Facilitator 0:05
So I want to welcome our moderator she is Sara L Palmer, and she is the VP of treasury management at Commerce Bank. We have Jennifer Sheffel, Treasury manager of Peter Cremer. Danecia Stewart, she is the HighRadius solution’s principal for Treasury. And we have Kelly Grieshop, which is she’s the treasurer, employer flexible, as well as a small business owner. So let’s give them a hand of a pause. And then let’s get started.
Sara L Palmer 0:36
So thank you guys for joining our group. today. We are what What’s between you and happy hour, so we’ll hope to make this entertaining for all of you. We hope that everyone is having a wonderful time at the conference. We’re we look forward to sharing the next 30 minutes with all of you. So I am lucky to be sharing the stage with these three phenomenal women today, all of us have a different path to get where we are. And the one thing that kind of unites all of us is that we have a passion for payments. So today, we wanted to share some of those experiences with you, and insights from our journey to get here. So I’ll do a quick intro, Sara L Palmer, VP of Treasury and payments at Commerce Bank for our eastern markets. So I’m based out of Nashville here, and also cover Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. I’ve been with the bank for 12 years living my best life, providing creative pain payment strategies for my clients. I’ve had a unique path to Treasury, which allows me to see payments through a different lens than a lot of people. So kind of how I’ve gotten here today as I followed my husband around the world, he was an in the military. So I was a military spouse for 12 years. I was also a professional dancer, I owned a dance studio, and I was a substitute teacher and a high school coach. So when I was looking for an opportunity to spend a little bit more time with my three kids, I thought, What could I do? And so I was like everyone knows that bankers have great hours. So I said, I’m going to be a banker. So that’s how I got here today. So I have the pleasure of introducing Kelly Grieshop, treasurer of employer flexible slash small business owner slash world-class bull writer, make sure to ask her that a little bit later, she could host a treasury talk show with her more than 20 years of experience. So Kelly, tell us your elevator speech on how you got here.
>Kelly Grieshop 2:43
Okay, thank you. Oh, no. So one thing, I guess I’ll say they are awesome. These are awesome. Women. I mean, this has just been a great experience at this conference. So but how did I get here? So? Yes, well, I’ll tell you, I didn’t set out to be in Treasury. I actually, you know, studied international business in college, really wanting to learn how to speak Spanish. It wasn’t working out in my you know, 40 minutes, you know, classes, you know, four days a week or whatever it was, I said, I gotta go somewhere to do this. So I did a study abroad program in Chile. You know, firstly, of all, I was like, I’m going home, I can’t do this. But you know what, I did it and like, I tell everybody, I don’t look back. So basically, how I ended up in Treasury ended up I love it, I’m passionate about it, but was the company that you know, started with out of college needed someone that was fluent in Spanish and finance background. So from there, it was history. I mean, I love Treasury had had different roles in Treasury, you know, I’ve started analyst treasurer, gone, you know, manager all around, you know, I just, I’m just passionate about love it and just want to keep doing it and helping companies and other individuals, you know, and as far as payments go, you know, one thing that I really find exciting about Treasury is trying to show how we are a profit center, cut costs, right? Reduce checks, I don’t want to see a check, right? I want everything electronic, all that kind of fun stuff. So I guess that’s me in a nutshell.
Sara L Palmer 4:06
Yeah. Thanks, Kelly. So next, we have Jennifer Sheffel, the Treasury manager at Peter Cremer, North America, we refer to Jennifer as our treasury rookie of the year. So Jennifer, can you tell us a little bit about your journey? Yeah, absolutely.
Jennifer Sheffel 4:20
So yes, that’s entirely true. I do not think of myself as a treasury expert, by any means. I stumbled into Treasury about two years ago, as we had a gentleman who was retiring, and I have done everything in the accounting and finance world, I do have a bachelor’s in accounting. And I’ve done FPNA, for the vast majority of my career. And because of that, and when the forecasting, planning analysis, it’s, Hey, we need to really look at our cash and start forecasting it. So since you’ve not been in Treasury, we think this would be a really great role for you to kind of grow and blossom and so all she wrote. So from that, before treasury was really just processing AP and AR, we’ve definitely become very efficient we now take, I mean, heaven forbid credit card payments, I mean, you know, and then we also do credit card payments in order to, of course, increase our working capital. So there have been and I mean, those are just super easy, but there have been a lot of initiatives that we’ve actually done and trying to make some continuous improvements along the way. Cash Forecasting we never ever did. So there’s been a lot of growing pains in that as well as looking at it from a post-mortem analysis. So that then we can think more holistically as to how can we do this better, and even get better, and our working capital perspective.
