In this episode of Bridges to Excellence, host Desmond Nicholson interviews Damian Tanenbaum, a seasoned leader in the payments and fintech industry. Damian shares his incredible journey being of humble beginning from Brooklyn, New York to becoming the Chief Customer Officer at One Inc. He recounts his career milestones at giants like First Data, Heartland Payments, TSYS, and Ingenico, along with his entrepreneurial ventures and his passion for martial arts. The conversation dives deep into his leadership philosophy, the role of data analytics and AI in customer experience, and the importance of balancing professional and personal life. Damian also discusses his foray into acting and the lessons he's learned along the way, offering actionable takeaways for anyone aspiring to excel in their career.

00:00 Introduction to Bridges to Excellence

00:35 Meet Damian Tannenbaum

04:20 Damian's Early Life and Career Beginnings

08:43 Climbing the Corporate Ladder

11:45 Venturing into the Philippines

14:08 Heartland Payment Systems and Beyond

15:15 Joining Fifth Third and Pivotal Payments

16:48 Cayenne and the TSYS Acquisition

20:11 Navigating Global Payments and BJJ Link

21:32 Engenico and the COVID Challenge

23:29 Consulting and Joining One Inc.

29:50 The Role of Data Analytics and AI

30:38 Leveraging AI in Customer Experience

32:01 The Role of AI in Call Centers

33:00 Transition to Personal Passions

36:25 From Martial Arts to Acting

38:06 The Journey of a Martial Artist

43:13 Leadership and Mentorship Insights

45:36 Balancing Work and Life

49:41 Advice for Beginners and Companies

58:14 Future Endeavors and Final Thoughts

You're listening to Bridges to Excellence.

2

Inspired leadership in

payments and FinTech.

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Well, Sharon, you better pray

whatever god you believe in, that

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nobody finds out about this, or else

this case, it's out of our hands.

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And us?

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We lose our careers.

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By now I'm sure you know

who Wanda Reeves is.

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That woman, she deserves her revenge.

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We deserve whatever happens to us.

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Mhm.

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Desmond Nicholson: That was Damian

Tannenbaum In this episode, we discuss

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his journey in career and life, against

all odds, from street fighter to the

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boardroom and onto the big screen.

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Join us on his path in payments

fintech with some actionable

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takeaways along the way.

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Welcome to Bridges to Excellence podcast,

inspired leadership in payments and

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fintech, bringing you conversations

with payments, most fascinating

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people on top of their game, 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 is your host, Desmond Nicholson.

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Desmond Nicholson: Welcome

to our second season of the

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Bridges to Excellence podcast.

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Our special guest today, Damian Tenenbaum,

former Chief Customer Officer at One Inc.

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One Inc.

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is the leading digital payments

network for the insurance industry

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with 85 billion in volume.

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And a 65 percent plus year

over year revenue growth.

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Damian is a seasoned leader in the

fintech and electronic payments industry

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with over 30 years of experience

driving innovation and building

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customer focused, high performing teams.

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He has held key roles at industry giants

like FirstData, Heartland Payments, TSYS

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and Ingenico, excelling in operations

and Digital transformation and strategic

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leadership across global multi location

teams and entrepreneur at heart.

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Damien has invested in fintech, fitness

and real estate, constantly pushing

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boundaries in and out of the corporate

world beyond his professional life.

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He's a Brazilian jiu jitsu black

belt, martial artist, CrossFit

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enthusiast, and actor, blending

discipline with creativity.

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When he's not working or training, Damien

enjoys traveling and spending time with

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his wife and three children on their

family farm, Blue Skies at Big Bones.

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His journey reflects a life

fueled by passion, balance, and an

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unwavering commitment to growth.

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Along with some actionable

takeaways, join us on the inside.

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Yeah.

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Desmond Nicholson: Damian, thanks

for joining us and welcome to the

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Bridges to Excellence podcast.

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Damian Tanenbaum: Thank

you for having me, Desmond.

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Man, I think I heard you say 30 years.

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I can't believe it's been that long.

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You make me feel old.

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I swear, I don't act any older than 29.

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Desmond Nicholson: I know I

can see it in your activities

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in life anyway, It's great.

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Have you on the show catching up after

all these years, three decades, huh?

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Wow.

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by the way, do you remember the

first sales call we made together?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Damian Tanenbaum: Yes, I do, I tell you,

you know, it's funny, you look back in

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the day, we had to convince businesses

that they had to take credit cards.

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Desmond Nicholson: Isn't that something?

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Wow.

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Now, you remember, it was the, Red Horse

Steakhouse in Hagerstown, Maryland.

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Damian Tanenbaum: Yes, it was.

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Yes.

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Desmond Nicholson: of 1993,

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years ago.

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at that time, I think we were

still Card Establishment Services

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prior to evolving into First

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So it's been some time.

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let's get into it.

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Now, Damien, on the personal side,

start by sharing your backstory,

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your early life, where you grew

up, what your life was like growing

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up, and where you are currently

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Damian Tanenbaum: Yeah.

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So I was born in Brooklyn, New York.

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I was a skinny little rat kid,

running around the streets.

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moved to upstate New York

and Binghamton where, kind of

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rained a lot and little muggy.

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Um, and then ended up, in Chambersburg,

Pennsylvania, where I actually

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attended, High school and then went

to Hagerstown Community College.

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I was a son of a single mom.

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She's a starving artist played the harp

did art shows and she traveled a lot So

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I spent a lot of time either traveling

with her and I hated it or staying home

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alone and getting into trouble I was

fortunate enough to to go to a community

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college after high school And when I

did that, my first day at, at community

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college, there was a job posting on a

board for a Citibank customer service rep.

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So, you take kind of the whole

first 18 years of my life, which

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was fairly challenging, really

not raised with a lot of money.

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and there were times that we,

you know, we had ate food out

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of dumpsters, when we had to.

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I spent time alone a lot, and scrappy

little kid getting into fights, doing

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what I had to, to kind of survive.

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I look back on it now, and

it really wasn't that bad,

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because I see a lot worse.

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but at the same time, it wasn't

easy, so I did have to kind

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of teach myself to be tough.

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And so, when I got that job at

Citibank, It felt like I had made it.

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I had taken, from this artsy street

kid to having a real job at a bank.

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It was probably, the most

impressive thing I could have done.

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It was only a part time, customer

service position, but it, felt

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like I had finally made it.

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I was fortunate enough, and you kind

of went through that little history of

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Citibank became CES, became First Data.

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And so I got a chance to see

from, Citibank, first of all, just

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learning what customer service

was learning about credit cards.

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And then there were several things

that happened like a big snowstorm and

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the fact that CES bought the merchant

portfolio and became a company.

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And so those things that happened

gave me the opportunity to

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laterally move throughout my career.

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From a customer service rep to being

off the phone, entering call center

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stats, to learning about phone systems,

to helping in the relationship manager

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world, and ultimately learning workforce

planning, because we opened a new

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building and they needed somebody who

understood phone sets to actually become

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part of the workforce planning team.

