Nick Wolff

Chief Technology Officer on the Leadership team

With Avant 2015-2020, then rejoined in 2021

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Nick for his take on our culture, and here’s what he said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

The culture here is really special—different from other companies I’ve worked at. There is a real sense that you can ask anybody any question, regardless of their level or their function, and they’ll have a genuine willingness to help you learn and understand.

It’s the psychological foundation here. We’re generally a blameless culture, and there are no dumb questions. People feel confident in their jobs, and I think that’s one of the hallmarks that makes Avant special.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

Especially compared to big banks or larger companies, you can really grab the bull by the horns, so to speak, and solve problems that make an impact on real people’s lives. You can take real action without a ton of red tape or bureaucracy slowing down your ability to improve the company. That was a breath of fresh air when I first arrived, and it’s continued to be true. It’s really motivating! Being blocked makes people feel demotivated. Actually taking action and seeing real results is what continues to make me excited to come to work here, 10 years later.

3. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I’m a dad with great little kids at home. I love sports and was a college athlete—football. And, we’re outdoors people, real lovers of nature. In our spare time as a family, we like to be outdoors. I grew up in Minnesota, and now we go up to the Boundary Waters each summer to canoe with the kids. It’s centering, that connection to something bigger than yourself, and it helps us reset, refresh, and give perspective. We love it.

5. What’s your favorite thing about how your specific role works on your team?

Avant is a digital-first company, and as CTO, it is really satisfying to have a full view of how we work. Having a vantage point across that full footprint gives me a real understanding of what we do and ways to continue to improve the company. That’s a real privilege—I feel privileged to be in that spot. It’s definitely something I love about my role.

6. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a quarterback in the NFL. Steve Young from the 49ers, that was who I wanted to be when I grew up.

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Nikhil Mehra

Chief Risk Officer on the Leadership team

With Avant 2015-2016, then rejoined in 2022

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Nikhil for his take on our culture, and here’s what he said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

The three words that come to my mind: entrepreneurship, ownership, and opportunity.

What’s different about Avant, and where we stand out as a company, is the fact that we want people to take risks. We encourage it. We want people to get a little bit outside of their comfort zones. If someone from one team wants to try out something completely different, we support that.

A good example: just this year, someone from my team who managed our debt sale process became a developer and actually created an app by herself. That can only happen when people have the ability to take risks, get a little outside their swim lane, and completely own their path.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

I think there are two reasons. Number one, even as Chief Risk Officer, I stay close to our problems. At heart, I’m a problem solver, and Avant gives me the opportunity to bring as much attention to the details as I do to the big picture. In one moment, I’m going deep with an analyst on my team who’s sitting right next to me, and in the next, I’m talking with a board member about blue sky thinking. In a relatively senior role at a larger firm, it can feel like you don’t have time for others and they don’t have time for you. But here at Avant, you do have that time. 

And then the second reason is that I like the entrepreneurship. There’s a lot of trust that comes with ownership at Avant. I like owning a P&L. Those are the catalysts of my success at this firm.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

Avant is really good at developing people early in their careers—the amount of market value that you add to your future by working here is absolutely phenomenal. After this, you will be an outperformer pretty much anywhere you go, because we challenge our people for sure. We have high standards, a collaborative environment, and a culture that gets things done, so people have a lot to put on their resumes. 

What I’d like to see us get better at is retaining more of our top talent over the years. I think we could do more as a leadership team with retention in the mid-career stage. We want to keep more of our rock stars here if they want to be here! With our current size and stability, we can focus more on this now. That said, often, if they do leave, we get them back—I’m a boomerang myself. I came back to Avant after six years at another large firm because I missed it.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I’d say I’m a 20-year-old in a 45-year-old’s body. Especially when I’m with my kids and their friends, I’m still trying to speak in their lingo, I’m still doing a lot of sports, and I’ll be the first one to play against them. Like, I play defense, and I figure that if I can guard against a teenager, that means I’ve still got it.

The same goes with technology. We hire a lot of very smart people, way smarter than me, and if I can keep up with them, then I feel like, yes, I made my day’s worth of contributions. It’s a sort of self-motivation, to be able to do that. So, I’d describe myself as continuing to strive to be as youthful as possible.

I also derive a lot of inspiration from sport, especially the philosophies of former Liverpool FC manager Jürgen Klopp (I support Liverpool). Liverpool is a team that grinds, and they’ve been successful even without a big budget. They’ve done really well with limited resources, purely because of the amount of effort they put in. I derive a lot of my inspiration from that.

5. What’s a superpower you get to apply at your job?

On the leadership team, we have a lot of pro-growth individuals. As the Chief Risk Officer, I have to maintain a balance between growth and making sure we don’t tip over. So I spend a lot of time looking at a lot of data, which means I always have a little more information than anyone else—and that’s my superpower. Information is powerful here. I’m always looking at data and triangulating them together to tell a story. My coworkers know that I always have that one nugget of info that makes us all pause and think, and they really respect that.

6. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a soldier in the army. Actually, I think I watched Rambo and thought, I want to be John Rambo.

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Jena Acuff

Head of Customer Experience and Design on the Product Team

Joined Avant in 2021

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Jena for her take on our culture, and here’s what she said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

I was fortunate enough to have Paul Zang as my first boss, and I think Paul is the perfect embodiment of Avant’s culture and values. He leads with friendliness, open-mindedness, and collaboration, and it carries through to the people here. One of the things that stood out to me when I joined is how willing people are to take time out of their day to help you—regardless of how busy they are. That has stayed consistent over the past four years, and it’s something I really value about the Avant culture.

One of the benefits of working here is that we all wear multiple hats and try different things. If you have the interest and desire to solve a problem, and you have a solution to suggest, you can certainly make it happen. That’s true regardless of your level or previous experience, and it’s a unique opportunity for career growth.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

I like learning new things and being challenged. During my time at Avant, I have had the chance to work in a few different areas of the business, including leading more technical teams like our Data Analytics Team as well as customer-facing groups like our Design Team. I’ve been able to learn new skills and domains while making an impact on the business. The versatility has been fun! I learn from so many talented colleagues, which has given me a broader set of perspectives.

In my current role, I’m focused on how we can make the customer experience exceptional for our Avant customers, which has been super cool to work on. I try to take a customer-first mindset in everything I do—I started my early career at American Express, which is a very customer-centric company, and that time influenced the approach I take today. I am so excited about the problems we’re solving and what we have in store for our customers.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

Something Avant is really good at is iterating. Matt Bochenek, Avant’s late CEO, was an incredible advocate for change and making the business better. He really led by example and has influenced myself and so many others in how we go about solving problems. Matt really believed in the company vision to help us move our customers’ lives financially forward and demonstrated resilience in never giving up no matter how hard the challenge in front of you is. As I think about my own journey at Avant, that is a huge prerequisite for me: to make sure that I am working in an environment that is constantly iterating, taking feedback, making changes, improving and persevering.

For where we can get better, since I am focused on how we improve the customer experience, I see so much opportunity there. There is a lot of excitement and momentum around that work, and I’m excited to help drive it forward.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I’m a very proud mom of three little kids! This phase of life is a very rewarding one, my kids’ curiosity and enthusiasm inspires me to learn new things, enjoy the simple things in life and be present in the moment.

For what I enjoy doing, I really like to do outdoor activities with my family, whether biking to the beach or teaching my kids how to ski. I have a lot of fond memories of my family hiking and skiing, and that is something I have been intentional about with my own kids. Although, once it gets cold outside, you can find me cheering on my kids at the hockey rink! I am their biggest fan, I have even painted my nails with their team colors to show extra support.

One of my hobbies is that I like to make themed cakes for family birthdays, inspired by both of my grandmas. Not quite at the level of Cake Wars, but I have made some pretty interesting ones – a ski slope, hockey rink, and rainbow confetti cake.

5. What’s a superpower you get to apply at your job?

One of my superpowers has always been connecting. Connecting the dots, connecting with people, listening and seeing how people’s interests and ideas can solve problems. Throughout my time at Avant, I’ve had the opportunity to connect with people in different parts of the business, to learn from them and solve problems together. That’s been really a continuous thread for my journey.

6. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a news anchor or an actress. As a kid, I really liked performing in the school plays and dance recitals. I still do a lot of storytelling, just in the context of how the business functions. And occasionally, my kids have to listen to me sing Disney songs in the car!

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Courtney Young

Director on the People Team

Joined Avant in 2018

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Courtney for her take on our culture, and here’s what she said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

We’re incredibly team-oriented and collaborative–truly. The people here are some of the smartest I’ve ever worked with, but what struck me in my first week (coming from a very different environment) was how uncompetitive it felt. No ego, no sharp elbows. The vibe is more like, “I’m going to do my best because that’s my own standard–and I want to support you to be successful too, because we’re in this together.”
People genuinely want to help you out–teach you, support you, help you grow, and cheer you on. That stuck with me early on, and it’s been consistently true throughout my tenure here. It’s one of the (many) reasons I love working here.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

That’s an easy answer: because I get to learn every single day. I find our work so fascinating and motivating, and I love that I’m trusted with new tasks, responsibilities, and initiatives—even without decades of experience in that exact area. I get to stretch, figure things out, and tap into the insanely smart people around me. I keep getting challenged in ways that I never expected, and I love it!

