Tracey Davies, Money20/20: As women, we need to prioritise good work and building networks

Money20/20 is the largest global fintech event which brings together payments and financial services under one roof to bring connectivity among the players in the world of payments, fintech and financial services. Tracey brought her shining personality and wealth of experience as a public speaker, leader and inspiration for women to share with Unlimit how she juggles responsibilities and builds upon the magnitude of Money20/20 to create positive change year-on-year. 

Could you please start us off with an introduction of your career journey which has led you to your position as President of Money 20/20? 

Sure! Well, I’m going to reveal my secret – I don’t come from Fintech. There we are, it’s out there. My background is originally in media, and my background is really in B2B information.  I’ve spent my life working in various markets and sectors to give B2B professionals the information or foundation for building the connections they need to do business – as we do at Money20/20.

Before my current position, I was working for Ascential plc who bought Money20/20 from the Founders in 2014. They eventually asked me in 2016 to be the President of Money 20/20, which didn’t take much thinking about. It’s been incredible. Even though I was versed in running events, I didn’t have the experience of anything that matched the scale of Money20/20 and even though I was versed in event management, it was a whole new challenge taking on Money20/20.

You’ve been named by FinTech Magazine as one of the top 100 women in fintech globally. That’s huge! How did you know you wanted to pursue fintech and what obstacles did you have to overcome as a woman in a largely male-driven industry? And how do you feel your title has moulded your experience? 

Oh my God, a blessing. It’s the superpower that comes with these jobs, right? I always view it as though the superpower comes with the job and not from me. I’ve had the pleasure of using this superpower for good – things like our RiseUp and Amplify diversity campaigns to really make an impact. Money20/20 is the place where companies can speak, make announcements, do business and engage, and there is a powerful platform that comes with stewarding that. I hope that I am a responsible owner of the power that comes with the job, and I’ve certainly used that power as a force for good. These titles that you mention are lovely, of course, but they come because of the job. And I do think you have to remember that, otherwise you might get a bit carried away.

Focusing on the question, giving a voice to women and marginalised communities is my biggest pride of the role. We bring the community together to do business and within that we have championed, changed, and campaigned to use the platform simply to represent all who work in the industry. I’m certainly proud of that. And if it’s an award or being named on those kinds of lists that recognise those efforts, I’m super pleased.

But going into your question more so, as I mentioned my background is media, and interestingly I found that coming into this role, there are fewer obstacles. Our CFO is a woman, and I find that I am surrounded by powerful women, but that is something that I’ve experienced throughout my career. I’ve had numerous role models and have always been surrounded by others who keep me very well grounded. So, when I came to Money20/20, it was surprising to see how male-dominated the finance and fintech industry is. I remember doing my first event in Las Vegas and thinking ‘wow, where are all the women?’. It was so noticeable, especially coming from a different industry.  So, I had already set up a program in the UK retail industry called Be Inspired, which is similar to our RiseUp program. It was obvious that there were lots of senior women in the industry, but they weren’t appearing on our stages, and it was approximately 11-15% of our speakers being women at that point. I saw that as an opportunity because there are so many subject matter expert women, but they weren’t finding their way to Money20/20. So that’s where RiseUp and much of our other work came from.  The women are there and already exist in these roles but needed the platform.

I am fortunate in not feeling that I have had obstacles in my career path. I remember walking onto the stage in 2018 saying that we needed more women in our sphere, and I guess looking back on it, it was quite a brave thing to do but it felt so natural to me as a woman. It was always something I was going to do, but I don’t only speak up for women. We have our program called Amplify which uplifts people of colour and underrepresented leaders. I do feel our industries are doing a lot to create change, and we can see it happening, we are all pushing on an open door.

With such a drive to support and uplift women in our sphere, could you share your vision for women in the fintech space? How can other organisations support the development? 

My vision is just that women exist in this industry. There are amazing subject matter expert women, so it’s our vision to help give them a voice in the conversation. That’s the whole point of diversity and inclusion, and the key word is inclusion. For us, the vision for Money20/20 is pretty clear. The industry is moving forward and there is progressive change happening in the industry, but it’s a fair observation to say that it’s not happening fast enough across finance and fintech for creating equal spaces. I think the main thing is for other organisations to aspire to set an example for women. To support the development, we at Money20/20 need to hit a target for more women on stage and in the spotlight. We recognise that women are asking themselves questions because they feel uncomfortable and wonder if they may have gotten that job because they happen to be women. That’s why we need to have more women in the spotlight speaking on stage to show other women it’s normal to have these thoughts, and to uplift each other.

But I think many companies are making amazing progress because they figured out that there is great talent that they are leaving on the table if they don’t reach out to women and recruit them, retain them or promote them. So, I believe companies are making great strides now. We’ve seen incredible progress in this area and long may it continue.

How do you think Money20/20 helps to support the positioning of women in the fintech space?