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So, my first 11 years.

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Of my career, although it's, technically

three different companies, Citibank,

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CES, First Data, were filled with

just amazing learning opportunities.

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that job, answering phones

quickly turned into, and I say

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quickly, you know, over 11 years,

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Desmond Nicholson: Mm

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Damian Tanenbaum: turned into a career,

which I never expected to have, you

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know, as a little rat kid, and so

The things I took away from that

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was learning and filling the holes,

filling the gaps everywhere I could.

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if it was saying late, four hours

because it was a snowstorm and they

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needed people on the phones, I did it.

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If it was getting off the phones and

data entering stats and, and providing

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reports to managers, I did it.

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It's kind of funny because the way

it started I was working night shift

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and they needed somebody to data

enter phone stats into a report and

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put it under every manager's desk.

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And the managers would come in

in the morning and they'd look at

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the stats and they know how the

call center did the previous day.

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Well, fast forward three or four months

of doing that, they started writing

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notes on the stats asking questions and

they would put them back on my desk.

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So then I had to investigate.

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The answers to those questions,

which led me to a career path in

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workforce planning, which ultimately

led to call center leadership.

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And then operational leadership,

sorry, that's a long answer,

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but that that's how it started.

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Desmond Nicholson: Great, that's a

good primer and thanks for sharing.

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How and when did you realize that in

the big scheme of things, your career

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had evolved into the payments ecosystem?

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Take us through the highlights

of your progression and your

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respective functional roles.

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Damian Tanenbaum: So, it's

interesting, So that 1st, 11 years

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wasn't really payments, even though

it was Citibank CES First Data.

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It was really corporate world.

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It was understanding,

how a phone is answered.

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It was understanding how training

gets created and it was filling every

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gap possible in the departments that

needed it, whether it was pick, pack,

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and ship and deployment, whether

it was creating online procedures,

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building a product reference

system, or going out to alliances

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and understanding their help desk.

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And so the turning point in my

career, I believe, was just that.

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First Data started an alliance process.

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And in doing so, they basically gave

an opportunity to many of us to go

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out to the different alliances, take

over their support center and their

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deployment center, and bring it in house.

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The alliances then focused on selling

merchant services, And we First Data

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focused on all the back office processes.

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It was in doing that where my boss, Andre

Blythe at the time, an amazing leader

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said, Damian, this isn't just a job.

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It's a career.

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Learn everything you can

learn about the call center.

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So he sent me to ICCMI, Incoming

Call Center Management Institute,

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Help Desk Institute, and help and

taught me about the call center.

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At the same time, we were going

out and visiting the alliances.

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So I was learning everything about how

to build a file, how the credit card

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terminals were working as they moved from

auth only to electronic draft capture.

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And then of course, with the

implementation of, the internet, I'll

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call it, you know, Yahoo storefront and

the different storefronts and the malls

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that were being built online, I had a

chance as part of the help desk to To

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really understand the interworkings of

how payments and money was moving from

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A, B to C and back out to the merchants.

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So, that, kind of evolution of customer

experience on one hand and learning

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everything I could about the call center.

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While at the same time, being part of

kind of the alliance teams and the call

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centers and the support teams learning

everything I could about payments.

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So I got lucky in getting

my first job at a bank.

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And then I got even luckier when Citibank

sold to CES because we were a startup and

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they needed somebody like me and others

like me to dive in and do everything.

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And then even more lucky when you

kind of add the fact that First

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Data came and turned us into a real

company and a payments organization.

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So just so much learning over the

course of those first 11 years.

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Desmond Nicholson: About sometime in,

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Take us through that,

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Damian Tanenbaum: so interesting, right?

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So I just gone through this amazing

transformation from, a street rat to.

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College to Citi Bank, CES, First Data,

and I've learned a lot about call

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centers and I learned a lot about

payments and I happen to be at one of

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the call center shows and I met a guy.

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He was.

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Looking to invest in a call

center, and he needed somebody with

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operational experience to run it.

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I didn't ask many questions.

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it was a.

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40 percent pay increase and he asked

me if I could start a month later,

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I said, yeah, and then realized it

was actually in the Philippines.

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And so I visited the Philippines,

he put me up in a nice, house

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with a maid pool driver.

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and four employees, and so I spent

the next, several years actually.

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Helping do business development.

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So some of that sales skills that you

taught me, Desmond, I put to work,

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contacting companies in the U S convincing

them to allow us to, do work for

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them, whether that was lead generation

for merchant processing, telesales,

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uh, customer support, tech support.

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In some cases it was, outbound, cell

phone sales, anything we could do to

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put butts in seats and, make payroll.

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And so we grew that to about 400 people.

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in late 2022, I had to

leave the Philippines due

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to some family emergencies,

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Desmond Nicholson: what was the name

of that company in the Philippines?

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Damian Tanenbaum: Immacuire.

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Desmond Nicholson: Okay.

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Go ahead.

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Damian Tanenbaum: Yeah, it's funny because

I saw, what CES did and when they sold

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the First Data and the money they made.

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And I was kind of always in the

back of my mind, you know, looking

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for some kind of opportunity.

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And so when, when I was given that

opportunity to become a tiny owner.

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And then obviously run a center.

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I was really excited about it.

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The fact that it turned out to be in the

Philippines to me, then even excited me

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more because it was like this amazing

opportunity, nobody was doing it.

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We were, one of the first 10 call

centers in the Philippines and created

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the Contact Center Association of

the Philippines even, which was a

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bunch of expats, working together to

provide just a good experience for U.S.

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Customers.

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a cool opportunity.

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we grew the organization,

but I had to leave.

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Due to some family issues, And as

a result, we came back to the U.

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S.

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and I took a job working for

David Morris, Marty and Bob Carr

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at Heartland Payment System.

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running their service center

in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

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Desmond Nicholson: And I think you

were there for about four years.

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Damian Tanenbaum: Yeah, I was there a

year to the date after we went public.

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Desmond Nicholson: Good.

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did you go after that?

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Damian Tanenbaum: Well, so my

plan was to start an ISO, Desmond.

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And, so I, I left Heartland.

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I had some money from,

the sale of the stock.

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I was feeling good.

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And, I got a call from,

Delaine Starlipper.

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who was at Fifth Third

Processing Solutions.

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And she was looking for somebody

to help with operations.

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Thanks.

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And interestingly, I'm name dropping a

few people because these were all great

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leaders that I knew from First Data that

then ended up at other payments companies.

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So when I think of, David

Morris at Heartland, Delane

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Starlipper at Fifth Third, she was

somebody I knew from First Data.

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And so when she called me and gave

me a job offer at Fifth Third, I

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couldn't turn it down because I felt

like I owed her, because I owed the

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institution that helped raise me, right?

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So I went to Fifth Third.

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I ran operations for a while.

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I helped, with some insourcing,

some outsourcing, we improved the

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call center, and then there was talk

about the Vantive deal, and there was

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going to be, some changes happening.

