June 30, 2025 • 28 mins
Billi Jo Wright's unconventional journey from working in her uncle's sheet metal factory to executive leadership in payments spans nearly three decades and offers powerful lessons about persistence, adaptability, and betting on yourself. Without a college degree but armed with boundless curiosity, Billi Jo navigated through various roles across issuing and acquiring before finding her passion in risk management, where she's thrived by approaching old problems with fresh perspectives.
Two pivotal moments shaped her career trajectory: first, when she returned to work after having four children in 18 months, eventually becoming her family's sole breadwinner; and second, when she left what seemed like a dream role at a large company to join a smaller startup where she could drive meaningful change. Both decisions required tremendous courage and self-confidence—qualities that continue to define her leadership approach.
For Billi Jo, modern leadership centers on empowerment. She builds high-performing teams by deliberately seeking diverse perspectives and complementary skill sets, then creating high-trust environments where people can thrive. This collaborative approach has proven successful through multiple acquisitions, demonstrating that effective leadership isn't about command-and-control but about enabling others to succeed.
Looking toward the future of payments, she's closely watching how artificial intelligence will transform both operational capabilities and fraud vectors. Her balanced perspective embraces innovation while remaining vigilant about emerging risks - exactly the thoughtful approach needed in today's rapidly evolving payment ecosystem.
For those building careers in payments, especially women, Billi Jo emphasizes networking, finding mentors who exemplify the leadership style you aspire to, and securing sponsors who will actively advocate for your advancement. Her advice to "get uncomfortable" acknowledges that growth often happens outside our comfort zones. Ready to transform how you think about leadership and risk in payments? Listen now and discover strategies that can elevate your approach to both.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Leaders in Payments podcast,
where we talk to C-level leadersfrom across the payments
landscape.
We'll be discussing theproducts and services that
impact the payment space today,as well as trends and
predictions for the future ofpayments.
We will also hear stories fromour guests about their journeys
to the top.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Leaders in
Payments podcast.
I'm your host, greg Myers, andthis episode is part of our
Women Leaders in Payments month,something we do every year in
the month of July, and it's oneof my favorite times of the year
.
This year's theme is redefiningleadership, influence, impact
and innovation.
So those are some of the thingsyou're going to be hearing
about during the month of July.
So first, a special thank youto our sponsors.
(00:41):
Our title sponsor is WorldPay,our participating sponsors are
VisiPay and Payrock, and ourepisode sponsors are the
Clearinghouse and Genico andPaySafe.
So special thanks to thosecompanies.
Today, I'm honored to have asour special guest Billy Joe
Wright, the head of risk atWorldPay for Platform.
So, billy Joe, thank you somuch for being here and welcome
(01:03):
to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Thank you, thanks for having me.
I'm very excited.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Great, great.
So let's start out with alittle icebreaker.
So if you could have dinnerwith any female in history so
could be past or present whowould that be and why, and what
kind of restaurant would you goto?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I would say Eleanor Roosevelt, I think you know
she's a woman that really kindof paved her own path and has
stood kind of the testament oftime.
What type of like Indianrestaurant, something that would
give like a really neatexperience that you wouldn't
have every day.
I think that helps just kind ofget everybody in the same kind
of like the level, like sametype of level, as far as
experiences go.
So I think it would be a reallygood icebreaker, okay.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Okay, great.
So let's talk a little bitabout your background and your
career.
So tell us a little bit aboutwhere you're from, where you
grew up and what led you intopayments.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
So I grew up in a really small town called Pittman
.
New Jersey is about 20 minutesoutside of Philly, so I do
consider myself a Philly girl.
I actually didn't go to collegeI'm a bit of a self-made
individual and started workingat my uncle's sheet metal
(02:34):
factory and eventually landed ata bank on the credit card
issuing side as a part-timecustomer service rep, and that's
really uh, that was myintroduction into payments.
That was almost 30 years ago.
Um, I've done, uh, a myriad ofdifferent jobs, uh what you
(02:56):
would consider to kind of be theissuing side of the house, and
then I eventually moved overinto acquiring um and have
worked in operations, intoacquiring, and have worked in
operations, sales, andeventually found risk and it's
where I've spent the majority ofmy career and in payments.
And I, you know, I find itfascinating, ever changing and,
(03:19):
you know, definitely keepsthings very interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yes, it does.
So just curious, like, why risk?
What was it that kind ofattracted you to that that you
stuck with it?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I think I liked the challenge of it, the fact, like
trying to understand how and whypeople are doing things a
certain way.
That's really kind of thefoundation of, you know, trying
to identify what the trend is,why they're doing it, how
they're doing it and so that youcan adjust to it.
And it's gone from reallytrying to be reactive which a
(03:54):
lot of risk is a reactive typeof strategy to really being more
proactive and trying to findsolutions that will actually
help us, Things like AI andmodeling that will hopefully get
us ahead of the fraudsters, asopposed to always being reactive
.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So if you had to walk on the stage at a conference or
something, what would your hypesong be, and why?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
So this may be a little outdated or played, but
it would have to be this Girl'son Fire by Alicia Keys.
I think it's such a motivatingsong.
It lifts me up whenever I hearit and I think it's, you know,
it really kind of represents awoman who is like confident,
(04:40):
isn't afraid to take up spaceand, you know, really knows her
worth, and so every time I hearthat song it just, it's a, it's
a complete motivation for me.
So that would have to be thesong that I would, I would walk
out to Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
That's great.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour role at WorldPay.
What do you work on?
What kind of excites you aboutwhat you're doing today?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
So I'm the chief risk and compliance officer for
World Pay for Platforms.
Specifically within our PayRixproduct, our offering is PayFac
as a service right.
It's pretty, I think, popularbusiness model within the
payment space.
