, "Hey, I need help with this. Can you help me think this through?" Especially when we were selling our business.

Tina Powell:

So I think what your story about Stephanie Foster, she sounds like somebody that we should get In The Suite at a future time. It would be very interesting to have her perspective, but one of the things that I did is that I feel very fortunate to be working through coronavirus. Very, very fortunate. So the first time I'm having two interns together. One is an international student from Nepal. She's here in the US, actually right here in New Jersey. And then I have another student from Tennessee, they are both for my management information systems intern program here at C-Suite Social Media and they've both impressed me.

Tina Powell:

One is actually a triple major who's majoring in computer science with a math and econ minor. And so I'm very specific to my interns and I treat it like a course. I taught at NYU for two and a half years and what I have these women do is tell me what their present state is right now. Where are you today? It's June 4th, 2010.

Cheryl Nash:

2020.

Tina Powell:

2020. Yes, 2020. Thank you for the correction. Too many working hours.

Cheryl Nash:

You need that bath. You need that lavender baths.

Tina Powell:

I need lavender baths. Okay. I'm taking one for sure. I'm counting on lavender baths this week. And so I asked them to explain where they want to be three months from now after the internship? What are the specific skills they are looking to bridge? Where is the gap in the knowledge? And a lot of them are trying to understand that what is the relevance? How can I bridge software technology and financial services, and the real world? And oh by the way, get real life experience so that when I'm finally done at school I can get a job.

Cheryl Nash:

That's awesome. We actually have an internship program too. We decided not to cancel it. A lot of other firms canceled theirs. We're doing it remote for the first time ever. There's five of them and we've got the sixth one on our way. I got to meet with them all yesterday. It was so much fun.

Tina Powell:

Yeah. I mean to your point, I think that one of the best things that you could do right now through... It goes beyond coronavirus right now. We're in such a state of the world right now that we all need some positivity and we all need to lead by example. The way that you can actually do that is through your actions, and I highly recommend mentoring and giving back as much as you can.

Tina Powell:

So you had just actually transitioned me into my next question. I know that you've done incredible work with MMI, Money Management Institute. You received the MMI Pioneer Award which embodies advocacy, growth in the industry. Congratulations on that. But you're also doing incredible work with Lori Hardwick right now, CEO of Wealth Tech RedRock Strategic Partners. She's also on the board of Riskalyze. Like yourself, she's really an icon in the industry. And your focus obviously in bringing more women into the wealth management. If you could explain a little bit of the initiative and how women listening to this episode right now get more involved because I think that a lot of us have the wherewithal and have the passion to act and sometimes we just don't know the specific direction of where to join and who to join with, and what options are available to us, and understanding what a commitment would be like and all of those other kind of unknowns. So if you could actually point us in the right direction. Maybe it is for someone listening right now, we can get a little bit more involved.

Cheryl Nash:

Sure. So MMI is a great organization. They are really championing a lot of things that are necessary right now and obviously one of them is women. So when Lori and I came together to think about what we would want to do for MMI's members, we thought long and hard that there is really no place for women in the industry from zero to five years to really go and get some support. And what we're learning and what we learned is once you hit that five year mark, you're either going to move out or you're going to move up.

Cheryl Nash:

And we want people obviously to stay in the industry. We'd like to see them move up. That's the focus of that group. It's not just for MMI members, it's for women in our industry who are in that area. What we've been doing is much more... Now especially since coronavirus, we haven't done what we wanted to do. We were supposed to be at the MMI conference. We do breakfast with the women, invite anybody in actually. The last time we did that, we had so many people come to our breakfast that we had to bring in more tables and chairs which was really exciting.

Tina Powell:

What a great success story.

Cheryl Nash:

I mean, there's obviously a need for that. So if you want to get involved in it, Sarah Nau, her email is Sarah, S-A-R-A-H N-A-U at mminst.org. M-M-I-N-S-T .org. She's pulling together folks who want to continue to get involved in this. We're right now at a point where we're trying to figure out what's next. How do we continue to grow this and do more with it. So it would be great if people want to get involved and help us think that through. It's just another area when you start something and you're not sure how it's going to take off and you realize, "Wow, this is something that there's a real need for." Just from the whole giving back aspect, it just makes you feel good because you can support and help women that really want to grow in this industry and try to figure out what they want to do.

Cheryl Nash:

And great questions are asked at these breakfasts and meetings and with Lori. We always bring in other women. We've brought in Estee Jimerson who's now CEO of Primerica. We brought in Noreen Beaman who's CEO of Brinker Capital. So we're always bringing in more women into the conversation to help with some of the things that these women are looking for and advice that they need.

Tina Powell:

That's so great, Cheryl. So we'll make sure that we definitely included in the show notes. So if you're on an exercise bike right now, you don't have to worry. I'll make sure that we have it in the show notes. I think something that you just said that was very interesting about the initiative with MMI and the fact that women either five years in either stay or drop out. On the flip side, I also think because this is a primarily a podcast for women over 40 who actually want to stay in the financial services and want to always be ahead of the curve.

Tina Powell:

These two groups like Bookends, people that actually could leave that we don't want to leave. So do you have any advice for the woman over 40. Do you think that more opportunities now with the awareness of diversity and inclusion and organizations being open to and seeing actually the positive outcomes that occur when you have diverse teams, it's literally been scientifically proven, do you think now there are more opportunities for women in 40 and do you have any specific advice for them? Of course, I'm asking for a friend, wink-wink.

