Kimberly Fitzsimmons, CEO of Talus…Leadership exemplified. Our special curated series featuring “Women of Impact”

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You're listening to Bridges to Excellence. Inspired leadership in payments and FinTech.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:00:10

I am a master and try to challenge myself, no matter what role I've been in, I always want to learn. So I am a constant, learner in constant learning mode. And I would say that over the course of time, there's a couple of principles, that I have, carried with me, being fair and transparent. Never underestimating the power of Culture. I'm not a micromanager, but it is important at every role to understand the details. We have a saying here, and, of course, being private equity backed, they, also have the same mantra is if you don't measure it. It doesn't usually get done. So that's always the discipline that I've had and carried with me here as well is what are we measuring? Let's make sure we've got the right KPIs in place. We're measuring them and we're executing against those and not being afraid to change along the way.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:01:07

That was Kimberly Fitzsimmons, the CEO of Talus, Talus, winner of the Electronic Transactions Association Star Awards for Independent Sales Organization of the Year 2024, and Kim, recognized by American bankers as one of the most influential women in payments for 2024. Join us on the inside and lean in as Kim answers the question of what makes the difference when it comes to winning. And there is much more. The journey begins.

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Welcome to Bridges to Excellence podcast, inspired leadership in payments and fintech, bringing you conversations with payments, most fascinating people on top of their game, leaders, influencers, experts, and innovators. Each weekly episode turns our guests wisdom into practical advice. Their personal journey starts now. are meant to inspire and challenge you to explore your possibilities. Here is your host, Desmond Nicholson.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:02:16

In this week's episode, part of our curated series featuring women of impact, we welcome Kimberly Fitzsimmons, Chief Executive Officer of Talus based in Dallas, Texas. Talus is a payment processing solutions company serving more than 22, 000 merchants in North America And process 65 million transactions with $9 billion in annual charge, volume, and growing. Appointed to her role in July, 2020, Kim's payments journey began over 35 years ago, holding leadership roles and executive positions at companies such as Concord, EFS First Data. Cynergy Data and JP Morgan. Now in our fourth year at Talus, Kim has spearheaded an aggressive growth strategy through acquisitions, leveraging scale and technology to compete at every level in targeted verticals In her quest for excellence and with an insatiable appetite for winning Kim led Talus in capturing the industry's coveted and prestigious ETA Star Awards for Top ISO of the year. 2024 Recognized as a leader in the payments industry. Kim is the recipient of numerous honors and accolades throughout her career, including voted top 100 global sales leader in 2020 Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Midwest Acquires Association. And most recently, American Bankers named Kim as one of the Most Influential Women in Payments for 2024, for the fourth time Beyond. her corporate undertakings, Kim's influence extends through her involvement with key industry affiliations. She served two terms as president of the Electronic Transaction Association, where she was on the board for nearly a decade and is also past president of the Women Networking in Electronic Transactions, now rebranded as Paytech Women. Join us as we dive deep into Kim's journey with actionable takeaways along the way. Enjoy the episode. Kim, thanks for joining us and welcome to the Bridges to Excellence podcast.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:04:35

Thank you for having me, Desmond. It's great to see you.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:04:38

Well, it's wonderful to have you here catching up after all these years, I was preparing for this episode, it occurred to me that it was 20 years ago in 2004, we first met as First Data colleagues. And as you may recall, it was during the transition period of Concord EFS into First Data. Following the acquisition, two decades ago, Kim,

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:05:03

It was a long time and neither one of us has aged a bit, Desmond.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:05:08

I like that. Well, first congratulations, Talus, was the recent recipient of the prestigious Star Awards as the 2024 ISO of the year by the Electronic Transactions Association. Also. ETA recognized Talus as one of the industrie's, top 10 payments ISVs for Talus mobile App. But wait, there is more. American Banker for 2024 recognized you as one of The Most Influential Women in Payments. I might add, The fourth time recipient of this honor. So to you and your amazing

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:05:51

you. Thank you. It's been quite a year and, lots of honors and recognition and, Most of it goes to the team.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:05:58

job. Well done

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:05:59

Thank you.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:06:00

Kim, besides, uh, well earned bragging rights. Do you mind sharing the significance of these awards? That is ISO of the year and the top 10 payments, ISV category. And what is it about your company's culture that contributes to earning these recognitions?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:06:19

