OB Rawls is an accomplished senior-level executive with phenomenal success in FinTech payments and banking. He previously served as CEO of global payment processing for Paysafe and CEO and President of iPayment. His career of more than 30 years also includes senior-level executive roles with First Data now Fiserv, Hypercom, and Bank of America.

OB will be taking us on the twists and turns of his journey, including his most recent move, joining the firm of Wellesley Hills Financial as partner and executive director. And of course, along the way, he will be sharing with us a few insightful, actionable takeaways. So stay with us.

You're listening to Bridges to Excellence.

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Inspired leadership in

payments and fintech.

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Show today, payments legend o.

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Track 1: we limit our, um, our capacity

as salespeople when we sell on price.

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And there's still a lot of agents

in the marketplace saying, let me

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see your statements and let me tell

you how I can save you some money.

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So I think salespeople have to be

smarter, have to be more forthright,

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have to be focused on verticals and

what all the needs of that vertical are

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and how they can, um, solve multiple

problems for the merchant at one time.

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Welcome to Bridges to Excellence Podcast.

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Inspired leadership in

payments and fintech.

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Bringing you conversations

with payments most fascinating

13

people on top of their game.

14

Leaders, influencers,

experts, and innovators.

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Each weekly episode turns our

guests wisdom into practical advice.

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Their personal journey starts now.

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are meant to inspire and challenge

you to explore your possibilities.

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Here's your host, Desmond Nicholson.

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OB

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.

Rawls is an accomplished senior-level executive with phenomenal success

21

in FinTech payments and banking.

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He previously served as CEO of

global payment processing for Paysafe

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and CEO and President of iPayment.

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His career of more than 30

years also includes senior-level

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executive roles with First Data.

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Now Fiserv Hypercom and Bank of America.

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OB will be taking us on the twists

and turns of his journey, including

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his most recent move, joining the

firm of Wellesley Hills Financial

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as partner and executive director.

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And of course, along the way,

he will be sharing with us a few

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insightful, actionable takeaways.

32

So stay with us.

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Desmond Nicholson: Obi,

welcome to the show.

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Track 1: Desmond, thanks for having me.

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it's really nice to be here and it's

nice to, um, connect with you after all

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these years back from our First Data.

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For me, it's a privilege having you

on the Bridges to Excellence podcast.

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There's no question in the fact

that you are among the most

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respected and admired professionals

in the payments industry today,

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especially within the ISO community.

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So again, thanks for being here.

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Now I understand in 2020 you attempted

to retire and failed miserably.

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Is that true?

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Track 1: That's true.

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And I really, was not very good at

retirement, but I would give people who

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are following my footsteps and thinking

about retirement, this advice never

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to retire in the middle of a pandemic.

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you can't travel, you can't,

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Desmond Nicholson: well taken.

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Track 1: you know, it's, and so, I quickly

kinda, wrapped myself up and work again.

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Pleasantly though, very pleasantly.

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Desmond Nicholson: coming out of Covid

Pandemic, you started the consultancy

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firm of Jeroboam Advisory Services,

since then, a few months ago, you joined

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forces with Wellesley Hills Financial

as partner and Executive Director.

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So I guess there's no slowing you down.

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Is there.

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Track 1: you know, I worked for a

guy named Joe Plumer one time and he

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said, look, I can rest when I'm dead.

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That was his.

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Desmond Nicholson: Sage,

Sage advice indeed.

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Track 1: Yeah,

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Desmond Nicholson: Of course, uh, OBE.

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A bit later we will get into what

Wellesley Hills Financial is all about,

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and of course talk about their go-to

market proposition and also pry into what

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attracted you to them in the first place.

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first, let's start with your backstory.

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Shall we

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Track 1: sure.

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Desmond Nicholson: us back to your earlier

life, where you grew up and what your

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life was like while you were growing up.

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Track 1: So Desmond, I, grew up in

the east of North Carolina, 90 miles

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east of Raleigh, right on the coast

of the interbank in a little town

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called Washington, North Carolina.

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very small town population

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it was in agricultural fishing.

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Town, and I grew up on

a farm outside of town.

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It was a, great way to

grow up, in the country.

