Jennifer Philo’s career in the prepaid industry began smoothly but quickly came to an abrupt halt, forcing her to re-invent herself if she wanted to rejoin the prepaid ranks.
Philo began with selling prepaid calling cards through Pacific Bell and AT&T for a small company. It was a job she loved; it brought her real joy by the positive responses she received from customers. She recognized that the healthy demand meant that there was a significant sales opportunity.
But that great opportunity, and the job she cherished so much, disappeared as she was forced to leave the position for a family relocation as her husband had just been accepted into medical school in Washington, D.C. Fortunately, Jennifer left on good terms with her employer, who provided her with the resources to sell the prepaid calling cards herself.
When Jennifer landed in the Washington area shortly afterwards, with her husband in medical school and raising a two-year-old and a two-month-old, she decided to set out as an entrepreneur.
As Philo, now a global vice president of U.S. digital commerce and loyalty at Blackhawk Network, recalls, “My small children were with me as I hit the pavement securing sales, which helped teach me the importance of work-life balance and the value of opening yourself up personally when forming business relationships. My clients got to see the real me, a working mom hustling to build a business, and this helped me build deep, meaningful connections that were invaluable to my success.”
After five years of running her own business, Philo sold it to Coinstar and joined the company to begin the next phases of her career, eventually becoming a vice president, then moving on to Giftango Corporation before landing at Blackhawk Network.
Now in a leadership role at Blackhawk, Philo has observed significant changes in the payments industry that have come as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic, Philo said oftentimes companies were selling or leading customers into products that they may not have been seeking. However, the coronavirus touched off a digital payments revolution that she thought was still decades away, especially when it came to the surge in online shopping.
“The pandemic put consumers in the driver's seat of payment innovation and tremendous developments have resulted,” said Philo. “The pandemic forced everyone to immediately change how they shopped, spent and made purchases.”
Additionally, Philo noted that for her it has been heartening to see how payments can truly make a difference in times of crisis by opening doors for those disconnected from the digital economy and enabling philanthropic efforts to help those in need.
When it comes to mentoring and connecting with others in the new remote work environment, Philo said that the current situation has made a big difference in getting to know people outside of an office setting, learning more about team members on a personal level.
“Connecting in the remote world has really exposed our humanity,” said Philo. “Instead of interacting in a professional office setting, we now get to see each other's children who are learning at home, spouses who are also working virtually, pets who make cameo Zoom appearances and peoples' private homes. Our work lives are now intertwined with our personal lives, and it provides a fantastic opportunity to create deeper connections.”
