Lauren StClair, former CFO NerdWallet
Please Note: Lauren StClair left NerdWallet after this interview but before the article was published. She will soon be joining Slice, a technology company that helps local pizzerias thrive by providing them with digital tools and services typically reserved for large pizza chains.
Lauren StClair is the former CFO of NerdWallet, a company on a mission to help provide clarity for consumers and small to medium-sized businesses so they can make financial decisions with clarity and confidence. NerdWallet invests in its larger communities through its Corporate Social Responsibility program, which was created to support those traditionally locked out of the financial system. Millions of Americans are unbanked or underbanked, lacking access to credit and other financial products that some of us take for granted. Through its CSR platform, the company is striving to make a tangible difference for these underserved communities. NerdWallet was named an Inc. Best Workplace in 2022 and has also been recognized by Fast Company, Fortune, People, and more.
Lauren and I recently shared a wonderful conversation about mentors who have shaped her career, the impact of sports on leading her team, being a non-CPA CFO, how the CFO role has evolved, and more.
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As a kid growing up in Philadelphia, Lauren StClair was playing sports, not thinking about finance and becoming a CFO. It still wasn't on her mind when she attended Stanford, a school to which she was drawn because of its strong academic and athletic programs (she played women's basketball). Her original goal, in fact, was to become a doctor–more specifically, an orthopedic surgeon.
However, going to school in Silicon Valley made an impact, and she quickly caught on to the various opportunities in the world of tech. She graduated from Stanford with a Bachelor's in Science, Technology and Society.
'I decided I could always go back to medical school if I didn't like it,' StClair said. 'That's when I changed to more of an engineering degree, and it was fun to pick the classes that interested me. It was a combination of computer science and mechanical engineering with a focus on human-computer interaction. I thought that that would also help me post-graduation, too, to get my foot in the door at one of the tech companies.'
It was a shrewd decision that provided the ideal launch pad for her career; StClair initially fulfilled a variety of roles at a startup before moving on to tech giants like PayPal, eBay, and StubHub.
Her digital mindset and interest in tech have not only bolstered her career success but have shone a light on the many ways the CFO role has evolved.
'I would say 20 years ago, the path was a little bit more linear in the sense that you studied accounting or economics, got your CPA, and it was an obvious progression on how to get the CFO position,' StClair explained. 'That's changed quite a bit. Having different sets of experiences and being able to connect the dots and draw from other experiences, even if they are not exactly related to finance per se, I think makes you more resilient. It makes you more adaptable and able to deal with some of the changes that no one could really anticipate. Being nimble really helps.'
StClair developed a sense of resilience, curiosity, and appreciation for challenges at those jobs, too. Mentors like Bob Swan, the former CFO of eBay, and Scott Schenkel, a former CFO and interim CEO of eBay, provided her with opportunities she wouldn't have had at other companies.
One unique opportunity that drew StClair to the role at NerdWallet was taking the company public. She was also looking forward to the chance to work with Tim Chen, CEO and co-founder of the company.
StClair's previous experience allowed her to not only come into NerdWallet to help the company scale but also understand her strengths and work style to know how to best lead alongside Chen.
'He's the visionary–he has all the ideas and loves connecting dots and seeing patterns,' StClair said. 'I love to execute and get things done. We've had a very collaborative partnership, and it's one of the things I appreciate the most. We have very spirited discussions on what we want to do next and how we're going to get it done. I really think it's the balance of those two approaches that make us really successful and makes it a really good partnership.'
She describes Chen as leading with passion but also being receptive to feedback. He takes the time to hear others' opinions and the reasoning behind them. These are qualities that have made an impact on her own leadership style.
She is also the leader she is because of her background in sports–a topic StClair calls the thing she's the most passionate about and the factor that is most important to her.
'What makes the day-to-day fun is the people I surround myself with,' she said. 'Even though we're not in person as much as we were four or five years ago, we're still spending a ton of time with the people we work with, more so than our families or anything else. For me, it's incredibly important that I respect and trust the people around me and that I'm building really high-functioning teams. My first experience with that was in sports and youth athletics and then progressing in my career. It's something that I try to bring to the workplace as well.'
StClair notes that one important factor in building and leading a highly effective team is recognizing one's weak spots. She recognizes that she's not the subject matter expert in every single area, but getting the right people in the room is critical. By relying on and trusting others, those qualities will ripple through the organization.
Perhaps trust, collaboration, and teamwork are more important at companies like NerdWallet because of its structure. Although there are offices in San Francisco, New York, and the UK, they have transitioned to a remote-first workplace, with most of its jobs being offered as fully remote from anywhere in the U.S.
StClair recognizes those shifts in how people are working, not only at her company but at a larger level. In fact, she can identify where her role has changed and what her primary leadership responsibilities are with colleagues all over the country.
'Technology itself is quickly shifting and changing how we work together,' she said. 'Whether it's the fact that we used to all be in an office together and now a lot of folks are remote or in some hybrid form. Keeping folks aligned, prioritized on the right things and focused on the right things, making sure things are properly communicated, in addition to the blocking, tackling and reporting CFOs do are all part of what I see as my job responsibilities.'
Every time she and her team issues financial statements, she encourages them to balance how much backwards looking they do versus the opportunity to look into the future. She is someone who sees the story behind the numbers; they have the capability to inform where the company is going, priorities, business decisions, pivots, metrics for success, and more.
With such a forward-thinking view, she is equipped to provide two pieces of advice for future generations of CFOs.
'The first one is don't be afraid to raise your hand,' she said. 'We're not all going to check every single box when it comes to a new job or a new company. If you have the passion and you have the interest, raise your hand. What's the worst that can happen? Someone can say no, but what happens if someone does say yes? I always remind my team, you're never at that title. You're never at that level. You never have that job until you have that job. So, even myself, I was never a public company CFO until I was one. It's the collective experiences that you have that give you these opportunities, so have the courage to raise your hand when something interesting comes up.'
The second is about prioritization.
'My parents taught me the value of hard work very early on, and then my coaches continued to reinforce it,' she emphasized. 'But early in my career, I tried to take on everything. And we all know that when trying to do everything all at once, you're not going to be great at any one of those things. Given where we're at today, the amount of information and the amount of data that we have to process, and all of the different functions, you're not going to be great at any one of those. It's okay to say that, but most importantly, prioritize. Create the space. Know what's material, know what's the most important thing for you, whether that's in the workplace or whether that's at home, because we can't do everything, and we certainly can't do everything really well. One of the biggest lessons I learned was to prioritize and be clear and honest with yourself about what's important to you so that you can say no to the things that just aren't that important.'
Outside of her role at NerdWallet, travel and adventure are high on her priority list. She wants to defy the stereotypical 'risk-averse' image of CFOs, so much so that she has traveled to 64 countries. In some of those countries, StClair has taken up scuba diving and has done so with great white sharks.
Once again, she proves the importance of embracing major opportunities.
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