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Fifth Third Processing was selling part

of its merchant processing deal, and I

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happened to be, traveling, and I met a guy

by the name of Philip Thayer, who was CEO

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of Pivotal Payments, which is now Nuvei.

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And he was looking for somebody to

run operations and what intrigued me

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about that was it was international.

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He was in Canada.

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He was willing to have me come to

Canada every other week, but work

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from home the rest of the time.

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And in doing so, I could run another U.

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S.

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office.

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And also get a chance to deal with

a call center in the Philippines.

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That was doing some of the support, so.

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I thought it was a really cool,

interesting opportunity to go back to more

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of a startup environment instead of the.

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5th, 3rd processing Vantiv of environment

and so I, went and took a chance at Neuve,

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which was Pivotal Payments at the time.

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Which was again, really cool

because I got a chance to travel.

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Got a chance to be more in

that kind of startup mentality.

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Doing all parts of

operations, underwriting risk.

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customer support, tech support,

relationship management, and

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of course, new technology.

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And then having folks in different

countries providing support.

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Desmond Nicholson: Now, from there,

you moved on to, Global Payments.

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Damian Tanenbaum: yeah, so I did move on

to Global Payments, but there was some

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amazing things that happened in between.

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So one of the things when I went to,

Pivotal Payments, I went for a tiny bit

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of ownership share because, what I've

seen now over time is that, Equity is

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really, a game changer when it comes

to, to this industry that we're in.

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And there's a lot of folks that

get in and, and eventually get

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out and then jump right back in.

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what I did is I'd wanted some equity

in Pivotal Payments and there was

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some talks of a sale to a larger

processor and it kind of fell

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through and, and didn't happen.

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and I then at the time I'd met,

Henry Helgeson from Cayenne

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Desmond Nicholson: Mm hmm.

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Mm hmm.

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Damian Tanenbaum: and

Cayenne was just, just.

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Going through some amazing growth.

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There was a former Merchant Warehhouse,

they had started their business

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selling credit card terminals

online, and Henry had, on back of

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a napkin drawn out a point of sale

integrated solution that would take

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The point of sale out of the equation.

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Of transporting cardholder data and so.

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Cayenne had this great integrated product.

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I looked at it and I joined

Henry and his leadership team in

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running operations at Cayenne.

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And it was just awesome because

I got a chance to kind of work in

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Boston, got a chance to implement

and have people around the world.

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So we did customer support, repetitive,

low cost solution in the Philippines.

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We then had a higher cost but

amazing technical support experience

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for our customers in Ireland.

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And then, of course, our subject matter

experts and our relationship managers

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were in Boston and surrounding areas.

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So I got a chance to kind of, again, work

internationally, improve operations, and

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see a company grow 10x while I was there.

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And so at Cayenne, working with Henry

and the amazing leadership team, we

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sold to TSYS for over a billion dollars.

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And so that was kind of one of those

remember moments in life when you're

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sitting at the table with these great

leaders who kind of built this amazing

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product and Their focus was on sales

and product and they hired me to come in

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and and really just focus on operations

Part of it was keep it together.

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The other part of it was grow it

and provide a better experience

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While they grew the business 10x

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Desmond Nicholson: And of course

you had a five year run at that

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Damian Tanenbaum: Yeah

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Desmond Nicholson: Incredible

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Damian Tanenbaum: yeah, it took took

a little longer than you would kind of

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hope in some cases, but once it happened,

it was amazing and I then I joined

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TSYS as part of the executive team.

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so did Henry and So did most of Cayenne

because it was just such a great marriage

333

between kind and TSYS, and I worked

for Tim Monto, another person from the

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industry that I was very familiar with.

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Just another great leader

asks all the right questions.

336

Another great sales mind like yourself.

337

As well and he put me in charge of five

different call centers for TSYS where I

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was responsible for again custom support

tech support relationship management

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onboarding and some other functions And at

the same time I was partnering with with

340

the Philippines operation and the Ireland

operation, that was providing support for

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some of TSYS and the Cayenne customers

so I had the best of of all worlds at

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that point in time I was working for some

great people with great people And getting

343

a chance to travel and do what I love.

344

And then Global Payments

came in and bought TSYS.

345

No, that's exactly right.

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Yeah,

347

Desmond Nicholson: private venture.

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I think it was BJJ link where you were,

Chief Operating Officer for a while.

349

Damian Tanenbaum: yeah, so when Global

Payments acquired TSYS, I had the

350

change of control contract, which

meant I'd get paid, but I had to stay

351

out of the industry for over 2 years.

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So, during that period of time, I.

353

Join that team of BJJ link

as kind of a Fractional COO.

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had some equity in the game.

355

Also spent a little time working on

my own businesses and my gym, where we

356

bought the building instead of, renting

and expanded grew out our martial arts

357

program and invested in several rental

properties, in the Northern Kentucky area.

358

So kind of spent a little

time on what do you call it?

359

Self growth, not making money for

others, but trying to, help out.

360

And then, got a chance to spend more time

on my BJJ, Brazilian jiu jitsu, but also

361

the focus on kind of business and helping

BJJ link, with their payments needs,

362

their customer experience needs while

they were also, a group of four guys just

363

developing and doing jiu jitsu themselves.

364

Desmond Nicholson: And then of

course you went on to, Engenico.

365

Tell us about

366

Damian Tanenbaum: Yes.

367

so I was excited.

368

I joined Engenico again.

369

I was not in payments.

370

It was not a competitor to Global Payments

it was, a company providing devices

371

to Global Payments and other ISOs and.

372

Processors around the world, I joined

in doing with a lot of responsibility

373

for the supply chain logistics.

374

the repair center, the, the

overall deployment center.

375

And customer support

and then COVID happened

376

Desmond Nicholson: Wow.

377

Damian Tanenbaum: And although I have

some experience in deployment, of course

378

I am not a logistics expert And during

COVID there were a few projects that

379

we had started one of them I was in

the process of basically setting up a

380

streamline repair process where I would

take devices in bulk Ship them to the

381

border and then drive them across the

border to Mexico, have them repaired

382

and have them brought back and then

shipped back out to our customers.

383

So, it was more of a kind of a

repair process where we were using.

384

Lower cost labor in Mexico.

385

And then bring them back into the U.

386

S.

387

for program, pick, pack and ship and

sent out to the different organizations.

388

And the process was getting started

when COVID happened, which created

389

some logistical challenges, which also

created some challenges getting product

390

in internationally out to our customers.

391

overall, it wasn't the

best position for me.

392

We made it work.

393

I stayed for several years and still

communicate with that team there.

394

And.

395

when I look back at it, I

kind of wish I joined at a

396

different time, not during COVID.

397

Uh during logistical nightmares,

but I learned so much from from that

398

opportunity and I do believe even

during COVID we were able to lower

399

cost and improve the overall process

400

Desmond Nicholson: Now, post COVID,

401

Damian Tanenbaum: Yeah

402

Desmond Nicholson: you

now join Blank Factor.