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we didn't have a lot of money, but my

parents seemed to manage our lifestyle,

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so I never knew I was poor until I

was grown, during that time growing up

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and a good life, it was sort of like.

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The book, Hillary Clinton wrote that

it takes a village to raise a child.

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I had,

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Desmond Nicholson: Mm-Hmm.

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Track 1: uncles and aunts around

us and so I had, 10 sets of parents

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growing up, and it was a fantastic

way to grow up a lot of fun

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Desmond Nicholson: No

chance of going wrong.

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Track 1: where you were

caught every time you did so.

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Desmond Nicholson: Uh, now

where did you, go to school?

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Track 1: I, went to school.

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I got my undergraduate degree

at East Carolina University

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in Greenville, North Carolina.

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And, it always surprises people

when I tell 'em my undergraduate

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degree was in social work.

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And so I actually worked for

two years as a parole officer.

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and I found out that, government

work was just not for me.

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I seemed to have too much

ambition, to fit in with, the

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slower pace of, state government.

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Work.

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And then, I went to work for, bank

of America and while I was there

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I went to, college on the weekends

at Queens University in Charlotte.

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And that's where, I got my MBA.

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Desmond Nicholson: so you are

now with, Bank of America.

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Should I assume that's where

your payment, career started?

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Track 1: I worked for the bank for 18

years, Desmond, and spent, did a lot of

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different things, in inside the company.

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Lived in, six different cities in

the 18 years that I worked there.

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we were growing and we had sort

of a go to grow mentality inside.

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And my last assignment

at the bank was running.

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I was living in Norfolk, Virginia,

running the, the credit card acquiring.

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Business for the bank.

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And, we had a, crisis inside the

bank, and needed to raise cash.

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So I was tasked with finding a partner

to finding someone, either be a partner

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with us in merchant acquiring or, to sell

the firm to, and we ended up negotiating

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a joint venture with First Data.

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And we created, a 50 50 venture

called Unified Merchant Services.

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And, that's how I moved from bank

acquiring into, the enterprise.

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And, learned really a lot about payments

back then, Unified Merchant Services.

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We were the fourth largest

acquirer in the US back then.

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So it was, a lot of fun.

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We had a lot of, small business

accounts and, some large accounts.

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We acquired a couple of big airlines,

including American back then.

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So a really good education early

on in my career about acquiring.

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Desmond Nicholson: So UMS was

among the first, alliance partners

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that First Data had then right.

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Track 1: It was, we were, number two.

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Wells Fargo was first, Deborah

Rossi created the first joint

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venture with Roger Pierce.

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Desmond Nicholson: Your career with

First Data was I guess, a maze of

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twists and turns, So can you walk us

through the highlights, those milestones

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of that period the roles you played?

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Track 1: Well, yeah, it

was, very interesting.

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Back then, because the payment space

was primarily manual, Desmond, it

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was a paper-based transactions.

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Merchants, at the end of their

business day carried their drafts

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to the bank, paper drafts that were

deposited into their banking accounts.

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And, we were, switching from,

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Paper to electronic processing.

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It was also a time where there was

a lot of growth in, processing.

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and so business was expanding rapidly.

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We were educating the marketplace

on not only, taking credit card

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transactions, but taking credit

card transactions electronically.

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And, it was really exciting

because we got, to help a lot of

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merchants, discount rates then

were fairly high compared to now.

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And, merchants were very

resisting to taking credit cards.

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They, thought it was an added expense

to their business and they didn't

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understand that, the more options

you have for, Clients to pay with

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the more your businesses grow.

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And we sold a lot back then on the,

value of credit increases, the average

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ticket size and therefore more profits

for the merchants if you take cards.

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Desmond Nicholson: So you

were with, the UMS Alliance.

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I think it was from about 1993 to 1995,

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Track 1: that's right.

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Desmond Nicholson: the

president of that alliance.

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Track 1: I was,

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Desmond Nicholson: Okay.

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Track 1: and then,

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Desmond Nicholson: Then from there,

you moved on, I think, to Nations

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Track 1: no, I was at Nations before.

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I call it Bank of America now because

not many people remember the Nations Bank

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Desmond Nicholson: you.

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Track 1: name.