First of all, I think that, the awards themselves, to me, recognizes that the industry acknowledges the fact that Talus, is differentiated, that we're doing the right things in the right manner, and that we're headed in the right direction, both from a product and company standpoint, but also culturally to your point, culture is a big underestimated, factor within most companies. And, uh,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:06:49

with

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:06:50

have an amazing culture here at Talus. I was fortunate to, join

Desmond Nicholson: 00:06:54

that have

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:06:55

team and certainly have added a few sprinkled, a few, people that I've worked with over the years that have only enhanced it.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:07:03

Great. against that backdrop, let's get right into it. Kim, can you give us a quick introduction overview of Talus, your functional role, who you serve as customers and partners in the payments fintech space, after which we will then circle back later and get into more details about the company.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:07:24

Absolutely. So Talus is a. fully integrated end to end payment services platform. What that means is, especially after a couple of acquisitions that we've done, is that we serve anything from the small Main Street America merchant, all the way up to your most complex client, such as a B to B type merchant, and everything in between. in addition, we serve, technology type companies like SAS based engineer firms that are building out payment facilitation. these vertically specific, applications that a, landscape company might use or a field services company might use. And what we're doing is giving a better platform than what they have today. So today there's payfacs. What we're looking to do is take it to the next level, better service, better transparency around reporting and pricing.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:08:26

Well done. Now getting into the personal side, start by sharing your backstory. Your early life, where you grew up and what your life was like growing up and where you attended school.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:08:40

I grew up in the Midwest. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. born and raised. Both my parents were born and raised in St. Louis. So, not a whole lot of relocation from my childhood. I'd have to say it was your basic middle America, mid class, upbringing. My parents were very, strict around certain values and teaching me, and as well as my brother, core values and expectations and beliefs, and drive, to be honest. That's really where I think it started. I had my first job at 14 years old, not because I was told to or I had to, but I just picked up the phone and found a nursing home and they were the only ones that would hire a 14 year old. So, aside from babysitting, I've been working for a long time. I went to, school at the University of Mississippi. The main reason that I went there was because my parents forced me to go out of state. And at least five hours away for the first year, they didn't want me to go to Mizzou, like the majority of my friends from high school. They wanted me to venture out, and really find out who I was go be independent, learn about life. and what it's like to be on your own. And I go back and kind of think about that sometimes. And it was difficult. getting out of my comfort zone. But man, it sure was a pivotal point in my life. I did the same thing to both of my kids as well.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:10:05

Good. How and when did you get into payments? Take us through the highlights of your career progression and your respective functional roles.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:10:16

Sure. So how I got into payments, people laugh about it, but back in those days, I answered an ad in a newspaper. I needed a job. I had a business degree and I really just needed a job. So I answered an old school newspaper ad and walked in with my paper resume and interviewed with a company at the time called Concord EFS based out of Memphis, Tennessee. I worked there, doing nothing more than telemarketing. I had my, what I like to refer to as my offical, some refer to it as a cubicle, but in my mind it was an offical. after six months I, gave my notice. To at that time, one of my great mentors at the Ed Labry, because I wanted to be in management. I wanted to do something different. I had another role. he likes to remind me that. Aren't I glad he didn't let me quit

Desmond Nicholson: 00:11:08

Mm hmm.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:11:09

because he moved me and gave me the opportunity to be in management as opposed to leaving the payments industry. And I'm very grateful for that. I went from Concord, I did have the opportunity to have my own ISO with a partner for 6 years back in the heyday of when ISOs were, running rampant and early in the late 90s, early 2000 was acquired back by Concord EFS. And within 12 months, that's where you and I met. and First Data had bought Concord EFS. I worked out the rest of my, contract term with Concord at First Data. Didn't expect to stay there. but I was there eight years and had a tremendous career. but after eight years, I decided it was time to venture out and really get uncomfortable and go do something different. So toughest conversation I ever had to do is. Call Ed again and tell him that I was leaving and going somewhere else and I had the opportunity to go be CEO at Cynergy Data, which was private equity backed at the time. It was, a little bit of a turnaround. We merged it with Priority Payments. I took a couple months off after that to decide what I wanted to do when I grow up and was recruited by JP Morgan. And spent five and a half years there. I never thought I would go back to a large company cause I had so much fun when I was at Cynergy

