Episode 02: Leadership in the Fintech Industry, with Amy Porter

Amy Porter founded AffiniPay in 2005 and now serves at the company’s Executive Chairman. In this role, Amy steers the direction of the team and has led the company to 12 consecutive years of profitability. Her knowledge and experience in the payment industry have helped her build a dynamic, talented, and client-focused team dedicated to the success of association and member-based organizations. AffiniPay is also the technology behind the company’s industry-leading payment solutions LawPay and CPACharge. Together, these solutions are trusted by more than 60,000 professionals and recommended by hundreds of bar associations and CPA societies, including the American Bar Association and AICPA. In 2016, Amy was named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® in Financial Technology for Central Texas.

What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Amy got involved in the payment industry in the mid 1990s, long before the industry began to be called “fintech” How the industry has evolved significantly, and why Amy decided to start her own company, AffiniPay Why automated renewal is a powerful technology that allows associations to add value and improve their renewal numbers dramatically Why recognizing opportunities and wanting to bring people innovative solutions pushed Amy to launch two different businesses in the payment industry Why Amy tries not to fall into the trap of being a “woman entrepreneur”, and what advice she has to offer to young women leaders today Why Amy and AffiniPay was excited to partner with Eric’s company, Personify, and why they each saw a tremendous opportunity from the partnership What major changes Amy has seen in the nonprofit and association markets in the last few years, and why member engagement efforts are rapidly changing Why increasing competition from the private sector for resources is going to be an ongoing challenge for nonprofits and associations in the future How Amy has made the transition from CEO to Executive Chairman, and how she recognized that it was time to bring in new executive team members with fresh perspectives Additional resources from Eric Thurston: Website: https://personifycorp.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ericthurston/ Additional resources from Amy Porter: Website: https://affinipay.com/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amy-porter-21556636/ AffiniPay for Associations resources: Website: https://affinipayassociations.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apforassociations/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/affinipay-for-associations/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AffinipayA