The “Getting to Know” series is sponsored by Applied Innovation. Applied Innovation is helping to shape the future of accounts receivable management. Product development is driven by customer feedback, agency profitability and compliance and includes platforms addressing client portal access, document management, payment negotiation, Regulation E focused electronic payment authorizations and TCPA communication authorization platforms. Partner with a company who understands your business challenges and evolves to provide cutting edge technology to overcome those challenges and achieve success.
If you’re lucky, you have someone in your life who sees things through a different perspective, who always seems to know the right question to ask at the right time, which helps you put a situation into perspective and allows you to make the right decision. For many people in the accounts receivable management industry, that person is Amy Kennedy. Amy’s ability to help people bring things into focus and identify solutions where there never seems to be a right or wrong answer is what sets her apart. Read on to learn more about Amy, her favorite question to ask, and why “Treat yo’self” is literally the best phrase ever invented.
Name: Amy Kennedy
Current Role/Job Title: Product Strategy/Associate Partner
Company: The Intelitech Group
Length of time at current company: Six months
Length of time in industry: 31 years, providing software and service solutions to market problems in collection and recovery operations
How did you get your start in the industry?
I started with a dual role of customer-facing support and software engineering for Ontario Systems (FACS, Artiva).
What is your career highlight so far?
Anytime I deliver a solution that solves a customer problem profoundly, the excitement they show because I really “get them”. Working with a team to launch a collection system platform that “got” the agency users was an amazing experience.
When or how are you most productive?
I find my best work happens in the morning with a clean desk and deep focus music in the background.
Which industry professional do you admire most?
My hat’s off to Amy Perkins for seeing an opportunity to boost women in the industry and executing with excellence to launch the Women in Consumer Finance program.
What is one thing you do better than everyone else?
I help people transform “what is” to “what could be”, applying product thinking to just about any problem or circumstance.
What do you like most about this industry?
I appreciate the level of care the people in this industry extend in all directions, to their clients, the consumers, and partners.
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What is one thing you wish you could change about this industry?
I would eradicate the fear that arises for new technology based on our current and past experiences in the press and courtroom.
If you weren’t in this industry, what would you be doing?
I’d be practicing and coaching product somewhere else.
Describe a typical work day.
I start by reviewing my daily and weekly goals, plunge into deep work for a few hours, and then collaborate (aka “meetings”) for several hours. Working in an earlier time zone than many of my colleagues and clients provides a happy circumstance of quiet and productive mornings.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Binge-watching “Parks and Rec” episodes with my husband and best friend.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Start by understanding “why”. “Why” is the best question you can ask, and ask repeatedly, from Doug Gregg, who worked with Ontario Systems and The Intelitech Group in the past. A second piece of valuable advice was from Steve Gerow that you can learn something from every single leader you work with, even if the interactions aren’t pleasant. What you learn won’t necessarily come from what they say.
What are you currently reading?
A series by Louise Penny (fiction) and “The Messy Middle” (Scott Belsky) and “Testing Business Ideas” (Bland and Osterwalder); ask next week and the answer will be different!
What is one fact you’d like everyone in the industry to know about you?
Even though I’m an introvert, I’m immensely curious and would love a conversation about problems or opportunities.
Who else would you like to see answer these questions?
Steve Gerow
The “Getting to Know” series is sponsored by Applied Innovation. Applied Innovation is helping to shape the future of accounts receivable management. Product development is driven by customer feedback, agency profitability and compliance and includes platforms addressing client portal access, document management, payment negotiation, Regulation E focused electronic payment authorizations and TCPA communication authorization platforms. Partner with a company who understands your business challenges and evolves to provide cutting edge technology to overcome those challenges and achieve success