Desmond Nicholson: 00:12:32

talking

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:12:32

but I learned something, when I was at J. P. Morgan,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:12:35

to

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:12:36

wanted international experience.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:12:38

wanted

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:12:38

and I also wanted to learn more end to end payments.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:12:42

in

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:12:43

just acquiring,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:12:44

I

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:12:45

which I did and JPMorgan, of course, goes without saying is a tremendous company,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:12:50

but

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:12:51

culture, great leadership.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:12:52

do

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:12:53

but I found myself.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:12:55

left in search of

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:12:56

running that speed boat and exercising my decision making muscles. So once again, I, left in search of what I wanted to do with my next, career and came upon, Alvarez and Marsal was looking for a leader here at, Talus

Desmond Nicholson: 00:13:10

of an

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:13:11

and they recruiter called me and

Desmond Nicholson: 00:13:13

I'll

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:13:14

oddly enough, it was seven exits from my house here in Dallas, Texas. And it was exactly what I was looking for. So I was very blessed. And, it's been four years this past Monday

Desmond Nicholson: 00:13:24

Okay. it's July, 2020. You're now the CEO of Talus Pay.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:13:30

in the midst of COVID.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:13:31

might add, yes, in the midst of COVID 19 pandemic, a period of great uncertainty and chaos, a challenging time for any CEO, especially an incoming CEO. So what was your first impression the company when you arrived?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:13:50

So first thing is, as you and anybody else that knows me, I'm a people person. So I quickly recognized that the incumbent team, was amazing. I had a great set of existing talent, but they had been in an interim kind of influx status for a while. They just wanted a vision and. some leadership and they were hungry for that. so that was my first impression. Great team. The second thing was, there's literally zero sales engine because they had, taken the opportunity as a result of COVID to change the model completely. It used to be an old hundred percent telesales to agent. kind of churn and burn type model. and it was time to change that. So they took the opportunity to do that. So when I showed up, there was no organic growth, no go to market strategy. It was exactly what I wanted. a clean slate. And from there, it has been, one brick and one block at a time of building that organic growth strategy out over different distribution channels, and acquisitions,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:14:58

Your diverse payments industry experiences at that time you joined Talus were bag of small, medium sized to large companies, the likes of EFS, Card Services, your entrepreneurial venture, Concord, First Data, and JP Morgan, and of course, Cynergy Data. Now, with that being said, What were some fundamental lessons learned along the way that prepared and shaped how you approach your role at Talus in the beginning?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:15:30

I am a master and try to challenge myself, no matter what role I've been in, I always want to learn. So I am a constant, learner in constant learning mode. And I would say that over the course of time, there's a couple of principles, that I have, carried with me, a being fair and transparent. Never underestimating the power of culture. I'm not a micromanager, but it is important at every role to understand the details. We have a saying here, and, of course, being private equity backed, they, also have the same mantra is if you don't measure it. It doesn't usually get done. So that's always the discipline that I've had and carried with me here as well is what are we measuring? Let's make sure we've got the right KPIs in place. We're measuring them and we're executing against those and not being afraid to change along the way.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:16:27

From what I've read, when you first arrived at Talus, inorganic growth has always been part of your strategy to gain size, scale, and technology. and todate, you have executed accordingly with some recent acquisitions. With that in mind, to us about Talus's acquired Jobox, AI, and the recent acquisition of Clarus. value do they bring respectively to Talus's portfolio? most importantly, how do they serve your customers and partners?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:17:03

As I had said, went four years, we spent the first two years or so really just focused on organic growth, but you're right, inorganic growth is always something that we were looking for. we really spent a lot of time. Looking for the right acquisitions, Clarus, we ended up closing 2 of them in the 4th quarter of the same year. Clarus was the 1st 1 in October Jobox. A. I was the 2nd 1 in December of 2023. they were strategically important to us for a couple of reasons. They brought some vertical concentration around field services industry from Clarus, having, Large national retailer, ABC Supply, as well as many other building distribution type partners and companies. And then Jobox AI, their technology was originally focused on that vertical on field services. So the 2 of them together were an ideal match. and I'm thrilled that we were able to execute both of them. They're both great on standalone, but together. it's been great.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:18:12

Having the consolidation of Jobox and Clarus, and of course the associated synergies, what is it about? Talus is go to market proposition that differentiate Talus among competitors.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:18:26

