The financial technology (fintech) industry is a game-changer! Innovation from new, advanced technology has changed the way we bank, disrupting traditional banks. But where did fintech come from?

The industry is a conglomerate of the financial and technology businesses that introduce new ways to approach financial problems with technology. These technological businesses are diverse. Some companies use payment apps, while others utilize more complex solutions like software applications and artificial intelligence.

Fintech combines the best of both worlds – finance and technology – to innovate cutting edge services for customers. The industry is still very young, making it possible for people of diverse specialties to make the move into fintech and apply their skills. If you think that the FinTech industry might be a good fit for you, check out our favorite financial technology companies in Austin, Texas.

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab helps their clients transform their lives with exceptional investment services. This fintech company sees investing as an act of optimism and commitment to the future which is why the emphasis of technology is so important here.

At Charles Schwab, employees affectionately known as Schwabbies use forward-thinking technologies to champion the goals of the client with passion and integrity. Whether you’re an experienced financial professional, technology expert or new to the fintech industry, Charles Schwab is an employer that gives its employees the opportunity to do their best work.

Ryan

Tax services company Ryan assists international clients with world-class tax services including tax recovery, consulting, advocacy, compliance, and technology services. Because of its dedication to top of the line service, Ryan has been awarded five International Service Excellence Awards from the Customer Services Institute of America.

The company combines technology and financial services to provide a top-notch product for clients around the world. By using technology to enhance their services, Ryan fulfills its mission to liberate their clients from the burden of being overtaxed, free their capital to invest, grow and thrive.

Austin Asset

Austin Asset is an investment firm that conducts financial planning studies for clients that integrate the assignment of a purpose to any investments. At Austin Asset, the mission is to bring clarity and purpose to wealth through authentic and enduring relationships. The financial technology company is able to deliver on this goal with the implementation of technology.

The firm uses cutting edge technology to make accurate and informed strategies to improve their clients investments. With over 30 years of experience, multiple national recognitions, and more than $855 million in investments under management, the company not only meets their goals but exceeds expectations.

The fintech industry disrupted the way traditional banks operate and has created a new standard of banking. New technologies that are created daily will continue to evolve the financial technology. To learn more about the financial technology industry in Austin, visit Best Companies Texas. If you’re interested in working at a fintech company in Texas, browse open positions here! Then, check out our article about interview questions and answers for financial analysts and advisors.

Dallas, Texas is a bustling hub of technology companies. Some of Dallas’ most prominent and exciting tech companies are looking to bring in new top talent. So, if you’re looking for a career you love, check out these tech companies hiring in Dallas.

Ryan

Ryan is an award-winning global tax services and software provider. Recognized as one of the best places to work in 2018, employees are proud to be a part of the Ryan, LLC. team. Don’t just take our word for it! The company is rated 4.4 out of 5 on Glassdoor and employee reviews are full of positive remarks. From their engaging, diverse culture to the countless opportunities for upward growth, Ryan, LLC. is one of the best tech companies hiring in Dallas.

Charles Schwab

For those looking to empower others with financial stability and rewarding investments, look no further. Charles Schwab is a world-known financial service company. Schwab is optimistic about helping their clients secure their assets and prepare for the future. Employees are encouraged to pursue innovation and challenge the status quo. Whether you are looking for a financial advisor position or a spot on their software development team, you will be proud to call Charles Schwab home.

BCG Digital Ventures

Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, CA, BCG Digital Ventures is a corporate investment and incubation firm. Entrepreneurs, operators, and investors work together to build businesses and expand the market. While the company specializes in technology and internet solutions for small businesses, the career opportunities at BCG Digital Ventures are vast. Take a look at their open positions and learn more about the company that is revolutionizing business development here!

Lifeblue

Looking for a career in marketing and advertising in the Dallas area? Lifeblue is an interactive services company driven by the mission “To Save the World From Bad Design”. Simply put, LB works to create top-notch brand platforms that make their clients’ lives easier. Employees love being a part of Lifeblue because they are passionate about the work they do. Also, the balance between work and play lend to the company’s highly-praised culture of innovation. Visit Lifeblue here to learn about all that the company has to offer.

ParkHub

Ranked number 9 in “The 20 Hottest Startups in DFW”, ParkHub makes parking easier to operators and drivers.  ParkHub’s innovative, reliable software helps companies boost revenue while cutting costs. So, how does it work? Companies lease out the software and receive a percentage of the parking revenue. While the company started fairly recently, ParkHub has been used at many major events like the Superbowl, Levi Stadium, and the American Airlines Center. Join this team of creative problem solvers here!

