Corporate Challenge 2022

Tonight night was the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge! This is the first big company wide event since COVID. The Corporate Challenge is an annual 5K that I have participated in every year since I joined American Express, and am happy they brought back this tradition!

On the way there, I met up with my former Finance teammate Jonathan and a group of other finance friends I have not seen in a while. Sadly, due to my sprained foot, my foot hurt after starting to run for a few minutes and ended up walking most of the race, with a few spurs of run and jogging here and there.

When we got back to the AMEX tent for food and drinks after the race, I bumped into my old TLS teammates and caught up with them as well as our Risk partner from Kabbage.

I love all of my colleagues and am so happy to have been able to catch up with all my old & new AMEX colleagues!

First time Exploring Atlanta

Lunch at Ladybird Atlanta

First Photo in Atlanta at Ladybird

This past week I was in Atlanta for work, luckily I had the opportunity to fly in a day early to explore all Atlanta had to offer AND have some yummy southern food!

On Sunday, I landed around noon, got to the hotel and immediately hit the ground running in search of some southern food for my first official Georgian meal!

Shrimp & Grits at Ladybird

I found myself at Ladybird, which is a cute outdoor spot for food and drinks. At Ladybrid, I had some true southern Shrimp & Grits and Fried Okra, which was DELICOUS!!!

After a late lunch, I headed to Ponce City Market, where I met up with a former AMEX co-worker and explored Ponce City Market, explored the Atlanta Beltline and then e-scootered to Piedmont Park and then got some yummy food at Bettlecat, where my current coworker and new boss met up with us!

  • Ponce City Market is cool hangout spot with some shops and a large food court. I tried some doughnuts from Five Daughters Doughnuts, which were like cronuts, but with so many more flavors!

  • Atlanta Beltline is similar to the NYC highline, it is a 22 mile pedestrian rail park that will take you throughout the city

  • Piedmont Park is one of Atlanta’s most famous parks and often has events happening and vendors selling food and products

  • Beetlecat - was a cute spot we went to for dinner, they had really great seafood!

  • Lingering Shade - outdoor patio on the Beltline for cocktails and appetizers

The office, located in Midtown Atlanta, was the quintessential startup office, with free food, coffee and BEER on tap, as well as tons of free snacks and CHAMPAGNE in the fridge, but the best part was all of the DOGS in the office! As much as I love NY, the Atlanta office hands down beats the NY office!

Some other fun spots the team and I ended up at were:

  • Two Urban Licks - this was a great spot with live music and a cute cocktail bar inside and the outdoor space is right on the beltline, not to mention they had delicious food!

  • South City Kitchen - this spot was recommended to my team and I by a coworker, the food was good, however the fried chicken did not live up to our expectations, however the FRIED GREEN TOMATOES were delicious (and this is coming from a girl who was very skeptical about even ordering them)!

I did not know what to expect coming to Atlanta for the first time, honestly I had very low expectations - and let me say - Atlanta, you blew my expectations OUT OF THE WATER!

I had an amazing time and cannot wait to come back again!

Kabbage Potluck 2021

Today we had a potluck at work! We had a variety of sweet and savory dishes, and surprisingly lot of Asian dishes as well. On the savory end, we had everything from dil carrots & gnocci to pineapple fried rice to sushi and dumplings to vegan chocolate cookies to panna cotta and cake.

Potluck Spread

Group Shot - all the chefs & bakers!

I am not much of a cook, so of course - I baked! I baked a funfetti cake with homemade fluffy vanilla frosting! I had never made frosting before, but I got LOTS of compliments from my co-workers who ate it straight, so definitely a crowd pleaser!

Here is the recipe I used, which is very simple and the perfect amount for the bundt cake i made w/ plenty of extra.

Fluffy Vanilla Frosting Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)

  • 2.5 cups confectionary sugar (powdered sugar)

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/2 pinch salt

Directions

  • Beat butter with a mixer until fluffy

  • Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing with mixer

  • Add vanilla and sugar mix until fluffy

Joining the Kabbage (Patch)

I am happy to announce that I received a promotion to Senior Product Manager and today is my first official day joining he Kabbage team at American Express!