Sara L Palmer 5:49
Thanks, Jennifer. Yep. All right. Last but certainly not least, we have Danecia Stewart, she’s Treasury solution principal of HighRadius. And I know that she’s excited to share a little bit more with you about her recent switch to the dark side. So I know everyone’s at the edge of their seats to hear a little bit more about your journey.
Danecia Stewart 6:09
Okay, lower your standards. So yes, see, I started my career, as you did in banking. When I was in college, I liked it, but not enough to stick with the banking side. So I joined treasury, as a treasury analyst works for about 15 or 16 years all the way from a treasury analyst to an assistant treasurer role, always in Houston, Texas, typically in the oil and gas space, and then just kind of wanted to do something different. Join the dark side. If that doesn’t work out, I may talk to you about bull riding. I think I may, I’m maybe on my journey. But yeah, I’ve always been in Treasury, I really have a passion for it. And now I get to talk to people about it in a more consultative nature. So welcome. Yeah.
Sara L Palmer 6:55
So anyone out there that knows us knows that we have lots of thoughts and lots to say, but today is not about us. It is about you. So, you know, I think the women up here have lifetimes of experience to share the good, the bad, and maybe a little bit of the ugly. So you know, we have a lot of ideas. But we want to start out by opening the floor for any questions or conversations that you guys have burning on your mind. And so does anyone have any questions for the panel that they’d like to ask?
Jennifer Sheffel 7:32
Come on, guys. Somebody’s got to get us started.
Sara L Palmer 7:36
All right. Okay. Go to the dark side. All right. Did you guys hear the questions? Yeah. So in and we were talking about this, actually, I would love for you to share kind of your maybe thoughts as you made that transition and what you, I think found out about yourself that you didn’t know.
Danecia Stewart 8:03
Yeah, so I’m going from being a treasury practitioner to a solution principal, I believe is my title. I, you know, it was just something that I knew that I was passionate about treasury, but I felt like I’ve done it all. I’ve done every sort of Forecast Cash Management payments, I’ve put out every fire that was possible that you know, that existed in my, you know, practitioner world, and I just kind of stumbled upon the role at HighRadius, my manager at the time actually referred me to this company for a job because I just, you know, I just felt flat, but I knew that I didn’t want to do anything other than the treasury. And I was really, you know, I didn’t think that I was, I think as women, a lot of times, we don’t really give ourselves enough credit for what we can do, we kind of make a lot of excuses of why we shouldn’t do something and kind of let fear get in the way. But I went ahead and took the leap. And you know, it paid off. I know, one of the first, what not one of the first but one of the most meaningful conversations that I had was with Jennifer and she was just like, I heard you speaking on a webinar, and I realized that you know, we need to do something in our treasury. So it was a bit of an aha moment for me like, Hmm, maybe I do know what I’m talking about, like, maybe, maybe I am a little bit of a big deal. So it was a big transition, but it was definitely, you know, more internal than external. So I think we do that a lot as women though.
Jennifer Sheffel 9:29
So to add to that, if I may. You’ll notice this about us too. We’ll just jump right on it. So I heard a statistic and I know I shared this one with you guys because I was very dumbfounded by it. Women will not apply for a position. So men will apply for a position if they just meet the requirements of 40% women 80%. Go for it. Try it. What’s worst, you’re gonna have so much growth and it’s so many growth opportunities. It’s going to be amazing.
Sara L Palmer 10:01
Well, I think Jennifer, you know, you made the switch to Treasury. And you know, you had kind of that same kind of fear a little bit. But I think you had mentioned to us during our conversation, just your backgrounds and experiences and FPNA made you continually ask questions. And be curious, do you want to share any more?