VMware

VMWare is a computer hardware and software company driven by the goal of innovating the digital infrastructure of small businesses. Led by one of 2018’s top CEOs, VMW works with more than 500,000 customers around the world. Employees are part of diverse and inclusive teams where technology and engineering come together as one. So, if you are excited to design and deliver the future of IT, apply today!

Alkami

Ranked in the top 10 coolest tech companies hiring in Dallas in 2017, Alkami is an enterprise software and network solutions company headquartered in Texas. Aside from the excellent employee benefits and highly praised company culture, Alkami is a great place for people for the opportunity to grow as they go. The brightest talent in software development call Alkami home. The company’s mission is to deliver innovative banking solutions that are beautifully designed and intelligently delivered. At Alkami, the dream of having a career you love becomes a reality.

Dialexa

Dialexa is a Dallas-based computer hardware and software company taking the tech industry by storm. We couldn’t tell you about the tech companies hiring in Dallas without mentioning this highly-ranked tech powerhouse. Dialexa is a company where the most talented software experts work to revolutionize their clients’ digital business strategies. Even more, a career with Dialexa is highly rewarding. But, don’t just take our word for it. Ranked 4.8 out of 5 on Glassdoor, 100% of employees would recommend the company to a friend and the CEO has a 100% approval rate! Dialexa is a company of excited, intelligent employees changing the way businesses utilize technology to meet their needs.

Want to learn more about the best tech companies in Texas? Visit us here!

Many people looking to work for a tech company automatically think of Silicon Valley, the iconic home to some of the world’s most famous tech companies. However, the increasing demand for tech work has expanded the tech community beyond the Valley. Nicknamed the “Silicon Hills,” Austin, Texas is the rising tech hub of the Midwest. Tech companies hiring in Austin range from Salesforce to Google and provide incredible places for employees to grow and thrive.

Austin is the ideal location for job seekers looking for work in the tech industry in the great state of Texas. With endless job opportunities and an unemployment rate lower than the national average, Austin is the place to be. Here are seven tech companies hiring in Austin to jump-start your job search.

Facebook

Facebook is a global powerhouse that strives to give people the power to build community. The digital network has been around for more than a decade; however, it’s recent expansion to Austin has brought many opportunities for job seekers outside of Silicon Valley.

Facebook’s well-known benefits and perks include free meals, flexible work hours and other on-site amenities. Additionally, new parents receive four months of paid time off during the first year of the child’s birth or adoption.

Facebook’s company culture encourages learning and growth in giving employees the freedom to experiment with new ideas.

SailPoint Technologies

SailPoint Technologies is an identity and access management provider.The company works with organizations around the globe and is founded on the values of innovation, integrity, impact, and individualism.

Named as one of Glassdoor’s 2018 Best Places to Work, SailPoint offers its employees comprehensive health benefits, flexible work hours, and maternity and paternity leave.

At SailPoint, you’ll learn and grow from your coworkers while also enjoying a positive work-life balance.

Tenfold

Tenfold is an Austin-based software company that streamlines the way customer service departments communicate with their clients. The medium-sized startup employs 114 workers and launched in 2014.

Despite its startup status, Tenfold takes care of its employees with dental, vision and health care insurance, and unlimited vacation time.

Employees at Tenfold are empowered to continuously create and develop new ideas as the young company grows.

Aceable

Aceable is another small Austin-based startup with 82 employees. The company is a mobile drivers education platform that offers affordable, engaging, and convenient educational content.

The company offers health benefit packages, commuter benefits, paid volunteer time, and more!

As an ed-tech company, it is important for its employees to continue to progress. With this in mind, Aceable offers its employees book and tuition stipends to help them advance their careers.

Cisco

Cisco is an international networking company that develops intelligent networks, technology, and services.

The tech giant offers its employees generous perks and benefits, from flexible work hours to access to a state-of-the-art fitness center. Its standout out perk is an employee recognition program. Employees nominate their peers that embody the Cisco company culture for a cash award; as a matter of fact, 87% of Cisco employees have received an award.

Cisco has a community of go-getters who are bold, proactive, and imaginative. You’ll be encouraged to think outside of the box.

Oracle

Oracle is a multinational company that specializes in database software products and cloud engineered systems.

The software company not only cares about quality high-end products, but also its employees. Its generous insurance benefits include health, disability, occupational accident insurance and more.