403

What was that about?

404

Damian Tanenbaum: Yeah, I was a

consultant really, so as still

405

while my Non compete was going on.

406

I was a consultant for BlankFactor and

some other companies along the way where

407

I was helping You In many ways, so I would

come in, look at their operations, do a

408

small statement of work that was based

on, helping them with their CRM package,

409

helping them improve the workflows,

call it the input, the process and

410

the output within their organization.

411

And helping set up some

different facilities.

412

So for Blank Factor, one of the

things I did is I helped them engage

413

with certain payments companies and

then set up development resources

414

in Costa Rica, Colombia, Bulgaria.

415

and even in the U.

416

S.

417

and that was based on, you

know, let's create a C.

418

R.

419

M.

420

to keep track of all

the projects happening.

421

Let's create kind of workflow to

make sure we know which developers

422

are designed and feature teams

are allocated to the appropriate.

423

Customers based on the skill set,

the need, and then let's grow the

424

organization at the different lower cost.

425

But regional

426

Desmond Nicholson: Right.

427

Damian Tanenbaum: centers.

428

Desmond Nicholson: Mm.

429

Well, it's now September 2022, and you

are the Chief Customer Officer at One Inc.

430

former Chief Customer Officer

431

years and three months you were

432

Damian Tanenbaum: Yeah.

433

Desmond Nicholson: let's

pick up from here, Inc.,

434

what attracted you to the

company in the first place?

435

Mm hmm.

436

Damian Tanenbaum: So I'm going

to say same old, same old.

437

First of all, it was payments and I

was excited to get back into payments.

438

second, it was a company

trying to modernize an industry

439

that had not been modern.

440

So if you look at insurance, right,

we're all used to insurance checks.

441

We're used to paying our insurance

by check and we're used to

442

receiving insurance claims by check.

443

So when I was talking to Ian Drysdale,

the CEO and some of the others

444

there, it just intrigued me that.

445

There were so many

checks in the world still

446

Desmond Nicholson: Mm

447

Damian Tanenbaum: since, you know,

you and I back in, you know, in

448

1990 started digitizing payments

at large big box retailers.

449

It ultimately moved through to vending

machines and yet you still have thousands

450

of dollars of insurance payments.

451

Being made and paid by check.

452

So I joined the company simply because 1,

I didn't know anything about insurance.

453

But I did want to know why there

was so many payments still.

454

In check and the company

was growing at a fast pace.

455

So when I joined, One Inc,

I came into the operation.

456

I learned obviously what was going on.

457

I didn't have any experience in insurance,

but like the previous positions, I knew it

458

was a fast growing company and needed to

stabilize operations and the rest of the

459

leadership team had to focus on enhancing

the technology and growing sales.

460

Desmond Nicholson: Good.

461

by the time you arrived at One Inc,

had, quite a diverse set of experiences

462

across small, medium size and large

companies, including of course,

463

your own entrepreneurial ventures.

464

With that being said, Damian, what were

some fundamental lessons learned along

465

the way that prepared and shaped how

you approached your role at One Inc?

466

Mm

467

Damian Tanenbaum: so the lessons

learned, there's thousands of

468

them, probably too many to mention.

469

one of the things is listening,

understanding, what's really happening.

470

I think when I used to do things, I'd

walk in with my own playbook, ready

471

to say, here's what I'm going to do in

the first 30, 60, 90 days before I ever

472

listened to what their problems were.

473

I think that the, key to.

474

Success in companies that are

growing, 5 X a year and, really,

475

focused on sales and technology.

476

Is coming into operations

and 1st listening.

477

Observing seeing where the Skeletons

are buried and understanding.

478

What parts of my toolbox do I have to use?

479

And I can't use them all, right?

480

You can't use all your tools all the time.

481

So what I have learned along the way

now is I have to come in, watch, see

482

what's happening, talk to the subject

matter experts, see the input, the

483

process, the output, understand where

the challenges are, and then listen to

484

the rest of the executive team or the

board or even the private equity team

485

to understand where they want to go.

486

What gaps do they see are in the process?

487

Is it a customer experience issue whereby

we need to provide a better service?

488

Or is it a customer experience

issue whereby they want to provide

489

a better service cheaper, right?

490

And so when you look at kind of the

different tools that you have to use

491

with with One Inc, it was interesting

because we want to provide a better

492

service and the and we wanted to do it.

493

At a low cost, however, they were willing

to allow us to move 200 seats from India.

494

Back into the US in order to improve.

495

The service we were providing.

496

So that was an interesting opportunity.

497

We got a chance to set up, a center

of excellence in Knoxville, Tennessee,

498

got to see firsthand kind of a team

go from, zero to 200 pretty quickly.

499

and it was also interesting trying to

get information out of the partners

500

in India as we brought it in house.

501

So that took a little bit

longer than you would expect.

502

It's not that easy just to

walk in and move something.

503

You have to look at all the documentation.

504

You have to connect the dots and, and

really understand what's happening

505

before you can start moving it to

folks that are new to the industry.

506

So, I was happy with One Inc.

507

And the fact that, you know, again,

we grew 5X while I was there.

508

The company's was valued a lot more.

509

We went through a, equity event

that occurred, which then led to

510

me leaving, which is a good thing.

511

And now I'm free to do the same thing,

that I did before in some of these

512

larger companies and these growing

companies, but now I can kind of

513

handpick the companies I go to work for.

514

Desmond Nicholson: Good for.

515

you.

516

let's address the elephant in the

room, the role of data analytics

517

and artificial intelligence.

518

From your vantage point, how do you see

companies leveraging data analytics and

519

artificial intelligence to improve service

delivery and customer satisfaction?

520

Damian Tanenbaum: So I think

that data analytics, first

521

of all, it's, cool, right?

522

I mean, you have to have it.

523

Everybody wants a cube.

524

Everyone, everybody wants a Power

BI dashboard and you have to know

525

what it is that you're looking at.

526

Right.

527

And so as a call center guy, I have,

you know, my 10, 20 KPIs, and then as a

528

call center manager, you dig deeper to

understand what those KPIs are telling

529

you, who's doing what's right, who's

doing what's wrong, what processes are

530

efficient, what processes are wrong.

531

And then as you start to use AI, if

you're using it right, it is helping

532

to summarize product issues, helping

to summarize the voice of the customer.

533

And so when you look at, I'll kind

of, Get down to a real answer for you.

534

Desmond and in the call center world,

if you are recording calls and recording

535

screens, you can use data analytics and

AI together to tell you if customers are

536

happy or not, to tell you if your product

is working as designed or not, and to tell

537

you if your processes are working or not.

538

And they can summarize by call.

539

They can cascade up by product.

540

They can kind of cascade

back down to the team member.

541

to the specific call type, to

the specific product, and so on.