You see a lot of softwarecompanies making that journey
into payments with this PayFacas a service model.
(05:20):
Payfact as a service model.
And what I really like aboutwhat I do in relation to that is
I felt like this was the firsttime, being a risk professional,
where it really allowed us tothink about our risk management
philosophy and kind of blendthat with the customer
(05:42):
experience right.
So how do you take theexperience of, like, onboarding
a customer or how you manageback-end transaction monitoring
and how do you create anexperience that becomes a
value-added service for yourorganization, as opposed to
something you know that wouldtypically be looked at as, like,
a sales prevention department?
(06:02):
How do we help enable thebusiness to be successful?
And we've taken that philosophyfrom you know the time, you
know we started and you knowit's something that we continue
to focus on.
So I think it's it excites mebecause it's a different way of
looking at risk management of.
Obviously, the people that Ihire have to be experts in this
(06:24):
field.
But how do you challenge thatprinciple and how do you kind of
build a program, a platform andhow we operate so that it
really provides a value addedservice for our company?
And so that part to me is veryexciting, okay great.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
So let's talk a little bit about leadership and
maybe some lessons learned.
So, as you well know,leadership is ever-changing.
So how do you define modernleadership and how do you embody
that on a daily basis?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I think you know I would define modern leadership
as empowerment.
One of my strengths as a leaderis building high-performing
teams, and the way that we kindof accomplish that is looking
for individuals who complementeach other right.
(07:14):
So, as I think about teams andthe different types of skill
sets, that they have, thediversity, their experiences,
that they have, the diversity,you know, their experiences that
they bring to the table, I'mconsciously, you know, as I look
for new roles or evenreplacement roles, it's how does
that team work together?
And because of that, I thinkwe've been able to build a
really high trust environmentand really focus on empowerment,
(07:38):
right.
So what are the things thatthey need to be successful?
What are the things that I cando to help them be successful?
And then I let them do it right, I let them kind of pave their
own course and you know, for methat's, I think, a very
gratifying part of my job is tobe able to see somebody you know
take a role and make it theirown and really be successful.
(07:59):
And I think that's what modernleadership is.
It's really empowering peopleto make a difference and drive
an impact.
I've seen great leaders hirepeople that are really good,
strong assets but really don'tkind of give them the ability
and give them the space to besuccessful.
(08:22):
And you know, I think that's apiece that people miss sometimes
.
I also think, you know, theevolution of leadership is, you
know, around it's veryrelational and collaborative.
You know, I've just seen ashift in how, you know, even
leaders work with each other indriving collaboration.
(08:42):
There's less fear of beingwrong or failure, less
intimidation in the workplace.
It's really about how do youfocus on making each other
successful, whether it's yourcolleagues or even your team,
and I feel like that representskind of our modern leadership.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Okay, so I'm just curious because I know your
background.
So Payrix originally I meansomewhat smaller company, but
was bought by a larger companyand you've kind of been through
that sort of that leadershipthat you're talking about.
Do you feel like that kind ofthe fundamentally has been the
same across small companies tolarge or do you see a difference
?
Speaker 3 (09:25):
It shows up differently from time to time,
right?
And you know we are on ourthird acquisition in five years,
right?
So with that has come a goodamount of leadership change.
I think the one thing that hasstayed constant was you know
just what I was talking about.
It's the kind of this feelingof collaboration and, you know,
(09:49):
focus in those areas to helpeach other be successful.
Everybody has differentmanagement styles, but I do I
see that as a constant, and I'vedefinitely seen it showing up
more from an overall kind ofworld pay perspective and kind
of this real desire to drive aculture of empowerment and trust
(10:14):
, and I think we've done areally good job of trying to
simplify that and build thatfrom a culture standpoint.
Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So throughout your life, your career, have there
been any sort of moments in timewhere you look back and say,
hey, that really defined me.
I call them aha moments.
But just those kind of momentsin time were really either a
change, change something aroundyour life or your career.
Have you had any of those thatyou can speak to?
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, there's, there's two that I can think of
that are pretty, pretty big,pivotal moments for me.
There was a time I took acouple years off to have kids.
I wound up having four kids in18 months and you know, at that
point I, you know, I reallythought that my kind of goal in
life was to be a stay-at-homemom.
And you know, at that point I,you know, I really thought that
my kind of goal in life was tobe a stay-at-home mom and you
(11:02):
know, that's what I was going todo.
And then I got, you know, acouple of years into it and I
wasn't really sure that this wasgoing to be my path, and my
husband and I at that timedecided I would go back to work.
And you know, for a while therewe were doing, both of us were
working part time and and thenat one point we decided I was
(11:23):
going to go back full time, hewas actually going to stay at
home with the kids, and so thatwas a big kind of transition for
us in my mindset on you knowhow I thought about my career
and you know it was, you know,him taking a bet on me and me
taking a bet on myself to say,yeah, I'm going to be the sole
provider for our family.
(11:44):
And I think that was like itreally clicked for me at that
moment, you know, having thatkind of motivation of the type
of mother that I was, that Iwanted to be, and also kind of
be able to balance that from acareer perspective.
And so that's really when mycareer started to take off.
I was working I was actuallyworking at WorldPay my first
(12:05):
time there and, you know, wasable to have a really good
balance there.
And then the second, I think,pivotal moment for me was when I
decided to join Payrix.
At that time I was working fora company.
It was what I thought to be mydream role.
You know.
It was a big role with a bigcompany.
(12:26):
I was really struggling becauseI didn't feel like I was making
an impact.
I didn't feel like I had avoice or the ability to really
drive change in that role.
And it was a hard realizationfor me.
And I decided to kind of takethat leap and go to a smaller,
(12:47):
startup-ish type of company thatwould allow me to really kind
of drive change and be able tomake an impact and be the
decision maker.
