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Kim Snyder – Balancing love with high standards, hanging out your shingle, and learning to communicate | Episode 18
23 Plays4 hours ago
Welcome to episode eighteen of Builder, Banker, Hacker, Chief! Joining me today is Kim Snyder, Founder and CEO of KlariVis.
On this show, I’m unpacking the stories, decisions, and influences that make people successful leaders.
Kim Snyder fell out of banking into founding a fintech startup right as the COVID pandemic struck the globe. Luckily, her upbringing as a Virginia farm girl gave her the work ethic and determination to chart a path through the chaos. Her team members are hand-picked for their unique abilities to push through hardship and deliver results for clients.
My name is Nathan Baumeister; I am the Co-founder and CEO of ZSuite Tech and the host of this podcast.
Both of Kim’s parents worked full-time to support her and her two older brothers. Kim’s mother also went to school part-time. This imbued her with a deep conviction that she could accomplish anything she wanted to.
After completing her accounting degree at James Madison University, she went to work for KPMG and eventually become the Chief Financial Officer of Valley Bank in Roanoke, VA, near where she grew up.
When Valley Bank was sold, and Kim’s position eliminated, along with many of her team-mates, she decided to launch a consulting business.
It wasn’t long before the seed of a product idea sprouted in her mind. A seed that had been planted back her days at Valley Bank.
Along with a few of her trusted colleagues, Kim launched KlariVis to help banks and credit unions transform their data into meaningful insights. That was in 2019, a scant year before the COVID pandemic threw the global economy into chaos and many startups failed to survive.
But Kim Snyder and her team forged their way through and have grown KlariVis into one of INC’s 5000 fastest growing companies.
Although Kim may not have unlocked the secret to getting in extra time at the gym and running a successful startup, her insights on leadership and building a motivated team serve as a far more lasting inspiration to us all. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Kim Snyder.
Resources:
Kim’s recommendations:
Books By Kristin Hannah:
Connect:
Recommended
Transcript
Kim's Early Influences and Work Ethic
00:00:00
Speaker
I can remember taking him to school one morning. He was probably 10 and he looked at me and it was crushing. He was like, mom, I don't know what I want to do with my life. I know I just don't want to work as hard as you do.
00:00:13
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, wow. Like that's a kick in the gut as a mom. Wow. Now he's obviously surpassed that. But it was because I was was kicking his butt every day to become the best that he could become, just like my dad did with me. And so I will say that balance, I don't know i don't know that I ever found it as a mom, like doing it the right way. There's probably a better way to do it.
00:00:35
Speaker
um But it was absolutely something I always struggled with. And our kids are are all part of our company today, which is which is a unique situation also. It's one of those things I feel like I'm still balancing all the time.
00:00:53
Speaker
Hi, my name is Nathan Baumeister, and you're listening to Builder, Banker, Hacker, Chief, a podcast where executives from the world of finance and technology share the story of how they got where they are and the decisions that made them who they are.
00:01:07
Speaker
I'm looking for hidden moments of truth and sacrifice, wisdom and folly, and what it's like to navigate the treacherous waters at the helm of a growing company. I want to do all that so that together we can learn from their journey and use that insight personally and professionally.
00:01:25
Speaker
In episode 18, my guest is Kim Snyder, CEO and founder of Claribus, a company that offers transformational data tools to community financial institutions. By a twist of fate, Kim Snyder is appearing on the show as the leader of a fintech company, but she could just as easily have joined me as the leader of a community bank located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
00:01:46
Speaker
Some people accidentally fall into banking. Kim Snyder accidentally fell out of it when the bank where she served as CFO was sold. Soon after, she launched her own consultancy, which eventually led to the founding of Clarebus.
00:02:00
Speaker
Working on the banking side had revealed a deep and troubling problem to Kim. Banks and credit unions have huge troves of data, but very few tools to turn that data into meaningful insights, which is much easier to point out than it is to fix.
00:02:14
Speaker
Kim Snyder grew up in rural Virginia with two very loving, hardworking parents pushing her to aim high. Farming isn't the banking or startup school that most people think of when they imagine the origins of a successful founder, but it launched Kim Snyder into a life she had barely dreamed of.
00:02:31
Speaker
Running a company may not have given Kim the hours of fitness and relaxation she hoped for, but it has given her immeasurable wisdom and insight. The fact that she chose to spend this time with us instead of hitting the gym is a rare gift, one that we're pleased to share with you on episode 18 of Builder, Banker, Hacker, Chief.
00:02:51
Speaker
And if you want to pop in your headphones and go for a run or get a few reps in while you're listening, I'm sure Kim wouldn't mind.
00:03:04
Speaker
Kim Snyder, I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to have you on Builder, Banker, Hacker Chief. Thanks for joining me today. Nathan, thanks so much. I'm thrilled to be here with you. Yeah, over the last several years, it has been so much fun ah seeing you in the industry as we've both been kind of building our companies parallel.
00:03:23
Speaker
And I've always enjoyed my conversations and can't wait to let the audience of Builder, Banker, Hacker Chief start to learn some of the things that I've learned from you.
00:03:35
Speaker
So, as we get started, i always find it helpful as we think about the leaders that we are today, we kind of have hindsight, right? We can now kind of look back in our lives.
00:03:46
Speaker
So, as you look back to kind of the the the beginnings of your life, the beginnings of Kim Snyder, um are there any experiences that you look back that actually had kind of an outsized impact on who you are today as a leader?
00:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely, Nathan. it's It's interesting as I was reflecting and and putting my thoughts together for our conversation today. i really spent some time on that. and And there are things that I think about frequently. But um when you really sit down and like ponder it, there's there's a few things that just jump off.
00:04:20
Speaker
um jump out at me. I was raised on a cattle farm, believe it or not. So, um you know, work ethic, you know, beyond measure, as far as my parents are concerned. and And one of the things that I don't talk about frequently um is my mom and her story. So, you know, she grew up from nothing. I mean, very, very, um very poor and hurt and her growing up.
00:04:47
Speaker
She and my dad got married. They had three kids very quickly. So I'm the youngest of three. I'm the only daughter. And my oldest brother is three and a half years older than me.