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But when, I left there, I went to

the UK and built the, Lloyd's Bank

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joint venture for First Data, and

I was the first General Manager.

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of, that,

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Desmond Nicholson: Now,

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Track 1: Yeah.

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There was a, there was a

really interesting period

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of time when I was with UMS.

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we won the bid to process

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In Atlanta.

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And, that was an exciting time.

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We actually did one of the

first smart card pilots at the

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time for the 96 Olympics using,

Hypercom terminals and Visa cards.

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It was a lot of work

and we had okay results.

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we were, a little ahead of our time

in the US hoping to use, smart cards,

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but it was a good, learning field.

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Desmond Nicholson: Can you elaborate

on your experience with, Lloyds Bank?

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And that's the Lloyd Bank, TSB

In Basildon on the outskirt of,

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Track 1: That's right.

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Desmond Nicholson: London.

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Track 1: Lloyd's bank was

much like, other banks.

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in the growing credit card business,

they, just like Wells Fargo and just

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like, Bank One and PNC and other

banks that became, Alliances of First

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Data in the acquiring process figured

out that as a bank their costs were

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too high to be in the competitive.

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Merchant acquiring business.

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And so by outsourcing their

infrastructure, creating an external sales

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force that weren't bank employees, the

alliances were able to compete in the,

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in the selling process, uh, much better.

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If you remember around, I guess 92.

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And on, that was the beginning

of the era of ISO creation.

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And so

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Desmond Nicholson: Sure.

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Track 1: these organizations that were

just really good at selling and were good

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at, buying wholesale services from . Uh,

the major processors changed the market.

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They were very competitive in the

marketplace, and banks with their

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existing infrastructure at the

time, just weren't competitive.

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And so it was a, very,

opportune time for Fiserv.

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If, remember Roger Pierce and Linda

Mock, and Scott Lofted this as

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they created the acquiring program.

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And, we just took what we built in

the US over to the UK with the Lloyds

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Bank joint venture and that joint

venture is still in existence today.

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Desmond Nicholson: Wow.

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it occurred to me as you're

talking that was the last

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meeting I think you and I had.

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I'd gone over to London to

Lloyd's, to help set the stage.

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For bringing their, sales folks

over to the United States at

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our sales training academy.

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And I remember the day when we

sat down in the meeting, you were

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there, you gave it your blessings,

and you had to leave for a meeting.

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And that was in 1999.

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that was the last time you and

I were in a meeting together.

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Um, where did you go after there?

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Track 1: Well, I came back to the States.

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I spent, three years in healthcare.

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and that was an, interesting time.

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And I'll tell you, Desmond, I ran just as

fast as I could back to the payment world.

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, it was a nice experiment and I learned

a lot, but it just wasn't home.

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So after, I left the, healthcare arena, I

went to, Hypercom in, Phoenix, and there

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I ran global sales and operations for

Hypercom I guess on all around the world.

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So I, went back to London,

spent a lot of time.

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There again, rebuilding the

distribution networks in Europe

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and Asia, and Latin America.

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But during this time, not but excitedly

during this time, the electronification

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of payments was growing significantly.

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People were understanding the

value of using, what was called a

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credit card terminal at that time.

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For card acceptance.

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And it was an exciting time.

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The world was, rapidly going to

electronic payments and, consumers were

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more comfortable in using credit cards.

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And if you remember back during this

time, the whole economy of Europe

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was changing in the Reagan years.

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The Iron Curtain came down

and but all throughout Europe.

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There was the creation of

middle classes that hadn't been

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there in the communist world.

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And so consumerism was

growing unbelievably,

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But with that consumerism

growth came the growth of credit

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card sales and processing.

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In the beginning, especially if you look

through Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, the

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Czech Republic and that whole world, that

was the eastern side of the Soviet block.

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They were hungry for consumer appliances,

washing machines, and dryers and

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refrigerators, and most of those

were processed using credit cards.

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During that timeframe, just

an amazing period of, growth.

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Desmond Nicholson: I remember the,

Hypercom all in one terminal.

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Track 1: Yeah.

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. Yeah.

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Desmond Nicholson: were the days

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Track 1: Oh yeah.

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Well, after Hyper, mI actually

went back to First Data I.