And it was pivotal because thatwas a true kind of bet on
myself.
It was pivotal because that wasa true kind of bet on myself.
Go build something you knowthat was at the very beginning
(13:10):
of a build out and see where youcould take it.
And you know, I think it's beensuch a journey to be able to
take.
You know this program andvision and be able to kind of
see it coming to fruition andthe impact that it's made from a
company perspective.
So those would be my two ahamoments.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Okay, okay, great Thanks for sharing those.
So what do you think issomething that female leaders
bring to the table that ourindustry needs more of?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I think diversity at its core is about bringing
different perspective to thetable, right?
So because we've grown up withdifferent experiences, different
perspectives, and that's reallythe value of diversity.
So it's not just women but it'sall aspects of diversity.
(14:01):
So I think it's hard togeneralize what women bring to
the table just because we're allso different.
But if I look at myself as anexample, you know, I feel like
you know.
I have a strong sense ofrelationship building and
inclusiveness and emotionalintelligence, but every woman is
going to have a different typeof strength coming into their
(14:27):
role.
But I think where you get thebiggest value is having the
different perspective, thedifferent experience of voices
you have around the table withdifferent experiences.
That's where you really, that'swhere creativity comes into
play, that's where solutioningand problem solving, all of that
(14:51):
kind of comes to head, becauseyou have different perspectives
and voices around the table.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Okay, so let's switch gears a little bit and talk
about innovation and influence.
So, as you well know, we alwaystalk about how fast the
payments industry is changing.
How do you stay innovative as aleader?
Speaker 3 (15:08):
I think it's really important to stay you know, to
really pay attention to what'sgoing in the market.
I mean, we have some reallygreat platforms that you know
give us visibility into.
You know what competitors aredoing, what you know cutting
edge technology is coming out.
How are people responding to it.
So I think, if you're curiousin nature and listen to there's
(15:33):
all these podcasts like there'sjust so much information that's
available to us that didn'treally exist 20 years ago.
That's a really good way tostay innovative, because you are
kind of hearing what people aretalking about.
But, you know, I also thinkit's just a matter of you know
not being satisfied with whatyour current state is right,
(15:54):
realizing that especially, youknow, if you think about
payments and how innovative itis, just when you think you
understand payments, somethingelse comes in and you have to
start, you know, figuring outokay, well, how do you adjust to
that?
How's the market?
How is this going to change thelandscape, right?
So there's a lot you know thatneeds to be considered and you
know complacency is really theenemy of progress.
(16:16):
So I think having that curiousmindset and really thinking
about where the market's goingis a key to that.
I also think you know beingreally kind of close to your
team and understanding theirinsights, how they're thinking
about things.
I mean, you spend a lot of timehiring, planning, you know
(16:37):
doing all of these things andyou have all of these voices
that sit around your table.
So it's like listening to them.
How are they thinking about it?
How should we be thinking aboutit from a strategy standpoint?
And you know people, really,you know they want to feel like
they're part of something thatdrives meaning and is impactful.
So, you know, creating aninnovative strategy, I think, is
(17:00):
one way to get people kind ofengaged and really kind of
behind.
You know what you're trying toaccomplish as a company, as a
team, as an organization.
So you know, I think it'sreally important to kind of
bring those voices and thosethoughts into being a leader.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Okay, okay.
Well, what is one trend orchange in the industry that
you're watching real closely?
Speaker 3 (17:26):
I mean, you probably hear this a lot, but it's
artificial, intelligent, right,like AI.
It's fascinating to see all theways and all the different use
cases and, you know and how AIwill be incorporated into our
daily lives, into payments, intorisk, right.
There's so many possibilitiesthat you know, I think are
(17:49):
fascinating and in some ways,pretty intimidating too if you
think about it on the grandscheme of things.
But it's obviously here.
It's going to have a verymeaningful impact to how we
operate from a day-to-dayperspective.
So understanding it, watchingit, seeing what others are doing
(18:10):
with it, and the different usecases and how it's being applied
is very interesting to me.
I'm also, you know, I'm in risk, so I'm also very conscious of
how it could impact usnegatively, right, and the
different ways that fraud willshow up in the form of AI.
I mean, we're already seeing itout there, right, and with deep
(18:32):
fakes and things like that.
So watch that very carefully,because it obviously can have a
pretty big impact on ourbusiness and how we operate from
a risk management standpoint.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Okay, so how do you think women leaders can
influence the future directionof payments?
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Well, what I think is fascinating is the number of
kind of female CEOs andexecutive kind of leaders that
are in FinTech and you know, Ithink it's really inspiring and
encouraging.
It really changes, you know, Ithink influences payments by
(19:11):
just having you know I talked alittle bit about this earlier
just having that differentperspective, having the
different experiences, reallybeing able to relate to things
differently in.
That shows up in strategies,right, that shows up in, you
know, how companies buildcultures, and so that's the part
(19:31):
, you know, that I think isgoing to really kind of
influence our, our payments andthe FinTech space.
You know, one example of that isyou know, I was just I just met
with a CEO who had just beenappointed to a company and it's
a company that I've known forquite some time and you know, it
(19:52):
was just interesting to see herperspective of that they're in
the, you know, the aesthetic andwellness space, and it was just
really interesting to see herperspective and how she thinks
about the business and thestrategy that she's forming.
And you could tell it isbecause she really you know from
(20:13):
her own personal experiencereally related to the space, she
wants to empower the space.
She was genuinely excited aboutit and you could see it show up
in the strategy, you could seeit show up in the employee
engagement and you know, I thinkthat's just that's the power of
having, you know, differentperspectives show up in the
industry and so you know, Ithink that's, you know, that's a
(20:35):
that's a pretty telltale signof you know how we'll, how we'll
see it shape our industry.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Okay, so let's let's talk about mentorship and impact
.
