Shining light on Christie Vella, the Chief Operating Officer of Prepaid2Cash.
Women’s History Month is an annual observance in March to recognize the accomplishments, contributions, and historical significance of women. This month-long celebration is an opportunity to highlight the achievements of women across various fields, from science and politics to arts and business, and to inspire future generations.
Women’s History Month also encourages reflection on the progress made in gender equality while acknowledging the ongoing challenges women face worldwide.
Here at Prepaid2Cash, while being a startup company – we appreciate the women who are on our various teams and all they provide. We are honoring one of our very own this month: our Chief Operating Officer, Christie Vella. Christie’s presence has brought a tremendous amount of success, insight, and profit to the company while encouraging the team to always be the best they can be at all hours of the day. Christie was also recently featured in a Bizwomen article, “In Her Own Words: Christie Vella’s fintech journey.” Christie started her career in the PR industry and transitioned to the fintech space where she has worked for the last 18 years. She started her journey with BlackHawk before transitioning over to Prepaid2Cash.
While the FinTech industry is often seen as a more male-dominated industry, Christie found it to be an excellent field for women like herself. Christie didn’t initially start in the FinTech world. Out of college, she worked at a PR agency in Pittsburgh. Then after a few years, she found herself moving to San Francisco where she then took a job at Walmart.com. However, she quickly decided to go into consulting with a role at Accenture.
Once Christie became pregnant with her first daughter, she began searching for roles where she wouldn’t have to commute for hours, which ultimately led her to Blackhawk Network and into the world of FinTech. While working for more prominent organizations had its perks, she craved the smaller company experience with the bonus of a shorter commute for this newly working mama.
FinTech, in a nutshell, are systems that move money from one destination to another with smart people behind the scenes who are constantly improving the process. As a working mom, she accustomed to juggling multiple tasks, increasing efficiencies, and balancing work life and home life. This molded her to become adept at managing processes and making the pieces work,
making the FinTech industry a match made in heaven.
Blackhawk Network was a FinTech startup at the time. BHN was Christie’s “next level”
job, where she ran a $4 billion business with a team of 25 people who were challenged to grow the organization and outpace all expectations. She worked closely with the CEO, who is still a friend and mentor to this day. The CEO was a woman who cared about female professional
development, by advocating for women on her team. She inspired Christie to
support fellow women through their professional growth, who could help take
the emotion out of any situation, to filter and focus on the task at hand.
Through this experience, and now as a mom to three young girls, Christie learned the importance of finding a workplace that would support her both as a mother and a professional.
Fast forward to today, Christie loves her role working as COO of Prepaid2Cash. She has grown in many ways through meditation and mindfulness. This shift in mindset has allowed her to bring more of her true self into the workplace and forge authentic relationships with her colleagues. Now Christie emulates that same mentor mentality that she found growth from during her 10-year tenure at BHN.
Christie encourages women (and the men) on her team, not to be afraid to ask for help, and teaches healthy ways of creating boundaries while still maintaining an open-door policy. Chemistry often leads to better communication and overall engagement. It sounds simple, but it’s important to like and feel comfortable with the people you work with. As most of the day is spent at work, it’s better for everyone when there is chemistry in a team. Which Christie truly found and has here at Prepaid2Cash!
We encourage consumers worldwide to shine a light on the women in their lives, companies, and environments. Women offer a different perspective and insight to how the world functions and it can never hurt to have an extra set of eyes on life. So here’s to Women’s History Month and you, Christie, for allowing a safe space and encouraging work environment to evolve!
We appreciate YOU!
By prepaid2cash