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And I spent some time with First

Data right as we went, private.

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And so, I came back and I ran Tasq

which was the hardware sales arm

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Desmond Nicholson: Okay.

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Track 1: First Data.

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And, from Tasq, I did a lot of

different things inside the company

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in that nine-year period of time.

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I had a lot of the sales force for, large

merchant services, so accounts from Sears,

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Walmart, Kmart was still around then,

McDonald's and so large national and

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global retailers, uh, petroleum companies.

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And then, we had new business

development and we had relationship

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management for those companies.

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I had the, the ISO channel, the

bank channel at one time, and my

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last job there was running, . The

third party distribution business

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or the ISO channel as we know it.

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So in the nine years I stayed

there, I probably had seven

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different roles in the nine years.

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And the value of that Desmond is you

just pick up so many different tools

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that you can put in your toolbox and

things you learn along the way that,

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Hopefully make you smarter and

wiser and more balanced in your

270

approach to the marketplace.

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Desmond Nicholson: Absolutely.

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So that's, Tasq.

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Now, where did you go from there?

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Track 1: when I left First Data, I went

to I payment when we went, when we did

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our transactional, we went, public again.

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I I had to stay around six months

after we, filed, and so then I took

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over the largest ISO in the world.

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Our payment.

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At that time, and we

were a troubled asset.

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We had more, debt than we had in revenue.

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We had, maturing bond portfolio.

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and so we had to quickly refinance

the company, uh, and build it up.

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But, our payment itself, Desmond,

was a really, really good.

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asset, good people, good processes.

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It just had poor leadership and, poor

management of the, resources that we had.

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but we were able to turn it around

and we sold it to, Paysafe for

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960 some million dollars and.

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That was a really good win for

the employees and the shareholders

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And then I stayed with

Paysafe for a couple of years.

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Retired at the end of 2020.

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Since that time I've been, working

as an advisor, a consultant.

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I have, some board seats and we've

done a couple of investments in small

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FinTech companies along the way.

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Desmond Nicholson: Now tell us more

about, Paysafe, your function there.

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Track 1: At, Paysafe.

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I ran global acquiring for Paysafe.

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it was primarily, a North

American and a European business.

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We had no business in

Asia or Latin America.

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we were solely in the North

American continent and, Europe.

300

during that time I had small business

acquiring large, you know, merchant

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acquiring, e-commerce, gaming.

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Um, so it was a, broader role.

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And again, I put a few more

tools in the toolbox, Desmond.

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Desmond Nicholson: How would you

describe your leadership style?

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Track 1: I think I'm a, team builder.

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Uh, I'm a, communicator.

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I like to gather information.

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I like to solicit advice Of the people

that are below or above me in the chains.

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And then, I recognize that with all

of that input as a leader, it's my

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responsibility to make the decision.

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So I'm not a consensus builder in

that terms, I try to understand.

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What I'm charged with as a leader.

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So I gather a lot of information,

hear what people have to say, listen

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to opinions that differ from mine and

others, and then, make a decision.

315

But you can't leave anybody behind.

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we're all on the same team together.

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So we move forward as a group,

we win together and, if we lose,

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we lose together as a team.

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Desmond Nicholson: Okay,

now we've come full circle.

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It's now 2023.

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What are you doing now?

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Track 1: So, about almost six months

ago now, I knew the guys at Wellesley

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Hills Financial, and I had the

opportunity to make an investment in

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the firm and to join, as a partner

and, as the Executive Director of the

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firm, and I'm really having probably

more fun than I've had in a long time.

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Desmond in this role, Wellesly

Hills is a, uh, boutique investment

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bank headquartered in Boston.

328

We, focus primarily on buy

and sell side activities, so

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we help, people buy and sell.

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their businesses and

we have, three focuses.

331

We do traditional payment deals, sales

of iso sales of small payment companies.

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but we also, have a specialty in

the, FinTech market for, fintechs

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that have some type of enabling

technology that help them,

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Stand out that helped them be different,

and differentiated in the marketplace.

335

And then we focus on fintechs that

have some type of, software play or

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in the B2B space or a SaaS model.

337

So we have three areas of focus,

fintechs with, technology fintechs

338

that are software or SaaS driven.