So over the course of yourcareer, have you had mentors,
whether directly or indirectly?
You know who were they.
If you could share, want toshare and kind of how did they
impact you?
Speaker 3 (20:55):
So if I think about and this person wasn't really a
mentor of mine but it was, youknow, sheryl Sandberg, right,
the author of Lean In, she wasvery influential to me because I
think up until that point, youknow, I'd worked in a very like
male dominated kind of space andso, really, didn't think much
(21:19):
about it.
But after I kind of reflectedback, after reading the book,
you know, I think I kind oflooked at other females as
threats, right, there wasn'tmany of us in the space, right.
And so, you know, if I sawsomebody that was, you know, as
good as me or, you know, wasvery kind of intelligent, I was
(21:41):
a little threatened because Ididn't really, you know, we
didn't see, you know therewasn't, I didn't have much
exposure to that and I thought,well, if she's really good, then
what makes me special?
Right.
And it wasn't until I read thatbook where, you know, it really
flipped the script for me andsaid you know how do you embrace
that?
(22:01):
You know how do you build anetwork that allows you.
And so you know how do youembrace that.
You know how do you build anetwork that allows you.
And so, you know, our CMO at thetime this was when I was at
WorldPay, the first time sheintroduced a bunch of us to this
book and it was really it had ahuge influence on how I kind of
approached buildingrelationships with other women
(22:22):
and you know, I can't even thinkabout you know, I'm so grateful
for the network of and friendand friendships that I've built
over the years of really strong,powerful women and how, you
know, we lift each other up inthose scenarios and really are
an encouragement.
So that was a very influentialwoman that I can call out.
(22:45):
And then I'd be remiss if Ididn't mention Stephanie Ferris.
Right, she is the CEO of FISand former owner of ours and
she's a powerhouse, she'sstrategic, she's strategic,
she's, you know, veryinfluential.
And you know she helped me at atime when I was, you know, had
(23:08):
a pretty hard career decisionand she took the time to meet
with me and talk through it withme and I just, you know,
appreciated that and you know, Ithink she's a powerhouse and
I've always admired her.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, I mean, I think you bring up something there
that's important that I want totalk maybe a little bit more
about, and it's not that, youknow, you felt you got
mentorship from a book, so itdoesn't have to be a person and
it doesn't have to be, I think,what some people get caught up
in and I think I did early in mycareer, so it really doesn't
matter if you're male or femaleis, you know, you have to have
this formal program where you'regoing to meet every once a
(23:44):
month for one hour and you needto have an agenda and you got,
you know he's got to be or she'sgot to be an executive and you
got to be higher than them orlower.
You know is all that, and Ifeel like you can get mentorship
from a book.
You can get mentorship from aspeaker from you know a lot of
different places.
So just curious your kind ofthoughts on that.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Yeah, I've always, even if somebody thought they
were a mentor to me, I've alwaysused, you know, any interaction
that I've had, whether it wasgood or bad, to help influence
myself as a leader.
Right, and mentorships,sponsorships are really
(24:22):
important and you know, Iencourage everybody to really
try and find somebody.
And you know, I think you knowthere's so many people that are
willing to give time to talk andhelp people advance their
career.
But you, like you said, youdon't, it doesn't need to be
formal.
You can learn from anybody, youcan learn from anything, and so
I think it comes from like thatcurious mindset of you know
(24:46):
what do you want to do, what doyou want to accomplish, and you
know there's so many resourcesthat are available to us and if
you kind of just take the timeto build those things and and
learn about them and learn aboutyourself, it's you know, it's,
it's there's a lot yourself,there's a lot of information and
a lot of opportunity out there.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I think that's a good segue into the next question.
So if you have a female, maybemid-management, maybe just fresh
into payments, and you couldgive them one piece of advice,
what would that be?
Speaker 3 (25:18):
It would be not to underestimate the power of
network, networking andconnecting communication.
You know, find mentors, findindividuals that emulate the
type of leader that you want tobe.
Find a sponsor.
Sponsors and mentors are alittle bit different, right.
(25:39):
A mentor is somebody that'sgoing to give you career advice.
A sponsor is somebody that isgoing to be an advocate for you,
somebody that's going to, youknow, really take time to try
and promote you and, you know,take a personal kind of
commitment to you.
But you know, try to find thoseindividuals and put yourself
(26:00):
out there, be uncomfortable.
I remember when I first startedout and I'd'd go to conferences
and you know, I'd have to go tonetworking events and I just I
thought it was horrifying andeven now it's still not a
natural thing for me, but it'slike get yourself out there, be
uncomfortable, make theconnections.
Everybody else is just asuncomfortable.
(26:20):
So, you know, make the come.
You know, have theconversations, make the
connections put.
You know, really make time intobuilding relationships and, and
you know, lean on them when youneed to, whether it's advice,
it's, you know, information,help.
You know there's, there'speople out there that are really
willing to help you, and so Ithink there's a lot of value in
(26:42):
building relationships, and I'llgo back to the curious mindset.
Have a very curious mindset.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah, I think that's some great advice.
So let's wrap up with one morefun question.
So when you're looking at yourphone, maybe after work hours,
what is the one app that'snon-work related that you use
the most, and what does that sayabout you?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Unfortunately, it's probably the Wells Fargo app,
and that means I am a mom offour college age-ish type of
kids where I'm sending money tothem constantly.
That's a bit of a joke, butit's probably a sad reality as
well.
I would say the other one'sprobably Amazon.
(27:26):
I bought a house recently andI've decided I'm going to do
home decor as a part-time gig,and so I buy a lot on Amazon.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Great, great.
Well, this has been a greatconversation, billy Joe, it's
been really great having you onthe show.
