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Vestwell Spotlight: Michelle Tran Takes the Helm of Enterprise Sales

Vestwell Spotlight: Michelle Tran Takes the Helm of Enterprise Sales

Vestwell is excited to announce that Michelle Tran has joined the team as our newest SVP, Head of Enterprise Sales. Between her startup and institutional experience, her role as Co-Founder of NYC Fintech Women, and her overall positive energy, Michelle brings a wealth of talent and experience with her to the Vestwell team.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Michelle and ask about her background, her passions, and what got her interested in Vestwell in the first place.

To start: Who is Michelle Tran? What did your career look like before moving to Vestwell?

“Career-wise, I grew up at BlackRock in a number of distribution roles and had a very global experience. I spent time in San Francisco, Hong Kong, New York, and London with the firm. Once I got a taste for the fintech space, however, I realized I loved it. I joined Apex Clearing, which is the foundation for a lot of digital brokers, and then went ‘super startup’ and led business development for a seed-stage company, Harness Wealth. I grew their advisor network from zero to 1,000 advisors, which I’m very proud of.”

From BlackRock to early-stage startups, and now Vestwell. What was it about the Vestwell opportunity that made you most excited?

“Throughout my career, I’ve looked for opportunities where I can use technology that democratizes access to wealth. As a first-generation U.S. citizen, I’ve personally seen what workplace savings can do for someone’s overall wealth journey. My parents didn’t have access to a 401(k) or other workplace benefits, so for me, it comes down to 'How can we help more people save?'”

“The second reason is the people. Meeting Aaron, Ben, and Lori Hardwick, among others, showed me that everyone here is invested in our great mission. They also work smart and embrace collaboration, so it felt like an incredible firm to be a part of.”

You have a long and storied career. What do you hope to uniquely bring to the Vestwell team?

“I have a passion for working with enterprise clients on solving complex, potentially difficult problems. I like asking the question, ‘How do we solve problems for large organizations and give them access to small business owners?’ By giving them that access, we can help small business owners help their employees plan for retirement. At the end of the day, I hope my talent for solving difficult problems will help more people begin saving with their employer.”

It’s been just over a week since you joined the team, but we have to ask: How do you like your colleagues so far?

“Everyone I’ve met so far has been amazing and incredibly helpful. I’ve been taking in a firehose of information from some of the people who have been here longest—they’ve really been helping me dive deep into the business. The team has been fantastic in opening the doors for me.”

Lastly, the people want to know: Do you have any personal interests or hobbies? What are you passionate about in your after-work hours?

“In late 2017, I co-founded the group NYC Fintech Women, an organization that now has over 8,000 members across startups, traditional finance, and VCs. We work with companies like Google, JP Morgan, and startups to help them support women in fintech. Last year, we had our December holiday event at the New York Stock Exchange, in partnership with the FinTech Collective, and we rang the opening bell at Nasdaq and IEX in years past. Today, I help set the vision for the organization and help ensure we live up to our mission: Connect, empower, and promote women in fintech, which we do in a number of ways.”

“I’m also involved in an AAPI (Asian American & Pacific Islander) project that we hope to launch soon. Over the last year, I’ve seen that we need more support and resources in that space, so be on the lookout for that to launch soon.”

Join Michelle (And Others!) as Part of the Vestwell Team

Vestwell is hiring, and hiring fast! Whether you're interested in reinventing the retirement space or just want to surround yourself with smart, fun, driven people like Michelle, we'd love to count you as part of the team.

Learn more about the opportunities available at Vestwell by checking our careers page here.