My love of learning is part of who I am, but it also reflects how we approach and solve problems. We don’t say “I don’t know how to do it, so someone else should.” It’s more like, “I don’t know how to do it, so who can help me learn?” Avant is full of people who are curious, generous with their knowledge, and excited to grow–and they want you to grow right alongside them. That’s just the vibe here, and it suits me well.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

Something we’re really good at: when we decide to prioritize something, we mobilize. Quickly. We pull in the right people or teams, and because we’re stacked with doers and thinkers and go-getters, we keep moving–even as roadblocks naturally come up and we need to pivot, we stay focused and get it done. A great example of this is how quickly we were able to get all of our teams fully operational during the pandemic, when we had never worked fully remotely before. People were just so willing to jump in. It was one of those moments that really showed who we are as a company.

Of course there is always room for continuous improvement in almost every area. Something we have room to grow is efficiency. We have a complex environment—some Avantees in person, some remote, everyone juggling different timelines and competing priorities. And with that I wonder: are we moving as efficiently as we could? Are we connecting people in the ways they need or expect? Is anyone unintentionally left out of the loop? How do we ensure we’re all moving together? I think about it a lot. Not because I think we’re doing it “wrong” but because I think we can get better–it is important to me that our people feel aligned, supported, and connected as we continue to evolve as a company.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I’d probably describe myself as eclectic–not so much in the fashion or design sense, but in experience that I am drawn to. I’m curious, a bit of a dabbler, and I love a good hodgepodge of interests. I think it’s because I grew up in a small town, and didn’t have a ton of exposure to different cultures or ideas, so now I’m drawn to learning from other people’s perspectives– history or culture or stories, all of it. I’m a people person. I love interacting with people, socializing, and just being friendly.

Oh and I should definitely say I’m also a “boy mom”, which is something I never pictured for myself but it somehow suits me. My hope is that I raise two kind, curious boys who treat people well and hopefully go on to make the world a little better. 

5. What’s your favorite thing about the way your specific job role works on your team?

I don’t really think of myself as “the Director of the People Team.” Of course, I so appreciate having the opportunity to lead, but for me, it’s really about the awesome team—and there are so many super smart, dedicated people on this team. Everybody shows up and gives their best in some really challenging situations, and we do a great job. The fact that I get to be part of it is incredibly rewarding for me. I take a lot of pride in what we’re able to accomplish. I just find it really cool that I get to witness that every day, regardless of what role I have. Being close to the work, to see all these smart people in action, doing their best on a daily basis…it’s what excites me and keeps me motivated.

6. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was younger, I wanted to be a chef. When I was like 8 years old, I learned how to cook alongside my grandmother, and once I found out that that could be a profession, I thought that it was a perfect mix of creativity and skill. I was fascinated by cooking shows on the Food Network. I didn’t become a chef, obviously, but cooking has stayed with me as my creative outlet. You’ll rarely catch me following a recipe because I mostly cook from inspiration based on whatever ingredients I have in my fridge or panty. It feels like a good way to exercise a different part of my brain, and I enjoy it. I love seeing my family and friends enjoy what I make.

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Sophia He

Senior Associate for the Risk team

Joined Avant in 2019

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Sophia for her take on our culture, and here’s what she said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

For me, the people at Avant are our culture. People you can really count on, people who are very responsible to take ownership of their work and their projects. People who are always willing to help, who are never going to let you down.

It starts with hiring great people. Within your first month, you can see the accountability in the examples set by your colleagues and managers. People take accountability here—they take commitments seriously.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

I’ve been working here for almost six years, which really indicates that I’m happy working here—I wouldn’t have stayed for so long if I wasn’t happy!

First, it’s the people around me. My supervisor, my team lead, my teammates, all really wonderful people. It makes me feel fulfilled to work with these people.

Second, the actual work I do is challenging and interesting. All the things I work on day to day are like solving a problem, making improvements to things I care about. It’s meaningful to know there’s a way to achieve it, accomplish it step by step, and then see the results.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

I think what really impressed me, especially last year when Avant was facing some big challenges, is our ability to execute. We had a long list of items and we ended up achieving a ton of them. Speaking for the loan credit policy team, we made multiple changes in a very short period of time. I wasn’t even sure we could do it, and we did. Our ability to execute and achieve our goals is something that really impressed me.

I’d like to see us use that same ability to execute as we create more sustainable growth. As someone who has been working at Avant for a long time, I know we can set goals for the future and then bring those goals into the work that people do and the way we make decisions. That’s something I’d like to see more of.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I’m a mother of a three-year-old girl. In the past three years, I have been spending so much time with her, reading books, exploring outside, exploring the city, museums, parks, and playgrounds. I love my quality time with her. I’m also trying to have a balanced life, a healthy lifestyle—eat healthy, cook at home, try to exercise regularly, and stay connected with family and friends. These are simple things that occupy a lot of my time.

