First things first, if you are expecting a technical blog post, this time you are in the wrong place! Tip: return to the menu and select one of the other posts…you have plenty of choices. What you are about to read is an opinion article, but it is not just about me, it is about us!
Let me give you a bit of context; I am Head of Operations at Finiam and came from a non-tech background (social sciences to be precise). Although I have good years of experience in business, project management, tech consultancy, and a splash of marketing, my knowledge in Fintech and web3 was close to none. Nevertheless, I had tremendous luck to have people that believed in my potential and brought me here. And why am I sharing this with you? Because this is what Finiam is about, an amazing company, part of an incredible universe of companies and people… It's all about people here and that was the difference to me when I made my choice to join. Every day since then I am reassured that it was one of the best choices I made in my entire career. That was not an easy decision…I had a well-paid job in the corporate world, and this was a leap of faith for me, trust in this bunch of guys (Yes, when I started, I was the only woman at Finiam, now we have more ☺️), feeling that I was starting from scratch, with typical impostor syndrome wanting badly to see the light, and you know what have I found after so many years since I started my career? That is ok not knowing it all and is ok to feel insecure. I discovered here what a safety net is about, with extraordinary people giving me the strength to raise my head and give my best. People always come first, even if that means that you start your job today and need the day off tomorrow, that is ok, life happens, the most important thing is that you can come back to us and bring your A game.
But that's enough about me, let me tell you about Finiam from a non-technical perspective. If you ask our devs, they will tell you about our projects, our stack, some new technology we are exploring, or our path in the Web3 space. Here you will know more about our work/life balance culture and our vision as a company.
Long story short, Finiam is a small but steady service company, focused on the fintech vertical. We develop products for the financial world, simple as that. This is what we do, now I will tell you what we are. We are one of those companies that care for its people, for their wellbeing. With our salary comes a lot of perks that sound too good to be true (they are not!), but is our way to welcome people that gives them everything they need to reach their full potential (personally, technically and financially). At this point, you likely are thinking that I am using all my best-selling arguments, but trust me I am not! As every other company we still have to deal with daily problems and challenges, but it is how you choose to deal with them that will produce the difference. For example, I had issues dealing with async work… I was not used to it, I am too immediatist to wait for information, but I realized that is something that I have to resolve internally and the monthly 1:1 meetings with my CEO are helping me realize that respecting everyone's timing is key. Think of these meetings as a time in the month when you have the chance to just talk about yourself with your boss, the difficulties you are feeling (although he is constantly available), where you can just be open and transparent and throw away any worries, instead of blowing up a balloon to the point where it bursts.
Obviously, like other companies we want to scale, but (hold on the horses) not so fast!!! Here we are lucky enough to be able to choose the projects we work on, rather than have to accept everything to “feed the machine.” Now I will disclose a big-fat truth… small companies can also be profitable! You don't have to grow 1000% in a year, hire everyone that walks on the street to display big numbers, be attractive to VCs and receive funding, for 1 year after making 50% of your workforce redundant just because you need to “cut the fat” to be profitable.
There are other ways to grow! Naturally, they don't happen overnight, and a lot of work and compromise is needed, but it's possible and is rewarding, both financially and emotionally. Ultimately we feel one member of the team is a member of this professional family and not just a number. This is something crucial to us when we hire someone: be sure that this particular person is “the perfect fit” for the position and the rest of the team.
There is a popular proverb that says: “One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel” and this is what we need to assure that doesn't happen. You don't have to be the best in the business, after all, technical skills can always be learned, but who you are is something you cannot change.
With that being said, our puzzle is still not complete, and we are constantly seeking for our missing pieces. If you think this post was made for you, go ahead and apply to one of our open jobs.
Are you the one?