Jennifer Sheffel 10:22
Yeah, absolutely. So I didn’t give too much detail. So I have been in the manufacturing industry for the past 15 years. It is a very fast pace, with a lot of continuous improvement, which is also very awesome because it opens a lot of doors. It’s not very conducive to generally women. But I can honestly say that as I was going through this, I had no idea what I was doing. But I started to ask more questions, I went out and started to look for training, for webinars, and just tried to expand, expand my horizons. And honestly, that’s how I met HighRadius. Actually through that. And then even as I would meet individuals, I would you know, get with them on LinkedIn, or ask them questions. I remember telling Danecia one time, like, Hey, I started to do that, I actually feel like I know what I’m doing for once. So really bouncing off other people and networking with them. It’s something that’s super valuable. And I know that it’s something that we don’t really think too highly of, and we shadow it too much.
Sara L Palmer 11:32
Does anyone else have any other thoughts on this area? or new questions for the panel? What do you find to be the biggest challenges in your roles? Does anyone want to go first? Speechless? I think not.
Kelly Grieshop 11:56
I mean, I think, you know, and I think we all have similar, you know, experience or similar challenges. I, you know, I can, you know, talk about sometimes how it’s, I’m told that I need to voice my opinion more, I need to ask, you know, not to be afraid to ask questions. And I’m touching back on that, because it’s something that I’ve learned maybe later, and I should have learned sooner, you know, is just to ask questions, you learned so much. So I think that’s something that, you know, I really learned about myself, and I had great managers, and mentors, that helped me get that competence, you know, and overcome that challenge. Right. So, I think that’s one thing.
Sara L Palmer 12:33
So I’m gonna throw out there a thought that we talked about that I think might relate to this is kind of tackling stigmas, like, how people think we should act, or react or respond. You know, we talked about being vulnerable, or what is personality? What have you had mentioned, you need to have ice in your veins. Tell me about that.
Danecia Stewart 12:56
Yeah, a lot of times, I know, when I was interviewing, I was a victim of not wanting to take a role if the manager was a woman because typically women feel like in order to be in a position of power, in order to be you know, even respect it, you have to be ice-cold, you can’t have emotion, you can’t, you know, come across as weak, because that’s what we have been conditioned to think. So I would always go for jobs where a man was a boss because I just didn’t want to deal with it. And, you know, I have had some really great women or female, you know, leaders and managers. So I’m glad that I, you know, look beyond that, and didn’t really just stay with that thought process. But it’s still something that I think, you know, if I were to tell my younger self, like, you don’t have to be, you know, hardcore, just to get respected. I think that it’s just something that is put on us.
Jennifer Sheffel 13:48
So when I went into management, the CIO, CFO that I had as my mentor, and boss, and she was absolutely amazing. She flat out told me, you have to be ice. Like that was her very first thing that she had said to me, in order to get anywhere in this organization, you have got to be nice, and you got to stick to your guns. And as I continue to develop and everything I’ve really realized, it’s not entirely true. Just be yourself, be your authentic self. Yes, in some situations, if you’re kind of walking the line a little bit, you got to come to a determination and really just stick to it. But you don’t have to be ice cold about it. You just lose a lot of people and the last thing that you want is to be trying to lead a group and then all sudden turn around and like, Okay, I’m by myself. It’s never a good thing. So yeah, just be yourself and be honest and open and transparent.
Kelly Grieshop 14:48
I cannot agree more. Because, for me, I felt that way too, that I had to show that I was this person that I wasn’t and I was like that for so many years and you know, and over the past, you know, probably you’re, you’re so I’m like, You know what I am, who I am, I’m going to lead how I lead, I’m going to treat people how I want to be treated, how I treat others in my personal life. And I, I’m, I’m so much happier people around me are happy, you know. So I, yeah, it’s a good thing.
Sara L Palmer 15:16
I think I’ve had to, you know, I used to experience I felt like I needed to give and kind of overcompensate for things. And one thing several years ago that I learned, and it was the best lesson of my life was to stop apologizing. You know, because as soon as you apologize for something that is accepting blame, and you haven’t done anything wrong if you’re apologizing, I’m sorry, I can’t, you know, make that meeting. And you know, we have, we feel like we have to explain why I can’t make that meeting, just say, You know what, thanks for getting this meeting on the calendar. But this is not going to work for my schedule. And that is the simple way to put it. And people respect that and appreciate it, but we feel like we have to give and give and give. So I think that for me was the biggest challenge, but I’ve overcome that. Does anyone else have questions? Great questions, by the way, or thoughts that you want to share from your personal experiences?
Sara L Palmer 16:22
Yeah. Okay, so one characteristic can’t talk its the end of the day of a strong female leader. What would that be?