The fast-paced work environment at Oracle will force you to think on your feet. It will also propel you to discover and develop both inside and outside of the office.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is an Internet domain registrar and web hosting company. The company became well known for its shock and awe media presence. However, in contrast, the company’s values and culture stress the need to not only take care of its customers, but also its employees.

The company provides medical and dental healthcare with some plans having no premiums! GoDaddy is dedicated to improving overall wellness with health fairs, free flu shots, and an onsite workout facility.

At GoDaddy, they believe that to take care of their 17 million customers, they must take care of each other. This company culture and growth mindset environment will allow you to grow exponentially at GoDaddy.

You can find more information about job opportunities at incredible companies in the Silicon Hills on our website. Your best career starts here.

The hunt for the perfect applicant can be rigorous, and the hiring process poses its own challenges. But, when you find the perfect candidate and are ready to present a job offer, it’s important to have a strategy to seal the deal. Great candidates may receive several job offers, so you’ll want your offer to stand out.

Knowing how to present and put together an irresistible job offer will help you increase your job acceptance rate and grow your team with incredible new hires. With these 5 tips, you are sure to get candidates to accept your job offer.

Get To Know The Candidate

During the interview process, get to know the candidates. Learn about their interests beyond the position. While it may seem like small talk, knowing about your candidate on a personal level makes them feel valued for who they are. A candidate that feels valued during the interview process will be more likely to consider your job offer and see themselves at your company.

Benefits, Benefits, Benefits

Benefits are highly influential in a candidate’s decision. You may not be able to provide the highest salary, but excellent benefits can make up for it twofold. Benefits like a flexible schedule, PTO, wellness perks, holidays and vacation can persuade a candidate to become an employee.

Companies like Southwest Airlines and Microsoft offer excellent benefits. As a result, their employee engagement is unmatched. Highly valued benefits are one of the best ways to get candidates to accept your job offer.

Understand the Candidate’s Criteria

Take time to learn about what the candidate is looking for in their career. Be truthful about your company’s abilities to meet their wants and needs. If you can meet or exceed their criteria, highlight how your company will be the perfect fit. Emphasize your commitment to providing the candidate with a career that they will love. As a result, the candidate is likely to feel excited about what you have to offer.

Shorten the Hiring Period

An extended period of hiring time is exhausting. As time continues, candidates can become less interested and may begin to look elsewhere. You could lose an excellent candidate if the hiring period drags on and on.

For this reason, many successful companies, such as Ryan, LLC work diligently to secure top-tier talent. A short hiring period shows the candidate that you are serious about filling the position and you are serious about them. In addition, a quick hiring process displays your confidence in the candidate’s abilities.

If You Are Going to Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

Did you know that many job applicants don’t even get to see the office they would be working in? Your candidate wants to feel confident that your company is the perfect fit. How can they be confident in their new career path if they have never experienced the company itself? Doing things like showing the candidate around the office, introducing them to the team and taking them to lunch with key people from the office lets the candidate experience a day in the life. You’ve talked up your company, so now let the company speak for itself. Showing a candidate a real-time day in the office can calm their nerves and diminish uncertainty.

Now, your employer toolbelt contains 5 ways to get candidates to accept your job offer. If you would like to learn more about the Texas companies that are successfully attracting top talent, visit us here!

Our July webinar focused on improving internal communication in the workplace by utilizing data and insights from employee surveys. To kick off our July webinar, live polling uncovered that 100% of webinar attendees have administered a personality inventory. These personality assessments include the DISC, Myers-Briggs, StrengthsFinder 2.0, and Emergenetics tests.

BestCompaniesUSA VP Lindsay Smith spoke about how trust impacts our ability to accomplish goals. Smith explained that establishing trust positively impacts top line revenue and staff retention. She also shared hacks for accepting new perspectives in the workplace. The tips included reducing judgement, taking responsibility for your actions, and practicing empathetic listening.

Next, Smith polled the attendees and found that 82% of them had facilitated an employee engagement survey in the last 12 months. There are many free and paid insightful survey options employees can participate in. Lindsay recommends that businesses collect employee survey data as often as possible.

Dr. Deborah Peck, of Seity Insight, followed Lindsay’s comments and discussed the turnover rate of successful companies. Most great employers have a turnover rate of no more than 50%. Additionally, Dr. Peck shared that the best companies have stock market returns that are twice as high as companies not ranked as best companies. To further highlight this, she spoke about the Top Companies to Work for in Arizona awards. According to Dr. Peck, 8 core focus areas influence how winners are selected.

