Laura Miller

Having started her career in retail, Laura Miller freely admits she never expected to end up in financial services. 

She was, however, sought out for her leadership credentials by American Express in the late 1990s, taking up a host of prominent positions in the commercial card division. 

Then, at JPMorgan Chase & Co, she got her first real taste of working in payments and quickly developed a love for the sector. This eventually took her to Nuvei in 2023, where she became Chief Revenue Officer and Global Head of eCommerce.

Already, Miller is full of glowing praise for her employer, not to mention the industry as a whole. 

“Nuvei is a company with incredible innovation, commitment to customers, and rapid pace of growth and opportunity,” she says. 

“The payments industry is truly unique. The people and the relationships across all aspects of the ecosystem are some of the best I've ever worked with. 

“Payments has been, and will continue to be, one of the most innovative, fast-moving industries in the world. Being part of that change is incredibly fulfilling.”

Learning on the job

Miller grew up in the state of Arizona, where she attended primary and secondary school, and then college. 

Her belief, however, is that the best education she ever received was learning on the job within the payments sector. 

“I’ve worked in multiple aspects of the business, whether it's sales, relationship management, operations, product, partner management, marketing or general management,” Miller explains. 

“Essentially, I would say the best education, honestly, is the hands-on training I’ve had working with merchants and companies of all sizes and segments, from small businesses to the largest in e-commerce globally.”

The experience Miller has amassed over the past few decades has made her a strong and fierce leader, capable of helping people to develop, grow and be the best-possible version of themselves. 

She adds: “The other skill I’m known for is operational execution, and doing that in an excellent and high-quality way with integrity.

“But wrapping around all of my strengths is strategic planning for success. Why that’s unique is because I have a background in not only building strategies, but then seeing them through – and not everybody gets to do that.”

People and prioritisation

Despite her undoubted prowess as a leader at Nuvei, it can’t all be plain sailing for Miller. 

She reveals one of the toughest things about her job is hiring the right people – those who can hit the ground running and help the business gain momentum, as opposed to losing it. 

“It's not just about finding the right person and the right culture,” she says, “but someone who can operate at a fast pace and absorb a lot of information.

“Payments truly is a big ecosystem. You have regulatory impacts, scheme impacts – all these things that govern and change, but how do you learn it quickly, adapt, grow and execute?”

Another challenge with which Miller is constantly wrestling is prioritisation, especially in situations where limited resources are at her disposal. 

“You have to choose your outcomes and sometimes you’re making a bet on the future,” she concludes. “There are times when you put resources and dollars into one path, but you’re a little bit early to the game and the consumer or the ecosystem isn’t ready for it.”

Read the full story here.

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