Again, it's the technology we are post the Jobox AI, acquisition. We are truly an integrated payments platform and we're taking it to the next level. So. Step 1 is to go and really go deep and narrow and deep in that field services technology, but then step 2 is branching out into other industry verticals and expanding that technology. But even more. the payment facilitation model has been around for a couple of years now. Lots of, companies have made, tremendous headway, in successful, acquisitions of merchants, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of merchants through the payment facilitation model. What we've found is that there's a gap there. And so we're taking our technology and looking to improve upon that payment facilitation model and actually go directly to the SAAS based developers and engineers and give them an alternative solution with better transparent pricing, more profitable pricing and complete transparency around reporting. Can't disclose a whole lot more, but we're definitely on the right path and it's really an exciting time.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:19:49

I got you. The company recently announced it will be conducting business going forward using the master brand name Talus instead of Talus Pay. What is the premise behind this rebranding initiative?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:20:02

Yeah, so the premise is really around just brand recognition and having that overarching umbrella brand of Talus and taking the Jobox app and rebranding it as Talus Pay as a sub brand. if you look at a lot of the other major companies, apples, a great example of that with the umbrella brand and, not that we will ever have the home recognition and name recognition as Apple does, but it's that same theory and concept is that we've got a family of brands all under Talus.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:20:35

Okay, let's switch gears

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:20:39

Okay.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:20:40

Obviously there are all kinds of leadership styles. How would you describe your style of leadership the philosophy behind it? Okay.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:20:49

I'm not a micromanager. I operate at a hundred thousand foot level as well as the details. So I will, manage from top to bottom. I do consider myself to be fair, extremely transparent. Those are words you'll hear me use over and over. I think it's important for every employee to know the state of the business and how we're doing. So I have regular communication, town halls, Monday emails that go out to the team, letting them know, this is how we're doing financially. no matter what your role, I think that's important.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:21:27

Now, over the years, CEOs and business leaders have shared their thoughts on the phrase work life balance. What does that mean to you? And would you phrase it differently?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:21:40

I wouldn't phrase it any differently. I, preach work life balance. people on the team, when they take vacation, I don't expect to see them on email. I think it's important for individuals to unplug. I think they're better when they come back to work. if they don't take time to completely unplug, they're gonna get burned out. I also think that it's important to have spouses, family, partners, whomever, when you're with them on a vacation, they deserve that individual's time and attention, and if you don't have that from the supporting cast at home, it also impacts the individual employee when they come back to work.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:22:26

What aspect of your personality do you think has been the most helpful in your career?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:22:32

Besides having red hair and being pretty tenacious, I've had a couple people say, especially on the sales aspect side, when I talk, we have new hires that come in and, we do training classes and I get to talk to them and, I tell them I've never heard the word. No, in my entire career. Probably my entire life. My mother would say, I never heard the word. No, I may process it is not right now. but I do have a tenacity. for lack of a better word, I believe I, have a drive and a compassion for just continuing to move forward one foot in front of the other. And I'm an odd bird, Desmond. I actually enjoy change.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:23:15

Okay. what has been your biggest challenge as you climb the corporate ladder?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:23:20

I'd say, that's a sensitive one. sadly, I'd say it's still, the lack of diversity and inclusion of thought, it doesn't happen often, but I think it still does happen where I may be discounted because of my gender out of the gate until somebody gets to know me and the fact that I do know what I'm talking about. so that's been a challenge. I do see it diminishing, but it's something that we all still need to, everybody. needs to work on. And I think about, diversity and inclusion, not just as checking boxes, but it's the inclusion part of thinking about our unconscious biases, and really just being more open to diversity of thought.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:24:09

Good. We've touched on this earlier, but I've got to ask the question this way, what role mentorship play in your professional life? And does any one person come to mind?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:24:22

I've had several mentors, and advocates as well. I do think there's a difference between mentors and advocates. certainly I mentioned Ed Labry he kept me from quitting. 35, 34 and a half years ago. Diane Vogt Faro is another one that was a huge mentor, and critical person in my career path. she basically told me to get out of my own way. she's the one that encouraged me to get out in the industry outside of. the company and the four walls that, at First Data build my own brand, get my name out there. So she was a huge advocate. and then of course, I always go back to my parents that just instilled those core principles and values in me.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:25:06

Okay, let's talk about networking. How important have your networks and connections been in your career and overall success?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:25:16

