Director of operations and CX
Arriving from Germany after business school for a brief adventure in the U.S. in 2015, Mareike Turner never guessed she would quickly jump on a path to executive leadership. Nor did she realize how long she would go without seeing her family because of the pandemic.
What started as a fun job at Etsy coaching entrepreneurs on how to run a small business led to a customer service post at Payability, a fintech that lends working capital to e-commerce sellers. She has gone home to visit, but the pandemic’s travel restraints mean she hasn’t been home in two years.
At the same time, Turner was extraordinarily busy expanding Payability’s operations staff to keep pace with the e-commerce boom caused by the pandemic. Payability earns its revenue from sellers with each e-commerce sale.
During the pandemic, Payability doubled the size of its customer service team — and Turner played a key role in recruiting and hiring more women in other areas of the company, helping to increase the female presence from 20% to 50% at the 80-head organization.
“Like many fintechs, we were a male-dominated company, but we’re rapidly changing that,” Turner said.
Bringing more women into the company means Turner finds herself doing the same kind of coaching with young women rising at Payability as with new online sellers, encouraging them to be bolder and more confident.
E-commerce sellers frequently operate on such thin margins they need money to cover inventory and supplies before they make sales, and Payability fronts eligible customers capital through a Visa debit card, ACH or wire transfers.
Few have been more critical to our growth than Mareike, who was promoted from a manager to a director within her first five months. She rapidly scaled our customer services department from scratch and tailored it into a white-glove experience.
“Entrepreneurs on Amazon survive by making sales every single day to grow their business, and because of complex e-commerce algorithms, you can’t ever run out of stock or you’ll lose your place in the sales queue," Turner said. "So fast access to capital is critical."
The pressure to be quick and precise is equally intense on Payability’s customer service team, which is challenging to new employees and some women.
“Women in tougher jobs sometimes get ‘imposter syndrome’ or feel insecure about their skills and they need a pep talk. I think even the fact that I’m an immigrant inspires them, because they think, if she did it, they can do it,” Turner said.
Turner feels strongly that women can’t progress in the workplace — especially in the tech industry — without male allies.
“Even though I was the first woman at meetings, and the youngest person at the table at times, I got great support from men at the top of the company,” she said, noting that top executives patiently explained every step in Payability’s process to her so she could develop the best methods for mentoring others.
“Our CEO and chief technology officer encouraged me to ask questions, speak up, but also to be myself, which was freeing,” she said.
The pandemic put extra strain on Turner as the operations and customer service team she oversees — with seven direct reports — as they transitioned to remote work conditions while e-commerce sales and demand escalated.
Trained in Vinyasa yoga, Turner volunteered early during New York’s quarantine to teach the flow-focused discipline to staff members. It was well-received.
Turner also worked out ways to replicate the in-office hive atmosphere where employees share important news and information in the remote mode, by building new communication processes and channels while people were isolated.
“There’s a flow of ideas that comes from being in the same room that’s hard to achieve remotely, but we tried to do that even with new hires,” Turner said.
The crisis of the pandemic may fade, but e-commerce sales volume remains high and Payability is maintaining its momentum, reaching nearly $1.5 billion in funding to seller-entrepreneurs. And as the dust clears, Turner is making plans for a long-overdue visit home.
Nominating executive:
Keith Smith, founder and CEO
What he says:
“Few have been more critical to our growth than Mareike, who was promoted from a manager to a director within her first five months. She rapidly scaled our customer services department from scratch and tailored it into a white-glove experience.”