So first and foremost, Money20/20 is a global event series. For those who don’t know, we’re in Las Vegas, USA, in Amsterdam, Europe and we just announced Bangkok that will be hosting Money20/20 Asia in April 2024. We are first and foremost the place where money does business, where a wide variety of sectors and thousands of companies from across the entire digital money ecosystem including the world’s largest banks, the largest digital payments companies, wealthtech, insuretech, neobanks, regulators, government agencies, and investment firms come together. Bringing all parts of this ecosystem together to do business and to connect. That is what Money20/20 is and I never lose sight of that.

But alongside money and business is the need to use the space to speak about other areas of importance in our industries. And we make sure that we are clear about the balance in our stages  bringing forward a platform of inclusivity – in terms of gender, people of colour etc. Money20/20 has a minimum standard that we want to achieve on our stages to promote diversity, which bodes well for campaigns with equal pay and so forth. Amplify and RiseUp are our main programs for achieving that, by giving room, education, and networking opportunities. We’re very clear about what we expect and how we operate our business which supports the positioning of women and other communities by giving them the space to speak up and learn.

Being a public speaker and chairing so many huge events, how do you build upon your confidence, and do you have any rituals before appearing in front of an audience?

Honestly, I still get really nervous. I know people see me walk out on stages and think ‘oh my God’. Actually, I find it harder with smaller audiences because you can see the audience. When I walk onto a larger stage, you can’t see the audience because of all the lights, which I think helps. But it’s definitely nerve-wracking speaking in public. Public speaking is an important skill because communication is essential to be in a leadership role or a senior leadership role. I’m not a professional public speaker, but it comes with the job, and it does get easier over time even though the nerves don’t ever fully go away.

Something that encourages me is knowing that by stepping out and speaking, it will have an impact on women. That being said, I don’t have any rituals, aside from the fact that I always insist on rehearsing on stage. I am a well-rehearsed person, whether it’s in the mirror or on stage before the live event. I think it’s really important because you can’t just wing it in public. Putting in the practice, especially in big environments, means you’re well prepared, and you just need to manage your nerves. That would be my top advice. Whether you’re talking to 10 people, 20 people or 5,000 practice beforehand is key.

The question I get asked the most is, how do I get speaking opportunities? Really it’s about seizing opportunities and taking any internal opportunity to work on yourself. It could be internal town halls, internal presentations, etc. And when you start spanning further out, you can build connections at conferences and start the dialogue and find out what they’re looking for. There are of course networking opportunities where you go into a room with others looking to network, but that doesn’t suit everyone. That doesn’t mean if you’d like to do it in a different way, you can’t be successful. And I know lots of very senior women who do that, who don’t love walking into rooms full of people. Actually, most people don’t like that. So, it’s best to just be clear about what works for you and how you’re building your network.

The RiseUp academy is an initiative during each Money20/20 event in Europe and the US for women, giving room to diverse voices. For those who don’t have access to such opportunities, how would you suggest they develop their network and learnings? Are there any learnings of your own you would like to share with aspiring female entrepreneurs? 

There are two things that we do in RiseUp: one is knowledge and the second is networking. I think when it comes to knowledge there’s lots of great information out there, with excellent video content, books, and networking you can do without even leaving your home.  I would take advantage of all those resources and be clear about what it is that you’re focused on. Do you want to build your brand or your network? There are many associations for women in the industry who host great local networking events too. Sometimes it can be as easy as connecting with people that may reach out to us getting to know them and having a cup of coffee together.

I know a number of senior successful female entrepreneurs that are often connected to people so that they can help women to help other women. Paying it forward is really important. There’s a lot to be said around the networks of women because so many women are driven to create networks of female entrepreneurs. So reach out, speak to them and work out what you really want to build upon for yourself.

What impact do you see women having in the world of fintech in the next 10 years? 

That’s a very big question. I think it will be more senior women, driving impact. When you have diverse companies, diverse boards and leadership teams, it has an impact on the whole company. We know that the more senior women there are, the more it tends to lift up women in the whole organisation. I think we are well on the path to that and we are seeing great strides. I’m really hopeful. I left university a long time ago, 30 years ago and I wouldn’t have imagined that after 30 years I still have to talk about this. Although I’m not angry, there is a sense of frustration when we address things like the gender pay gap for example. 

Despite the struggles, we are seeing the situation changing and we are starting to speed up.  We are seeing more senior women and women generally in all levels of business. I think in the next 10 years we will see this snowball and speed up further, which is so exciting.

What trend are you most excited to see the development of in our space?

Another big question. If I had to choose one specific thing, I think the innovations in open banking are incredible. We’ve seen some of the announcements through our US show in Las Vegas in 2022, and it’s a space that still represents a massive opportunity. It’s impactful because it’s empowering the customers with their own data, and we can see it moving into AI. There are also lots of developments in quantum computing, which will be the next phase. It’s hard to predict this industry because it moves so fast, but I’m confident it will keep changing and keep progressing.

I think there’s going to be a whole new paradigm for this industry and it’s very dynamic and interesting to be a part of. When the community comes together at events like Money20/20, the excitement is absolutely heightened.