As women in banking, it is important that we lift each other up and celebrate each other’s accomplishments. The entire purpose of the Girl Banker blog is to do just that! The Girl Banker of the Week series serves as a way to highlight Girl Bankers everywhere by telling their stories and motivating and encouraging other women in banking. It also is a great way for women in banking to connect! Read below about this week’s Girl Banker of the Week! Scarlett Sieber | Innovation Thought Leader, FinTech Influencer, International Speaker If you're an avid follower of the Girl Banker you likely have picked up on the fact that I love to connect with bankers in the digital space and thanks to Twitter, I have met bankers from all walks of life that I otherwise would have never known. Scarlett Sieber is one of those bankers. Last Spring, my pal and Girl Banker Phenomenon, Jill Castilla, CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond, in Edmond, Oklahoma, mentioned Scarlett during a conversation about women in banking making waves. "She's a rising star in the fintech world and has become one of my mentors," Jill told me. "You two really should connect." When Jill Castilla tells you to connect with someone, you connect with them! Fast forward to The Financial Brand Forum 2018 in Vegas last May, and we actually got to meet in real life when she was a breakout session presenter on the topic of "Transforming Financial Services: Accelerating Your Innovation Program". Scarlett's girl banker story takes a different turn from the stories I have shared on the blog thus far. What I find most interesting about her is the experience she has under her belt as a "millennial" and how her role as a fintech minded banker could inspire many other women considering similar routes in banking. Unless you have been hiding under a rock or stuck in the "that's how we have always done it" mindset, fintech is a major force changing big banks and community banks alike. If your bank isn't working on a fintech strategy, you might already left behind. Here is her story. Girl Banker Story After studying abroad in China in college, Scarlett knew that she wanted to pursue a career where she was not only good at what she did but was passionate about it just the same. This led her to join the visualization tech startup, Infomous, Inc. where she served as Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder. Their clients include The London Olympics, Super Bowl XLVII, NFL Films, The Economist, Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian and USA TODAY. "My role at Infomous was an incredible journey where I played very much a generalist role and got to see multiple aspects of the business," explained Scarlett. She also realized her love for technology. During her 3 year stint at Infomous, BBVA reached out and encouraged them to apply to their startup competition, Open Talent. The group was selected as a finalist, which ultimately led her to her transition to BBVA. At that time, BBVA Compass Bank, an $86 billion bank headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, was looking looking at being the best digital bank in the world. Scarlett's knowledge and relationships within the tech ecosystem and experience with APIs assisted in her making the move to BBVA as SVP, Global Business Development and New Digital Business a great fit. "I very much respected and admired BBVA's culture and executive team," said Scarlett. In this role, she leveraged BBVA’s assets to secure partnerships within the ecosystem accelerating the global innovation strategy within the US. She also served as the US lead for BBVA's millennial initiative. Most recently she was Vice President at USAA where she led the newly created business development initiative. Prior, she was Chief Innovation Officer of Opus Bank, an $8 billion retail and commercial bank, where she led the digital strategy and transformation for Opus and its $15 bilion trust subsidiary, Pensco. She writes on innovation and technology frequently and has been featured in industry publications and podcasts reaching millions. Not to mention she has won over a dozen industry awards for her accomplishments and contributions including "Women in FinTech Powerlist 2016" by Innovate Finance, "Top 10 FinTech Influencers in US" by LTP, "Top 20 Innovators to Watch" by Bank Innovation, and "Women in Power Finance" by Kurtosys. If you haven't figured it out at this point, Scarlett is kind of a BIG deal!

Beyond the Bank Outside of work, she is a contributor to the Huffington Post, Forbes, and WeWork. She is a NYC Fellow of Startup Leadership Program. This past summer, she married her husband, Troy and resides in New York City. MOTIVATION | I have always had the attitude of giving first and do whatever I can to help support the tech ecosystem, especially for women and minorities. I spend time mentoring women and minorities from everything to their startup, careers, business relationships, etc. I go into every situation with an open mind, trying to soak in all the knowledge and experience possible while providing unique view points and ways of thinking. Join me as we celebrate this week’s Girl Banker of the Week, Scarlett Sieber!