Extremely important. the old phrase of it is who, you know, sometimes, it's not what you know, but who, you know, that is true. it's true throughout your career, no matter, how long you've been at it. sometimes I'll get, somebody to answer the phone because I know them, and they know me of my reputation or what have you. So I think a network is critical to anybody's career path.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:25:40

Is there a common theme in your career? And if so, threads can we find between the various things you have done?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:25:49

I go back to probably change. I'm not afraid of change. I actually embrace it. a lot of times people think about a career path is straight up a career ladder. I tend to pay it forward and do a lot of mentorship myself. I enjoy that and the first thing that I tell people is that the career ladder is not a straight line. It is typically zigzags. and my career path has done that. sometimes I would be in the same role and just take on additional responsibility. So, not being afraid to get out of my comfort zone, I think is a common theme, not being afraid of change. And challenges, and really just taking things head on, believing in myself, if not me, who, if I don't believe in myself, and if you don't believe in yourself, Desmond, who else is going to believe in us,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:26:43

Words of wisdom. Now, keeping in mind two of your most recent accolades, achievements. they are ETA star award for 2024 ISO of the year, American banker, 2024 most influential women in payments. Fourth time, I might add, in your opinion, what are some key factors that make the difference when it comes to winning?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:27:10

Certainly, my reputation, my career path, and I have been successful. I've been very blessed to have a successful career. I also think it is the network going back to networking. if Diane, Faro had not told me to get out of my own way and go build my brand within the industry, I don't know that, anybody from American, Bankers would have even known who I was. So, I think it is networking, and then certainly you have to have a successful career and, a good reputation, one of the core founding principles in business is, both personal and business. I think most people learned in either Sunday school or elementary school. And it's the golden rule of just doing unto others as you want them to do unto you. And I lived my life that way.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:27:58

Given your experience, what advice would you give to women just coming into the payments fintech industry?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:28:05

I mentor a lot of women, as I had said, I would give them the same advice that Diane gave me. Go build your network, look for mentors and advocates, really advocates within your internal organization, look for mentors, not just internally, but externally it takes time. And as we know, most women are wives and mothers. So they have other responsibilities outside of work. So asking them to do something outside extracurricular may or may not be the right time, but it's important to get out there and, be involved in Paytech Women and ETA and other organizations, even outside of payment. Get involved in local chambers of commerce or local women networks or any network, but just be involved.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:28:56

What can women in the payments industry do to advance when they feel stuck in a place on the career ladder?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:29:06

They can always look for an advocate. the other thing, and I'll probably rephrase it a little bit, answer your question that you probably didn't ask, but because I'm a strong advocate for women and advancement, I think it's got to be the woman has to know what it is when we go circle back to work life balance, what's most important to her, and understanding her own personal desire for success, and not let other outside influences tell her. What that definition of success looks like. So I will give you an example. My career didn't really take off because I didn't travel a whole lot when my kids were younger. That was a personal choice. I didn't want to. miss out when they were younger. Could I have done more if I had done that sooner? Maybe, maybe not. I've been blessed, but I absolutely would tell every woman to make sure that she knows what is important to her and her personal definition of success.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:30:13

Good. what do you see as the biggest threat to the payments industry right now? And conversely, what is the biggest opportunity?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:30:22

So the biggest opportunity of course, is technology. That's obvious frictionless payments, embedded payments, we as consumers demand immediate. ease frictionless. We don't even want to know that we're making a payment. It needs to be seamless and behind the scenes. I think, technology is also the biggest, threat because of things are moving so rapidly, we had the big, technology snafu this morning, that impacted industries, airlines, banks around the world. So I think technology can also be the biggest threat. I think the biggest opportunity, however, is artificial intelligence. And when we think about the use of artificial intelligence in the way of security, risk management, preventive, proactive retention type efforts, when you're thinking about your business, attrition rates, I think artificial intelligence is definitely a huge opportunity, as well as, APIs.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:31:21

me is

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:31:22

API technology, and I am the furthest thing from a technologist.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:31:27

reflect

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:31:27

to me is like cut and paste, but it does provide

Desmond Nicholson: 00:31:32

enable,

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:31:33

a seamless

Desmond Nicholson: 00:31:33

can

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:31:34

companies like ours to be able to embed things besides payments,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:31:40

um,

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:31:41

deposit accounts,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:31:42

it

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:31:43

insurance,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:31:45

the world of

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:31:47

Like you can run a business and seamlessly embed mobile wallets. Any type of, P2P type transactions. It just opens up the world of what could be the possibility, beyond payments. Behind acquiring, right? Credit and debit.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:32:07