How to compare survey results

Before the start of the webinar, Dr. Peck looked over the questions on the Top Companies survey. She found that 14 questions out of the 90 questions survey related to internal communication. She shared the questions and provided sample answers for award-winning companies.

Dr. Peck also underlined the value that comes from companies comparing their survey averages to the averages of award-winning companies. The data from award-winning companies allows organizations to make specific changes that improve engagement and open lines of communication.

How to become an award-winning organization

Furthermore, Deb shared stories and examples on how she’s helped her clients become award-winning companies, including changes in top down communication, setting clear goals, breaking cross-functional silos, and much more. Deb said that she is a big fan of persistence and believes that detailed employee survey data is key to improving internal communication. Her greatest piece of advice to employers was to involve employees as much as possible.

Finally, Michael Seaver shared examples from BestCompaniesUSA’s “5 Ways to Develop a High Trust Workplace Culture.” He went on to discuss tactical actions you can take to strengthen internal employee communication.

Now what?

Maybe you’re like our webinar attendees. They said they were inspired to find new ways to open lines of communication with their team. Check out the full webinar on our website or listen to it on our podcast. Then, reach out to BestCompaniesTexas. We help companies win awards and create incredible employer brands, and we can help you too! Contact us today!

In the race to acquire top talent, employer branding is essential. Employer branding strategies attract talent and build your company’s brand image. More so, branding strategies are the foundation to an admirable culture that employees are proud to be a part of.

According to a Glassdoor study, 84% of people would leave their current workplace for a business with a better reputation. The study also found that 69% of people will avoid businesses with poor employer branding. Not only do employer branding strategies help to attract talent, but they also result in lower turnover rates.

Implementing a successful employer branding strategy can seem daunting. But, don’t worry. We’ve done the research for you! Below, you will find five employer branding best practices from America’s leading businesses.

Before you begin, establish a plan of action.

Your effective employer branding strategy must be driven by a plan of action. What do you wish to portray about your business? What results are you trying to achieve? Share about the driving forces behind your business, work with a goal in mind, Determine what makes your business great to work for and continue to build your strategy from there.

Employees are a business’ greatest asset – treat them like it.

Many of America’s leading companies can attribute their success to their employees. Employees know the ins and outs of your business. They are the driving force behind the tasks and initiatives that happen daily. Employees are the heart of your business,

therefore, a great employer branding best practice involves empowering your employees to represent the company. Give your employees the power to be creative, make recommendations, and personalize their work.

If an employee can make work personal, they are more likely to be excited about their employer. The desire to be appreciated and celebrated is an innate human characteristic! Encourage employees to apply their diverse talents to their work and watch your employee engagement and retention levels soar! As a result, interested talent will be excited to work at a business where their skills are valued and appreciated.

Invest in your people

Your employer branding will suffer if you do not work from the inside out. If you are branding your employee experience, the existing employee experience needs to be high quality. To do this, train your leadership team to be active culture builders. Invest in your employees’ well-being and your employee engagement levels will improve. Happy employees are proud to share about their employer.

Capitalize on what your business is good at.

While it seems obvious, it is not uncommon for businesses to forget to highlight their talents. For example, GoDaddy is a software and technology company with multiple high-profile clients. Their employees enjoy free meals, game rooms, and exciting team-building events.

The GoDaddy company brand capitalizes on the “work hard, play hard” attitude that fuels their excellent products.

Because of this, customers know the GoDaddy brand is fun and engaging. What makes your business unique? Use media platforms to share your business’ values and culture, and focus on a few key factors that the public can use to relate back to your business (think Chick-Fil-A’s “my pleasure” culture).

Create a positive experience

Your brand reaches far beyond your employees. Every customer has a personal perception of your business. Thus, each customer has an impact your brand’s image. This is important to remember as more and more people depend on others to influence their decisions, and website like Yelp grow in popularity.

From the first interaction, your mission and values should be evident, and every interaction there after should embody the culture of your business. While it seems simple, creating a positive, lasting experience for customers is one of the most undervalued employer branding strategies.

Be smart about your talent search.

It is never too late to stabilize your business’ weak points and build up your workforce. A workforce of strong, equipped employees builds the foundation of internal success. However, the interview process is just as important for branding as the workforce itself. People are becoming more dependent on job-rating sites like Glassdoor to learn about an employer. A negative interview can be documented and shown to the world with one simple click. Studies found that 48% of the American workforce use rating sites to search for jobs, so a low rating and negative feedback create a negative connotation about your business. Regardless of experience or attitude, every applicant should leave with a positive experience to share.