Cheryl Nash:

Wink-wink, yes. I think there are opportunities and you said it, Tina. So when you think about what's happening right now in our world, in our industry, there is a big focus on diversity and inclusion and obviously, inclusion is just as important. You can't have a diverse team without inclusion. It's a good time right now. I know when I started my career and moved up the ladder, there weren't DNI groups in organizations or MMI Women Initiatives. So my advice is to find out in your organization where you work who's leading those DNI initiatives, how you get involved and make sure that you do get involved and you kind of stand out as somebody who's really interested in doing more and learning more.

Cheryl Nash:

Fiserv has a whole leading women program that was... And it still is. It's really great. It allowed anybody who was interested to join, but it also highlighted those who really wanted to grow. So once you're in those programs, make sure you stand out and you take on... It's all volunteer. You take on things. I know sometimes it's hard to add more to our plates, but you do things that show that you really are interested in... And that's where a lot of people see leaders. They highlight and they'll target leaders in those groups, ones who are again on their own time volunteering and doing things great.

Cheryl Nash:

Because there's so much talk in our industry right now like diversity and inclusion, and I think we're away from talk and we're now into action. I think it's a great opportunity for women. I mean, we've talked about it for quite some time. Firms are now acting, right? They're making sure they've got a diverse leadership team. They've got diverse managers. They've got even a diverse board, right? So there's a lot going on. I think now that is fairly new. That is a great, great time for women over 40 to continue to grow in our industry.

Tina Powell:

Yeah. And I saw a recent post from a female member at Fiserv. And so she was one of the 50 women selected that every year that you come up with a list of women who can speak, who can write about particular topics. I mean that's been in place for years. So I really love that. I think that it is about the execution. It goes back to the beginning of of this episode and that is you're not only walking the talk and talking the walk. Your leadership is not only reinforced by what you say, but more importantly it's what you do.

Tina Powell:

So you've been an amazing guest. I'm so proud and so honored that you would spend your time with us today, Cheryl. And I can tell you quite honestly that it's going to go a long way in that just your presence today alone will point women into new directions, foster new relationships and certainly increase their network and get them more involved overall. Before I asked my last question, what is the best way to reach out to you? Maybe not directly because you are doing a whole lot of things, but even members of your team [crosstalk 00:57:04].

Cheryl Nash:

I'm on all social media channels. So LinkedIn. You said at Twitter, cherylnash2. So you can message me on LinkedIn. We're in the process of changing our email addresses so I'm going to not give you my email address right now because we're going to a Tegra118 email system. But find me on LinkedIn or Twitter and reach out to me. It's easy to do and message me there and I'll get back to you.

Tina Powell:

That's great. That's wonderful. Well, you're in my girl power list. You've been for quite some time and I love the pictures of the dogs on the bed at the beach as well too. So you get a lot of interesting posts. So I assure you by following Cheryl, you'll not only be smarter, but you'll also be happier for it. So my last question, it's how I end the podcast each time and I wanted to know if you have some sort of physical objects either something you wear, something that you carry that gives you that super power boost when you need it. And we've heard everything on this podcast and I will tell you from your mentee, Dani Fava, she said it's her Air Jordans when she's on stage [crosstalk 00:58:17]. Never in a million years she will never wear heels again. It's always her Air Jordans, and she has quite an impressive collection. So what is it for you, Cheryl?

Cheryl Nash:

It's my Wonder Woman bracelet.

Tina Powell:

Wow. Oh my god. I have to screenshot this. That's so awesome. It's unbelievable.

Cheryl Nash:

I'll send you one if you like.

Tina Powell:

Wow.

Cheryl Nash:

So this is a bracelet. It's funny. One of our leading women summits, Lynn McCreary who is phenomenal. She's our chief legal officer Fiserv, showed this and this is what she wears. And it was many years ago and it's what give her strength. And when she's in a tough situation, she touches it on our arm and I got this. And this is what I give out to my mentors, my mentees, people I talk to. But it's a a nice bracelet and it's Wonder Woman. So that's what I use.

Tina Powell:

Oh, wow. That is awesome. I said it before. I'm going to put together some sort of board or some sort of [crosstalk 00:59:23]. I love the answers to this question. There so married. It's like a show-and-tell and it's really, really fascinating. So for those of you again who aren't getting the benefit of the visual, I promise it'll be in the show notes. So I encourage you to check those out. So Cheryl, with that, I want to just say thank you. Good luck and continued safety, prosperity, success at Tegra118. I look forward to the announcement, to the continued growth and again, in support in an honor of all you've done for this industry and being a role model to people like me and a whole bunch of other women listening to this. Thank you so, so much for sharing part of your day with us today.

Cheryl Nash:

Thank you, Tina and thank you for putting this together. It's because of people like you that we get to share our stories. So really appreciate it. So thank you.

Tina Powell:

You're listening to In The Suite, a podcast that shares amazing stories of women in business in the financial services and the wealth management industry. This podcast is proudly sponsored by C-Suite Social Media, a digital marketing and social media agency for C-suite leaders in finance and technology. You can visit csuitesocialmedia.com to learn more and for show notes from today's broadcast. And thank you so much for listening and subscribing and helping to support this podcast with your reviews.

Tina Powell:

I would love it and it would mean so much if you left us a five star review for this episode with the extraordinary Cheryl Nash. And always, if you would like to share the name of a successful woman in financial services we should interview, please send it to me at tina@csuitesocialmedia.com. We've received a lot of great names and we're working very hard behind the scenes to fit everyone in. Again, thank you so much for listening and subscribing to In The Suite.