Sara L Palmer 17:00
So I already told you it’s all about you. Yeah. I think to go along with that, for me is just strong morals and values and leading by example. Yes. I was on a diagonal to pull words, not one word.
Jennifer Sheffel 17:33
So, I was gonna say definitely like coaching. Yes, yeah, that really kind of encompasses all. I’ve had some remarkable, unbelievable women who have even just kind of coached me as I’ve gone into leadership, which of course, is a mentor. Right. And the best mentors are those that happen organically. And you touched on something that I don’t even think you realize you touched on? How many females? Do you know they’re in leadership positions? So? Yeah, you’ll get there. And I’m looking forward to seeing you there.
Sara L Palmer 18:10
Yes, over there. Hmm, that’s a great question as well. Are those characteristics any different than what you would look for in male leadership?
Kelly Grieshop 18:22
For me? No. Saying I would expect the same. Yeah.
Jennifer Sheffel 18:25
Yep. And of course, I love transparency too. I mean, it really kind of goes with the things but right now see CFO is a male. And he definitely sticks up for me and multiple situations. So but he would stick up for any of us, it wouldn’t matter. So of course, that speaks volumes for the individual that he is.
Sara L Palmer 18:54
Yes. Women especially. That’s very insightful. Yeah. Somebody else had their hand raised. Yes. What book or podcast or force? What have you found most beneficial in your journey? Okay. So what books or podcasts would you find would you say have been most beneficial to you guys? Or training? Okay.
Danecia Stewart 19:54
I would say for me all things Brene Brown, she is literally the best person she has I think she has some Netflix stuff or HBO, but all of her books are really good. And typically I read a book cover to cover, you know, give me a week I’m done. The first Brene Brown book that I read, it took me a few months because I had to, like self reflect. And I was just like, oh, you know, that’s the not so pretty sad. Have you are Oh, like you never I never thought of it that way. Like it turned in from reading a book to, for my journaling and really kind of discovering what it is that I like and don’t like. And you know, just it really was a life-changing book for me. So that was a very good question. Thank you.
Jennifer Sheffel 20:34
Yeah. I totally agree. She’s amazing. But also even on LinkedIn, I, so I don’t know if you guys have heard of chief at all. But there are even like little snips on LinkedIn of what they’re trying to do and make things really different. And to empower women. I tend to gravitate to those quite a bit. Even the founder of Spanx. I follow her on LinkedIn too. And she’ll have like empowering mugs, and just little quirky cool stuff. So those are always fun to just little snippets there as well.
Kelly Grieshop 21:15
Well, my, I’m going a different route. Because, you know, I’m looking forward to, you know, advancing in like certifications and things like that, that that’s something that I really didn’t take a lot of time to do throughout my career for one reason or another. So you know, one thing is, you know, for the CTP. So, it’s reading and studying for that right now. That’s really where my focus is. And I would recommend, you know, certifications if you can get them.
Sara L Palmer 21:36
Yeah, I would say for me, to kind of change gears a little bit, I was kind of one of the first in our organization to join the leadership of our women’s employee resource group. And that, for me, has been very helpful, not just the leadership role, but to just have that communication with others, we used a lot of Brene Brown, to start those conversations. But then we started, not just for women, but we started a book club, and the first book that we did was crucial conversations, that is a wonderful book, um, but it’s just, you know, talking through how to have those conversations. But then, you know, not only promoting it, you know, promoting it within your organization and having people that you can talk to about things.
Jennifer Sheffel 22:24
So I want to, sorry, add on to that really, really quick. So I’ve been through actually a couple of different chambers. So I’m out of Cincinnati, Ohio, and I went through their leadership programs. One was a women’s group, and then one was actually just a leadership program. And both were extremely insightful and wonderful. You get accountability partners that way, and really can, yeah, meet the road. And so it’s just, that’s always something to also maybe tap into.
Sara L Palmer 22:56
There was a hand raised back there, yeah.
Sara L Palmer 23:09
Wait, when’s happy hour? Be this down there? Does anybody want to share a story?
Panelist 23:20
Oh, my God. Yeah, Jennifer one.
Jennifer Sheffel 23:23
I know. So I have many, from getting hit on and blatantly, just, yeah, even around the executive table, as I’m often the only female, not just in the role that I’m in today, but even in my prior life. So yeah, those are definitely ugly moments. Because then it’s like, I’m sorry, you’re making me feel very uncomfortable right now. And so then it’s, you know, you don’t want to outs the person. You don’t want to be subordinate, either, or, you know, so it’s really kind of making sure that you do it in a tactful way. And just walk away and make sure that they understand. I’m sorry, that’s just not the way I roll.