339

Traditional payment deals.

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Desmond Nicholson: what

attracted you to the.

341

Firm in the first place and,

what is your day-to-Day role?

342

Track 1: Smart.

343

So my, day-to-day role with the firm

is, primarily, rainmaking, you know,

344

creating, paths to, opportunities for us.

345

And then deal management, in the process.

346

But yeah, primarily rainmaking, We've,

significantly increased the pipeline

347

since I've come on board and, um, we've

changed the focus of the firm a little bit

348

to be more focused in these three areas.

349

But we're really primarily

a sell side investment bank.

350

we eat what we kill, we generate fees

from the sales of our properties and,

351

we, don't exist unless we, create the

transactions that help them be successful.

352

Desmond Nicholson: okay.

353

over the years, CEOs and leaders shared

their thoughts on the phrase Work life

354

balance, what does that mean to you

and would you phrase it differently?

355

Track 1: I would call

it work life imbalance.

356

it's a little, at least for me,

Desmond, I, I don't know if I'm a

357

workaholic, but I know that, over

the years that my family suffered.

358

from traveling, I've got over 5

million, well, four and a half

359

million air miles on Delta and a

bunch of miles on other airlines.

360

And so I missed a lot of birthdays.

361

I missed a lot of family gatherings,

and, if I were doing this all

362

over again, I think I would

spend a little more time at home.

363

Desmond Nicholson: Mm-Hmm.

364

Track 1: I should have found a

way to do that along the way.

365

So, I wasn't very good

at work life balance

366

Desmond Nicholson: Hard

work doesn't build wealth.

367

True or false?

368

And why?

369

Track 1: No.

370

It, doesn't build wealth.

371

I learned to say it a long time ago.

372

Plan your work and work your plan, and so

373

Desmond Nicholson: Mm-Hmm.

374

Track 1: have to plan who you want to

be and where you want to go, and then

375

you have to set goals, and you have

to, um, understand what it takes to,

376

achieve those goals and how to win.

377

And so I know a lot of people that work

hard every day, but they don't have,

378

they don't have the right mix

of ambition, timing, fortune.

379

Fortune plays into a lot of

wealth building it in itself.

380

So it's always nice to be good at

what you do and to have the wind

381

at your back to push you forward.

382

So, unfortunately hard work

does, not, create wealth

383

hard work's just one part of

the combination to success.

384

Desmond Nicholson: Got you.

385

what was a low point in your

journey, what was that like yeah.

386

Everybody has low points in their

careers and in their journeys, and

387

in my case, I kinda lost the way

388

I.

389

Track 1: in thinking about how I treated

teams, how I, planned for success.

390

And I had a period where

I was more autocratic.

391

I wasn't listening I wasn't being the type

of person that made me happy as a leader.

392

And, when you come to that realization,

you realize that you changed.

393

You're not who you thought you

were or who you wanted to be.

394

And so I really had to work to get

back to a point of more balance in

395

my life and, to be a better person.

396

And when I did that, I was happier.

397

I, I worked better, more

efficiently and had better results.

398

So balance to me is the driving, force

behind our success and our happiness.

399

And, it's in business terms.

400

You have three entities

you have to support.

401

You have your shareholders, you have your

clients, and you have your, employees.

402

You, have to figure out how to solve

and to serve all of their needs.

403

And if you let either one of those

overpower the other, then the wheel

404

gets wobbly, runs off the tracks

and you don't perform as well.

405

So to me,

406

Desmond Nicholson: So it

407

Track 1: balance,

408

Desmond Nicholson: balanced.

409

Track 1: balance is the key to success.

410

Desmond Nicholson: Great.

411

Now, what emergent technology

has caught your eye that holds

412

great potential for the payment

FinTech ecosystem, and why is that?

413

I.

414

Track 1: I know it's the buzzword

of, today, but I really believe that

415

AI that artificial intelligence.

416

Used in the right way is going

to change the way we use data

417

to drive our decisioning.

418

And, machine learning can calculate and

provide, um, opportunities and solutions

419

to us faster than we can as people.

420

It's a tool.

421

it's not the end.

422

We have to treat it as a

tool and use it as a tool.