542

So using AI to summarize interactions,

immediately alert supervisors or managers

543

when somebody is on the phone and

they're upset due to voice fluctuations

544

and or bad words they may be saying,

and then using post call data to

545

say, you know, 99 percent of the time

when somebody calls about this issue,

546

they're frustrated, they're upset.

547

Using that kind of information to make

your products better, your processes

548

better, and train your people is an

amazing opportunity for us today.

549

That, to me, is where

we should be focused on.

550

Now, with that said, I've also

seen companies, implement AI for

551

their, a chatbot, let's just say, to

answer the call and solve the call.

552

That's fine if you've

trained the chatbot properly.

553

But if that chat bot is picking up

background noise and not actually

554

getting a chance to answer your question

and routing you to the wrong answers

555

and then hanging up on you at the end

and never getting you to a live agent.

556

Well, now you're negatively

impacting the customer experience.

557

Desmond Nicholson: you.

558

Damian Tanenbaum: So, I

think the lesson here is.

559

AI and Big data and the conversational

AI are all great for the industry.

560

If we learn to use them as another

tool in our toolbox, but if we use

561

them to replace us, without the common

sense aspect of what we do as customer

562

experience experts, then you're negatively

impacting the customer experience.

563

Desmond Nicholson: Now let's

switch gears for a while.

564

You're listening to Bridges to Excellence.

565

Inspired leadership in

payments and FinTech.

566

Desmond Nicholson: It's, interesting to

note that concurrently while building a

567

successful career in payments fintech,

likewise, on parallel tracks, You have

568

built and nurtured over the years, a

lifestyle of passion and purpose your

569

avocation and also business involved

in cross fitness, martial arts, and

570

wrestling, while earning a black belt in

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu along the way, and

571

now acting, appearing on the big screen.

572

Anyway, recently I came across this

movie trailer, of different scenes,

573

of course, which I'm about to play.

574

So, let's take a listen, then I

want you to give some context.

575

Okay,

576

Well, Sharon, you better pray

whatever god you believe in, that

577

nobody finds out about this, or else

this case, it's out of our hands.

578

And us?

579

We lose our careers.

580

By now I'm sure you know

who Wanda Reeves is.

581

That woman, she deserves her revenge.

582

We deserve whatever happens to us.

583

There's nothing I can say to

make this any easier on you.

584

I am truly sorry.

585

Oh, shit.

586

Desmond Nicholson: Wow.

587

Another Dwayne Johnson in the making, a.

588

k.

589

a.

590

The Rock.

591

Damian Tanenbaum: yeah.

592

Desmond Nicholson: dark,

and handsome, with skills,

593

Damian Tanenbaum: I played district

attorney, DA Jordan and my girlfriend

594

and I have some secrets in regards to,

a cover up that we did, which turned out

595

to be a cover up where her son killed

somebody in a drunk driving accident.

596

And the lady in the

film is getting revenge.

597

And you don't know that

till right at the end.

598

And that revenge leads me to commit

suicide and my girlfriend to be murdered

599

and it's it's just it's a really heart

touching story there's some challenges

600

with the sound and that's the kind of

the problem you have as an actor too

601

is you get Involved in a movie in many

cases because of who the writer is who

602

the producer is or the script And you

hope that they have the right people

603

doing the right things So there are

some parts of the movie where the sound

604

is not perfect You If he can get those

things fixed, in post production, I

605

guess i'm gonna say post post production

It really will be a good movie.

606

Desmond Nicholson: Premiered last

October at the Lyric Theatre and Cultural

607

Arts Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

608

Any chance of it appearing

on Netflix anytime soon?

609

Damian Tanenbaum: Sure hope so.

610

I really hope so.

611

This story is, really good.

612

this is a young writer, from Louisville.

613

took 20, 000 out of his own pocket.

614

He raised another 60,

000 to make this film.

615

And when I read the script

initially, I was like, man, if

616

this kid tells this story to where

the script is, it's incredible.

617

Desmond Nicholson: Okay.

618

Looking forward to seeing it.

619

How did you get started in martial arts?

620

and how it has prepared and

taken you to the big screen.

621

Damian Tanenbaum: Wow.

622

Well, like I said, as

a kid, I was scrappy.

623

I was a fighter.

624

I wrestled, I kickboxed actually as a kid,

I was 7 and 3 as an amateur kickboxer.

625

but obviously couldn't make money in it.

626

And then when I was fortunate enough

to get a job, to a career, to a

627

profession, I kind of forgot about it.

628

Well, when my son was 12, he was a great

baseball player, great skateboarder, and

629

said, Hey, I would love to learn MMA.

630

Love to learn how to

kickbox, how to fight.

631

So we went to a local gym and when

that happened, unlike most parents

632

who drop off their kids at the door

and sit and watch them, I figured

633

I might as well do it with him.

634

And so I, quickly, some of my

wrestling, kickboxing skills came back.

635

Uh, but I started doing it with him and it

led to conversations with the guy who was

636

teaching a class who wasn't the owner who

said he wanted to start his own academy.

637

about 10 miles up the road, which

happened to be a lot closer to our house.

638

So after some conversations with my

son, my wife, my other kids, I said,

639

well, we'll invest in that academy.

640

And so I invested really from

the business side, right?

641

Doing, some of the marketing,

helping drive business development.

642

and of course, at the same time, getting

CrossFit certified and, starting to

643

do more martial arts on a daily basis.

644

I was traveling for work.

645

As, you know, and as we talked about

the many careers have taken me many

646

places and in doing so I, started

training at different academies

647

when I would travel for work.

648

And so, when everybody else

would have a rough day in the

649

office and then go out and drink.

650

I started going out and training.

651

And so it gave me the opportunity

to train with some really

652

cool people like, George St.

653

Pierre and other UFC fighters, because

I would go to different gyms, I would

654

find kind of the best training programs

and I would take a fitness class, take

655

a martial arts class and and then get

a chance to train with some of these,

656

really awesome fighters, which was

really neat because what I found, you

657

know, sitting on the mat, In grappling

is the level of respect that you

658

didn't necessarily have in the office.

659

I'm sorry, I don't wanna offend

anybody in the FinTech or the

660

banking or insurance space, but

sometimes when you're in the office,

661

everybody's, just trying to be heard.

662

Everybody's just selling

themself in the office.

663

But when you end up in a

Jiujitsu Academy or a gym, or

664

even a CrossFit, you only have.

665

What you lay out right then, what you do

right then, you're only as good as a five

666

minute match you just had with somebody

else where you're trying to choke each

667

other out, or you're only as good as the

effort you put into that CrossFit workout.

668

You're doing everything you can to make

yourself physically fit, and also you're

669

competing with others in that academy.

670

Desmond Nicholson: Yeah.

671

Damian Tanenbaum: And when it's

done, you can have these amazing

672

conversations with people.