A variety of successful companies like Southwest Airlines and Facebook attribute their success to these five employer branding best practices. Employer branding is essential to attracting top talent. In addition, a positive employer brand image makes employees feel proud to be a part of your business.

If you’re an employer looking to build your employer brand, you’re sure to find success with these five effective employer branding best practices.

If you’re on the hunt for an employer that implements excellent branding best practices, visit us here to learn about the best companies to work for!

For our June webinar, speakers Michael S. Seaver and Lindsay M. Smith shared how to engage the modern workforce through awards. Among the topics were employee engagement, celebrating rewards, building communication and the influence of awards on employees. The webinar gave attendees valuable insights into how they can encourage employee engagement through organizational awards.

How winning awards influences retention and engagement

First, a live poll was used to learn about the webinar attendees’ biggest employee engagement obstacles. The greatest challenges faced were employee retention and implementing positive communication practices. Though may come as a surprise, a Gallup study found that only 33% of the American workforce is actively engaged.

Michael analyzed this statistic through the use of Gallup’s 12 Elements of Great Managing. Next, Michael used these elements to show how winning corporate awards help to recognize and connect employees to your organization. Furthermore, recognizing employees results in a higher quality of work.

In addition, Michael reviewed AZCentral’s Top Companies to Work for in Arizona from June. He shared about the key tactics that the 125 winning organizations used to encourage engagement. Michael also presented examples from BestCompaniesUSA’s “5 Ways to Develop a High Trust Workplace Culture,” which covers the actions you can take to strengthen employee communication.

How you can celebrate employees through awards

Next, Lindsay shared the key actions you can take to build momentum and develop areas of opportunity. She went on to discuss how organizations can strengthen their workforce through awards. Lindsay referenced key clients such as Charles Schwab and Habitat for Humanity about unique ways to celebrate winning an award regardless of your organization’s budget.

Lindsay is a big fan of how organizations leverage their survey data to create strategic plans, cross-functional implementation teams, and continual metrics tracking. She reminded us that we should be focusing on evolving and growing rather than focusing on the actual number of our ranking.

After the webinar, attendees said that winning awards increased employee pride in their employer, made employees feel unique, and strengthened camaraderie. Even more, attendees said that winning awards validated employees’ confidence in their employer.

In conclusion, Michael highlighted how winning corporate awards makes employees feel a sense of pride, a personal validation for choosing an employer, and respect for their workplace.

So, maybe you’re like our webinar attendees? They said they were going to find new ways to recognize employees and encourage engagement. Please feel free to watch this webinar on our website or listen to it on our podcast.

Resources Used In This Webinar:

Retiring the Generation Gap by Jennifer Deal

Goldman Sachs’ review of millennials

Mass customization

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

Influence by Robert Cialdini

These days, companies are increasingly conscious of the importance of employee retention. Having employees stay and invest their time, knowledge, talents and creativity in an organization contributes to the stability of a company and ensures firms see a return on investment with the people they hire.

While many factors contribute to employee retention, one thing is clear: an employee’s engagement level and connection to the company’s culture play a huge role in whether or not they choose to invest in a long-term career at the company.

Our May webinar, Transforming Culture for Employee Retention, explored the relationship between employee engagement and employee retention. Lindsay, M. Smith, Michael S. Seaver, and Brian Stinson hosted the webinar, sharing valuable lessons for companies interested in creating cultural change for their organization. The trio discussed data from the azcentral.com Top Companies to Work For in Arizona in 2018 report and engaged webinar attendees through live polls.

Here’s a look at what you missed:

1. Biggest Employee Retention Challenge? – The Manager-Employee Relationship

During the webinar, we polled attendees to learn what they believe is their biggest employee retention challenge. The manager-employee relationship came out on top, with employee benefits, cultural fit, and career growth opportunities coming in a close second. Later on in the webinar, Michael Seaver shared about how having 1-on-1 employee meetings and talking about work-appropriate aspects of their personal lives can help build trust between managers and employees, and increase engagement.

2. Only About 1/3 of Employees are “Engaged,” or Happy At Work

Brian Stinson, co-founder and principal of the employee engagement consulting and coaching company The Peak Fleet, shared the findings of Gallup’s State of the American Workforce report. According to the report, right around one third of the American Workforce is happy at work and more than 15% is actively disengaged. Stinson highlighted that the actively disengaged employees are twice as likely to look for a new job.