Is there anything else you'dlike to add before we wrap up?
Speaker 3 (27:48):
I want to thank you for having me on your podcast
and really kind of taking thetime to highlight women in
payments.
I think the more we're able tokind of talk about our
experiences and our journeys andhow we've gotten to where we
are, I think it'll help a lot ofindividuals that are starting
(28:09):
out in their career.
So I really appreciate you kindof taking the time and having
me on here.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Thank you so much.
I know your time is veryvaluable, so I really appreciate
you being here today.
Thanks, and to all yourlisteners out there.
I thank you for your time aswell, and until the next story.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Thank you for joining us this week on the Leaders in
Payments podcast.
Make sure you visit our websiteat leadersinpaymentscom, where
you can subscribe to the showand where you'll find our show
notes.
If you enjoyed listening,please share on your social
channels as well.
Welcome to the Leaders in Payments podcast,
where we talk to C-level leadersfrom across the payments
landscape.
We'll be discussing theproducts and services that
impact the payment space today,as well as trends and
predictions for the future ofpayments.
We will also hear stories fromour guests about their journeys
to the top.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Leaders in
Payments podcast.
I'm your host, greg Myers, andthis episode is part of our
Women Leaders in Payments month,something we do every year in
the month of July, and it's oneof my favorite times of the year
.
This year's theme is redefiningleadership, influence, impact
and innovation.
So those are some of the thingsyou're going to be hearing
about during the month of July.
So first, a special thank youto our sponsors.
(00:41):
Our title sponsor is WorldPay,our participating sponsors are
VisiPay and Payrock, and ourepisode sponsors are the
Clearinghouse and Genico andPaySafe.
So special thanks to thosecompanies.
Today, I'm honored to have asour special guest Billy Joe
Wright, the head of risk atWorldPay for Platform.
So, billy Joe, thank you somuch for being here and welcome
(01:03):
to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Thank you, thanks for having me.
I'm very excited.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Great, great.
So let's start out with alittle icebreaker.
So if you could have dinnerwith any female in history so
could be past or present whowould that be and why, and what
kind of restaurant would you goto?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I would say Eleanor Roosevelt, I think you know
she's a woman that really kindof paved her own path and has
stood kind of the testament oftime.
What type of like Indianrestaurant, something that would
give like a really neatexperience that you wouldn't
have every day.
I think that helps just kind ofget everybody in the same kind
of like the level, like sametype of level, as far as
experiences go.
So I think it would be a reallygood icebreaker, okay.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Okay, great.
So let's talk a little bitabout your background and your
career.
So tell us a little bit aboutwhere you're from, where you
grew up and what led you intopayments.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
So I grew up in a really small town called Pittman
.
New Jersey is about 20 minutesoutside of Philly, so I do
consider myself a Philly girl.
I actually didn't go to collegeI'm a bit of a self-made
individual and started workingat my uncle's sheet metal
(02:34):
factory and eventually landed ata bank on the credit card
issuing side as a part-timecustomer service rep, and that's
really uh, that was myintroduction into payments.
That was almost 30 years ago.
Um, I've done, uh, a myriad ofdifferent jobs, uh what you
(02:56):
would consider to kind of be theissuing side of the house, and
then I eventually moved overinto acquiring um and have
worked in operations, intoacquiring, and have worked in
operations, sales, andeventually found risk and it's
where I've spent the majority ofmy career and in payments.
And I, you know, I find itfascinating, ever changing and,
(03:19):
you know, definitely keepsthings very interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yes, it does.
So just curious, like, why risk?
What was it that kind ofattracted you to that that you
stuck with it?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I think I liked the challenge of it, the fact, like
trying to understand how and whypeople are doing things a
certain way.
That's really kind of thefoundation of, you know, trying
to identify what the trend is,why they're doing it, how
they're doing it and so that youcan adjust to it.
And it's gone from reallytrying to be reactive which a
(03:54):
lot of risk is a reactive typeof strategy to really being more
proactive and trying to findsolutions that will actually
help us, Things like AI andmodeling that will hopefully get
us ahead of the fraudsters, asopposed to always being reactive
.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So if you had to walk on the stage at a conference or
something, what would your hypesong be, and why?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
So this may be a little outdated or played, but
it would have to be this Girl'son Fire by Alicia Keys.
I think it's such a motivatingsong.
It lifts me up whenever I hearit and I think it's, you know,
it really kind of represents awoman who is like confident,
(04:40):
isn't afraid to take up spaceand, you know, really knows her
worth, and so every time I hearthat song it just, it's a, it's
a complete motivation for me.
So that would have to be thesong that I would, I would walk
out to Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
That's great.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour role at WorldPay.
What do you work on?
What kind of excites you aboutwhat you're doing today?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
So I'm the chief risk and compliance officer for
World Pay for Platforms.
Specifically within our PayRixproduct, our offering is PayFac
as a service right.
It's pretty, I think, popularbusiness model within the
payment space.
You see a lot of softwarecompanies making that journey
into payments with this PayFacas a service model.
(05:20):
Payfact as a service model.
And what I really like aboutwhat I do in relation to that is
I felt like this was the firsttime, being a risk professional,
where it really allowed us tothink about our risk management
philosophy and kind of blendthat with the customer
(05:42):
experience right.
So how do you take theexperience of, like, onboarding
a customer or how you manageback-end transaction monitoring
and how do you create anexperience that becomes a
value-added service for yourorganization, as opposed to
something you know that wouldtypically be looked at as, like,
a sales prevention department?
(06:02):
How do we help enable thebusiness to be successful?
And we've taken that philosophyfrom you know the time, you
know we started and you knowit's something that we continue
to focus on.
So I think it's it excites mebecause it's a different way of
looking at risk management of.