673

And really learn about them and you have

people of all different walks of life

674

and backgrounds and professions sitting

there on the mat as equals and I just

675

found that incredible and And it got to

the point where one of the things I loved

676

was just walking into a new gym Getting

a chance to train meet new people and

677

then just talking about our lives for a

few minutes afterwards and with that said

678

that led to being more involved in the

gym investing in like you said bjj link

679

You A little earlier where it was a gym

management software program focused on

680

the brazilian jiu jitsu world And I felt

with my business experience my payments

681

experience customer experience and jiu

jitsu I could help that organization And

682

then I brought that same, passion back

to my local academy as we grew, from

683

call it 50 members to over 200 members

684

Desmond Nicholson: But then

that led you to the screen.

685

Tell us about that.

686

Damian Tanenbaum: Yes, it did

687

Desmond Nicholson: transition?

688

Damian Tanenbaum: So there was a, a

local low budget movie being filmed

689

in Louisville, Kentucky, and there

was a little Facebook post that said

690

they needed some people with fighting

experience to help with some fight scenes.

691

And so I signed my son and I up, we

drove about an hour away and we went

692

and got involved in a fight scene and

I was watching how they were doing it.

693

Not everything looked real.

694

And I kind of inserted myself

to give some direction.

695

My son ended up hating it, by the way,

he thought it was a total waste of time.

696

And I ended up kind of standing around

watching a lot and having opinions.

697

And so, that one fight scene led

to another, which led to another.

698

And now I've traveled to LA,

New York, Atlanta, and I've,

699

I've filmed, over 50 movies, uh,

probably 10 to 15 fight scenes.

700

Some things I've been, just as,

a background, just sitting there.

701

In the background other things i've

had some major speaking roles and

702

considered one of the the stars Most

of them are low budget streaming

703

and on different platforms, but look

you got to start somewhere, right?

704

Uh, just like just like that day I

started at citibank just like the first

705

time I stepped on a mat and just like

the first time I started acting right?

706

We're all beginners once And it it's

not necessarily about where you end

707

up It's about the journey, right?

708

So just like others play golf, I, I'm

an actor, I probably make a little bit

709

more money acting than you do playing

golf, but it's that same passion.

710

Desmond Nicholson: Damian,

I got to ask this question.

711

What is the source of your work ethics?

712

What fuels that overdrive in you

to take on so many challenges?

713

And excel at them.

714

Damian Tanenbaum: I think success

builds success And I don't really

715

have an end goal in mind You I'm

enjoying everything I do, which in

716

some cases, I've had some shorter jobs

because I'm in it really for whatever,

717

whatever their version of success is.

718

And sometimes it's six months.

719

Sometimes it's, it's four years.

720

Sometimes it's, it's longer, but what I

look at is, I think it's so cool to be

721

able to come into a job, a company, meet

some of the new people, get to understand

722

their inner workings, what they do.

723

And then like infiltrate that

system and become part of that

724

team, help make it better.

725

And then once it's running, you can

kind of move on to the next thing.

726

And I think that that is the journey

part for me that keeps me going.

727

I like the idea of being a new guy.

728

I like the idea of trying something

I've never done before and then using

729

the skills I've had from the past

in different situations to fit into

730

whatever it is I'm being asked to do now.

731

Desmond Nicholson: Well done.

732

Let's switch gears again.

733

Yeah.

734

Desmond Nicholson: Now, you're aware,

there are all kinds of leadership styles.

735

How would you describe your style

of leadership, approach, and the

736

guiding principles behind it?

737

Damian Tanenbaum: I think for the first

10 years of my career, I worked for

738

some just different leaders, all with

amazing different styles and their

739

ability to get me to do things, their

ability to keep me motivated to take

740

phone calls or to travel or to work late.

741

And, at the end of the day, for me

now as a leader, what I look at is.

742

How do I get things done through

others in a way they want to do them,

743

in a way they need to be treated,

in a way that motivates them and

744

removes demotivators from them?

745

So it's not the way I want

to be treated anymore.

746

In fact, I don't care how you treat me.

747

I want to come into an organization,

work with the team that's there, figure

748

out what their specific skill is because

they're all going to be different skills

749

than I have, than each other have.

750

then do your best to get them to want

to use their best skills as part of that

751

team, so that together everybody rises.

752

Desmond Nicholson: Well said.

753

is a known fact that the rise

to success is never linear.

754

It's a journey with peaks and valleys.

755

With that being said, What

failure in life you've learned the

756

most from what was that lesson?

757

Damian Tanenbaum: I think

the journey is key, and look,

758

I've been through a divorce.

759

I think I let my family down.

760

During a time when I was traveling a lot

and maybe partying a little too much.

761

but I've learned from it.

762

I, you know, I've, I spent a lot of

time with my kids, my grandchild now.

763

I

764

So failing at a marriage was probably

the biggest one that I can think of.

765

I think that when you put in perspective,

there's other failures in business where,

766

If I could change anything about myself,

over 30 years would be listen more.

767

that's also what I would tell

people starting out and people

768

looking to learn and grow.

769

Listen more, take lateral moves

and learn everything you can and

770

enjoy the journey on the way.

771

Desmond Nicholson: Very good.

772

Over the years, CEOs and business

leaders have shared their thoughts

773

on the phrase work life balance.

774

What does that mean to you?

775

would you phrase it differently?

776

Damian Tanenbaum: Yes, yes sir, I would.

777

I think that I tried the balance

piece before and let's face it,

778

work always comes in, takes over,

and you can get stuck doing it.

779

I've been stuck doing it since 2000,

I would say, because that's when

780

we started using, text messaging,

email on our phones, and being

781

connected 24 hours a day, right?

782

So, I look at more of a work life merging.

783

The merging of the two lives have

to come together and you have to be

784

comfortable enough that you can have

your private time with your family, but

785

you're bringing your family on trips

when you have a work event is fine.

786

And doing something personal when

you go on a work trip is also fine.

787

So, I think that the 1 thing I would say

if I ran a giant company, it would be.

788

enjoy the journey.

789

Take your family along

that journey with you.

790

Don't make it a balance.

791

Don't make it a line that you

have to cross back and forth over.

792

make sure you're doing what you love

so that your life is your work and your

793

work is your life and so is your family.

794

That's what I've had to learn.

795

Desmond Nicholson: Good.

796

What role mentorship played

in your professional life?

797

And does any one person come to mind?

798

Damian Tanenbaum: Oh, Desmond,

I still to this day, you know, I

799

love the fact that there's LinkedIn

and Facebook and different things.

800

To this day, when I go to Atlanta,

I want to visit Andre Blythe.

801

He was, one of the first guys that I'll

say kicked my butt, made me realize

802

that it's job career profession.

803

It's not just, a job anymore.

804

Leslie Rosenberg, you know, Mark Ruling

back in the day, I look at Henry Helgeson,

805

young, but you know, this guy who came up

with a product on the back of a napkin.

806

Tim Munto was a great leader.

807

I look, you know, Diane, Donahue

I remember, Terri Hendriickson

808

Harwood, are, I'm, right?

809

When you look at these guys, all of them

had these different leadership styles

810

and they could be the strongest person

in a room, but they could also be.

