Highlighting inspirational female leaders at emerchantpay

Each employee across emerchantpay is valued for their experience, knowledge and ideas to innovate the payments landscape. From taking on managerial roles and leading projects to mentoring team members and building innovative products for our customers, our personable approach is integral to our people and our customers’ success.

In the lead up to International Women’s Day on March 8, we’re excited to celebrate some of our female leaders’ achievements and the critical roles they play in our mission to create a global payment ecosystem that connects businesses and consumers everywhere through seamless payment solutions.

Iana's inspiring career journey at emerchantpay

Iana Tsolova reinforces our collaborative culture as our Team Lead of Product Owners. She kickstarted her career as a Business and Product Analyst for emerchantpay’s Product Development department in May 2018 after attending a career forum that we participated in. She later progressed to a Senior Product Owner position until September 2021, when she became the Team Lead for Product Owners at emerchantpay.

Reflecting on the warm greeting and the ‘family feel’ she received during the interview process, Iana attests to a sense of belonging that made her realise emerchantpay was the perfect fit. While other companies saw her maternity break purely as an employment gap and overlooked her job application, emerchantpay acknowledged the tangible value and skills that Iana was willing to bring to the company.

As a person who has a family, and as a company that supported family values, it became clear to me during the interview that we would be a great match due to emerchantpay's business goals as well as the experience and knowledge that I could offer.

Iana Tsolova | Team Lead Product Owners at emerchantpay

At emerchantpay, we take pride in our diverse team of experts in their field who enable businesses to accept payments smoothly while maximising long-term profitability. Our employees are not simply the beacon that shines light to our values of transparency, trust, accountability, customer centricity and passion. Most importantly, they pioneer the path to our mission to create a global payments ecosystem that connects businesses and consumers everywhere. Our team is expanding by the day in every corner of the world and like every fast-growing company, we rely on our team spirit and expertise to tackle any challenges coming our way.

The important thing is that we listen, communicate and help each other so that we can move forward and progress in the right direction.

Iana Tsolova | Team Lead Product Owners at emerchantpay

emerchantpay fosters a more inclusive ecosystem for women in fintech

Iana's journey is just one of the many exciting stories of the emerchantpay global team, who build on our collective effort to propel the world of payments forward.

Vania Koleva is the Group Chief Operations Officer at emerchantpay, with an astonishing tenure of more than 15 years in the company. What’s great about Vania’s story is that she’s a well-established woman in business, who has managed to align her career aspirations with her personal goals:

Female leadership is increasingly becoming a common sight in fintech and it’s heartening to see more women climbing the corporate ladder. emerchantpay advocates for a balanced personal and work life for all its employees. We firmly believe that fulfilling your personal goals can go hand in hand with career success, and we empower our team members to progress in their roles across our organisation.

Vania Koleva  | Group Chief Operations Officer at emerchantpay

Equally inspirational is the story of our VP marketing, Ingibjorg Jonasdottir, who has been a part of the company for close to 10 years. In addition to her extensive expertise in marketing, she has a varied skillset across product ownership and project management, which she gained while working at emerchantpay. Her long-standing career testifies to the fact that people at emerchantpay are here to make a difference for the long haul:

emerchantpay provides a supportive and welcoming environment, where everyone is encouraged to pursue their passions in payments, whether it be developing a skillset in marketing, product ownership or project management like myself or something outside of this. This enables our global team to achieve operational excellence and stay agile in the dynamic and fast-evolving payments world.

Ingibjorg Jonasdottir | VP Marketing at emerchantpay

Someone else who’s inspiring their team to stay adaptable and pursue greatness is our Group Head of Treasury, Zlatina Tuneva. With a career that spans over 15 years, Zlatina is passionate about fostering a culture, where everyone’s voices are heard and where work life balance is normalised.

People grow and learn the most when they’re put outside of their comfort zones, which is why I always encourage my team to keep challenging themselves. Alongside this, emerchantpay encourages employees to establish a healthy work life balance, ensuring that their own personal wellbeing continues to thrive alongside their professional growth.

Zlatina Tuneva | Group Head of Treasury at emerchantpay

Another bright example of a woman who has found a workplace where they can prosper as a leader is Kathrin Koeberle, Group Head of Underwriting at emerchantpay, who counts a successful career of over three years in our organisation:

I encourage my team to always stay curious and never stop learning, and to view roadblocks as opportunities to grow and excel. This is something that emerchantpay champions and is what really sets them apart from other employers. I’m honoured to be in a position, where I can mentor and empower others to keep pushing the boundaries and embrace challenges.

Kathrin Koeberle | Group Head of Underwriting at emerchantpay

Takeaways

International Women’s Day marks a great opportunity for companies across industries to make further efforts towards a more inclusive workforce. At emerchantpay, we share a passion to push the payments landscape forward, knowing that the most efficient way to deliver exceptional results to our customers is by embracing diverse perspectives.

Staying true to emerchantpay’s values, our dynamic group of team players taps into our family culture and combined vision to accelerate payments innovation, grow as professionals and individuals, and reshape the conversation within the payments ecosystem.