Obviously, the people that Ihire have to be experts in this
(06:24):
field.
But how do you challenge thatprinciple and how do you kind of
build a program, a platform andhow we operate so that it
really provides a value addedservice for our company?
And so that part to me is veryexciting, okay great.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
So let's talk a little bit about leadership and
maybe some lessons learned.
So, as you well know,leadership is ever-changing.
So how do you define modernleadership and how do you embody
that on a daily basis?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I think you know I would define modern leadership
as empowerment.
One of my strengths as a leaderis building high-performing
teams, and the way that we kindof accomplish that is looking
for individuals who complementeach other right.
(07:14):
So, as I think about teams andthe different types of skill
sets, that they have, thediversity, their experiences,
that they have, the diversity,you know, their experiences that
they bring to the table, I'mconsciously, you know, as I look
for new roles or evenreplacement roles, it's how does
that team work together?
And because of that, I thinkwe've been able to build a
really high trust environmentand really focus on empowerment,
(07:38):
right.
So what are the things thatthey need to be successful?
What are the things that I cando to help them be successful?
And then I let them do it right, I let them kind of pave their
own course and you know, for methat's, I think, a very
gratifying part of my job is tobe able to see somebody you know
take a role and make it theirown and really be successful.
(07:59):
And I think that's what modernleadership is.
It's really empowering peopleto make a difference and drive
an impact.
I've seen great leaders hirepeople that are really good,
strong assets but really don'tkind of give them the ability
and give them the space to besuccessful.
(08:22):
And you know, I think that's apiece that people miss sometimes
.
I also think, you know, theevolution of leadership is, you
know, around it's veryrelational and collaborative.
You know, I've just seen ashift in how, you know, even
leaders work with each other indriving collaboration.
(08:42):
There's less fear of beingwrong or failure, less
intimidation in the workplace.
It's really about how do youfocus on making each other
successful, whether it's yourcolleagues or even your team,
and I feel like that representskind of our modern leadership.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Okay, so I'm just curious because I know your
background.
So Payrix originally I meansomewhat smaller company, but
was bought by a larger companyand you've kind of been through
that sort of that leadershipthat you're talking about.
Do you feel like that kind ofthe fundamentally has been the
same across small companies tolarge or do you see a difference
?
Speaker 3 (09:25):
It shows up differently from time to time,
right?
And you know we are on ourthird acquisition in five years,
right?
So with that has come a goodamount of leadership change.
I think the one thing that hasstayed constant was you know
just what I was talking about.
It's the kind of this feelingof collaboration and, you know,
(09:49):
focus in those areas to helpeach other be successful.
Everybody has differentmanagement styles, but I do I
see that as a constant, and I'vedefinitely seen it showing up
more from an overall kind ofworld pay perspective and kind
of this real desire to drive aculture of empowerment and trust
(10:14):
, and I think we've done areally good job of trying to
simplify that and build thatfrom a culture standpoint.
Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So throughout your life, your career, have there
been any sort of moments in timewhere you look back and say,
hey, that really defined me.
I call them aha moments.
But just those kind of momentsin time were really either a
change, change something aroundyour life or your career.
Have you had any of those thatyou can speak to?
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, there's, there's two that I can think of
that are pretty, pretty big,pivotal moments for me.
There was a time I took acouple years off to have kids.
I wound up having four kids in18 months and you know, at that
point I, you know, I reallythought that my kind of goal in
life was to be a stay-at-homemom.
And you know, at that point I,you know, I really thought that
my kind of goal in life was tobe a stay-at-home mom and you
(11:02):
know, that's what I was going todo.
And then I got, you know, acouple of years into it and I
wasn't really sure that this wasgoing to be my path, and my
husband and I at that timedecided I would go back to work.
And you know, for a while therewe were doing, both of us were
working part time and and thenat one point we decided I was
(11:23):
going to go back full time, hewas actually going to stay at
home with the kids, and so thatwas a big kind of transition for
us in my mindset on you knowhow I thought about my career
and you know it was, you know,him taking a bet on me and me
taking a bet on myself to say,yeah, I'm going to be the sole
provider for our family.
(11:44):
And I think that was like itreally clicked for me at that
moment, you know, having thatkind of motivation of the type
of mother that I was, that Iwanted to be, and also kind of
be able to balance that from acareer perspective.
And so that's really when mycareer started to take off.
I was working I was actuallyworking at WorldPay my first
(12:05):
time there and, you know, wasable to have a really good
balance there.
And then the second, I think,pivotal moment for me was when I
decided to join Payrix.
At that time I was working fora company.
It was what I thought to be mydream role.
You know.
It was a big role with a bigcompany.
(12:26):
I was really struggling becauseI didn't feel like I was making
an impact.
I didn't feel like I had avoice or the ability to really
drive change in that role.
And it was a hard realizationfor me.
And I decided to kind of takethat leap and go to a smaller,
(12:47):
startup-ish type of company thatwould allow me to really kind
of drive change and be able tomake an impact and be the
decision maker.
And it was pivotal because thatwas a true kind of bet on
myself.
It was pivotal because that wasa true kind of bet on myself.
Go build something you knowthat was at the very beginning
(13:10):
of a build out and see where youcould take it.
And you know, I think it's beensuch a journey to be able to
take.
You know this program andvision and be able to kind of
see it coming to fruition andthe impact that it's made from a
company perspective.
So those would be my two ahamoments.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Okay, okay, great Thanks for sharing those.
So what do you think issomething that female leaders
bring to the table that ourindustry needs more of?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I think diversity at its core is about bringing
different perspective to thetable, right?
So because we've grown up withdifferent experiences, different
perspectives, and that's reallythe value of diversity.
So it's not just women but it'sall aspects of diversity.
(14:01):
So I think it's hard togeneralize what women bring to
the table just because we're allso different.