423

And, we shouldn't be scared of AI.

424

But, if you think about some of the

algorithms that are used today for

425

embedded finance and embedded, lending

and embedded banking, they tell us so

426

much information about our clients.

427

And so if you're, a company that

has, um, embedded, banking services.

428

by having the checking account

of the merchant, you get to

429

see how they spend their money.

430

Right.

431

And knowing that and understanding

it and analyzing it, allows you to

432

build a whole host of services and

insurance and finance and lending and,

433

Payroll in company management techniques,

and you can create an offering

434

of products and services to, your

client base that we don't see today.

435

I've always thought that the best way

to keep a merchant happy was to be

436

able to sell him a lot of products

and services, but our distribution

437

system's not set up for that.

438

if you think about most of the

new merchant sales still come from

439

third parties in the marketplace,

and they're singularly focused.

440

They're, I'm going to sell

this merchant account.

441

The merchant needs to buy payroll,

he needs to buy insurance, he needs

442

to finance his pizza oven, and he

needs to do a lot of things, but

443

we can't sell it to 'em that way.

444

Through implementation

of AI and then through.

445

Other embedded tools, then we can offer

solutions that these small businesses want

446

and it helps them stay in business longer.

447

And if they do, guess what?

448

We stay in business longer.

449

So to give you a good example, I

think Square's use of, cash app

450

of deposit services, of software

services, they've been one of the best

451

at offering products and services.

452

To their small business clients.

453

So AI is a tool for me.

454

Desmond Nicholson: Okay.

455

a decade ago, the CEO of a

top acquirer predicted that.

456

Transformation within the industry

would bring about the demise of ISOs

457

and MLS sooner rather than later.

458

Do you think this prediction will

eventually become true, or do you see a

459

strong future for the feet on the street?

460

And, what can agents do to

help ensure their survival in

461

the coming year and beyond?

462

Track 1: You know, honestly, I think that

463

agents could be endangered

species, Desmond, in the

464

marketplace, but not, anytime soon.

465

the world is becoming

increasingly focused on verticals.

466

I.

467

How to service those verticals better.

468

most of the agents in the

field are, generalist, and so

469

they're, going to have to change.

470

people still like to buy from people, so

the last mile still exists in all types

471

of selling, but we've got to, be more

focused on what the merchant's needs are.

472

More focused on how we can help 'em solve

those needs instead of just saying, Hey,

473

I got a product for you and you need to

buy this because I can save you 10 cents.

474

Or I can offer you, cash discounting

and you can process for free.

475

It's bigger than that.

476

we've gotta become more professional.

477

we have to become more broad-minded,

and we have to have, Other

478

products and services that

merchants want to buy to exist.

479

and I really believe that there is a

continuation of the sales model if we get

480

better at what we do and if we focus on

merchant success instead of agent success.

481

Desmond Nicholson: What do you see

as the, greatest challenge facing the

482

payments and FinTech space right now?

483

Track 1: This is a naive answer,

but I think it's selling on price.

484

I still, I think

485

Desmond Nicholson: Hmm.

486

Track 1: we limit our capacity as

salespeople when we sell on price.

487

And there's still a lot of agents

in the marketplace saying, let me

488

see your statements and let me tell

you how I can save you some money.

489

So I think salespeople have to be

smarter, have to be more forthright,

490

have to be focused on verticals and

what all the needs of that vertical

491

are and how they can, solve multiple

problems for the merchant at one time.

492

That's not going to be easy.

493

Desmond Nicholson: OB, with such a

rich tapestry of career accomplishments

494

over the years, what would you

most like to be remembered for?

495

Track 1: You know,

desmond that's a question.

496

I've never, it was one that's,

I've never been asked that before.

497

I.

498

And two is, I'm not really sure.

499

I think in the business world, I

want to be remembered for being

500

fair, being progressive, being

successful, you know, as you say, as

501

we talked earlier about leadership,

you know, wrapping our arms around.

502

The team and all of us,

celebrating success together.

503

So to me, fairness, the ethical

treatment of employees, of the

504

ethical treatment, of clients and

customers and providing returns to

505

shareholders that are fair is important.

506

So I just,

507

I still don't, I haven't

answered your question.

