Irina Chuchkina, currently CMO of Volt, has over 18 years in the payments sector across Europe and Asia. She also sits on the board of the Singapore FinTech Association and has been recognised as one of the top 25 women leaders in financial technology in Europe by The Financial Technology Report. We got to sit down and chat with her about her career to date, and thoughts on the fintech industry.
Please can you introduce yourself – tell us about your background and your current role at Volt?
My name is Irina, and I’m the Chief Marketing Officer at Volt, a UK-based Series B startup that focuses on connecting real-time payments into a single stack.
My journey in fintech has spanned various continents and sectors, covering both B2B and B2C areas, including payments and fintech, digital infrastructure, super-apps, and embedded finance.
Over the course of the last 15+ years I’ve been fortunate to contribute to the growth of several successful businesses, including a Fortune 500 public company, Visa, and two international unicorns, Grab and Rapyd.
During this time I developed a comprehensive skill set in Marketing and Comms, Demand Generation, as well as international expansion, GTM and Commercial strategy. Until I moved to London in 2022, I spent 8 years in Singapore, where I’ve seen and led many projects related to market launches, international expansion, and was witnessing explosive growth – and I really enjoyed it. It was an eye-opening experience and it made me unlearn many things, and helped me grow and expand my horizons.
Beyond my professional roles, I’m trying to be an active member of various fintech and professional communities and I really enjoy connecting people and creating communities.
I hold an MBA from INSEAD and live in London with my husband and our three children: an 18-year-old daughter and two sons, aged 6 and 8.
What is your favourite thing about your work?
I love working on complex, multi-component projects, like a market or product launch. For me, the most rewarding experience is when a team comes together and builds on each other’s strengths. It’s incredibly fulfilling to see us collaboratively defining the strategy and agreeing on aspiration, contributing our respective pieces, and ultimately achieving a multiplier effect. This synergy, where the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts, is what I find most exciting and satisfying about my work.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced in the industry, and how have you overcome them?
Some of the biggest challenges I’ve seen companies face were related to “softer” matters: communications, people and culture.
One major challenge I’ve seen time and time again is the lack of clarity in vision and its articulation into daily priorities and targets. This can lead to confusion and multiple interpretations of what’s right and wrong, ultimately causing misalignment. My experience has taught me that leadership’s primary responsibility is to set and communicate a clear direction for the team – to the point when you feel like you’re repeating the obvious.
Another challenge is the tendency of startups to get too excited, over-hire and inflate team structures. To avoid this, I try to focus on creating tight, well-coordinated teams with clear responsibilities, ensuring everyone knows their role and how they contribute to the bigger picture.
Lastly, I’ve seen risk-averse cultures and internal politics stifle innovation. I believe it’s crucial to encourage initiative and experimentation, allowing teams to take calculated risks and learn from failures without fear of punishment. This creates a more dynamic, fun and productive work environment.
What leadership principles do you follow, and how do they influence the culture of marketing at Volt?
- Transparency and context: I believe in leading by helping others see more clearly, and strive to make information accessible to you. When I make decisions I will try to explain the logic. I don’t expect my team to agree with the logic, and that’s when I like to have a healthy debate. Typically that would bring us to a better outcome, and I’d like to think that this allows us to move further, faster, and with more trust and buy-in.
- Curiosity and ideas: I try to encourage my teammates to expose themselves to the outside world and explore ideas, inspiration and best practices, and I love it when they bring them back into the team and share with each other. One of my favourite books is ‘Steal like an Artist’, I use a lot of references and inspiration from other companies in my work.
- Marketing is both Art & Science: what I love most about Marketing is that it combines creative, visual thinking and storytelling with rigour, data and insights. I like to discuss experiments and great ideas, but I also love digging into data – and I will always try to keep a lens of how the project will and has help grow our business.
- Constant improvement: I anticipate us as a team to operate as Growth operators: learn from each project, capture lessons and learnings, create playbooks, and expect us all to constantly strive to improve our results. If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we don’t realise our potential. I also believe in continually fixing small things and being attentive to details.
What advice would you give to those looking to start a career in fintech, especially women looking to enter the field?
First, focus on areas that genuinely interest you. Doing what makes you tick will ultimately lead to the best outcomes and a more fulfilling career.
Second, surround yourself with friendly, informal advisors – people you admire and want to learn from. Don’t hesitate to ask them questions and seek their guidance when in doubt, most people are generally quite generous with their insights when the request is authentic. Mentorship can provide invaluable insights and support as you navigate your career.
We talk a lot about public speaking at The Heard, do you have a specific opportunity that opened doors for you? Or advice you’d give for people looking to do more public speaking in fintech and financial services?
One of my first public speaking engagements was with the Women in Payments community. Kristy Duncan and her team have created a wonderful professional community and they constantly encourage first-time speakers to apply and participate in their events and symposia, all within a carefully curated and supportive environment.
Joining a panel and speaking to an audience of 20 women was a pivotal moment for me. It made me realise that I have unique and valuable experiences to share, and that with some preparation, I can contribute to interesting discussions and create value for the audience.
For those looking to do more public speaking, my advice is to start within smaller, supportive communities. These environments can help build your confidence and refine your speaking skills. Also, preparation is key. Know your topic well, and practice delivering your message clearly and confidently. With time, you’ll find your voice and the opportunities will continue to come to you.
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