Today, I'm connecting with Taylor Fox-Smith, Head of Community Partnerships at Airwallex. In this episode, we explore Taylor's formative years and Montessori education and dive into her latest project: building the community function at fintech unicorn Airwallex, a cross-border payments company. We also unpack her lessons from scaling channel partnerships across various stages and verticals (PropTech and ClimateTech), her journey of finding a deep sense of self amidst the ebbs and flows of startups, and her mission to become a growth enzyme for founders.

Find Taylor Fox-Smith on:

Taylor’s Northstar:

Her Dad, Gavin Fox-Smith

ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch:

Emily Casey, Founder & Director at What the Health
Annie Liao, Chief of Staff at Relevance AI and Founder of Build Club

Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode:

Jethro Cohen (Investor at Square Peg)
Ben Hanley (Product at Trace)
Mina Radhakrishnan (Co-Founder/ex-CEO at :Different)
Andrew (Soro) Sorokovsky (VP Sales/BD @ Immutable)
Elizabeth Broderick (Founder and Convenor at Champions of Change Coalition)

Guest ideas?

Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn.

A note from your host, Laura:

My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons.

Never miss an episode:

Subscribe on your favourite platform:

Ep 31. Growth Enzyme Mindset: Taylor Fox-Smith on Academia, Channel Partnerships and Building Community at Airwallex