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.
Anthony Nash
Manager for Treasury Operations for the Payment Processing Team
Joined Avant in 2020
What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Anthony for his take on our culture, and here’s what he said:
1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?
Avant is refreshing—a welcome culture shock after my almost 20 years in larger financial institutions! I was used to a bureaucratic structure, outdated technology, even having to wear a certain tie, and Avant throws all that stuff out the window. And when I saw all the technological advances my team gets to use here, I was like, “Wow, yes! This is what I always wanted.”
All ideas matter, and they can come from anywhere. Over the past year, I’ve put my management experience to work, and our team has really opened our eyes to the processes we all work on together. Now we appreciate what each other is doing, and instead of being like 5 separate teams, we’re one cohesive group.
2. Why are you happy/successful here?
Too much structural hierarchy and process can stop your best employees from pushing forward, and at Avant, I own my work. Here’s an example: When I first started, I noticed that there was an opportunity with our reconciliation process. I took the idea to management, and within a year we had onboarded and implemented a new process! That would take 2-3 years at the older organizations I came from. Avant strips the red tape down so you don’t have to jump through hoops to make good ideas happen. A lot of our job descriptions call out an “entrepreneurial mindset,” and you might read it and think “ahh they’re just talking,” but it’s true!
All that said, if your manager sees you heading down a wrong path, they’ll also jump in and say “I see where you’re trying to get to – how can we tweak it?” You’re not on your own, and they won’t shoot down your idea.
3. What’s your favorite thing about the way your specific job role works?
Coming in with my seasoned experience has really allowed me to bring out the best in my team. As we transition from startup mode to established company, my team is adapting our structure and recently cross-trained 2-3 individuals for every function on our team. Not only does that help eliminate risk, but it allows us each to disconnect fully when we take time off. We can go on vacation and not come back to days of work piled up. That made us stronger as a team, and it improved morale, too. Basically, I’ve been able to take all the good I learned from doing this job in a more regimented work culture and apply it in a way that supports the less rigid, more autonomous approach we take here.
4. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Growing up, I just wanted to be a kid. Ride my bike, run around outside, play video games. It wasn’t until I was about 10 that I even had thought about what I wanted to do.
Funny story: After I got into some mischief at school, my mom started making me work in her beauty salon every Saturday as a receptionist/janitor/store runner/vending machine guy. It was supposed to be a punishment, but I would leave with $100 in tips in my 10-year-old pockets so often that I started to look forward to Saturdays.
Eventually, it was my job to count the money in the vending machine, and I noticed they were making decent money. I thought, when I get older, I’ll buy vending machines and go all around the city putting them in salons that don’t have one. The vending machines never came to fruition, but it was the salon environment that made me want to major in Business. I thank my mom for that “punishment” to this day.