5. How does your work at Avant fit into the rest of your life?

Working at Avant really gives me a sense of accomplishment. At this point, I have these accumulated skills and knowledge that are helpful to other people and valuable to the organization, too. That really feels good. When people don’t know something, they ask me, and I just know the answers. That feels great.

But mainly it’s that my job really gives me that sense of fulfillment—it really completes that part of my life.

8. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a diplomat. It stemmed from learning English when I was little. I was good at it and I thought, what job uses a foreign language to communicate? Diplomat. Dream big, right?

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Kevin Friedrich

Chief Financial Officer on the Finance Team

Joined Avant in 2014

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Kevin for his take on our culture, and here’s what he said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

Since the beginning, Avant has always been energetic, authentic, and full of people who are motivated by success—Avant’s success, and their own personal success. We thrive on challenges, on solving problems. We’ve had to weather our fair share of storms, and it’s the people and the culture that get us through it.

To me, authenticity and trust-building are key—anybody who knows me knows I really value those things. I see it on my team, in our weekly finance leadership meetings, where everybody has this genuine camaraderie, this trust. Everybody’s comfortable. We can have real conversations and open dialogue, without the feeling of hierarchy. People are free to speak their minds. That’s part of what makes this culture great.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

The two main things that make me happy here are the authenticity of the people and the problems we solve. I came from a very large bank where the job was pretty similar month to month. It gets tedious. What has kept me here at Avant, and what has made me happy, is the variety, that constant switching from one thing to another. I’m walking out of one meeting and going into another on a completely different topic. A new problem to solve, a new topic to dig into, something new to learn, to see as an opportunity. The job isn’t just numbers on a spreadsheet, it’s the ability to touch a wide range of things across the organization.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

What we’re really good at is being adaptable. Our people are really scrappy. To take on the challenges we have, to weather these storms, we’ve had to get creative. We’re good at recognizing when we need to move fast and adapt—to understand, in a moment of uncertainty, what’s in our control and what’s not, and to do our best to find a solution and a path forward.

I wouldn’t give up the pace at which we move, but I think we could narrow the scope a bit, in terms of what exactly we’re moving fast on. In some cases, we could focus on doing a smaller number of things better or faster, and then move on to the other things that we want to do.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

Simply put, I’m a baseball dad. I’ve got three boys; they all started in tee-ball and now they’re in baseball. And over the years, I’ve gotten to coach all three of them. They love it, I love it, and it’s just been great to see them grow.

I had never coached before, and I really only played baseball in middle school. But when my oldest started to play tee-ball, there was a shortage of coaches, so I volunteered. After that, I coached two years of tee-ball for my middle son before he moved on, and then two more years with my youngest. Ever since, I’ve been an assistant coach for all of them.

As a coach, I really want to see them learn and grow. I’m the type of coach that’s not about necessarily winning or losing—it’s about the team, and how you can perform relative to your own expectations. What can you do? How can you improve to be better for both you and the team, and have fun in the process? That’s my style as a coach.

5. What’s your favorite thing about the way your specific job role works on your team?

I think my favorite thing about my role is that I get to build my team. I genuinely enjoy all the conversations I have about what we like about our team, and what kind of people would thrive and add to the culture. Often, the very specific skills are less important than your attitude, your eagerness to learn and grow, your adaptability—spreadsheets can be taught, but I can’t teach you how to be motivated. I can’t teach you to care about solving problems or living up to our values. So that’s my favorite thing about my job.

6. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

As a teenager, I worked at a photo developing company and I thought it was cool. For a fleeting moment, I thought, “I can do that,” and I was interested in becoming a photographer. That was the first thing that piqued my interest.

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The post Meet Kevin from the Leadership Team appeared first on The Avant Blog.

Tyler Fitzgerald

Associate on the Collections and Recoveries team

Joined Avant in 2021

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Tyler for his take on our culture, and here’s what he said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

It’s supportive and collaborative. Here’s an example: we have all these different Slack channels for every niche area of the business. Anytime you have a question, there’s a channel filled with people who are experts in that topic—and they’re always willing to help out. It’s really cool.

Another example: We have Demo Day twice a month as a way for people to present their latest work to the company. I’ve presented at Demo Day, and it’s so great to see how many people come out to support you. People across the company who you don’t work with on a day-to-day basis—they show up to your presentation to learn more about the projects you’re working on. I’ve always thought that was really unique and supportive.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

I really like solving problems. At Avant, there isn’t just one right way to do things, and I get to define my own solutions and then put them into action. I can track how my solution is solving the problem and making a positive impact for others in the business, too. When my work makes someone else’s life easier, or has a measurable impact on the business itself—that’s what makes me happy. And in my role, there’s always a new challenge, a new opportunity to learn about the business and improve our processes. I get to do that on a day-to-day basis.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

We’re good at giving people the opportunity to take ownership of the things that they’re working on. One example: when we’re getting to a point on a particular project where we’re ready to make a recommendation on what path to take, my manager gives me the opportunity to take that recommendation to the decision maker and present it myself. People don’t take credit for other people’s work here—you own what you work on. It’s not an ultra-competitive or cutthroat environment where people step on each other to get a leg up. That’s something that we’re really good at.