811

The person who was the most nurturing

in a room when they had to be.

812

So, I think that the overall mentorship

that, These different leaders gave me.

813

Who one kept me employed when I made

mistakes and they believed in me.

814

Other times motivated me by getting me

to do more than I ever thought I could.

815

Other times found ways to remove whatever

was impacting my life or D motivating me.

816

And then, at the end of the day, they

got me to do what I needed to do.

817

To to get the job done, take care of

my family and take care of the company.

818

At the end of the day, they.

819

Did what's right for the customer they

did what's right for their employees

820

being me or or peer And they did what's

right for the shareholders I think

821

that the right mentor has balance and

is able to play those different roles

822

and you know Remember our discussions

when you you got me to do sales, right?

823

I mean think if it wasn't for the

bit of sales experience I got from

824

you I probably could not have be the

salesperson I am for the gym or for

825

some of the other things that i've

helped with business development on.

826

So you can learn so much from everybody.

827

Desmond Nicholson: Good.

828

how important have your networks

and connections been in your career?

829

And overall success.

830

Damian Tanenbaum: Very important.

831

I think I mentioned earlier, multiple

positions after First Data we're

832

all working for somebody at that.

833

I worked with at First Data.

834

and so when I look at, you know, even

when I joined one Inc, I had worked

835

with the head of marketing at TSYS and

I had worked, with Ian at First Data.

836

when I, was with, consulting, I've helped

connect companies together who were simply

837

connections that I had, and both of those

companies end up successful as a result.

838

Desmond Nicholson: Now given your

experience, what advice would you

839

give to someone just coming into

the payments fintech industry?

840

Damian Tanenbaum: Well, first of

all, we were all beginners once.

841

the first time I stepped on a

jiu jitsu mat, I was a beginner.

842

the first time I, went to work

at Citibank, I was a beginner.

843

So the advice I would say is, those people

who know everything right now that you

844

walk into an office, you walk into a room

or you walk into your first day of work,

845

the training room, look around, look at

the other beginners and then look at the

846

people that know what's going on and,

and learn a little bit from everybody.

847

But don't be afraid simply

because you don't know something.

848

A lot of people, because they're

beginners, they don't come back.

849

They're too scared to, to

get out of their shell.

850

So as a beginner, get in there, take

the opportunity, take chances, learn

851

as much as you can and move laterally.

852

Desmond Nicholson: Mm hmm.

853

Damian Tanenbaum: The job you start

with may not be the job you end up

854

with in your career or your profession.

855

So it's okay to kind of come into

accounting and end up in product.

856

It's okay to come into product

and end up in call center.

857

You know, you can kind of

take this progression by doing

858

a little of everything in.

859

And companies, just like I've

done in acting even right is,

860

you start off as a background.

861

I did a little fight scene here and

there, but then I go on set more and more.

862

You start to learn the terminology,

you start to learn who's who and

863

you get involved in bigger things.

864

It's the same thing with jujitsu.

865

You, get on the mat, you learn one or two

moves, you start to piece it together like

866

chess and eventually you know thousands of

moves, the boardroom, the training room,

867

you start off in this training class.

868

You learn your job, but as you're learning

your job, chances are your department

869

is integrated with other departments

and you have input from other people.

870

You have processes you

follow and you have output.

871

Start to understand where it comes from,

understand where it goes, learn more

872

about those connecting areas, and you

never know where your career can go.

873

Desmond Nicholson: Great advice.

874

what advice would you give to other

companies in The payments fintech sector

875

to elevate the customer experience game?

876

Damian Tanenbaum: The first,

bit of advice is simple.

877

You probably need somebody like

me to help your organization.

878

do a deep dive into how well the

customer experience is going.

879

But, outside of that, what I would

say is, look, as a leader in a fintech

880

company, chances are you've got there

because you had a great product idea

881

or you were great at sales, right?

882

And so if that's the case, take a

little time, respect the customer

883

experience aspect of your business.

884

Thank you.

885

make sure that the call center agents have

the tools and resources to do the job.

886

And, if they do, then they're

going to represent your brand.

887

Well, if they don't, you're going to

have challenges and you're going to

888

blame it on the customer experience team.

889

But it might quite possibly be

that their procedures are lacking.

890

The processes are lacking or the

technology is broken and they just

891

need some help putting it all together.

892

and up training their agents or creating

better processes or implementing

893

technology to help deal with it.

894

So my advice really is, respect what

the customer facing folks are doing and

895

then provide them with the tools and

resources to do the job and, chances

896

are they're going to represent you well.

897

Desmond Nicholson: Sage advice.

898

Indeed.

899

What is the best career

advice you have ever received?

900

Damian Tanenbaum: remember as a

call center rep and I actually

901

I remember this in detail.

902

Terry Snodderly was yelling at me

because I said, made some, personal

903

calls on my call center, phone system.

904

And, she brought me in and I was

complaining to the person I was talking

905

to because it was another employee about

all the things that weren't working.

906

All the tools I didn't have, all

the things that weren't working.

907

And she brought me in the office

and she's like, Damian, sit down.

908

She's like, no, you stand

up, I'm going to sit down.

909

And she yelled at me, she said,

Damian, don't you think we're trying?

910

I She said, don't you think

we want everything to work?

911

And I thought about that a lot and I think

about it, you know, a lot of times when

912

I get put in positions from either, a

CEO, a board member, or even employees.

913

Where nothing ever works, right?

914

We always say that a lot of times.

915

And, you know, there's lots of issues.

916

And so she said, don't

you think we're trying?

917

And so what that said to me is,

Damian, become part of the solution.

918

not part of the problem.

919

So it doesn't help to complain.

920

It helps to come up with solutions.

921

It helps to look at things at kind

of a different level and then dive

922

into the weeds where you have to

understand what's causing the problem.

923

Understand the root cause and then

go back to whoever it is that the

924

decision maker is and hopefully it's us.

925

Hopefully we are they, right?

926

And create solutions.

927

Don't just talk about the problems.

928

The other thing that I would say,

another, I think it was David Morris

929

who kind of said, Damian, things

aren't always as bad as they may

930

feel or as good as they may appear.

931

So be more balanced in an approach.

932

you can't move left

and right all the time.

933

You have to sometimes

just set a direction.

934

Understand we have tactics that

have to go into place and eventually

935

we're going to get to the target.

936

So you can't always be

bouncing left and right.

937

Sometimes you have to kind

of go in a straight line.

938

You may just have to go a lot

slower and watch the results happen.

939

Stay the course.

940

Desmond Nicholson: Stay the course.

941

Damian Tanenbaum: Yeah.

942

Desmond Nicholson: I know you are

a strong believer in giving back.

943

To whom much is given,

much will be required.

944

What is a cause that is

important to you, and why?

945

Damian Tanenbaum: So, I think it's sad

when you travel around the world and you

946

see, and I'm going to kind of say this,

even in our own backyards, the homeless.