00:04:58
Speaker
So think about three little ones. Right. And when I look back at my mom and look back at growing up, she raised three kids. She worked full time and she went to school part time and she never missed a game.
00:05:14
Speaker
She never missed an activity. and When you're living through that, you just expect your mom to be there, right? You just expect it And you don't really realize until you become a mom yourself, like what all that meant was, like what all she was juggling.
00:05:30
Speaker
I have no idea to this day how she did that when I look back at it. um and But I think, you know, profoundly, it was very clear that her work ethic and her determination definitely had a profound impact on me.
00:05:46
Speaker
um No question. And I never questioned as a daughter, as ah as a female, whether or not I could do something. I always knew and my mind, if I just worked hard enough, I could do whatever I wanted to do because I saw my mom doing that.
00:06:05
Speaker
And that's a lesson, you know, and as I look back on my journey um and and and I speak to females frequently and it's a passion of mine to help female leaders become leaders.
00:06:19
Speaker
and and And I look back at moms. I really hope that's something they're teaching their daughters. Right. um And it's not like my mom ever sat me down and said, you know, a B, C, D, E, F. Right. that she know She never did that. She she was a nurse.
00:06:32
Speaker
she but she She became a nurse going through going through school. um My dad was in manufacturing. um nope they They weren't from a business background at all. um But just the way you live your life, the way you approach your work as a mom, it impacts your kids.
00:06:51
Speaker
100%, at least mine did. And so i would say that really, really jumps off the page. Not to say that my dad didn't have a major impact on my life as well.
00:07:02
Speaker
My dad, like mediocrity, that word's not in his vocabulary, right? Yeah. You know, I didn't walk in the door with a B. If I walked in the door with a B, it was unacceptable because he knew I could do better.
00:07:16
Speaker
And so he was the one, you know, pushing me, like actively pushing me along the way, day in and day out with everything that I did to make sure that I always brought my best to everything that I do.
00:07:28
Speaker
um, and you know I look back at that and I'm like, okay, well, he certainly knew me before I knew me and he knew or he he, I guess, suspected what my capabilities were before I knew what they were.
00:07:41
Speaker
And he did everything in his power. He was ah the the aggressor pushing me to make sure that i that that I showed up and my mom was just doing it. Does that make sense? Yeah, i love that. You had, mean, what two fabulous examples ah that that you had kind of within your parents. One, living in a way that you could see what's possible and that it never even became a question, right? I mean, how many people are held back just because they think they can't, right? Just because they don't believe in what is possible.
00:08:13
Speaker
ah But you having that taken away by seeing what your mom was doing, ah but then also having a dad that had high standards and was willing to hold you to those standards and push you in that way.
00:08:24
Speaker
I do have a question on that because this is this is something that I know I've struggled as as both ah a parent as well as a leader. That balance between um showing love, care, empathy, and holding to high standards.
00:08:40
Speaker
I'm curious if like by by the the life that you had with your father while growing up and and now as a leader, if you have some some things that you've learned about that balance.
Leadership Philosophy and Challenges
00:08:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's a hard one, right? um When I look back at raising my son, um i probably took more of my, um I mean, obviously I worked hard. I did all of those things that mom was doing. i was trying to do both.
00:09:07
Speaker
So I was trying to do all of that. And I was trying to be the enforcer, if you will, in the pusher. And I can remember taking him to school one morning. He was probably 10, right? And he looked at me and it was crushing.
00:09:21
Speaker
It was crushing. He was like, mom, I don't know what I want to do with my life. I know I just don't want to work as hard as you do. And I'm like, oh, wow, that's like, that's a kick in the gut as a mom. No, but you're supposed to. what but Right, right. I mean, wow. Now he's obviously surpassed that, but it was because I was kicking his butt every day, right?
00:09:44
Speaker
was kicking his butt every day to become the best that he could become, just like my dad did with me. And so I will say that balance, I don't know. I don't know that I ever found it as a mom, like doing it the right way. There's probably a better way to do it.
00:09:58
Speaker
um, than the way I did it. Um, but it was absolutely something I always struggled with. And, and, and even, you know, uh, our kids are, are, are all part of our company today, which is, which is a unique, um, situation also. And, and, you know, it's, it's just, it's one of those things I feel like I'm still balancing all the time.
00:10:16
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I think that's even something that we can all take away with, like, we don't you don't have it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out. We're still all learning. And I think the key is is to be listening to those conversations like what your 10-year-old son said and like, hey, this might be A wake-up call or something for me to say, let me do some selfre like self-reflection. Maybe i can do something differently.
00:10:41
Speaker
um But acknowledging that fact, but also giving permission to all those that are listening who aspire to be in leadership positions, you don't need to know it all to do it. right Right. Sometimes you just have to go into it.
00:10:54
Speaker
I think it's better that you don't. Because when I look back, you know, at the things I've learned through my journey, some of them, had I thought I knew it all going in, i don't know that I would have allowed myself to be open to learning those lessons. Sometimes you just kind of get kicked down, right? But I think you have to have the mindset that you don't know it all and that you want to learn as a leader. That old saying, right? You never want to be the smartest person in the room. Like, I believe that. Like, if i you go find another room, you always want to be learning and figuring out a better way to do things. At least I am.
00:11:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So growing up in a cattle farm, having some wonderful examples as parents, a motivator, an example, ah going through that as you kind of transition to kind of starting your life outside of home, I'm curious as you started making those types of moves, if there's anything that you can kind of look back and and say, man, that had a big impact on my life as well.
00:11:53
Speaker
Yeah, so JMU was a phenomenal um experience for me. I think i ah the the thing that I learned at JMU that, again, hope all of our business schools are teaching our business leaders is the value of communication.
00:12:08
Speaker
i learned how to write and I learned how to communicate effectively through JMU, at JMU. And I don't think there's any skill set more important as a leader than your ability to communicate.
00:12:21
Speaker
I couldn't have said it better myself. Kim isn't just talking about being a polished presenter or skilled writer. Good communication stems from your ability to listen closely and think carefully before you speak or write.
00:12:34
Speaker
As a leader, you're responsible to help each member of the team understand how their role fits into the bigger picture. You're going to repeat yourself a lot, not like a broken record, but by revealing new angles on familiar concepts like the mission, vision, and values of the company.
