Every unique and talented Avantee is a co-creator of the Avant culture we love. We hope the @Avant series helps you get to know who we are, how we do what we do, and what it looks like to build your career at Avant.
Aakansha Gor
Senior Manager (as of 2023, formerly Manager) of Partner Success for the Business Development and Partnerships team
Joined Avant in 2019
What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Aakansha for her take on our culture, and here’s what she said:
1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?
I would say it comes down to 3 points. We’re motivated, we’re innovative, and we’re nimble.
By motivated, I mean that everyone I work with is here to create change and to learn along the way. We want to help our customers and see ourselves and our company succeed. I see all Avantees as self-starters and problem solvers. We’re good at identifying gaps, building new solutions, and creating new practices.
Innovative—this one’s really easy. Avant is in this ongoing transformation into a digital bank that can serve all of our customers the products they need. You can’t do that unless you’ve been innovative, unless you’ve looked at new ideas across your company and outside of it to see what’s possible. And one of the great things about Avant is that anyone can be innovative. It’s not something executives own. Regardless of your position, you have a seat at the table to pitch your idea and bring it to life. The best idea wins here and that is a big part of our culture.
Last, we are very nimble. We move really fast and adapt to changes really quickly. I think that lets us continuously succeed in this space.
2. Why are you happy/successful here?
Regardless of where I work, two things make me happy, both personally and professionally: I have to like the people I’m working with, and I have to feel like I’m learning and challenging myself. I’ve always said that you should never feel like you’re the smartest person in the room, because that means you’re not learning. Being surrounded by intelligent people and hard-working leaders is something I love about Avant. These are individuals who push me outside of my comfort zone and help me develop personally and professionally, and I think that’s critical.
I also get bored really easily! So if I’m not learning and feeling challenged, it would be hard to enjoy my work. In my two and a half years at Avant, I’ve worked on a wide range of initiatives, and I’ve found that if you raise your hand, you’ll get the opportunities you want. You can get a lot out of your time at Avant, whatever you want to achieve here.
3. What’s your favorite thing about the way your specific job role works?
I had never been on the revenue-generating side of a business until I joined Avant. It’s so exciting to see how my work directly affects revenue growth and directly benefits customers. It’s cool to be a part of that growth.
I really enjoy building things from nothing, and I love that I’ve been able to help build the foundation and set the strategy for the business development and partnerships function at Avant. I’m also learning new skills and aspects of the business that I’d never known before. I’m constantly learning!
I love the stage we’re at as a business. We’re not in the startup phase anymore, but we’re doing a lot of startup-y things: launching new products, developing new teams, building a new brand. All of that requires us to build things from the ground up, which is an opportunity that you don’t get at more established companies. I love that we can try something and change it if it doesn’t work. It’s not pre-defined or locked in.
4. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I had so many dream jobs, and it changed every week! I wanted to be a doctor for the longest time. I took all the courses when I was in college, I volunteered at the hospital for years. And then somewhere along the way, between all that studying and getting too emotionally invested in the work, I realized that it just wasn’t going to work long-term. I also always said I’d be a NASCAR driver! I’m not even interested in cars, I just always wanted to be a race car driver.