For what we could improve upon, I think there’s an opportunity for all of us—definitely including myself—to keep leveling up our process documentation. If we streamlined and got more consistent with it, then we’d be able to self-service faster. That’s something that we could improve upon.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I would describe myself as someone who enjoys experiences more than tangible things. I really like to play sports, go to movies and concerts and music festivals, and travel. A lot of people in my life are getting married right now, and between weddings and bachelor parties, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to a lot of different places. Last year, we went to Ireland for a friend’s wedding, and all my friends were there. And then my girlfriend and I extended the trip and went to Italy afterwards. Being able to have those experiences and to share them with people I care about is something that I really enjoy.

I also like to prioritize family time as much as I can. Recently, it was my dog’s 15th birthday, and we had a family FaceTime. My mom had him sitting on a chair with a little birthday cake, with candles and everything. We all sang happy birthday to him on FaceTime, and with all the people on FaceTime, the sound had 4 or 5 different feedback timings as everyone tried to time themselves in their head. That family time when we’re all grown up and scattered across the country is always fun. I posted a picture of him wearing his little birthday hat in our #dogs Slack channel.

5. How does your work at Avant fit into the rest of your life?

I’m a math guy—I’ve always been big into math and statistics. Growing up, I used to play a baseball video game, and I would manually track the score with pen and paper. I didn’t need to do that—the game tracked the stats for me—but I liked to do it myself, so that I could see if I was doing the math right. In my role at Avant, I get to apply that skill. Now that I’m not in school or actively studying math, I don’t necessarily get to do so much outside of work anymore. But in my role, I get to apply those skill sets and then continue to expand upon them on a daily basis.

8. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Definitely a professional athlete. I grew up playing baseball, football, and basketball, and I thought I could go pro in any one of them at the time. You’re telling me my whole job would be to play sports and have fun, and get paid millions of dollars to do it? Then I started to get better at math (and stopped making the varsity teams), and my career aspirations started to shift.

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The post Meet Tyler from the Collections and Recoveries Team appeared first on The Avant Blog.

Corbin Peterson

Product Manager on the Originations Team

Joined Avant in 2024; previously with Avant 2014-2020

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Corbin for his take on our culture, and here’s what he said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

We do a great job at hiring really smart people who all are willing to teach and encourage each other. I think that’s what I enjoy the most about Avant’s culture—the way we all try to pull each other up. We have a culture of support, especially whenever you’re working on something that’s a foreign concept to you but that someone else knows.

On the product side, even though our teams are independently working on our own functions, our technology is all-encompassing and has a lot of overlap. It’s almost like the technology enforces that we collaborate and work together, coaching each other to learn about different parts of the product to build what we want to be successful.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

I like to feel a shared sense of responsibility in whatever I’m doing. Whether it’s work or a hobby or a sport, a group effort or even a solo effort, I like for people to hold me accountable to my goals. I feel like as a company, we do that for each other, just inherently. It’s not only my own team—others across the company want to see me succeed and hold me accountable. I think that’s what helps me thrive here.

If I’m talking with coworkers, sure, we talk about how our weekend was, but people also ask me about what I’m working on, any struggles I’ve had with it, how do I get better at it. The next time I talk to that person, they’ll follow up and say, “Hey, how’s your progress on that thing?”

It feels like a sense of camaraderie, that we’re all in this together. Although we’re doing it in different ways for different reasons, we’re all trying to build a better product for our customers. That’s how Avant and I mesh together very well.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

I don’t know if it’s that we’re great at hiring the right people who are a culture fit, or if it’s something about what we do as a company, but people just generally get along here. Even in situations where, in another work culture, you might expect there to be conflict or even hostility, there just isn’t here. So either we do a great job hiring people, and/or we do a great job fostering positive relationships between departments through events like Demo Days or Town Halls. I just feel like we’re not very siloed and the vibes are good.

For what we could get better at, we do a lot of really cool work here. We have fun projects. And I feel like we can do a better job at monitoring or analyzing the success of those projects so we can learn and iterate to keep making it better.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I would say I’m a bashful explorer—I’m never the loudest person in the room, I like to observe, to explore new things, and not pin myself into one category. I’m also a big fan of anime and obscure music, and I like subcultures generally—I am passionate about people who are passionate about things. I’m very much the same way. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I’m gay, and growing up, I felt like those subcultures were where I felt the most at home. I think that helped me feel safe exploring and engaging with the world, exploring new groups of people, types of art, new events.

