In this episode of Say It Skillfully, Molly welcomes Mark Parsells, Founder and Managing General Partner at Montpelier Ventures. Mark shares his life journey that's included Capitol Hill, running major, global multi-billion-dollar divisions for American Express, Bank One (Chase) and Citigroup, and being Chair and CEO of three private equity and venture backed FinTech businesses. He shares what it was like growing up the youngest of four boys with a minister-turned-entrepreneur father, who made being at the top the only option. Mark talks about difficult times at home and learning to embrace the truth that parents—and leaders—are people, too. 

Keen to carve his own path, Mark shares his decision process to business school and finding his way to the private sector (and his epiphany of a $20,000 summer internship vs. his annual Senate stagger salary of $18,500!). He chronicles his remarkable ascent and impact at American Express, where he succeeded at being entrepreneurial within the corporate bureaucracy and was invited to the annual shareholder meeting to review his strategy that brought credit cards as a form of payment to government institutions for the first time in history. With humor, he recounts another epiphany of being a "terrible junior employee!" and is not bashful that he was horrible at taking feedback (and encourages you not to do what he did...).

Don't miss hearing how Mark went against everyone's advice and chose to leave behind the world of corporate jets for his true north, one of happiness and no regrets. Learn how to navigate work while being invaluable and true to yourself. 

Hear the Real Deal...

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