Danecia Stewart 24:05
I’ll piggyback on that. When I was very young in my career. I remember it was one of my first meetings with bankers, I worked at this company, it was a steel trading company. So it was predominantly men. And I was it was just myself and the CFO. And I was so excited, like, Oh, he’s taking me to meet bankers. Like, you know, I’m really someone and he told me literally, just sit here and be pretty, you’re not here to talk. So I make sure no matter what meeting I’m in, I don’t care if I just say hi, I’m saying something. I’m not sitting here. I’m not just being pretty. So that definitely happened in real life.
Jennifer Sheffel 24:39
That happened to me too. Yeah. So which one? Always make your presence known, but not in a, you know, in a tactful way? Like? Yes.
Sara L Palmer 24:50
So yeah, something that I’ve learned to kind of piggyback off of your uncomfortable situation was I realized I worked for an organization at that time, that didn’t have the resources available for someone that was in a situation like that I actually had an experience with a client. And so I didn’t have a manager that I could talk to, I didn’t have an HR department that was supportive of that. And so, you know, in my career journey, that is really one of the top priorities that I look for in an organization that I’m involved in that I’m, you know, looking to be involved in, that they have those resources for employees.
Kelly Grieshop 25:29
And I’m, I’m the type that I just say, the first thing that comes to my mind when asked the question, right, because I don’t wanna think about it too much overthink it, but and this is completely different. But I remember one time a manager saying to me, I was home with my son, he was sick, and you know, working from home, maybe, anyway, some time ago, and I was working, he’s like, and he just was like, Are you like a monkey sitting there? Like banging on the keyboard? Like not figuring this out? And it just stuck with me like these negative things? Right? So I don’t know, it was? Yeah. So I did have a conversation with them after the fact about and just to explain to him that I didn’t appreciate that, and where was it coming from? You know, because it was totally out of line. I mean, so.
Sara L Palmer 26:10
So we have time for either one more question, or I can have the panelists yeah.
Panelist 26:16
There is the stereotype of a female either, like, you gotta be cold, and so on. But you’re absolutely pathetic. And you’re, like, you’re very assertive and very direct. There is also a stereotype that women have to be like salsa, or they have to be like, I don’t know something else. But if you are assertive, then you basically.
Sara L Palmer 26:46
Are the B-word. Yes, the B-word. Bossy, right, the be bossy.
Jennifer Sheffel 26:55
Now, I’ve been told I’m quite intimidating at times. And I don’t mean to be, but I just come off that way. And I’m like, so you’re calling me to be. But honestly, and this, I don’t know, in certain situations, I’ve actually grown to appreciate it. And I know that’s probably wrong. But in some of them, I’m like, You know what, I stood up for myself. Rock on, like a new ticket that way?
Sara L Palmer 27:25
Yeah. Well, and I think that’s why it’s important to have your tribe of people that you can lean on and talk to, and vent about things. Because if you internalize everything, we all make these stories, you know, up in our heads, and that’s really not the truth. That’s not what happened, but we make it up in our heads. So yeah. I got it. All right. Any other thoughts? Before we let you guys go? Do you guys have any closing thoughts you want to share that we didn’t let you share with the audience yet?
Kelly Grieshop 28:11
I would just say, you know, wherever you are in your career, you know, network, you know, have a mentor, you know, accept help, and be humbled. You know, don’t I mean, when you’re younger, you’re like, some people are like, oh, I already know this. I know it, I don’t need it. And then looking back, you’re like, maybe I should have opened up to that. Right. And taken that. And then also, I would say, you know, if you’re interested in trying a different area of role in the company that maybe is outside of what you’re doing now. You know, go for it, try it, what’s the worst that could happen?
Jennifer Sheffel 28:44
I would just say, always be yourself. And I mean, if you lead with love, all good things always come. So definitely have accountability partners. I can’t stress that enough. And Kelly, what you said is completely spot on. Yeah. So best of luck to everyone.
Sara L Palmer 29:03
Yeah. And with that, we will lead you all to have a fantastic evening.
Jennifer Sheffel 29:09
Thank you guys for coming. Thank you.