00:12:50
Speaker
High-functioning leaders use communication to amplify their other skills, not as a replacement for them.
00:13:01
Speaker
Now, I'm not going to say I get it right all the time. Of course, there are times that, you know, I stumble, I, you know, mess up. I have a conversation with an employee and I walk out of the room saying, gosh, that did not go the way I wanted it to go. Right.
00:13:14
Speaker
um We've all been there, but. The ability to communicate and articulate your vision when you're a leader. Oh, my gosh, it's so important, especially if you're trying to get people to jump off a wagon and join you in that vision.
00:13:28
Speaker
So, you know, at JMU, when I was there, it's a different school today. Every business class I had, two oral, two written presentations. Those were your grades.
00:13:39
Speaker
That's what you did. And that was their curriculum. i' Sure, I had to you know learn accounting and debits and credits and all of those things. I graduated with and with a degree in accounting.
00:13:50
Speaker
And I can remember just being frustrated by why do I have to write these papers? Why do I have to get up and do these oral presentations? Why, why, why? just want to learn how to do accounting, right? That was my mindset. I just want to learn how to do accounting so I can get out and become a a good accountant.
00:14:03
Speaker
um Not understanding the value of communication. When I look back again on my career and my journey, again, I'm not gonna tell you I'm the best communicator, but but I value communication. It's something as I'm hiring team members to join Clarivus, I'm always looking for their ability to communicate.
00:14:21
Speaker
To me, that sets you apart. um And so I think as an aspiring leader, um you know, for your audience, um if you are not comfortable in a public,
00:14:33
Speaker
setting, communicating, right, networking, giving presentations, writing in a professional manner. Put that at the top of your to do list to learn how to do that.
00:14:45
Speaker
Do you have any memorable experiences back at JMU where really it that came to light ah some certain aspects of communication? Well, I can tell you, i failed miserably on ah on a pre one of my very first presentations. It was um in a history of econ class, right? And i add ya it was the I think it was the first oral presentation I had to give.
00:15:09
Speaker
And I can remember like, That was bad. I mean, I, and, and, but what did it, I mean, it was, it was, I was a complete fail. You know, when you have those experiences, right, complete fail. And I can remember walking away saying, I am never going to allow that to happen again.
00:15:24
Speaker
I've got to figure out how to do this and figure out how to get comfortable with it. And one of the things that we teach our um some of our, our younger folks that have joined the Clare of Esteem that are communicating with clients or that are presenting their ideas even in front of their own team, practice it on Teams.
00:15:44
Speaker
You will be your own worst critic. Pull up Teams, hit record and deliver your message and then watch it back because they're, i mean, seriously, you will be, you are your worst critic. And if you do that enough, then you will start to get comfortable because you have to be comfortable in your own skin to do that well.
00:16:03
Speaker
Yeah. No, i love i love that. ah Many people have asked me, you know, how can I become a better presenter? And i always tell them the same thing. I was like, you want to know what the best speakers in the world do?
00:16:15
Speaker
They practice. Right. How many times have you done your speech or how many times have you done your presentation? Well, I kind of, I wrote some ideas and I have my PowerPoint. was like, no, no, no, no. no no Did you do it?
00:16:28
Speaker
And I love that ah extra record yourself, right? And and and get that feedback yourself. I think it's pretty interesting. It's how many of the most important skills that you have did you acquire from doing them rather than reading about them, right?
Career Decisions and Family Support
00:16:45
Speaker
All of them, I think. The young kids come out of school today and they have a textbook and they read, read, read. And look, that's great. But I'm all, you know, in my world, and I think in any, you know, startup world, you you tell me what you think.
00:16:58
Speaker
All of that goes down the drain. You you can't, you can't, there's not a book for what we're doing. Or if there is, I haven't found it yet because you you have to be so adaptable and have to um make decisions. And sometimes you have to have to pivot and then you have to explain why you're pivoting. So I don't know that there's a book out there. If there is, I'd love to read it.
00:17:17
Speaker
i do read a lot, but...
00:17:21
Speaker
Yeah, well, it in it there's there's so many different opinions and theories and frameworks and and stuff, but in the end, every situation is going to be different. And trying to figure out what ah what is applicable in the current situation.
00:17:37
Speaker
And by the way, you might wake up the next day and the situation might be completely different. Right. Yeah. I know. I'm trying to remember, what year did Clarivus get started? Yeah. We formed the company officially in 19, February of 2019. So, ah but you know, we had worked on it about a year previous to that. Yeah. But both of us in the very early days, literally woke up one morning and the world was different, right? With COVID.
00:18:04
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Very early on in the process. So that that will always stand out as, hey, you better be ready to try something different. That's right. That's right. Yeah. We launched our product, Nathan, in the first quarter of 2020. There you go.
00:18:16
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So you talk about leadership experience there learning. ah Wow. That was, that was what the world learned a lot during that, during that time period, not just me.
00:18:28
Speaker
Absolutely. All right. So ah you made the decision to to to go to JMU. You got your degree in accounting. um Sounds like you knew that's kind of where you wanted to go. So as you started off your career, kind of what were the first steps that you took and why?
00:18:45
Speaker
So ah went to work for KPMG. So I started my career there. um Why? Because they were one of the best. but And so, you know, um and and I was only there for two years because I knew that it wasn't something I wanted to do long term.
00:19:04
Speaker
um But ah again, if I look back at who I am today and and the experiences from my time there, um my time there um Those types of companies do an amazing job with young folks coming right out of college in terms of throwing you to the wolves, um but giving you a support system to to succeed, you know, um and and just teaching you um ah yeah ah Analytical skills.
00:19:33
Speaker
So the analytical skills that I that i learned from from from my time at KPMG have served me enormously well. I can typically look at something, especially if it's financial related, and say, yeah, that doesn't make sense.
00:19:47
Speaker
Nope, there's something not correct there. And as a leader, you know don't fool yourself in thinking that you don't need to understand the numbers and because you do if you're gonna try to run a business.
00:19:59
Speaker
And so that has served me extremely well. um and Again, I chose to go there because they were one of the best. They were, I think at the time it was big six, right? CPA firms. And they were in Roanoke. I knew I didn't want to go to a big city when I graduated from college.
