“I grew up in Dubai which was wonderful, with so many opportunities to travel and visit new places, I think I flew before I could even walk. Today, I still have the travel bug, and love to experience new cultures and all that brings, from the food to the people. After moving to Canada, I studied psychology at McMaster University with a minor in business, but decided to move into the finance sector.
“My first role was with CIBC as a Senior Settlements Officer, which involved addressing and analysing trade problems and arranging settlement of securities and derivatives. It was interesting but it was a back office role and I was keen to be front office, where I had the opportunity to liaise directly with clients. I took my CPH exams with the Canadian Securities Institute, covering treasury and cash management, and spent around a year at CIBC as Cash and Collateral Manager, including monitoring cash balances across the company
“A call from a head-hunter then led me to Bank of Montreal, starting as an analyst and team lead and progressing to Senior Associate where I was responsible for optimization of funding, and oversaw firm activity including compliance and risk. Part of my role was working with vendors, including Broadridge Financial Solutions. Broadridge provides technology to clients in the financial services industry and they had a liquidity platform to sell to us, I got to know the product very well and Broadridge asked if I’d consider working for them.
“Moving to Broadridge as a Project/Product Manager meant a move from one side of the table to the other. Suddenly, banks were my clients rather than me being the client. This actually helped me a lot as I’d walked in their shoes and understood what their needs were. I also knew the business and products well and had good contacts in the industry, all helping me to identify new opportunities, drive client adoption and revenue growth. The role progressed to Key Account Manager which had a big focus on building partnerships and working alongside my clients to enhance their revenue.
“In 2024, a new opportunity came up with Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as a Client and Product Onboarding Specialist, which involved onboarding enterprise and high net worth clients, liaison between clients and internal team and business analysis, always with a focus on client satisfaction and retention.
“It was actually another head-hunter that got in touch regarding the role at Miconex and I loved Miconex’s mission of diverting spend back into local businesses of all types and sizes though its local Gift Card products. My experience in the financial sector and working with financial products means that I understand the cash flow of money, and with Miconex, I can see financial products through a different lens, through the positive impact that local Gift Cards have on local communities.
“I think the great thing about Downtown Gift Cards is that they encourage you to discover local businesses you might otherwise have missed. It gives the recipient a curated experience of a town or a city; a one-stop-shop for everything they’d want to do, from shopping to dining to experiences. I love the idea of exploring tourism related initiatives with clients through their Gift Cards. I’m also a huge advocate for digital. Everything is on our phones now, so to be able to add a digital Downtown Gift Card to your digital wallet, ready to ‘tap to pay’ with all kinds of local businesses, is brilliant. It’s all about making the experience for the customer as frictionless as possible.
“There are huge opportunities around corporate too with organizations gifting digital Downtown Gift Cards to their employees. In previous roles, we’ve had gift baskets or wine, but if the employee doesn’t drink or doesn’t eat certain foods, it’s a gift that doesn’t work for everyone. A Downtown Gift Card offers outstanding local choice, and tangible support for local too. I’m so excited to start meeting clients over the coming months to learn how I can help them to increase awareness and adoption of their Gift Card programs so they get the most value out of their Gift Card.”