Tilly is Vyne’s custodian of product positioning and messaging. She has her finger on the pulse - from payments, new campaigns making waves, to sustainability. She never shies away from pushing Vyne to greater heights within product marketing and the business in general.

Her experience makes her very good at what she does but her attitude and determination makes her one to watch. She wants to see more women working in fintech and sustainability is high on her agenda (watch this space) and knowing Tilly, we’re sure she’ll make it happen. She joined Vyne in August 2021 and things have never been the same…

Why Vyne?

Right from the interview stage, they allowed me to speak about my vision for product marketing, and I truly felt as though they saw me as a subject matter expert. Everyone seemed very kind and honest. I’ve worked for start-ups before, but I wanted to join a company going through a seed round. Typically, you see a product marketing hire in Series B, so it was inspiring for me to see that they were investing in this function very early on. I wanted to be part of a team in which I could be part of the first hires and really shape the function of the team, and I knew there would be opportunities for me to grow and develop. I also love the product!

Everyone gets on really well and we’re all pulling in the same direction. I get to spread my wings and get involved in various other things I’m passionate about. Right now, I’m leading a sustainability project, and it’s great to have the remit to do it.

Favourite three things about Vyne?

Flexibility, working on a fantastic product, and fun culture.

What’s a typical day like in product marketing?

Every day, I’ll be speaking to people in various functions of the business. I’ll have conversations with colleagues in the product team, the marketing team, and the sales team. I’ll be trying to understand what they need from me and how I can support them in reaching their goals. I’ll be doing research, creating training decks, working on our product positioning in various markets or helping our customer success team solving a problem. I’m always jumping into things and helping to figure things out.

I genuinely believe that account-to-account payments are going to be the future of payments. It excited me to be in this space – it's growing fast and changing. I’m excited to watch consumer adoption of our product.

What makes a great product marketing manager?

The first thing is a deep understanding of your customer – asking yourself what they are trying to achieve and why they would be using your product. Nobody buys a product simply for the product. People are trying to do something your product allows them to do so help them achieve this goal.

Building really strong relationships internally is a huge part of the role. You have to be in constant contact with product managers, the sales team and the marketing team, so making sure you build solid relationships across all teams is really important. Lastly, dare to be different and stand out in the market. Elevate yourself above the noise that’s being made around you.

What can fintech do to attract and retain more women in this industry?

The first thing to do is recognise that there is a problem and commit to understanding the importance of diversity of thought in the workplace. The second thing is training and education. Companies have a responsibility to educate team members on things they can do to promote diversity in the workplace and in their teams. We need to help all team members, particularly hiring managers, understand how to recognise biases we might hold.

One thing I have noticed at tech companies is a tendency to focus on having a 'strong' company culture, focusing on 'cultural fit' rather than a 'cultural add'. When companies put the emphasis on cultural fit, the unintended consequence is hiring the same type of people with similar lived experiences, and to me, this inadvertently excludes diversity. Focusing on ‘cultural add’ opens the pathway to look at the unique experience a candidate can bring to a team, and in turn, this starts to weed out biases.

Favourite place to go on holiday?

South of France. I speak basic French so it’s easy for me to get around. It’s beautiful, stress free, and there’s a Spanish influence so the food is great.

I’m into fitness, so I love to go snowboarding too.

What's your superpower?

If there is a banana nearby, I can smell it. I was at a wine and cheese event the other day, and I couldn't concentrate because I could smell the bananas but couldn't see them.

What are people often surprised to know about you?

I hold a gold medal for a Royal Horticultural Society Flower Show. I fractured my cheekbone while wakeboarding and I gave Mary Berry incorrect change once.

Finally, your favourite read/watch/listen?

I love Peep Show. My guilty pleasure is anything by ABBA – it goes on when I’m getting ready to go out.