Carii, Inc. CEO Denise Hayman-Loa has over 34 years of business strategy, entrepreneurship, client facing, and management experience in technology and financial services. Denise has been Co-Founder and CEO of Carii & Connective for 7 years, bringing the company from a small beta platform to a fully developed solution, garnering multiple awards, clients, and team members. Now considered a thought leader in the social business software space, Denise has been interviewed multiple times, including by the BBC, and in addition to running the company, she assists Carii clients from multiple industries with their communication and business strategies as they implement the Carii solution.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Can you please provide a brief overview of your professional background and experience in the industry?
I started my career in 1980 in financial services in NYC at firms like Salomon Brothers and Lehman Brothers. The first half of my career was focused on technology and aligning technology strategy with business strategy. I worked on commercial technology projects ranging from risk management to P/L and trading and on innovations such as neural networks, always managing teams. In the mid-90s, I joined E&Y as a management consultant and was promoted to partner there. Goldman Sachs was one of my clients, and they hired me as an “entrepreneur” to run a business marketing the firm’s risk management technology to clients. We wrote a book called “The Practice of Risk Management,” which has become a favorite for investors and is still on the curriculum at some universities. After that, I transitioned to running the index business and then to front-office sales and relationship management. I worked for 12 years building relationships with large institutional clients at Goldman Sachs and other top firms.
Then I tried to retire to run a horse farm and volunteer for a nonprofit. In 2014, we started the concept for our current company, Carii, Inc., & Connective. Network, and I have been CEO of the company ever since. We have taken the company from a small tech start-up to an award winning business with prominent clients globally.
Tell us about Connective and its mission. What inspired you to start this company?
My husband was actually the initial inventor of the Connective Community Platform concept. The initial concept was to create an ecosystem of connected online communities for organizations so groups could engage local members while still being connected globally. I found the idea and opportunity very inspiring, and we have been building and scaling ever since.
Carii, Inc. (whose product name is Connective) is a community ecosystem platform that meets the communication and collaboration needs of businesses and organizations such as investment firms, social impact organizations, and professional networks. The mission is to enable our clients to amplify their work and engage their community in a secure, branded environment where they own their data. The platform solves for the current fragmentation in social and engagement technologies and puts control in the client’s hands instead of on a public social platform.
What strategies do you employ to ensure that Connective remains competitive in the market?
We are always staying on top of new technology and market trends and updating the platform with those changes to stay modern and scalable. We are also lucky to have smart clients who stretch us and the platform in new and interesting ways. We are continuously adding new technology concepts such as token gating, blockchain, and AI to the platform when it makes business sense. This keeps us ahead of the competition on multiple levels, both in terms of using the most advanced technology and in terms of new features our clients find beneficial to their businesses.
How do you foster a culture of innovation and adaptability within your organization, considering the rapidly changing landscape of the business industry?
We are constantly looking at new and innovative tools and encouraging all team members to be creative and innovative. Our team has stayed with us through the life of the company, which we consider a testimony to the culture of innovation we foster. We also encourage diversity, both in our hiring practices and our openness to new ideas.
How do you prioritize customer satisfaction and ensure that the company provides exceptional service to its clients?
Our most important relationships are with our clients; therefore, it is key to be responsive to them to the maximum extent humanly possible. Exceptional service includes responsiveness, results, and respect, and we work with our entire team to make sure they understand that. We lead by example and are very careful how we treat our clients and how we talk about them internally to convey how important our clients are to our business. We have regular meetings with our clients to assess their needs and train them on new features on the platform. We also work with partners who can provide added services where appropriate.
What steps do you take to attract and retain top talent in the industry, and how do you encourage professional growth and development within your organization?
We have been very fortunate to have been able to hire and retain our top talent. Most of the team members have been with us for the full life of the company, and several joined us from clients. We are constantly challenging the team to learn new skills and technologies, which keeps them motivated to stay with us. Where possible, we also try to give raises before someone has to ask, to show them they are valued.
How do you address the increasing importance of digitalization and technology in the sector, and how does it influence the company’s operations and customer experience?
Since we are a modern technology company, digitalization and technology are key to everything we do. It actually benefits us when technology moves forward because we have intentionally built our platform to be advanced and flexible. We are constantly assessing new technologies that can add value to our solutions. In some cases, we decide to build it ourselves, and in other cases, we integrate with specialist technology. Everything we build is created as a flexible engine that can be repurposed for all clients, so our clients also benefit from new advancements.
As CEO of Connective, what is your overall vision for the company’s future and how do you plan to achieve it?
We are looking to expand our reach and implementations to amplify more communities, with the requisite team growth to support those communities and clients. We are especially interested in supporting sustainability and regenerative solutions to expand reach and recognition. We will achieve that vision through continued marketing and sales, working with referrals from partners and clients, and continuing to maintain and upgrade the platform.
What advice would you give to aspiring leaders or individuals looking to join the industry?
Make sure you research the industry extensively and connect with people who are in it to learn more. Try to identify a few opportunities to work on projects, even if they are not paying, so you can see if the industry is really what you are interested in.
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