I grew up on a farm, and I never really left until I moved to Chicago and came to work at Avant. So over the past few years, I’ve been trying to travel more. Last year, I went to Japan. This year, we’re going to China. I’m trying to catch up on lost time exploring the world.

5. What’s a superpower that you get to apply at your job?

I’ll be honest. I’m generally pretty hard on myself, but I am really hardworking. I’ve worked on the Originations side for so long that I have a good understanding of what parts of the technologies talk to each other. When we are working on larger projects, I can understand the touchpoints pretty easily.

I think that makes my superpower X-ray vision, right? I can see which parts of the technology talk to each other, where there’s overlap and touchpoints between products. That makes it easier for us to build new technologies that all work and play well together.

6. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a race car driver growing up. My uncle drove stock cars my entire life, and my family owned a racetrack, so I always thought I’d be a driver, too. And now I don’t even drive. It’s funny, I haven’t driven in a decade.

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The post Meet Corbin from the Originations Team appeared first on The Avant Blog.

Yefen Zhou

Director on the Account Management Strategy Team

Joined Avant in 2022

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Yefen for her take on our culture, and here’s what she said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

The way we work collaboratively across different teams is the most impressive part of Avant’s culture. Anytime we see a business challenge, we work together to find the root cause and decide what’s the best next step to resolve it. And it’s not isolated to just one team—every team has ideas to share.

Before I came to Avant, I was at a very large traditional bank where each team had very specific responsibilities. There wasn’t much communication across teams or departments. When I joined Avant, I noticed right away that we have a really different culture where all of the teams work together. I’ve seen it over and over throughout my time here.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

The most important thing that makes me happy here is the business ownership. You get to own some key metrics that drive company performance, and every time you implement something new, you can immediately see the impact on your metrics. That gives you a sense of your achievements. That’s what I like. And, I like that we do a lot of cross-functional projects, working with different teams, which enriches my knowledge about this industry.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

What Avant is really good at is transparency. In every Town Hall, Matt and the Exec Team share the latest business performance numbers, no matter if they’re good or bad. I get regular updates from my manager on our overall performance and what we expect in the future. Keeping everyone up-to-date on the business is what Avant is doing really well.

What Avant can improve on is closing our feedback loops rather than just moving ahead. Sometimes after we take an action, we move on to the next thing without closing the feedback loop. I would like to see us sharing whether the previous decision really impacted the business positively as expected or not, so we can learn from it.

5. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I’m a person who likes to make plans—I don’t like unexpected things. If I want to do something, I will make a very concrete plan for how I want to complete it and then do my best to follow the plan. I also like to play with my friends, but I am just as happy to be with myself, finding interesting things to enrich my spare time at home. I’m thinking my next step is probably to buy a single family home for myself—time to make a plan and save some money.

7. How does your work at Avant fit into the rest of your life?

My major was statistics, and I really like mathematics. So my current job really fits my interests, which is a very good thing. It makes me very happy to come to work and learn about something I am really interested in. That makes the job fit well as a part of my life. Also, I have credit cards, bank accounts, and savings, and learning about all these financial things at work is great. These topics are very close to my life, so I appreciate that I get a lot of knowledge that can help me to make better financial decisions for myself.

8. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a singer! I have always liked singing, especially pop music. When I was little, I joined singing groups and performed a little bit. I also attended some small competitions at school. Today, singing is still one of my hobbies.

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The post Meet Yefen from the Account Management Strategy Team appeared first on The Avant Blog.

Tyler Palin

VP of Product for the Servicing Product Team

Joined Avant in 2013

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Tyler for his take on our culture, and here’s what he said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

So, I played sports growing up, and I view Avant’s culture a lot like a championship sports team. People here are driven, they’re collaborative, they’re always pushing to be better. Avantees always want to win, and not just win for themselves, but for the team and organization and our customers. It’s a place where you’re challenged, and you get out what you put in. The best part is the teammates you’re surrounded by, who you get to work hard with, have fun with, and learn from every day.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

I’ve been here for almost 11 years. I think the primary reason I’m happy and successful here is because I’m surrounded by people who are just as passionate and committed as I am. I love to learn and I love to be challenged, and I’m provided that on a daily basis here—I get to become more intelligent simply through osmosis, being around such super smart people. There’s always something new and lots of opportunities for folks that work hard and show they care. I’ve worn a number of different hats in my 11 years here, and every single one of them has been fun to be a part of.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

Avant is really good at adapting to change and staying agile in a fast-paced environment. Whether it’s responding to market changes, potential regulatory changes, or evolving customer needs, we’re always ready to make the necessary adjustments to keep moving forward. If I think about sports, that’s kind of like being on a team that knows how to adjust its gameplan mid-game to keep ahead of the opposition. We’re really good at that, and we have a great leadership team that’s willing to make those changes when necessary.