Stinson connected the report’s findings to his personal journey and professional experiences, explaining how he came to be passionate about helping people find purpose and meaning work.

3. Companies Need Benchmarks

It’s one thing to want to do better when it comes to employee engagement. However, during the webinar, Michael Seaver emphasized the importance of setting benchmarks and recording current employee engagement numbers. He provided a number of ways to do this and shared ideas for companies to connect an employee’s personal mission to the organization’s mission.

4. Employees Have to Be Able to Say “I Feel I am Valued At This Organization”

Everyone wants to feel valued. Lindsay M. Smith shared why it’s important for employees to be able to say they feel valued at work, have made progress at work, and have confidence in the leadership of the organization. She unveiled insightful data from the 2018 Top Companies to Work for in Arizona award winners, unpacking the 10 key drivers of employee retention.

If you missed the webinar, you can watch it on our website. You can also listen to it on our podcast. Don’t forget to register for our upcoming webinars and reach out to us with your questions about employee retention!

Written by: Klint McCoy, Sr. Team Manger, Charles Schwab Trade Support

While I certainly cannot take credit for coining the phrase “fail forward”, I proudly live the ideal that in order to first succeed; you must try and try again. My Schwab story is not unique, however I hope to define a clear picture of how embracing failure is engrained in Schwab’s DNA, and without it you simply limit your personal and professional growth.

My career started at Schwab at a critical point in my life. I was recently married, a first time home buyer, even had thoughts of expanding the family, past the four legged kind. These first few years out of college were truly the first chance in life where I had command of the decisions and choices I made, afforded by a promising career in banking and investment sales. Things were falling nicely into place by design. The only problem was, I failed to factor in how things like the economy and my baked in over confidence and self-worth, could easily become disrupted. In 2008, I was building relationships door to door, providing fee based investment advice in an economy that was supercharged to implode. I’ll never forget the day I witnessed true fear and panic in the faces of so many. Fear easily spread and I caved, resorting to questioning my line of work and worse, my assumed confidence up to this point in my life. Fast forward 7 months and this fear of failure resulted in a layoff and my first taste of career hardship. After a few weeks of angst, I began to reflect on the key choices that led me to my current state. I decided that by making no choice at all, I was in fact, making a choice. I made a decision to “fail forward.”

I reached out to an old contact in banking and she was kind enough to provide a referral to Schwab, working in Austin, TX on the Client Service and Support team. A few short weeks later I came to Schwab to engage with clients on trade strategies and general service needs. Schwab was challenging, yet not for the reasons one may think. With that same misguided confidence, I still had it in my mind that post economic recovery I’d move to be a financial consultant, and quite possibly at another competitor. Thankfully, my first manager recognized the engagement opportunity and worked with me to develop a career action plan. This was the first time in my life I was willing to accept I did not have the answers. I owe Schwab, and most importantly my first manager, for lifting the veil on my first critical failure since joining Schwab.

Failure #1: Believing that I had all the answers: My manager was brutally honest, yet equally supportive. This level of transparency was brand new and it felt great. I knew where I stood and had a clear picture of what success could look like. I decided to fail forward by becoming coachable.

This led to several opportunities, one being a taste of the behind the scenes of Client Service and Support trading operations at Schwab. Because I’d been so closed-minded and laser focused on “sales”, I overlooked a passion of trading risk, education and support, as well as sheer knowledge of trading mechanics at Schwab. Fast forward a few years and I found myself passionate about resolving conflict, leading training efforts, and oddly, something I’d never considered – leadership.

Failure #2: Believing that change was an insurmountable task: At Schwab, you wouldn’t believe the amount of channels that support client or employee feedback for change. Recognizing and championing an idea that helps a professional better serve a client or helps Schwab continue to disrupt the industry is what makes it such a great place. Embracing change is a critical lesson learned.

Failure #3: Not FAILING! Failure is present every day. There’s plenty to go around. If you truly reflect within, operate humbly, and be transparent, you’ll realize that failure is what connects us and truly makes us better.

As a people leader at Schwab representing technology and trading, I regularly ask the question “What have you failed at today?” Maybe: “If one advances confidently in the direction of their dreams, and endeavors to live the life which they have imagined, they will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau If you have a full appreciation of your faults and a willingness to try, not only will you embrace change, but you will recognize the kind of personal and career growth that Schwab has afforded my family (including my Schwamily) and many others.

Click here to learn more about #SchwabLife!

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