00:20:14
Speaker
I wanted to go to a bigger city, but I i knew like i I wasn't, I grew up on a farm. I couldn't imagine myself in a big city. So Roanoke was big enough for me. And yeah,
00:20:25
Speaker
Anyway, so yeah, so that's where I went. And then I landed one of my clients where i went at college, um offered me a job to join them two and a half years, almost three years in. had had passed a CPA license. So I had accomplished what I wanted to accomplish with KPMG. I had my two plus years of experience. I had my CPA and and I went to work for Rowanup College.
00:20:46
Speaker
Yeah. As you were making those decisions, so like where you decided to go to university, um that you wanted to work with the one of the big six at that time. i think the joke is after after all the stuff with Enron and all that stuff, it was the final four after that.
00:21:02
Speaker
Right. It was. Who survived that particular time. um But then... deciding when it was time to move from KPMG to actually then be becoming a practitioner instead of on the, on the consulting and auditing side early on, as you were making those decisions or you're making those plans at,
00:21:24
Speaker
how How did you come up with those decisions or thoughts? How much did you do kind of with your own research and thoughts? And and and if so, why? Did you have some mentors that you leaned on ah that ah gave you some advice as you were trying to figure out how to build this career of yours?
00:21:41
Speaker
During that time frame, Nathan, the person I called was my dad. He was the guy I called. Right. Whenever I was going to make a big life decision, i called dad and I walked him through the situation and I said, this is what I'm thinking about. This is why.
00:21:56
Speaker
And he helped me. ah didn't really I didn't really didn't really have ah what I would call a mentor when I was at KPMG. Again, you work for ah gazillion people while you're there. and.
00:22:08
Speaker
and I wasn't there long enough really to to to to get into a mentorship with anyone there. So yeah, it was really my dad in those early days. he He's the guy that I called on and said, hey, you know I've got this opportunity when I decided to move to Roanoke College. and You know, I think it's going to give me a little bit better life work life balance.
00:22:29
Speaker
um And, um you know, that's what i'm um I am looking for. you know, I don't want to work 80 hours a week for the rest of my life. And I like the college. I like that atmosphere. And I think this is a good opportunity. And and they wanted me, you know, when you're young.
00:22:45
Speaker
And somebody comes at you and says, hey, we want you to join your team. You know, your ego comes into that a little bit. You're like, oh, wow, they chose me. They, you know, they came after me. And I would be remiss if I didn't at least say that. I mean, that was part of it as well.
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah. Do you think about that sometimes in how that reflects how you do recruiting now? Yeah. You know, most of my top hires I have personally recruited. Like, I really believe in that. I invest in that. I invest the time in that.
00:23:15
Speaker
And so, and, and, you know, people laugh at me because I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn looking at a lot of profiles and engaging with a lot of people and getting to know them to in and, you know, build relationships. Again, I'm i'm a big relationship person. And so um whenever we are looking for a critical position, you know, in our company,
00:23:37
Speaker
um I want to kind of have ah a network of people. if If I don't have a network of people that I can go recruit, you know, send them a message and say, hey, I'd like to talk to you about this opportunity. um a network of people that I can pick up the phone and say, hey, I'm looking for this. Who do you know? Getting recommendations from other people are really, really important to me.
00:23:56
Speaker
um But I do a lot of the personal recruiting from Clarivus. That's that's I see that as part of my job as as the leader of the company.
00:24:05
Speaker
Let me break down the statistics on hiring for a minute. It turns out that the best hiring managers only get it right about 50% of the time. Those are terrible odds for hiring.
00:24:16
Speaker
There's really only one thing that can push the number in your favor. If you've worked with the person before where they filled a similar role. The next best thing is if somebody you know has worked with that person where they were filling a similar role.
00:24:30
Speaker
So one solution for this challenge is to constantly build relationships with people and take mental note of the colleagues you want to work with again. hands-on approach to recruiting, like what Kim describes, is a game changer for any leader.
00:24:46
Speaker
you know, 30 years from now, if we're having a conversation, and I hope we are Nathan, a similar conversation about how we were so successful and how we did all the things we did and built these amazing companies that we built, right?
00:24:58
Speaker
um I will say my biggest accomplishment was when I started the consulting practice and I convinced nine people. They all had full-time jobs. And I said, oh no, why don't you stop those and come work for me and and count on me to generate enough revenue to pay your family to pay your salary and feed your family. Now, I didn't recruit all nine at one time. you know we We did it incrementally.
00:25:20
Speaker
But I did exactly what you said is I went back to the people I trusted, the people I had worked with at the bank, and the people who I knew that could bring value to our clients to what I was trying to accomplish. Best decision i ever made.
Starting a Business and Achieving Success
00:25:31
Speaker
Yeah. And isn't it funny how both of them feed into each other, right? the The better team that you have, the more likely you'll be able to generate the revenue to actually support everybody's life, right? Like, so it just, it's ah it's a cool virtuous cycle.
00:25:46
Speaker
um I do have to ask, though, because this is definitely something that has always been very heavy on my shoulders. And one of the things that I think is a reality as being a leader is is that you have to carry some heavy things um and some hard things.
00:26:03
Speaker
And so this idea of I'm going to start something, I'm going to convince some of the people I care about most in the world to come and join me.
00:26:15
Speaker
And if it doesn't work, their families and my families don't get fed.
00:26:22
Speaker
That's a heavy thing. I'm curious, how have you felt that? If so, when? And how did you work through that not?
00:26:34
Speaker
or not Yeah. So i would say during the two, two, two, two big, big ah points in time. The first one was when I started the consulting practice. And when you talk to David, my husband, you know, the story he tells is, oh, you know, Kim started the consulting practice. We thought she was going to get a lot more flexibility and have time over her own.
00:26:58
Speaker
you know, we're going to hang a shingle out of the basement. She was going to get to go to the gym. And like, this is what we told ourselves when I started And, you know, just but very quickly, I started to get business referred to me that I couldn't handle.
00:27:10
Speaker
And I'm like, I'm not going to turn down the business. So I got to go hire Jerry. Like, Jerry, I need you to come on board with me because I've got three banks that want me to be a CFO. I can't be three banks of a CFO all on my own, you know, so come work for me.