I think one area that I’d like to see us get better at, and that we’re already working on, is empowering everyone to dig in and fully understand the data behind our business. From the beginning, data has been in our DNA, and we’ve always used it to make decisions. Different teams are focused on data relevant to their responsibilities, and we’re very good at that. I’d like to see us take it to the next level and empower folks even more to understand the full picture and how it impacts the financial statements, for example.

Another sports analogy: As I thought about this, it’s kind of like watching game film. The more you can break down and analyze the plays (the data) to see what worked and what didn’t, the better prepared you are for the next matchup or product feature, whatever it is. So I think we have a foundation, but if we can take it a little bit further, it’ll give us insights into what’s needed to continue to drive innovation, optimize our product offerings, and deliver even greater value to our customers.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I am the middle child of five, and father of three crazy kids. I value loyalty, commitment, and grit. I’ve been playing sports pretty much my whole life, including football in college where I met my wife. I pretend to still be an athlete as frequently as I can, playing basically any sport I can. I’m currently obsessed with paddle tennis and love it. Wisconsin sports teams mean more to me than they should. I’m a podcast nerd, and I love to mix it up between self-improvement and fiction books. Those are my go-tos if I have free time, which seems less and less frequent nowadays with a five-, three-, and one-year-old. I do love what I’m currently reading. It’s called the Throne of Glass series and I’m 70% of the way through the final book. It’s so good. I’ve made my way through some of the romantic fiction fantasy books recently, and those have all been super fun.

7. What’s a superpower that you get to apply at your job?

Resilience is my superpower. I’ve never been the most intelligent. I’ve never been the fastest or best at anything. But I always keep working. I think it’s all about staying focused, pushing forward, never giving up, overcoming any challenges that are thrown at you. In my role, I think I’ve been able to maintain a steady hand during challenging times, like a complex project or unexpected roadblocks or tight timelines.

Even prior to my career, I could see that setbacks are just a part of the game, and what matters most is how you respond to them. I approach every challenge as an opportunity to grow stronger, to learn, and to come back even better prepared for the next one. It’s a mindset I’ve been able to take from my sports background into my career, and I’ve tried to do that as much as possible here at Avant.

8. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a quarterback in the NFL from pretty early. Sports clearly have played a pretty significant role in my life! As the middle child of five, I was able to play with my older siblings, my younger siblings, throughout my childhood. We love to compete with each other and help each other. I always watched the Packers growing up and wanted to be on that field. I knew pretty early on that it wasn’t in the cards for me, but I always loved dreaming about it and wanted to do that growing up.

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The post Meet Tyler from the Servicing Product Team appeared first on The Avant Blog.

Yanxiang Ding

Data Scientist on the Data Science Team

Joined Avant in 2019

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Yanxiang for his take on our culture, and here’s what he said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

I would say there are two words. The first one is flexibility, not just in terms of work schedule but also the flexibility for people to be yourself during work. Personally, I think that’s really important because everyone operates in a different way. Flexibility lets people do their work closer to the optimal way that they operate. Avant lets that happen while still coordinating everyone together to move on towards the same goal.

The second word I would say is dedication to solving problems. I feel like when there are headaches or big issues, people are very dedicated and focused, they collaborate with each other in trying to solve the problem. And so that I think would be the second word for our culture.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

As a data scientist at Avant, I get the opportunity to work on different projects and products and engage with different teams. That provides opportunities to work on new challenges and learn new things. That’s what makes me feel happy. I figured out at a very young age that I don’t get any happiness out of following instructions and just doing things repeatedly. So this job suits my personality. We are empowered to organize and lead our own projects and make decisions along the way, and I appreciate that. That’s what makes me happy and successful. I’m someone who likes and demands challenges, but with a fun side. That’s who I am.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

One thing Avant is really good at is you don’t feel a strong gap between hierarchies. An example would be our Town Hall questions. You can submit any question, and the Exec team addresses them even though some of the questions are quite difficult. And in general in everyday work, it’s easy to talk to higher levels, managers, skip levels. It’s not intimidating when you raise your opinion or speak of your own ideas. I think that’s what Avant does well.

In terms of what can be improved, one thing is to try to see two steps ahead. We focus and work hard on solving the issues at hand, and I feel like we can start looking two or three steps ahead—having a longer horizon when we plan things. I feel like sometimes, when you only look at one step, then things have changed by the time you finish it, and then you have to change direction, which can mean the work you just did is wasted. If we can plan and coordinate further ahead, then even when something changes, we already have a plan to move forward.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

First, I’m an active person. I love being active and doing sports. Everyone who knows me knows I’m a big tennis fan, watching and playing tennis. I also love to expose myself to different challenges, but they have to be fun—if there is no fun, no joy in life, then what is there to live for?! Going on a challenging hike, trying to outsmart my friends in a game night, I like all those things. And I love living in the city. It’s easy to hang out with friends, you can relax at the lake, and there’s always something to explore. I like it.