508

I don't know how.

509

I just did the best I could.

510

Desmond Nicholson: That's, a good attempt.

511

Now we move into our final round.

512

The lightning round bridges to

excellence, inspired leadership

513

in payments and fintech.

514

Desmond Nicholson: Okay, OB, in this

segment I pose a question and you respond

515

with a single word or one sentence.

516

Shall we begin?

517

Track 1: Yeah, let's try it.

518

I'll try to be nice.

519

Desmond Nicholson: Okay.

520

The road not traveled.

521

Track 1: I wish I could

have been a public company.

522

CEO.

523

Desmond Nicholson: What

does success mean to you?

524

Track 1: Absolute happiness.

525

Desmond Nicholson: What is the

best advice you ever received?

526

I.

527

Track 1: You need to take

off that lead life jacket.

528

Son,

529

Desmond Nicholson: What one book would

you recommend to our listeners and why?

530

Track 1: It is a little old fashioned and

out of, favor today, but I would recommend

531

that more of us should read the Bibles

of our faith a little more and understand

532

the principles in the, teachings.

533

Desmond Nicholson: Good.

534

What is your favorite quote in leadership

or otherwise that inspires you?

535

Track 1: That was a, that was a tough

one, but treat others with respect.

536

Treat everybody with respect.

537

Desmond Nicholson: Who is your

hero of all times and why?

538

Track 1: You know, Desmond, I've never

picked a hero there's so many good

539

examples of leadership out there.

540

I had a really good mentor one

time, a gentleman named Lowell

541

Thomas when I worked for the bank.

542

Lowell was a tough boss.

543

I mean, he was really a tough,

hard boss, but he was thoughtful.

544

He was sharing and he wanted

to train the people that worked

545

for him, but he was tough.

546

And you had to be hard you had to.

547

Understand his style, but he was one

of the best bosses I've ever had.

548

Taught me a lot, good things and bad

things about who I want to be and who

549

I should be and how I should work.

550

Desmond Nicholson: Okay.

551

What is one thing the

people you work with?

552

Would be surprised to learn.

553

Track 1: I'm a softy.

554

Yeah,

555

Desmond Nicholson: Okay.

556

got you Wine or bourbon.

557

What's your favorite?

558

Track 1: wine, but I like both

559

Desmond Nicholson: What

is one thing like both

560

Track 1: I.

561

Desmond Nicholson: What is one thing

that has you fired up right now?

562

Track 1: this is a quasi

political statement.

563

I just wish, Desmond, that our

country was not so divided.

564

I wish we could on both sides of

the fence, find something that would

565

unify us together to move forward.

566

We're a powerful country and I

just wish we could, Learn how

567

to get along and work together.

568

Desmond Nicholson: Obie, it's been fun.

569

taking us on your journey from your

backstory to your new partnership

570

at Wesley Hills Financial, all

while sharing along the way

571

nuggets of insightful wisdom.

572

And of course for that we're grateful.

573

cheers to you, my friend,

574

Track 1: Thank you, Desmond.

575

Desmond Nicholson: and best

wishes for continued success.

576

A legend in payments indeed.

577

Now any parting thoughts to share

or comments before we wrap up?

578

Track 1: Yeah, I've

touched on this briefly.

579

Um, I, suggest to, people,

um, be true to yourself.

580

Um, have a, have some type of,

or some set of guiding principles

581

that drive you forward every day.

582

Some anthem that you can sing,

to yourself, and then be good,

583

be kind, be fair in the process.

584

Being a boss doesn't mean you have to be.

585

A hard person who doesn't care, that

is not concerned with the people

586

they work with, but have your set of

guiding principles and follow those.

587

Desmond Nicholson: OB thanks

for being on our show.

588

And to our listeners, as always,

you for your time and never

589

forget the more you expect from

yourself, the more you will excel.

590

You've been listening to Bridges

to Excellence podcast, inspired

591

leadership and payments and fintech.

592

Be sure to join us next time for more

conversations with another of your

593

colleagues in payments and fintech.

594

Insightful conversations in their

journey to excellence for transcripts

595

and other materials covered on the show.

596

Visit us at DesmondNicholson.

597

com.