Head of Customer Experience
What made you decide to join the SafetyNet team?
While working in a previous role, I was introduced to the SafetyNet mission, a mission to help improve the financial lives of people in America. Since then, I have had several opportunities to learn the depths of people’s financial struggles and was dumb-founded to find so many people living paycheck to paycheck. I was sad to see how half of America was struggling to get by each day. Having been born and raised in a different country, I’ve seen poverty, but I never imagined the greatest country in the world to have the same issues that many developing countries were facing. Grown men and women were crying in our focus groups when they shared their heartbreaking financial stories. Kids were going hungry, people were avoiding their much-needed healthcare and people were working way beyond their hours and years.
When I was invited to officially join the team and help develop solutions to truly impact the consumer, to work in an environment that facilitated innovative thinking, encouraged learning through failures and embraced diversity, I was excited and humbled at the same time. In my conversations with the President, Dan Kaiser, I quickly learned that his vision for success was authentic and his passion was infectious. It was a no brainer and I’ve never looked back.
What are you most passionate about in your work at SafetyNet?
I am passionate about the SafetyNet mission and it is rooted in every consumer interaction I design. I hear from consumers, read about them and meet them often enough that I like to claim I am a customer advocate first and an employee of SafetyNet second. I can build empathy for their situations, which is extremely critical as we design solutions and experiences to improve their financial well-being.
What is the first big item or experience you saved up for?
Savings was an integral part of my upbringing. I grew up in India, when credit cards weren’t common language or practice in any household. My parents bought everything with cash, and if they didn’t have cash they didn’t buy it. Even today, I use my credit card only if I know I have that money sitting in my bank account. So pretty much any big item or experience I have indulged in was saved for.
One big experience I saved for that comes to mind is a trip to Disney with my 5-year-old daughter and my mom. I think this trip was more monumental than some other big items (car, home) because it took a lot more planning and organizing as I wanted to ensure that it was going to be a memorable trip for two different generations. Also, Disney is just a magical place and a trip of a lifetime that one could never forget.
Name three words that you believe describe you.
Empathetic, Resilient and Resourceful