5. What’s a superpower that you get to apply at your job?

From a very young age, I’ve been a big lover of Legos. Whenever I would go to a store, I’d go to the Lego section and ask my parents to buy me a new set. I loved figuring out how the pieces are connected to each other, how to put the pieces together. When you realize you’re making a mistake, you have to go back and figure out what you need to fix, which pieces to take out without dismantling everything.

That’s my superpower—staying with the problem. As a data scientist, one of the most important parts of our job is to build models that help to solve problems for the product team—models that we hope can be used for two or three years, not just a couple months and then they’re outdated. I’m really good at staying with a problem, taking it apart piece by piece, organizing it, and putting it back together in a different way to achieve the goal. It’s just like Legos—and even after you build it, it’s really fun to try to analyze it to understand what happened. One of my favorite Lego sets was a Formula One car, and it actually had a functional gearbox. I was so fascinated by it and I spent hours looking at it and playing around trying to understand how that gearbox works. That’s the same thing applying to my job.

6. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was a kid, I really loved watching National Geographic documentaries. Some of my favorites were about big cats in Africa—lions, cheetahs. My dream was that when I grew up, I’d go to Africa and observe the big cats like one of the scientists in the documentaries. You follow the big cats and try to figure out what they do, what their life is like and the path of movements. So that’s what I wanted to be when I was a little.

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The post Meet Yanxiang from the Data Science Team appeared first on The Avant Blog.

Sharity Nichols

Deputy General Counsel, Head of Regulatory Legal, on the Legal Team

Joined Avant in 2022

What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Sharity for her take on our culture, and here’s what she said:

1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?

Avant values hard work, collaboration, and inclusiveness, and you can see it in our culture daily. Teams are working together and sharing ideas and information to support weekly product sprints. The diversity of ideas and feedback help push projects across the finish line quickly and efficiently.

One example: A good chunk of my workload consists of change management and collaborating across business units. I need to understand the facts of the change and the underlying reasons for it from each distinct party involved in the change. So I am asking questions like: Why do you want to do this change? How is it going to serve you/the business? How is that going to help our yearly goals or departmental goals? Those questions lead us to solutions quickly and efficiently, and all teams feel rewarded when we achieve our shared goals.

2. Why are you happy/successful here?

I thrive in this type of culture. Something I’m really good at is connecting the dots—either serving as a liaison between two teams or sharing information within my team. For example, if a team is onboarding a new vendor and they need to implement new processes, I connect the dots with the business team and Compliance. I explain the legal considerations so that Compliance can assist with effective compliance controls and the business team knows what they need to do to be regulatory and contractually compliant. I try to take all the feedback I receive during these interactions and apply them to any future onboarding scenarios. The company culture of collaboration really speaks to me—I think it’s a primary reason why I’m successful here.

Same thing with inclusion. I get to work with people from across the org, people in different roles and at all levels. That creates this exchange of diverse ideas and fosters inclusion, which then improves my work product.

3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?

We’re really good at striving for excellence and not perfection. What I mean by that is, as a business, you’re often in a situation where you have 70-80% of the information you need to make a sound business decision. Often, the right move is to move forward and not labor over the fact that you’re uncertain whether you’ll get to 100%. We’re really good at operating efficiently like that.

What we can improve on is making sure everyone is on board with that mentality. I face that challenge all the time, where I already have everything I need to be compliant and/or make a sound legal decision, yet we’re on the verge of “analysis paralysis.” So making sure everybody incorporates that approach into what they do is something we can improve on.

4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?

I like to think that I am approachable and easy to talk to—I enjoy getting to know new people. I’m family-oriented and love anything to do with my family and friends, and I spend most of my time with them. We just had our first baby last November, so right now, my favorite description is “Nini’s Mommy.” We have a little clan of nearby family and a lot of great friends and support. Being with them is what I enjoy the most.

5. How does your work at Avant fit into the rest of your life?

The best part about my work at Avant is that it’s perfectly balanced. Avant has provided me with an opportunity to grow, as a lawyer and as a person, and I am really passionate about that. I get to work on new evolving issues that I might not get to work on somewhere else. Privacy, cybersecurity, consumer protection—some of my favorite things! And yet, my role doesn’t consume every moment of my life. I have thriving relationships with my family and friends.

8. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be a lawyer. I used to hide behind my parents’ couch when my dad was watching Law and Order (Dad thought I was too little to watch some of the content). I was like, “I want to be just like Jack McCoy,” because he commanded the courtroom, invoked empathy in the jury, and he never lost a case. Lo and behold, I ended up in-house with a tech company instead of in private practice—but still, a lawyer. So this has always been my dream. I think there are certain professions out there that once they grab a hold of you, they are always on your mind until you just do it.

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