The Financial Journey is a unique series focused on financial education and opportunities. These stories have been created through a strategic partnership between Wells Fargo and Word In Black.
WIB: Can you describe your role at Wells Fargo?
Oliver: I’m Executive Vice President, Personal Lending, where I lead Shared Enablement Services. It’s a team that focuses on building a set of operating principles for personal loans and retail services (risk programs, regulatory requirements, underwriting, and operations strategy). My second role is a labor of love. I’m the newly appointed enterprise President for the Black and African American Connection Employee Resource Network (ERN), supporting more than 15,000 employees and allies who have joined the ERN.
WIB: What would you say is the best part of the work you get to do?
Oliver: Helping my team reach their professional and personal goals. I’m a firm believer that if you can see it, you can achieve it and you can believe it.
WIB: What does diversity and Inclusion mean for you?
Oliver: The act of creating a diverse team is not hard today, but it’s the inclusion and equity that makes it sustainable. Inclusion is achieved when all voices are heard, respected, and differences are celebrated. When I think of the statement “We’re all more alike than different,” and where we go wrong with that statement is we stop there. We must also create a safe space for that part of ourselves and others that’s different. If we only bring the part of ourselves that’s alike to work, it’s not driving inclusion.
WIB: What is one piece of career advice you can give to our readers?
Oliver: One of the things that I had to learn early on is knowing the difference between having a career and a job. Having a career is being very deliberate. Being deliberate about the type of roles you take; who you work for; knowing the job that you want in five years; knowing your aspirational job for ten years from now; and then also maintaining your core beliefs. You also have to be okay with knowing that walking into a (company) culture might not be what you expect in the beginning, and that shifting a culture is uncomfortable. Everyone won’t be on board with change, but we still must stay the course and demonstrate grace and courage to those that are trying to shift the culture.
Having a career is being very deliberate. Being deliberate about the type of roles you take; who you work for; knowing the job that you want in five years; knowing your aspirational job for ten years from now; and then also maintaining your core beliefs.
windy oliver, Executive Vice President, Personal Lending at wells fargo
WIB: Having a role in banking can seem daunting at times, what do you enjoy most outside of work?
Oliver: I love spending time with my family and friends. It brings me joy to serve as a board member for the Council for Children’s Rights and the Urban League for the Central Carolinas. I’m also a huge fan of traveling and sports.
WIB: Describe your proudest moment to date.
Oliver: It’s all the moments when a young leader that I’m mentoring realizes their dreams and potential. A motto for my life that I came up with – and I have it on the mirror in my bathroom as I get dressed every morning as a reminder – “Blessed are those that give without remembering and receive without forgetting.”
WIB: What would you say is the most important lesson about finances?
Oliver: No amount is too small to start saving or investing. Having financial freedom is the beginning of establishing a future where you have more ownership of your choices.
WIB: Can you describe a pivotal moment in your career?
Oliver: I agreed to take an international assignment as Chief Risk Officer in Riga, Latvia. I didn’t know a lot about that country. I was told, “You’ll be the only Black person in this bank and you’ll rarely see anyone that looks like you in the country.” Having an opportunity to experience the cultural norms in a country different than your own is life changing. The bold step of relocating halfway across the globe propelled me to new heights of personal and leadership development in just two years.
WIB: What does having an “authentic voice” mean for you?
Oliver: Being true to myself and bringing that part of me that’s different in every room. Being okay with being different. Being courageous and unapologetic. Bringing my whole depth of self and sharing my authentic voice drives a sense of peace for me.
Windy Oliver is the Personal Lending Shared Enablement Services Leader for Personal Lending, Executive Vice President, and a Management Committee Member at Wells Fargo. In Windy’s current role, she is focused on building out a set of operating principles for Personal Loans and Retail Services that include combined ways of looking at business excellence, risk programs, regulatory requirements, underwriting, data analytics and operations strategy. Windy is the newly appointed Black & African American Connection President for Wells Fargo.
Windy joined Wells Fargo in 2017 and brought with her 20 years of experience in the financial services industry with a proven record of delivering results. Windy came to Wells Fargo as part of the GE acquisition, where she held various business leadership roles over 19 years, including 10 years in GE Retail Consumer Finance, chief risk officer for GE Capital in Riga Latvia, and chief risk officer of GE Capital – Artesia Bank in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In both roles, she was responsible for credit, operational and enterprise risk management, risk treasury, fraud, and the organizations that supported each risk type. She’s a Six Sigma black belt with broad experience across all risk disciplines.
In her spare time, she is active in the Charlotte, North Carolina community, serving as a board member for the Council for Children’s Rights and the Urban League of Central Carolinas. Windy is an avid sports fan and enjoys traveling and exploring new cultures. Windy graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi.