I am excited to not only start my journey as a product manager, but to join the Kabbage team. The product I will be focused on is funding for small to medium size businesses through lines of credit. For those of you who are wondering what Kabbage is, Kabbage is a fintech recently acquired by AMEX in August 2020. Despite being acquired by AMEX, Kabbage still has the startup feel and journey, but with the backing of a Fortune 100 company.

In the interview process, I had the opportunity to interview with one of the co-founders Kathryn Petralia, who I learned also happened to be on Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2017! I may have fangirled a little bit, but I am not the only one!

I have already met a few of my new team members as I am transitioning out of my old role into my new role the past few weeks and they all seem great!

This will be my first role as a product manager, so please feel free to embark any words of wisdom and wish me luck!

Last Day in TLS

Today is my last day in Travel & Lifestyle Services (but not at AMEX). Traveling across the globe these past few years working with 7000+ colleagues in 23 markets across 16 time zones has been an amazing experience! ✈️

TLS is a magical place and I have learned a lot and made so many great memories. I will never forget the great times we have shared from NYC to Toronto to London to Sunrise to Phoenix to Mexico City to Cancun & more. ✨

I have truly enjoyed working with you all and will miss you! You have become more than just co workers & I am grateful for you all, there are too many of you to name. I could not have asked for a better team.

Thank you for everything! ❤️

If you ever find yourself in NY, do not be a stranger! 😉

International Women’s Day

Happy Intetnational Women’s Day!

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Happy International Women’s Day! 💜

Here’s to strong women.
May we know them.
May we be them.
May we raise them! 💪

Then and now (2020 celebrating together in person & 2021 celebrating together apart)

Then and now (2020 celebrating together in person & 2021 celebrating together apart)

Who knew this would be one of the last big events I’d celebrate with my coworkers and friends.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Happy International Women’s Day! 💜

I am so excited to be part of The Ambition Project. Only 3 in 10 women are proud to call themselves ambitious. Let’s change the way we talk about ambition.

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To me ambition means not being afraid to go for what you want! What does ambition mean to you? 👊

Dia de Muertos in Mexico City

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I had the amazing pleasure of taking part in some festivities for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico City this year!

Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday to celebrate and remember those who have passed away. This holiday is celebrated on October 31 to November 2nd.

Candy Skeleton & Pan de Muerto

Candy Skeleton & Pan de Muerto

For Dia de los Muertos, families will create an ofrenda, which is kind of similar to an alter/shrine created for those who have passed away. The ofrendas feature a photo of the deceased and includes the 4 elements, water, wind, earth and fire in the form of papel picado, flowers, sugar skulls and candles.

Catrina is the skeleton figure that is often associated with Dia de Muertos, who honors and protects those who have passed away.

Check out some of the amazing ofrendas designed by my team in Mexico City this year!

Toronto in July

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Earlier this week, I traveled to Toronto, Canada on my first work trip... ever!  It was a great experience and I learned a lot about my new team, Travel & Lifestyle Services (TLS).  I had not been to Toronto since the North American Debate Championships (Northams) in January 2010 at York University.

My boss and I were only there for 1.5 days, so needless to say it as pretty jam packed with meetings during this market visit.  However, I was able to find some time to catch up with one of my MBA grad school friends who recently started working for AMEX in Canada!

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During my stay, I stayed at the Shangri-La Toronto, a very swanky 5-star hotel chain with a gorgeous pool.  The room was so spacious, bathroom alone could have been a small studio apartment in NYC, which included a hot tub and TV built into the mirror.  The hotel concierge even left me a nice handwritten note and left me pound cake loaf to welcome me to the hotel.  I would definitely love to stay there again, can I afford it is the question!

 “Big Ass Steak” at Baro in Toronto

 “Big Ass Steak” at Baro in Toronto

After Day 1, all of the managers+ went to a team dinner at Baro, a delicious Mexican restaurant in downtown Toronto.  The food here was DELICIOUS and the menu had some great names of dishes.  My favorite dishes on the menu were the steak and the the tacos, but the most amusing dish names were "Big Ass Steak" and “Eat Like Jefe!” 