00:27:21
Speaker
And then, you know, well, everybody wanted risk solutions. I'm like, okay, Gil, I need you to you come work with me. That was over champagne. I'll tell you, that's a good way to recruit somebody. yeah always do skill on that.
00:27:33
Speaker
Um, and, and so, and those were my first two critical hire hires for sure. And ah at at KBS results, um, the consulting practice and absolutely, absolutely like every day, all day long for probably three years.
00:27:48
Speaker
That's all I thought about, especially as we continue to, to grow the team and add people onto the team. Um, So so i just managed it. i convinced myself that I could do what I needed to do.
00:28:01
Speaker
and just, I said, I could do this. I don't know. I had people referring business to me. And I think if you, and and in and I had relationships that I leaned into and, you know, we had a great skillset that I knew bankers needed. Like as a banker, i always wanted a group of a consulting firm that I could pick up the phone and call that understood the technology understood the banking acronyms, understood the challenges and could come in and help me get a project done.
00:28:28
Speaker
Right. That was my that was my idea of this consulting practice that I started. um And I knew I could execute on that if I could just get the business. So I can't tell you the hours and hours and hours and the miles up and on my car to go out and try to to to gain clients during that time period. So, yes, that was that was um always always there.
00:28:47
Speaker
um we we grew that into a very profitable business. So I would say two, two and a half years in, um we, you know, it was a good business. It was, great it was great. It was, it was tough. It was good.
00:28:58
Speaker
um We started Clarivus under the auspices of that, right? So Clarivus was kind of born out of that consulting practice. And so started and realized, okay, well, we have, we have this proof of concept of something that our clients are saying, yeah, we would buy this. This would be fantastic.
00:29:13
Speaker
Hired an outside you know, technology firm to help us build the initial infrastructure. we launched the product in the first quarter of 2020, as I mentioned, and then COVID happened. Boy, you talk about some sleepless nights. Oh, scary. You just, cool you know, you were there.
00:29:29
Speaker
i don't even know how to put into words some of it. and And that wasn't one night. That was night after night, after night, after night, after night of just gut-riching. oh my gosh, I've got 20 people working for me now.
00:29:43
Speaker
But you know, what... what am I going to do and how are we going to make payroll and do we continue on? And I always say, and I do believe this, that I will look back on the clear of this journey and say, as horrible as that was for the country, for, you know, everything.
00:30:02
Speaker
um For my business, it was probably a blessing because we had six clients. We were out there selling the solution with six clients who loved what we had.
00:30:17
Speaker
And we had 182, Nathan, i had 182 banks from being at those first three conferences when we launched the product. They said, call me. we We're interested in what you what you have. we want This is exactly what we're looking for.
00:30:31
Speaker
And then COVID happened, we couldn't sell, right? you couldn't You couldn't call into a bank and try to sell them anything unless you were standing up a PPP program or something along those lines. And so we had to shut the sales engine down. At that point, David and I were funding the company.
00:30:44
Speaker
So I hadn't raised any money. i hadn't done anything. And so it was like, okay, are we going to go raise money to make this a reality? Or we just going to call it a day? and And had we not launched when we did,
00:30:59
Speaker
and saw the excitement that we saw, honestly, I don't know that I would have the fortitude to do what I did. um really don't. I really don't. So I look back on it. And the other thing is, is had we even had we even landed 20 or 30 of those banks?
00:31:15
Speaker
I don't think we could have brought them up live because we had a team of 20 people. Right. I don't know that we would have been successful in doing and and becoming the company that we are. So that gave us the time. Once I went and raised the money, it gave us the time to really make sure that we got things right. So when we came out of the pandemic, we could just rocket ship. And I thought we were ready to rocket ship two years before we really were.
00:31:41
Speaker
And that's a really important lesson for a leader to to understand and figure out how do you know that? Because I was a little blind to it. Yeah. Yeah. one of my One of my favorite sayings is deal in the realities as they are, not as you hope them to be.
00:31:55
Speaker
And I think that's an easy thing to fall prey to. And as a leader is is you can convince yourself of what you want the reality to be, and then you start making decisions as if that reality that you just made up in your head is the actual reality.
00:32:10
Speaker
And then you can make some poor decisions, but ah being able to have those checks to know what's what's really, really. And you know part of it, it sounds like in this case, a little bit forced to do that right in some sort of external way.
00:32:24
Speaker
um But in other cases, you know it can be done through self-reflection or good mentorship or a good board or you know good leaders that you report to. ah But thank you so much for sharing that and and and going through it. A couple of themes that I heard is a radical belief in self.
00:32:41
Speaker
Hey, this is something that I can do. um a radical belief in the problem that you're solving and that there's a real need.
00:32:53
Speaker
So there's these things. It's like, look, I know that I could do this with the right people and there's actually a need. Sounded to me like the two big things that really helped push you through some of those difficult times.
00:33:05
Speaker
Absolutely. And then one that was a little bit hidden in your in your story, but I'm wondering how much of this is true also. Action.
00:33:17
Speaker
Is part of the way that you deal with kind of that that pressure and that stress and that concern of, oh man, I'm a little bit scared now. i have people to support. I'm not sure exactly what it's going to do. Is literally just deciding to take action.
00:33:35
Speaker
Because it sounded like that was part of the story you shared you shared as well. Absolutely. Then no question about it. And and look, I'm blessed, right? David, my my husband, my partner, um you know, he he he's a great, um he's my rock.
00:33:52
Speaker
So having that, having him through through through, he wasn't, obviously we weren't together when I went in my early days, but, you know, through the consulting practice and then starting Clarivus and then those those moments of trying to figure out what are we going to do, know,
00:34:08
Speaker
One hundred percent. Sometimes the fear of taking action will paralyze you. and will absolutely paralyze you. The fear of making the wrong decision.
00:34:19
Speaker
Right. There's times that I look back at even my clarimus journey and I can remember really, really pondering something for longer than it needed to be pondered.