947

People, I was just in, in L.

948

A.

949

and I was walking around a little bit and

it's crazy to see, for fires aside, just

950

the, in our own backyards in downtown L.

951

A.,

952

the number of homeless people that

you have, the number of people that

953

are now sick and we don't know if they

were sick and became homeless or be,

954

something happened in their work life

and they became homeless and then became

955

sick, addicted to drugs, whatever.

956

But I think that when you look at that,

That it's a sickness in many cases.

957

I don't think we do enough as as people

to help them And I kind of take that up

958

a level the place where you know I have

a little bit more control and that's

959

overall health and fitness I do believe

that you have to take care of your your

960

mind your body yourself you have to age

gracefully you have to do things that

961

regenerate your own body to be fit and

if you do You hopefully then you don't

962

put yourself in this crazy position of

being homeless no matter what happens.

963

So I kind of look at this in

the sense of, of how do you,

964

address root causes of, of things?

965

And I think that health and

fitness is something that we

966

should all be very focused on.

967

I start my day and we'll, you know, we

talk a little bit about balance, work

968

life balance and I merge it all together.

969

I start my day off with a

great workout with my wife.

970

So I spend, every

morning, We do a workout.

971

We, in many cases sit in a sauna for about

15, 20 minutes and then turn on the cold

972

water and sit there for another five and

then put a bunch of clothes on, go out,

973

feed the horses, the pigs, the ducks, the

chickens come back in and start working.

974

And so when you look at that, we, every

single day I do something good for my

975

body, and, we talked a little bit before,

I've done stem cell, Um, I just went to a

976

company called new fit in Austin, Texas to

try this neurological, unit that you can

977

put on your muscles as you're working out.

978

It's just helps with

rehab, helps with fitness.

979

I was looking at some of their

processes and procedures to see how

980

I can help them grow their business.

981

And so I think the real answer is, health,

fitness and health, You've got to take

982

care of your body, take care of yourself.

983

It's all you have.

984

If you have it, I think that you're

going to be more successful in money,

985

life, and family, and you don't

find yourself homeless, Well said.

986

what's next for Damian?

987

I'm moving into the, the consultant

side of things, and I've, I've actually

988

been consulting since kind of the

989

Philippines, and I was helping people

outsource to the Philippines, and I

990

was helping people do different things.

991

I'm trying to do.

992

Kind of these fractional

leadership, positions where I help

993

organizations that I believe in.

994

I mentioned, NewFit earlier.

995

So one of my goals here is to spend

some time, helping them with their

996

operation while at the same time

understanding that, this health technology

997

is a way to help people stay fit.

998

So being involved in whether it's

gym tech, fit tech, fin tech.

999

Martial arts technology.

00:59:01,578 --> 00:59:06,228

I think these are things that are

enhancing the quality of life Because

00:59:06,228 --> 00:59:10,948

you're merging technology with fitness

or technology with medical or technology

00:59:10,948 --> 00:59:15,348

with gyms you think of all the wearables

that people have nowadays right to

00:59:15,348 --> 00:59:20,698

monitor their heart rate to monitor

their fitness so What's next for me

00:59:20,698 --> 00:59:24,828

is helping companies where they need

help Looking at the customer experience

00:59:24,828 --> 00:59:32,003

journey And hopefully, those companies

are in a industry related to payments,

00:59:32,393 --> 00:59:35,483

fitness, technology, and so on.

00:59:36,643 --> 00:59:37,213

Desmond Nicholson: Very good.

00:59:38,103 --> 00:59:41,663

as we're about to wrap up,

it's been great catching up and

00:59:42,153 --> 00:59:43,353

having you on the show, Damian.

00:59:44,143 --> 00:59:46,903

there anything you want to add

or we didn't mention that's

00:59:46,903 --> 00:59:49,063

important for you to talk about?

00:59:50,713 --> 00:59:53,033

Damian Tanenbaum: I

think life has to be fun.

00:59:53,363 --> 00:59:55,263

You have to enjoy the journey.

00:59:55,263 --> 00:59:57,103

You know, you asked me a

little bit ago what's next.

00:59:57,798 --> 01:00:00,858

I have ideas of what I want it

to be, but I'm also extremely

01:00:00,868 --> 01:00:02,078

open to what it could be.

01:00:02,578 --> 01:00:04,048

Whatever comes up, comes up.

01:00:04,498 --> 01:00:08,708

And so I think we have to take that,

we're all so serious about what we have

01:00:08,708 --> 01:00:13,788

to become in life that I think you can let

the journey take you where it takes you.

01:00:13,878 --> 01:00:16,728

You can enjoy it, you can do things

that are outside of your comfort

01:00:16,728 --> 01:00:18,018

zone no matter what age you are.

01:00:18,378 --> 01:00:22,398

Right, so I'm 54 years old and I'm

still learning new things every day.

01:00:22,858 --> 01:00:26,433

Whether it's, you know, in Jiu

Jitsu, in business, in In gym tech,

01:00:26,433 --> 01:00:27,893

fit tech, whatever it might be.

01:00:27,893 --> 01:00:30,813

And even in the customer experience

space, you mentioned, you know,

01:00:30,813 --> 01:00:32,583

we talked a lot about AI earlier.

01:00:32,973 --> 01:00:36,873

I went to the, I think it was a Cisco

Webex conference about two months ago.

01:00:36,873 --> 01:00:39,953

And man, the things that they're

doing with, with AI are incredible.

01:00:40,473 --> 01:00:43,643

As long as we don't forget

that it's a tool to help us

01:00:43,643 --> 01:00:45,473

be better, not a replacement.

01:00:46,903 --> 01:00:48,863

Desmond Nicholson: Damian,

again, we thank you.

01:00:49,263 --> 01:00:51,293

And that's our conversation for this week.

01:00:51,373 --> 01:00:55,883

Our guest Damian Tenenbaum,

Payments Fintech Expert and former

01:00:55,883 --> 01:00:58,413

Chief Customer Officer at One Inc.

01:00:58,893 --> 01:01:02,623

To our listeners, thanks for your

continued support and remember

01:01:02,623 --> 01:01:06,893

to hit the subscribe button so

as never to miss an episode.

01:01:07,393 --> 01:01:12,293

And never forget, the more you expect

from yourself, the more you excel.

01:01:13,793 --> 01:01:18,203

You've been listening to Bridges

to Excellence podcast, inspired

01:01:18,203 --> 01:01:20,323

leadership and payments and fintech.

01:01:20,353 --> 01:01:24,123

Be sure to join us next time for more

conversations with another of your

01:01:24,123 --> 01:01:26,053

colleagues in payments and fintech.

01:01:26,793 --> 01:01:30,853

Insightful conversations in their

journey to excellence for transcripts

01:01:30,853 --> 01:01:32,803

and other materials covered on the show.

01:01:33,063 --> 01:01:35,313

Visit us at DesmondNicholson.

01:01:35,313 --> 01:01:35,743

com.