But if I look at myself as anexample, you know, I feel like
you know.
I have a strong sense ofrelationship building and
inclusiveness and emotionalintelligence, but every woman is
going to have a different typeof strength coming into their
(14:27):
role.
But I think where you get thebiggest value is having the
different perspective, thedifferent experience of voices
you have around the table withdifferent experiences.
That's where you really, that'swhere creativity comes into
play, that's where solutioningand problem solving, all of that
(14:51):
kind of comes to head, becauseyou have different perspectives
and voices around the table.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Okay, so let's switch gears a little bit and talk
about innovation and influence.
So, as you well know, we alwaystalk about how fast the
payments industry is changing.
How do you stay innovative as aleader?
Speaker 3 (15:08):
I think it's really important to stay you know, to
really pay attention to what'sgoing in the market.
I mean, we have some reallygreat platforms that you know
give us visibility into.
You know what competitors aredoing, what you know cutting
edge technology is coming out.
How are people responding to it.
So I think, if you're curiousin nature and listen to there's
(15:33):
all these podcasts like there'sjust so much information that's
available to us that didn'treally exist 20 years ago.
That's a really good way tostay innovative, because you are
kind of hearing what people aretalking about.
But, you know, I also thinkit's just a matter of you know
not being satisfied with whatyour current state is right,
(15:54):
realizing that especially, youknow, if you think about
payments and how innovative itis, just when you think you
understand payments, somethingelse comes in and you have to
start, you know, figuring outokay, well, how do you adjust to
that?
How's the market?
How is this going to change thelandscape, right?
So there's a lot you know thatneeds to be considered and you
know complacency is really theenemy of progress.
(16:16):
So I think having that curiousmindset and really thinking
about where the market's goingis a key to that.
I also think you know beingreally kind of close to your
team and understanding theirinsights, how they're thinking
about things.
I mean, you spend a lot of timehiring, planning, you know
(16:37):
doing all of these things andyou have all of these voices
that sit around your table.
So it's like listening to them.
How are they thinking about it?
How should we be thinking aboutit from a strategy standpoint?
And you know people, really,you know they want to feel like
they're part of something thatdrives meaning and is impactful.
So, you know, creating aninnovative strategy, I think, is
(17:00):
one way to get people kind ofengaged and really kind of
behind.
You know what you're trying toaccomplish as a company, as a
team, as an organization.
So you know, I think it'sreally important to kind of
bring those voices and thosethoughts into being a leader.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Okay, okay.
Well, what is one trend orchange in the industry that
you're watching real closely?
Speaker 3 (17:26):
I mean, you probably hear this a lot, but it's
artificial, intelligent, right,like AI.
It's fascinating to see all theways and all the different use
cases and, you know and how AIwill be incorporated into our
daily lives, into payments, intorisk, right.
There's so many possibilitiesthat you know, I think are
(17:49):
fascinating and in some ways,pretty intimidating too if you
think about it on the grandscheme of things.
But it's obviously here.
It's going to have a verymeaningful impact to how we
operate from a day-to-dayperspective.
So understanding it, watchingit, seeing what others are doing
(18:10):
with it, and the different usecases and how it's being applied
is very interesting to me.
I'm also, you know, I'm in risk, so I'm also very conscious of
how it could impact usnegatively, right, and the
different ways that fraud willshow up in the form of AI.
I mean, we're already seeing itout there, right, and with deep
(18:32):
fakes and things like that.
So watch that very carefully,because it obviously can have a
pretty big impact on ourbusiness and how we operate from
a risk management standpoint.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Okay, so how do you think women leaders can
influence the future directionof payments?
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Well, what I think is fascinating is the number of
kind of female CEOs andexecutive kind of leaders that
are in FinTech and you know, Ithink it's really inspiring and
encouraging.
It really changes, you know, Ithink influences payments by
(19:11):
just having you know I talked alittle bit about this earlier
just having that differentperspective, having the
different experiences, reallybeing able to relate to things
differently in.
That shows up in strategies,right, that shows up in, you
know, how companies buildcultures, and so that's the part
(19:31):
, you know, that I think isgoing to really kind of
influence our, our payments andthe FinTech space.
You know, one example of that isyou know, I was just I just met
with a CEO who had just beenappointed to a company and it's
a company that I've known forquite some time and you know, it
(19:52):
was just interesting to see herperspective of that they're in
the, you know, the aesthetic andwellness space, and it was just
really interesting to see herperspective and how she thinks
about the business and thestrategy that she's forming.
And you could tell it isbecause she really you know from
(20:13):
her own personal experiencereally related to the space, she
wants to empower the space.
She was genuinely excited aboutit and you could see it show up
in the strategy, you could seeit show up in the employee
engagement and you know, I thinkthat's just that's the power of
having, you know, differentperspectives show up in the
industry and so you know, Ithink that's, you know, that's a
(20:35):
that's a pretty telltale signof you know how we'll, how we'll
see it shape our industry.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Okay, so let's let's talk about mentorship and impact
.
So over the course of yourcareer, have you had mentors,
whether directly or indirectly?
You know who were they.
If you could share, want toshare and kind of how did they
impact you?
Speaker 3 (20:55):
So if I think about and this person wasn't really a
mentor of mine but it was, youknow, sheryl Sandberg, right,
the author of Lean In, she wasvery influential to me because I
think up until that point, youknow, I'd worked in a very like
male dominated kind of space andso, really, didn't think much
(21:19):
about it.
But after I kind of reflectedback, after reading the book,
you know, I think I kind oflooked at other females as
threats, right, there wasn'tmany of us in the space, right.
And so, you know, if I sawsomebody that was, you know, as
good as me or, you know, wasvery kind of intelligent, I was
(21:41):
a little threatened because Ididn't really, you know, we
didn't see, you know therewasn't, I didn't have much
exposure to that and I thought,well, if she's really good, then
what makes me special?