00:34:30
Speaker
I should have just made the decision because at the end of the day, I typically go with my gut. And I think one of my things that I'm constantly, I think it's really important as a leader to be self-aware, right? Where your strengths are, where your weaknesses are, and make sure that you have people, that you surround yourself with people who can complement your strengths and make up for your weaknesses, who you know have have strengths in those areas.
00:34:57
Speaker
And so um that's that's what I do when I'm trying to people. and recruit especially key leaders and in in the organization. um But you have to be self-aware of where your weaknesses are and be willing and open-minded to listen to the people that you trust to help you work through those things. And sometimes I i find myself um second-guessing, I'm second-guessing myself because it's it's a weak area that I know I have.
00:35:28
Speaker
Doubt or second guessing is not a sign of a poor leader. It can actually be a sign of self-awareness. If you know where your weaknesses are, it's probably a good idea to tread carefully and get a second opinion.
00:35:41
Speaker
Just to echo what Kim said, regular listeners will know that I'm a big believer in the idea that you should double down on your strengths and seek out team members who shore up the areas where you struggle. When you've built a team of trusted collaborators and created a culture of constructive feedback, everyone benefits because each person's gifts are well known and there's no reason to judge or blame their faults.
00:36:08
Speaker
You know, I'm a CPA. I've never built software before, right, until now. So, you know, trying to figure out that first chief technology officer, how am I going to fill that role? am um Do I know what I need?
00:36:21
Speaker
Right. um Leaning into others to help you there, really, really important. And sometimes I, or in the early days, I would spiral a little bit trying to think through that, just or maybe overthink it.
00:36:34
Speaker
You got to take action. and sometimes you just got to know, okay, it's not going to be the end of the world if you make a bad decision. You can, you can recover from that. Very few decisions that you and I make are life and death. Yeah.
00:36:45
Speaker
Right? there are There are professions that do, but it's not ours. There It's not ours. It's not ours. That's right. I was at a conversation earlier today where we made up a a new phrase, you know, FOMO, fear of missing out.
00:37:00
Speaker
um We came up with FOMU, the fear of messing up. Yeah. right? and and But it they're very they're very similar in that they oftentimes will cause bad decisions.
00:37:12
Speaker
There was something that you touched on, Kim, though, that i'd love to I'd love to dig a little bit deeper and maybe go back to kind of the the the younger Kim, if you will. the The Kim that went to KPMG, then worked at a college, and then I think you had another ah position there with the Egg Factory, and then and then you moved into the banking industry at Valley Bank.
Team Dynamics and Business Strategy
00:37:32
Speaker
So pulling pulling from those experiences.
00:37:35
Speaker
I think the narrative that most of us grow up with is that if you're not good at something, it's a defect and then you need to get better at it. And i think as we grow older, we realize that all of us have strengths and weaknesses and maybe it's better to focus on my strengths and partner with people and work with people who are strong where I'm weak.
00:38:01
Speaker
But honestly, that takes a big deal of humility, I think, to to kind of grapple with that of, hey, I just need to be good at everything. I need to be able to do everything. I need to be the best at everything to here is where I can do my best.
00:38:22
Speaker
And I recognize I have weaknesses and I need to go find people to fill those weaknesses. I'm curious, as you look back in your career, kind of if there's any moments that stand out that really helped bring that to light for you.
00:38:35
Speaker
Were you able to make that switch? It's a really good nugget. I would say I've always kind of leaned into my strengths.
00:38:47
Speaker
right um So I played basketball in high school. right I was not. I mean, in high school. You were on the team at GMU. I was not. ah you good But my skill was defense.
00:39:04
Speaker
I could shoot a layup all day long. I was not the person to shoot three-point. like I was on the court because of my defensive capabilities. I knew that and I leaned into it. so i you know Did I try to get better at shooting? Sure.
00:39:17
Speaker
But did I spend all my time and energy there? No, because we had three four three great shooters on the team. That's not where the team needed me. The team needed my defensive capabilities because they weren't great defensive players. And so that's how we became a really good team. um And so i would say but I don't think I've ever looked at myself and said, i need to be great at everything.
00:39:35
Speaker
My dad pushed me to be great at any, whatever it was that I was doing, ah had to be good at it. I needed to do the best, be the best, be the best that I could be. But I would say you're ah the thread that I would pull on there is when you're building a company, I think sometimes companies,
00:39:53
Speaker
that maybe don't make it. They don't make it because they're trying to be everything to everybody. And that is a discipline as a leader of a company that you've really got to be laser focused on what is your value proposition? What is it that you offer that you do so well that there's not anybody else that you could partner with to do?
00:40:15
Speaker
And that's where you need to see say laser focused. Absolutely. I'm a big believer in partnerships. Who are the partners that do some other things that are complementary to what we do that could help a community bank in some form or fashion?
00:40:29
Speaker
Yeah. No, I love that. I love that story. So it sounds like ah the lesson that I was talking about, you you learned very, very early on. And I love the sports analogy because it's a great one that, you know, the person on the basketball court or on the soccer fields or on the football field or whatever, you don't expect the quarterback to be the best safety, right? like Right. Everyone needs to play their own roles and do their own things. And um I love that. I think that's a great metaphor to kind of hold with and translate that into our own professional experiences.
00:41:02
Speaker
And I would take it a step further, Nathan, sorry, and say, as a leader, you need to recognize where your people's strengths are, what roles they're playing, and understand that not everybody can be a quarterback and you don't need all quarterbacks, right?
00:41:19
Speaker
You need people who are willing to do other things in order for your company to become successful. And I think, you know, one of the things that that I struggle with as a leader of Clarivus I'll be interested to know how you handle this, right? So we we we ring the bell, right? Every time we sell, right? We sell a deal, we ring the bell. I see that as a team win, right? It's a team win. we Salesperson doesn't have anything to sell. They can't go, we can't ring the bell, right?
00:41:43
Speaker
But the salesperson is the one who gets the credit for the ring the bell, right? have Slack channel. That's what we do. um And we do other employee recognition things, but I'm like, there's people that do things all day long, right? That are so important to us getting those sales.
00:41:58
Speaker
And how do we recognize them in the same way? And I haven't, I don't know the answer to that. I'm curious if you do. No one knows the answer to that. No one knows the answer to that. you know i think It is a critical answer. I think one, one thing that's interesting, I'll tell you what I don't think is the answer.
