Megan Cooper, Chief Product Officer at ClearBank, discusses her journey in finance, fostering innovation, challenges for women leaders, work/life balance, and the industry's exciting trajectory.
Setting clear goals, finding good mentors, and staying focused are essential for breaking barriers and achieving success in finance as a woman.
Companies should support working parents and enable them to effectively balance their professional and personal lives to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment.
Deep dives
Finding Success in a Male-Dominated Industry
Megan K. Wood, Chief Product Officer at Clear Bank, shares her journey of breaking barriers as a woman in finance. She emphasizes the importance of setting clear goals, finding good mentors, and staying focused and resilient in the face of challenges. Megan also highlights the need for companies to support working parents, enabling them to balance their professional and personal lives effectively.
Navigating Career Transitions and Building Expertise
Megan discusses her career path, which involved transitioning between big and small companies to gain diverse experiences. She shares her strategy of seeking opportunities to learn from best-in-class professionals in larger organizations and then applying that knowledge in smaller startups. Megan emphasizes the importance of leaning into challenges and continually developing new skills.
Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Work-Life Balance
Drawing insights from her personal experiences, Megan shares advice for women in leadership roles and discusses the persistent obstacles they often face. She advocates for maintaining a growth mindset, being gritty, and staying focused on goals. Megan also suggests aligning with companies that support work-life integration and prioritizing kindness and hard work in navigating competitive environments.
The Reward of Making a Positive Impact
Megan's passion for transforming the finance industry drives her motivation to make a positive impact on consumers' lives. She highlights the exciting opportunities for digital transformation in the sector, especially in the back-end infrastructure. Megan encourages aspiring leaders to focus on driving change and creating better solutions for customers, embracing the potential for innovation in the industry.
I’m so pleased to welcome Megan (Caywood) Cooper, newly appointed Chief Product Officer at ClearBank, to the Banking Transformed podcast. Boasting experience across startups, big banks, and platforms, Megan provides a unique insider lens, having helped disrupt finance firms of all sizes from the inside out.
We’ll hear about her professional journey and the difference between fostering innovation at industry stalwarts versus scrappier upstarts. Megan will also share her wisdom around the ongoing challenges women leaders face in finance along with how she achieves work/life balance while raising a family.
Finally, Megan shares what excites her about the industry’s trajectory and why she sees abundant opportunities still ahead as finance continues transforming.
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