CN Tower

CN Tower

On the way back to the hotel from Baro, we had a great view of one of Toronto's most popular attractions, the CN tower.  For those of you who know me know I had to stop and take a photo. My new boss surprisingly followed suit and took a photo on Snapchat to send to his children.

The next day was filled with back to back meetings starting at 8:30 AM to 4 PM, which I then headed to the airport for my flight - delayed about 5 hours...  However, on my flight home, I sat next to someone who taught me a bit about meditation and turned about to be a new friend!

Can't wait for my next trip!

My First Work Trip!

New Role, New Team & New Country!

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On my first day in my new role in Travel & Lifestyle Services (TLS), I was able to take a business trip to Toronto, Ontario for a site visit with my new boss.  (Do not worry I did not relocate to Canada)  I would be lying if I said I was not a bit intimidated to be travelling with my boss my first few days on the job - what would I talk to him about, would we get along or would I do something silly or embarrassing in front of him?  Thankfully all of these concerns were mostly in my head as I think I hopefully made a good impression.

The trip was very quick as we had landed on Monday afternoon, around 2:30 PM, due to delays, and left by end of day on Tuesday, less than 48 hours later.  However, even in this short period of time I was able to learn a lot.  I was able to:

  1. See how senior leaders at my company thing
  2. Listen to a call into the call center from the view of a Travel & Lifestyle consultant
  3. Hear the mindsets of what is and is not working and how senior leaders viewed these matters
  4. View the company from an international perspective
Team Dinner at Baro in Toronto, Canada

Team Dinner at Baro in Toronto, Canada

As part of TLS, the team creates, fosters and manages the relationships with some of the most high end hotels, including the Shangri-La hotel where I had the pleasure of staying and Baco where had dinner on Monday night.  While we were at dinner, we learned it was the regional VP’s birthday, so of course we had to celebrate while we were there!

Sadly, while I did not have any time to explore, but I did get a much better understanding of my new team, TLS.  I excited for my new role and what the future may hold!

Check out my next post for a lifestyle focus on my trip to Toronto and stay tuned for more of my travel adventures! (Hopefully)

 

End of a chapter...

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Today marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next as I finish my first role at AMEX today! 🎉 

Thank you to everyone for coming out to celebrate my PROMOTION with me and supported me in this role and in getting the next. I super excited to start my new role, but am going to miss you all! 💕

For the past few years, I have been working in the Corporate Planning & Analysis team, supporting the core function teams, such as Marketing, HR, Legal, Aviation and Audit from a FP&A budgeting and forecasting perspective, in a nutshell. I have learned a lot over the past few years and am excited to start my second role at AMEX with a PROMOTION in Travel & Lifestyle Services as a Manager of Strategy and Business Planning! 

 

 

 

Farewell Ken Chenault

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Today marks the end of an era at American Express as our CEO Ken Chenault passes the torch to Steve Squeri on his final day at the company.  

I have been working at AMEX since June of 2015 and it by far has one of the best work cultures and work/life balance. I think this goes to show what great leadership Ken has, can’t wait to see what changes Steve will make.

I had the pleasure of speaking with him today, his last day at the company. Ken was very down to earth and really eager to meet everyone and even take some photos - it was actually rather humbling. 

One thing that really resonated with me, is Ken’s ambition and drive. In a conversation yesterday, he discussed his future plans not only in the digital world, but to give back the community.  Can I please be as swagger as Ken? (He said that word quite a lot yesterday).  However, he did say as much as he loves AMEX he had missed out on opportunities to spend time with friends and loved ones. My advice to you, which I am sure Ken will agree with is seize every opportunity and spend time with those that you love. 

My biggest takeaway on a personal level, Short people and events who are a waste of time (Silly finance reference made my Ken yesterday)  

Ken has truely made an impact at the company, in the black community and the globe. 

Wishing Ken the best of luck in the next chapter of his life, you are going to do great things!