00:42:16
Speaker
is that I've heard of companies that stop celebrating sales because they don't because they don't know how to answer the question that that you just that you just posed. And I know that's not the answer because stopping celebrating, I think, is the worst thing in the world. I think the question is is more, how can we celebrate more?
00:42:34
Speaker
How can we recognize more people? Not yeah let's withhold celebration or recognition ah for the sake because I'm worried that it might be taken taken the wrong ah taken the wrong way. But yeah one of one of the things that we do, which I think is is is is kind of fun, is we we moved ah the celebration of a new sale to a weekly call. So one of our core values is celebrate.
00:42:59
Speaker
um And once a week, we have a celebration call. And it's third we have it on the calendar for 30 minutes. It usually only takes 15 minutes. But we we hit all of the people leaders across the entire company. And we say, what are the big things that we want to celebrate?
00:43:15
Speaker
Sales are one of them. Launches are another. ah Product releases are another. But sometimes it's learnings and stuff like that. So it's been kind of a fun way to just try and get more people involved and then have it where it's one big celebration across multiple different departments. But just to answer your question specifically, that's what we've tried to do.
00:43:33
Speaker
No, I love it. I love it. I think it's it's fun because our, you know, all of our teams understand their role and that they're playing and that it is a team win. But I love what you just now said. You know, we instituted employee you know recognition of the quarter, employee of the year and all of those types of things. And we have wow rewards where are are our team can recognize each other, right? Individual accomplishments throughout the year. But um I like the celebration call. I think that's something that might steal from you.
00:44:02
Speaker
ah yeah You know. I like to steal ideas like that. Yeah. i I would say that the percentage of original ideas I've had in my life is probably less than 1%.
00:44:14
Speaker
And rather it's right it's just it's talking to people and seeing what other people have done and and and being like, man, that sounds really, really cool. yeah um I love that idea.
00:44:27
Speaker
I'm curious as you think through... you know Working at, let's just ah pick on the one, the last place that you worked at that wasn't your business. That was a Valley Bank. Is that right?
00:44:42
Speaker
Taking the leap. to go from being an employee to going to be a business owner. Walk me through some of the things that you struggled with, some of the things that excited you, how you actually decided to make that leap. And then, um you know, you yeah and you've not only done it once, now you've done it twice, right? You did a consulting organization, now you're doing a software company.
00:45:04
Speaker
Yeah, um i always wanted to do something on my own. Like I had that, I never said, oh, I want to go create a software company. Like I didn't, that it was not that formal in my, in my mind.
00:45:20
Speaker
But at at Valley Bank, I can't tell you the number of lunches that Jerry and I had about, oh my gosh, we need a better technology system. If we were just creating this, this is what we would do. we like like I still have pieces of paper like because we were living it every day.
00:45:34
Speaker
but But I truly, when I say that I thought I was going to retire from Valley Bank, I really did. like I loved that place. I loved the culture. I loved every single thing about it. And it was a gut punch when we sold that bank.
00:45:47
Speaker
um Not just to me, but to everybody. And that's a leadership story in and of itself that I'd love to come back and and chat with you about. um So starting on my own, i after living through that, Nathan, you know, I was, um I was very fortunate that I was financially stable.
00:46:06
Speaker
I could take some time to figure out what my next chapter was going to be. And I interviewed for other positions in other banks. um And I just kept asking myself, how am I going to go do that again? i don't think I can go do that again.
00:46:23
Speaker
Earlier in the episode, Kim talked about how much she relies on her gut when making decisions. This story says a lot about her self-awareness and her willingness to be uncomfortable in all the right ways.
00:46:35
Speaker
Instead of walking into another full-time position, she took a leap and started working for herself as a consultant.
Entrepreneurial Journey and Community Focus
00:46:42
Speaker
It wasn't the business idea she had dreamed up back at Valley Bank, but it was an important step that would lead her to found Claripus.
00:46:49
Speaker
It's not that Kim had a master plan for how consulting would become something bigger or better, but she had the courage to act in the face of the unknown.
00:47:03
Speaker
And so I just said, look, i want to I want to see if I can consult when I when i set up KBS results. I mean, it I never really, I'd like to say I did, but I didn't think far enough in advance to say, oh, I'm going to build a company and this is what we're going to do. Like I had a vision, but I thought it would be me doing it.
00:47:24
Speaker
And so, and I really did think it would be more flexible. you really thought you were going to be at the gym. I really thought I was going to spend a couple of hours at the gym every day and finally get myself back in shape.
00:47:36
Speaker
and um and And so, you know, it just happened, which, you know, a lot of people, it's so funny. You talk to bankers and you and I talk to them every day. They say, I accidentally fell into banking.
00:47:48
Speaker
Well, I kind of accidentally fell into this and um I wanted to start something on my own. I thought I had an idea that I could help and and add some value to some community financial institutions.
00:48:00
Speaker
The thing that drove me, Nathan, is my passion for the banking space, for the community banking space. That, you know, yes, us selling Valley Bank was was a gut punch to me. It was a gut punch to all of our employees. It was a gunch gut punch to our community. Why? Because Valley Bank invested so much in our community.
00:48:15
Speaker
um Like we banked a small, we were a small business bank. That's what we did. and And I just like, I drank that Kool-Aid every day. Like I loved it.
00:48:26
Speaker
I loved everything about it. I loved what we were doing. i loved being in touch with um being able to help our community grow. And so I wanted to stay in the industry.
00:48:37
Speaker
And there weren't we're a small town. There weren't that many opportunities for me to do that. I did interview with some other some some other banks. I interviewed with some other companies entirely getting out of the industry, and none of them were providing to me the satisfaction that I thought I wanted. So it was just time for me to try to try this thing, set my toe in the water and see if I could build something on my own.
00:48:58
Speaker
um Never in a million years did I imagine I would build what I build, what we build. I didn't build this. We built it. that That wasn't even in the and my thought process when I started back in 2015, which is even crazier when I think about it.
00:49:15
Speaker
That's when we started the consult when I started the consulting business was September of 2015. I think some people might be surprised that that the role that serendipity has ah within the path that all of us take, right? I mean, there there is an element of luck, of chance, of ah yeah serendipity, and it's the willingness to you know step up when it shows up.
