Natalie Bryant talks pizza-and-bubbles celebrations and becoming a company head
Natalie Bryant was one of the first people to be hired as part of fintech company Sharesies, and over the years, she has had the pleasure of watching the organisation bloom from a startup to a market leader.
Today, this superstar GC is part of the Sharesies leadership team, and was recently named the winner of the Lane Neave In-house Lawyer of the Year award at the 2021 New Zealand Law Awards. Bryant celebrated the win in Sharesies style – with family, friends, colleagues, and pizza and bubbles.
In this interview, Bryant talks about helping her organisation to expand in the face of COVID-19, the importance of delegation, handling increased scrutiny from regulators, and balance as her key word for 2022.
You were named the Lane Neave In-house Lawyer of the Year at the New Zealand Law Awards last year – how did you feel when you were announced as the winner of that award, and what does this accolade mean to you?
I was incredibly happy and proud when it was announced. We were in the office at the time – due to COVID-19 restrictions, the awards ceremony was held online, but we had it up on the big screen.
While the award was personal, it was only possible as a result of the strength of the fantastic team I lead. So we celebrated with pizza and bubbles in a very Sharesies way, with a happy, fun family vibe. My daughter and husband were there as well as all the legal team and all our support crew right across the business. It meant so much to me.
As one of the first employees at Sharesies, I have experienced incredible growth and learning over the years and feel privileged to be part of its success story. Being recognised as a leader in the in-house lawyer community amongst peers means the world to me and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
The role of in-house lawyers in an organisation has been evolving significantly especially in recent years – how has your role at Sharesies changed over the past couple of years with the onset of the pandemic?
Sharesies as a business has significantly changed since we were a start-up to now being a market leader in our sector. My role has grown along with the business transformation and building a legal team to support that massive growth has been my key priority.
And in the middle of all that we had the COVID-19 pandemic – which as well as the obvious stresses, was also the trigger for ordinary New Zealanders to spend more time thinking about investments. Sharesies had at the beginning of 2020 around 80,000 customers on our platform and 40 staff. When the pandemic hit, we saw exponential growth and we now have 500,000 customers on our platform and more than 200 staff – and growing every day.
A significant part of my role is to leverage combined resources and talent within the legal team to become an enabler and open opportunities for people in terms of growth within the company in-line with business needs, giving priority to meeting our legal obligations.
As a member of the Sharesies leadership team, I have been focused on how we continue to deliver and prioritise projects to launch into new territories. Where previously you’d hop on a plane to explore new opportunities and meet key advisers and regulators, this became more of a challenge during the pandemic. Adapting to all remote ways of working and aligning on priorities and risks as a business has meant redistributing time and resources to meet those new demands.
I’m conscious of adopting a stronger role in pastoral care as a leader in the company. Supporting teams, showing appreciation, and putting health and wellbeing firmly on the agenda.
How do you think the current environment has helped and/or hindered the work that you do?
I think it’s been challenging for everyone regardless. It’s fabulous that Kiwis now see investing as more of a possibility and are embracing these opportunities, where previously they wouldn’t have done so. In acknowledging that going through lots of change presents challenges for everyone, we’ve embraced and supported our teams and customers through this process. We are a remote-working friendly company anyway, but it’s never been more important to keep up connections and communication when remote.
From a leadership standpoint, this is something that we want to carry through – with a focus on wellbeing and self-care to continue to do great work and still have gas in the tank at the end of a working day!
Our purpose is to create financial empowerment for everyone, which is reflected in the customer base and brand trust that we’ve built up. This has been particularly pertinent during the pandemic to support our customers and help them navigate through challenging times within a changing market.
What for you was the most significant challenge you faced over the past year as an in-house lawyer?
As a fintech company, we’re under a lot of scrutiny and have a number of regulators. In 2021, as we went from a start-up to a market leader, unsurprisingly there was more focus on us from a regulatory point of view. It required me to show professional leadership and coordinate resources across the business, engage our external lawyers and interact with the board.
In the true spirit of our Sharesies culture, our team embraced the work and information required to satisfy the information requests and help our regulators understand our sector and business model. We are always looking for ways to improve.
What was your biggest achievement in that period?
I feel like there are so many to choose from! Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we have been able to continue to grow the business and hire incredible people that are so much fun to work with and are setting us up for execution of our plans in New Zealand and for global expansion – starting with Australia.
If I am forced to pick one, it would be leading our small but mighty legal team that pulled together to help make all of this happen and are laser focused on what’s needed.
What lessons will you take with you going into 2022?
The biggest lessons learnt undoubtedly are around leveraging internal team talents and how to make our most of the experience of external partners.
Having amazing people around you is critical to success and business growth. You don’t have to have all the answers. Pooling views from a leadership point of view, listening, building high trust in communication, and developing a healthy culture of listening and responding to feedback is an area of strength in any team dynamic.
Delegation to the team creates growth opportunities for everyone and takes the pressure off making reactive decisions. This allows more space to be proactive in areas of opportunity. I’ve learnt that it’s ok to change things up and not necessarily have all the solutions immediately, as long as you are able to adapt and rethink.
But also, wellbeing has a huge importance in the performance of our personal and professional lives. Prioritising time and being accountable for where we’re spending it, needs to be aligned with our purpose and goals to be able to lead and grow.
What’s in the works for you this year?
My word for this year is ‘balance’ – keeping as much balance between well-being and work is key! This looks like spending quality time with my family and doing fun things together outdoors, sticking with my exercise routine by going out for walks every day.
