An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
“Don’t focus on climbing the ladder, instead prioritize gathering the tools” — The worst job decision I made early in my career was accepting a role for the title. This advice led me to find roles that allowed me to surround myself with incredible people and opened the doors to countless learning opportunities.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Maya Nijhawan.
Maya Nijhawan is the Co-Founder & COO of Finch. Finch supercharges your existing checking account, by letting you earn rewards, auto-invest, and build credit without debt — all without the need to switch bank accounts. Maya is a personal finance expert and co-founded Finch to spread financial literacy and build the tools to help people put their money to work in a meaningful way to live their best lives. Maya is a certified Chartered Accountant with over ten years of experience across professional services and corporate strategy. She is passionate about financial access and is motivated to help to close the gender, generational and racial wealth gaps. https://finchmoney.com/
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
My path to entrepreneurship has been a convergence of my life experiences, values, and passions.
Growing up as part of an extremely hardworking first-generation immigrant family, I learned the value of a hard-earned dollar early in life. My parents worked tirelessly to give my sister and me access to opportunities and resources they didn’t have. Thanks to them, I had a wonderful childhood — the only times I remember being unhappy is when I saw my parents under financial burden.
From a young age, it became hardwired in me to think about how I could make the most of my money and help myself and my family live life in a way where we’re not limited by our finances.
This mindset shaped my career path — I have a background primarily in Finance and Accounting; I’m a Certified Chartered Accountant and spent the first ten years of my career across professional services and corporate strategy at consumer and tech companies.
Ultimately, I had the realization that at the core of each of my roles, I’d been tasked with helping to convince people to spend more money, where my values and interests aligned with empowering people to be smarter with their money.
Recognizing the financial obstacles that hold people back from achieving their goals, I became motivated to spread financial literacy and build the tools to help people put their money to work in a meaningful way. That’s exactly what we’re doing at Finch.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Finch has built the first and only Rewards Card that helps you invest & build credit without debt.
Our rewards card links to your existing checking account earn you up to 5% cashback on all purchases (anywhere!), and auto invests it to help your money grow! When you spend, we spot you and automatically pay ourselves back with the cash in your linked checking account. We report all your spending as credit-worthy payments to the credit bureaus so you build credit, debt-free!
The Finch Rewards Card is a card that anyone can access and equally benefit from. A card where no one has to worry about credit checks, hidden fees, and predatory APRs — ever!
We’re changing the game.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
It’s funny now, but at the time, I was mortified! When we first started, we named our company “Trio” (based on the three basic types of financial investments — cash, stocks, and bonds). Embarrassingly, a customer let me know they tried to look us up on the app store, only to find adult entertainment apps. Whoops!
We had discussed and agreed on the name amongst our team and this association never occurred to us! The lesson I learned was to speak to your customers early and often — they’re smart and bring great perspectives.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who has been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
Mentors and coaches have played an important role in most aspects of my life.
My recommendation to entrepreneurs starting out is to surround yourselves with supportive founder friends and get yourself a coach. The last couple of years have been a rollercoaster and having a support system that understands the process I’m going through and that I can turn to for advice and pep talks has been invaluable.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
In the context of financial services, there has been a ton of innovation and disruption over the last 10 years. This innovation has offered numerous benefits for customers (e.g., lower costs, personalized services, increased access to investment opportunities and insurance products, and alternative payment options).
That said, these advances have come with some unintended consequences. For example, while increasing access is important, making potentially risky financial investments (e.g., options) available to customers without them being fully aware of the consequences of their actions can be damaging. Amidst ‘meme stock’ mania, many investors using commission-free brokerages unknowingly risked their financial livelihood, as the proper education and safeguards were not in place.
For me, the disruption that forces incumbent players to change their business models is a signal of progress. Will these changes stand the test of time? Yes — but only until they are disrupted again in the future!
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
- “Don’t focus on climbing the ladder, instead prioritize gathering the tools” — The worst job decision I made early in my career was accepting a role for the title. This advice led me to find roles that allowed me to surround myself with incredible people and opened the doors to countless learning opportunities.
- “Focus on things you can control” — As caring individuals, we can sometimes get consumed with trying to help, fix, or change people and situations that we have no control over. These things can take up a significant portion of our headspace and lead to self-neglect and emotional exhaustion. This advice reminds me that just because you limit the amount of headspace you give a situation or individual doesn’t mean you don’t care. Choosing to spend your positive energy and attention on things you can genuinely control is one of the best things you can do for your mind and productivity.
- “Give yourself pep talks” — Over the recent years, I’ve learned the power of self pep-talks. When self-doubt Pacman’s its way to the front of your mind, a little pep from a friend or guidance from someone you trust can go a long way, but sometimes what you really need the most is reassurance from within.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
Oh, I’m just getting warmed up. Watch this space!
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
There is an epic gender funding gap in venture capital. A lack of funding is one of the greatest challenges for women disruptors. In 2021, Female founders secured only 2% of venture capital in the U.S — 2%!!
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
There are soooo many. I’ll share my latest and most loved addition from someone I look up to dearly. Payal Kadakia, Founder of Classpass, recently published her book Lifepass and I’ve already read it cover to cover twice.
There are soooo many. I’ll share my latest and most loved addition from someone I look up to dearly. Payal Kadakia, Founder of Classpass, recently published her book Lifepass and I’ve already read it cover to cover twice.
As an entrepreneur, when you’re so passionate about what you’re building, you can become highly consumed and let other parts of your life slide — something I’m personally working on.
Payal is somebody that authentically models what it means to live a holistic life of passion and purpose. In Lifepass, Payal shares raw and vulnerable insights into her life, her personal struggles, and advice on various topics using anecdotes from her time building Classpass. She shares her personal system and goal-setting method for living a full life on your terms. It’s an inspiring read, and I highly recommend it!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
A movement to get personal finance taught as part of our school curriculum. Financial literacy is relevant for all students, irrespective of the career they pursue. It’s our responsibility to help students acquire the crucial life skills to be confident, empowered, and self-sufficient members of society.
I want to see young folks as excited about investing as they are to get their driver’s license — they both give you freedom in their own ways.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Life Quote:
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. … You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. … They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the
people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs
How it is relevant to my life:
Objections, rejections, and judgments from preconceptions come hand in hand with entrepreneurship. For me, this quote is a daily source of inspiration and a reminder never to let anyone’s doubts stop you from seeing things differently and dreaming big because you might just change the world! 🙂
How can our readers follow you online?
You can follow me on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@mayanijhawan and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayanijhawan/
Our website is finchmoney.com
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Female Disruptors: Maya Nijhawan Of Finch On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.