Indeed. what are you most excited about Talu's future?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:32:14

I am most excited about our roadmap. The acquisitions that we have done in the fourth quarter, that I referenced, we are in execution mode head down. We've got a game plan and a strategy, and we are just crushing it, building a pipeline. And it is just really exciting. I don't want to divulge too much, but we are in the midst of really. Turning out something I think will be a little bit different than what's the norm in the industry.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:32:48

Well, looking forward to that. us in suspense. what keeps Kim up at night?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:32:56

get an average of four to five hours of sleep a night on a good night. It's never uninterrupted. So, you know, two hours in a clip, what keeps me up, it varies. So there's always something going on personally or professionally that will keep my wheels turning. And then the other piece of it, if there's not something that's keeping my wheels turning, then it's the excitement, excitement about the next day and what lies ahead around the corner the next day. I'm a pretty, excited, happy person about waking up in the morning and let my feet hit the ground and off and running.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:33:35

Good. given your distinguished career and stellar accomplishments so far, and with so much more runway ahead of you, I had to ask this question, Kim, who do you ultimately aspire to become?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:33:52

I don't know if it's who, but what I never say never. I've learned that in my career. I'd like to take my experiences that I have honed my skill sets and I'd like to take them beyond payment. So, potentially serving on different boards in an advisory capacity or a board of directors capacity I see so many times companies that really truly don't know how to motivate. individual team members, especially sales growth oriented companies. and so I think, I'd like to take my experience in being able to motivate individuals, being able to architect a compensation and incentive type plans beyond outside of the payments industry.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:34:42

We'll be right back.,

undefined: 00:34:45

The lightning round bridges to excellence inspired leadership in payments and fintech.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:34:52

Kim, lightning round.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:34:55

Okay.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:34:57

I pose the following rapid fire questions and you respond with a single word or a sentence or two. What does success mean to you?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:35:06

That my children are productive adults.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:35:11

What is the one thing you have never done, but I've always dreamt of doing?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:35:17

skydiving. I don't know that I ever will, but skydiving.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:35:21

Okay. What is the best career advice you have ever received?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:35:27

It was the advice from Diane Faro get out of my way, go build my brand, go network.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:35:33

How would you define yourself in one or two words?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:35:38

Driven,

Desmond Nicholson: 00:35:41

Okay.

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:35:42

driven, driven.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:35:46

What is the one talent you wish you had?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:35:49

Gosh, that's a tough one. one talent I wish, I wish I could sing.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:35:56

What is the cause that is important to you and why?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:36:00

St. Jude has always been, an important charity. for me primarily, I spent 28 years in Memphis. most recently it has a personal, meaning, my boyfriend of three years lost his son to cancer at the age of 17. cancer is a horrible disease. And it really truly is just not something that a child should go through.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:36:23

What is one thing the people you work with would be surprised to learn?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:36:28

Oh gosh. They'd probably be surprised to learn how much reality TV I watch. That's my mental escape from everything.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:36:36

Okay. And finally, what drives Kim?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:36:41

My family, the people around me, my team. I really get a lot of, pleasure, self satisfaction from seeing others succeed, and their happiness. That's what drives me.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:36:59

Now, Kim, it's been great catching up and having you on the show. there anything you want to add or we didn't mention that it's important for you to talk about?

Kim Fitzsimmons: 00:37:10

I don't know, Desmond, I don't think so. I think you covered the gamut. It's been great catching up with you as well. really, really proud of, everything that you have going on here with Bridges to Excellence. it's tremendous. I appreciate you inviting me, to just chit chat with you.

Desmond Nicholson: 00:37:25

Kim, again. We thank you and that's our conversation for this week. Our guest, Kimberly Fitzsimons, CEO of Talus payment technology your business. And to our listeners, as always, thank you for your time and never forget the more you expect from yourself, the more you excel.

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You've been listening to Bridges to Excellence podcast, inspired leadership and payments and fintech. Be sure to join us next time for more conversations with another of your colleagues in payments and fintech. Insightful conversations in their journey to excellence for transcripts and other materials covered on the show. Visit us at DesmondNicholson. com.