Right.
And it wasn't until I read thatbook where, you know, it really
flipped the script for me andsaid you know how do you embrace
that?
(22:01):
You know how do you build anetwork that allows you.
And so you know how do youembrace that.
You know how do you build anetwork that allows you.
And so, you know, our CMO at thetime this was when I was at
WorldPay, the first time sheintroduced a bunch of us to this
book and it was really it had ahuge influence on how I kind of
approached buildingrelationships with other women
(22:22):
and you know, I can't even thinkabout you know, I'm so grateful
for the network of and friendand friendships that I've built
over the years of really strong,powerful women and how, you
know, we lift each other up inthose scenarios and really are
an encouragement.
So that was a very influentialwoman that I can call out.
(22:45):
And then I'd be remiss if Ididn't mention Stephanie Ferris.
Right, she is the CEO of FISand former owner of ours and
she's a powerhouse, she'sstrategic, she's strategic,
she's, you know, veryinfluential.
And you know she helped me at atime when I was, you know, had
(23:08):
a pretty hard career decisionand she took the time to meet
with me and talk through it withme and I just, you know,
appreciated that and you know, Ithink she's a powerhouse and
I've always admired her.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, I mean, I think you bring up something there
that's important that I want totalk maybe a little bit more
about, and it's not that, youknow, you felt you got
mentorship from a book, so itdoesn't have to be a person and
it doesn't have to be, I think,what some people get caught up
in and I think I did early in mycareer, so it really doesn't
matter if you're male or femaleis, you know, you have to have
this formal program where you'regoing to meet every once a
(23:44):
month for one hour and you needto have an agenda and you got,
you know he's got to be or she'sgot to be an executive and you
got to be higher than them orlower.
You know is all that, and Ifeel like you can get mentorship
from a book.
You can get mentorship from aspeaker from you know a lot of
different places.
So just curious your kind ofthoughts on that.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Yeah, I've always, even if somebody thought they
were a mentor to me, I've alwaysused, you know, any interaction
that I've had, whether it wasgood or bad, to help influence
myself as a leader.
Right, and mentorships,sponsorships are really
(24:22):
important and you know, Iencourage everybody to really
try and find somebody.
And you know, I think you knowthere's so many people that are
willing to give time to talk andhelp people advance their
career.
But you, like you said, youdon't, it doesn't need to be
formal.
You can learn from anybody, youcan learn from anything, and so
I think it comes from like thatcurious mindset of you know
(24:46):
what do you want to do, what doyou want to accomplish, and you
know there's so many resourcesthat are available to us and if
you kind of just take the timeto build those things and and
learn about them and learn aboutyourself, it's you know, it's,
it's there's a lot yourself,there's a lot of information and
a lot of opportunity out there.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I think that's a good segue into the next question.
So if you have a female, maybemid-management, maybe just fresh
into payments, and you couldgive them one piece of advice,
what would that be?
Speaker 3 (25:18):
It would be not to underestimate the power of
network, networking andconnecting communication.
You know, find mentors, findindividuals that emulate the
type of leader that you want tobe.
Find a sponsor.
Sponsors and mentors are alittle bit different, right.
(25:39):
A mentor is somebody that'sgoing to give you career advice.
A sponsor is somebody that isgoing to be an advocate for you,
somebody that's going to, youknow, really take time to try
and promote you and, you know,take a personal kind of
commitment to you.
But you know, try to find thoseindividuals and put yourself
(26:00):
out there, be uncomfortable.
I remember when I first startedout and I'd'd go to conferences
and you know, I'd have to go tonetworking events and I just I
thought it was horrifying andeven now it's still not a
natural thing for me, but it'slike get yourself out there, be
uncomfortable, make theconnections.
Everybody else is just asuncomfortable.
(26:20):
So, you know, make the come.
You know, have theconversations, make the
connections put.
You know, really make time intobuilding relationships and, and
you know, lean on them when youneed to, whether it's advice,
it's, you know, information,help.
You know there's, there'speople out there that are really
willing to help you, and so Ithink there's a lot of value in
(26:42):
building relationships, and I'llgo back to the curious mindset.
Have a very curious mindset.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah, I think that's some great advice.
So let's wrap up with one morefun question.
So when you're looking at yourphone, maybe after work hours,
what is the one app that'snon-work related that you use
the most, and what does that sayabout you?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Unfortunately, it's probably the Wells Fargo app,
and that means I am a mom offour college age-ish type of
kids where I'm sending money tothem constantly.
That's a bit of a joke, butit's probably a sad reality as
well.
I would say the other one'sprobably Amazon.
(27:26):
I bought a house recently andI've decided I'm going to do
home decor as a part-time gig,and so I buy a lot on Amazon.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Great, great.
Well, this has been a greatconversation, billy Joe, it's
been really great having you onthe show.
Is there anything else you'dlike to add before we wrap up?
Speaker 3 (27:48):
I want to thank you for having me on your podcast
and really kind of taking thetime to highlight women in
payments.
I think the more we're able tokind of talk about our
experiences and our journeys andhow we've gotten to where we
are, I think it'll help a lot ofindividuals that are starting
(28:09):
out in their career.
So I really appreciate you kindof taking the time and having
me on here.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Thank you so much.
I know your time is veryvaluable, so I really appreciate
you being here today.
Thanks, and to all yourlisteners out there.
I thank you for your time aswell, and until the next story.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Thank you for joining us this week on the Leaders in
Payments podcast.
Make sure you visit our websiteat leadersinpaymentscom, where
you can subscribe to the showand where you'll find our show
notes.
If you enjoyed listening,please share on your social
channels as well.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.