00:49:40
Speaker
No question. 100%. I believe this is what I was meant to be doing. and And I also believe that I could not be doing what I'm doing today had I not. Had the journey you had?
00:49:52
Speaker
Yep. Yeah, it's what got you here. It's what it's what got me here. Yeah. I remember being a very ah young professional thinking, why am I not in charge of everything right now?
00:50:06
Speaker
And as as I look back, like, man, I'm really glad I wasn't in charge of everything for a long time. Because boy, did that experience of not being charge of everything really helped me to to to to learn so much.
00:50:21
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. and and and you And you have to embrace it. and And I think that that's such a today in today's society, especially, I think a lot of young folks coming in right out of college, you know, they think they should be making six figures and they think they should be running an apartment.
00:50:36
Speaker
they they I think it's worse today than it was back when I graduated 20, however many years ago, 25, 30, I mean, however many. And so it's the experience and it's the journey that really matters.
00:50:51
Speaker
That's what matters. It's not who you're managing, right? it's it's it's It's really the journey. And I think if you're a young professional just getting out of college and trying to figure out what you want to do with your life, right?
00:51:06
Speaker
Find a company that has good culture, that has good values, where you can learn. Right. And be open minded because you're coming from somebody that grew up on a cattle farm with a with a nurse for a mother and a manufacturing, you know, manager for a father.
00:51:23
Speaker
They didn't know anything about the business you know world. Right. They didn't have that. i had to really open up my mind to um new opportunities and and to new experiences. And I had to I had to I had to invest in those.
00:51:37
Speaker
Work makes it worth it. Yeah, I like that. yeah All right, so... I loved all the different stories that you shared throughout your throughout your career and all the learnings that you've had One of the things that we like doing at Builder Banker Hacker Chief is to um to ask things that you don't necessarily hear in other places. So you can get business books and recommendations for business books everywhere, right?
00:52:08
Speaker
Instead, we are asking our our guests, what non-business book would you recommend for people to read? This is easy for me. it. So one of my favorite authors is Kristen Hanna.
00:52:21
Speaker
And I don't know if you're familiar with her or not, but she um she she she always has strong female leads and she through through historical events in our country or in in our world.
00:52:32
Speaker
And the book called The Woman. OK, that's The Women. I'm sorry. By Kristen Hanna. It's a very powerful story of a nurse in Vietnam. And it talks about all the females during the Vietnam War who served and their untold stories. People after Vietnam, nobody knew. I mean, did you know that there were females over in Vietnam?
00:52:54
Speaker
No, every Vietnam book I've read and every movie I've watched has been all males. Right. This shines a light on the untold stories of all the strong females with what they were enduring during that time period. And so for anybody, you know, who values...
00:53:10
Speaker
female strength or stories around females, you know, and and and and their strength through his history. Kristen Hannah is a great writer. The women's my favorite right now.
00:53:22
Speaker
I found her through one of her books earlier, i don't know, many, many years ago was called The Nightingale. And that's that's another one of my all-time favorite all favorite books. But anyway, that's what I would recommend. Even if you're a man, you don't have to be a female. You will enjoy the story. I promise.
00:53:38
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. I love historical fiction, so i'm gonna I'll take you up on the recommendation for sure. All right, and then ah we can't end without asking our favorite question.
00:53:50
Speaker
Since were we talk so much about leadership, from your perspective, do you believe that a leader is born or the leader is made?
00:53:59
Speaker
So I'm probably going to give you the answer you don't want, which is I think it's both. I think there are certain innate qualities that you are born with that set the stage for you to be a leader.
00:54:12
Speaker
um But I really do believe that it's your experiences and your challenges that and how you respond to those and what you learn through those are what makes great leaders.
00:54:25
Speaker
Yeah. I love that. ah We all have natural talents within us, but it's what you do to forge them, grow them. Right. That really makes it be who you're going to be.
00:54:37
Speaker
Yeah, let's go back to basketball. Seth Curry, he has an innate ability to play basketball. Had he not practiced and showed up and did the work and learned, he wouldn't have become the best. You don't just s snap your fingers because you have these skills and become one of the greatest basketball players of all time. I think it's the same way with leaders.
00:54:56
Speaker
Well, Kim, thank you so much for your time. i absolutely loved this entire conversation and all the things that we were able to go through and all that I learned from you today. Well, thank you so much for having me. I always love chatting with you, Nathan.
00:55:11
Speaker
um
00:55:17
Speaker
The venture capitalist and co-founder of Y Combinator, Paul Graham, once wrote, the very best startup ideas tend to have three things in common. They're something the founder themselves want, that they themselves can build, and that few others realize are worth doing.
00:55:33
Speaker
Kim Snyder and the Claire of his team embody these traits beautifully. Kim saw a major issue with the way financial institutions were handling data. She developed a vision for a better way to do things, and she has assembled a team that has the competence and creativity to build the product.
00:55:50
Speaker
Now, I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't tell you what the future holds for Kim and her company, but I can tell you that Clarivis is bringing an incredible product to market, and it wouldn't have happened without Kim's leadership and commitment to building a company that people want to work for.
00:56:04
Speaker
There's so much work that happens behind the scenes when you're creating the conditions for a healthy culture. Success is a team sport. You don't need a bench stacked with superstars. You need a community of people who are self-aware, continuously improving, and willing to share credit and accountability.
00:56:20
Speaker
That's where the real magic happens. As always, thanks for listening. We've got more conversations with amazing guests coming soon. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app for notifications when new episodes are released.
00:56:33
Speaker
You'll find the link to Kim's book recommendations in the show notes. You've been listening to Builder, Banker, Hacker, Chief, a podcast produced and distributed by ZSuite Technologies Incorporated, all rights reserved.
00:56:45
Speaker
I'm your host, Nathan Baumeister, the CEO and co-founder of ZSuite Tech. The show is co-produced, written, and edited by Zach Garver. Sound engineering was done by Nathan Butler at Nimblewitt Productions.
00:56:57
Speaker
If you've enjoyed the episode, please take a moment to leave us a review or share this episode. This helps other people to find our show. You can also listen on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, and Spotify.