Sarah Gillespie did not take the textbook route to Chief Financial Officer. She came up through portfolio operations, trading floors, and compliance before joining Templum in November 2022. We asked her 13 questions plus a quick-fire round about work, life, and everything in between…

1. The dinner party test: How do you explain what Templum does to someone who has never heard of private markets?

“Everyone knows how easy it is to trade stocks in public markets. Private markets lack the technology and the infrastructure for seamless trading - they are decades behind. Templum provides the critical infrastructure and the technical solutions the industry needs to meet the demand and interest in private markets.”

2. You joined Templum in 2022. What did the company look like on your first day, and what has changed most since?

“When I joined, the opportunity was clear and it was really exciting. You could see the industry needed our solutions - but it felt like they had not caught up to us yet. Everyone was excited to talk to Templum about what we were doing in private markets, but nobody was quite sure where to go next with it. I can give you a good example. When I first started, a good friend of mine who works at a large asset manager asked me to tell her about Templum. I explained that we work in the alternatives and private markets space as a technology and infrastructure provider. Her response was, ‘That is really interesting. I do not do much with alternatives, but it sounds like a cool area.’

“Fast forward to about a year ago, and she asked me again: ‘Remind me what Templum does?’ I told her, and this time her response was, ‘All my company talks about is alternatives. Every strategy, every meeting. I should really connect you to X, Y, and Z.’

“We went in for a meeting, and now they are one of our partners. That is the biggest change from when I arrived to now. The industry has come so far, and as a result, our commercial opportunity has grown significantly.”

3. Your path to CFO ran through portfolio operations and compliance rather than the traditional accounting route. What did the engine room teach you that a textbook CFO never learns?

“I definitely did not have a traditional CFO route. I was tasked with owning accounting, financial, and operational functions across several businesses, and I was forced to figure it out - sink or swim. I knew enough. I had a good foundation. Combine that with what I think is the most important skill for a CFO, and for anyone in a leadership role: being able to identify and solve problems quickly.

“I know I am not an expert in every area. But I am an expert in solving problems. I have the confidence and the ability to work through anything, because I have done it multiple times.

“At Olayan Group I was a jack of all trades. I started in portfolio accounting and portfolio operations, moved into the trading room and did some trading, assisted the head of public equities, and even did some research at one point. I was all over the place.

“Then Even Financial was the equivalent of a boot camp in startups and exits. Even was acquired by MoneyLion, which was then acquired by Gen Digital. I was there for a little over three years, and what I got in that time was wild. I started as they were closing their Series B - high-growth mode, hiring aggressively. Then the pandemic hit and materially impacted our revenues. We had to lead and navigate through a reduction in force and PPP loans. Things settled, business got back on track, back to the office, negotiating new space because we had given ours up during the pandemic. Then we pursued a capital raise that ended up becoming an acquisition by a public company, and I had to get our books to public company reporting standards in record time. I stayed on through the transition and migration into MoneyLion.

“It was intense. But people can go their entire careers and never experience all of those milestones. I got them in a little over three years.”

4. When you sit down to interview someone, what are the three things you are looking for most?‍

“First, the table stakes: are they competent? Do they understand the role? Do they have the skill set and the experience to do the job? And are they asking good questions? Having a real dialogue with a candidate and seeing them think on the fly as we go through the process is really important to me. Second, energy. I get really turned off when someone has very low energy and seems to be going through the motions. And third, an entrepreneurial and inquisitive nature. Those things are really important.”

5. At GoodHaven you were Director of Operations and Chief Compliance Officer at the same time for almost six years. What did being a compliance officer teach you?‍

“Compliance to me was all about creating really strict policies and procedures to limit error on the human front. The more guidelines and highly detailed procedures you give people, the less they veer off script - and the more you limit the probability of error or violations.”

6. You went from a value investing fund to fintech in 2019. Walk me through the moment you decided to make that jump.

“I was at GoodHaven, which I absolutely loved. I am still super close with everybody there. I really grew up professionally at GoodHaven, and they helped prepare me to take my career to the next level.

“In hindsight it is funny - I still say this to my husband when I reflect on working there - I should have been completely content staying there forever. I had a stable position, I had flexibility, I had an easy commute. I had four young kids at home, and my husband worked in the restaurant and bar industry, so he had a grueling schedule opposite to mine. GoodHaven was a slow and steady RIA, but I craved more. I felt driven to challenge myself. Fintechs and startups were popping up in New York City, and I was always reading about them, thinking it seemed really interesting. One of my best friends had a startup on the West Coast, and I would talk to her often and try to give her some guidance, and I found it fascinating. When I started at GoodHaven, I started in my founder’s living room. It was literally a startup; it just happened to be an RIA. So I had already been through building everything from scratch. It was a perfect move for me, and a perfect fit for startups in general, because I really thrive on that energy and chaos.”

7. Here is the line on your profile that surprised me: you sit on the advisory board of a design thinking program at Pace University. How does a CFO end up there?‍

“Pace has an advisory board for their design thinking program, and the idea is that they bring together professionals from various backgrounds to go through the program. Then you meet and give your feedback - they want to hear from all different walks of life about how they could improve it. Design thinking is all about problem solving. It teaches you the importance of conversation, understanding, communication, brainstorming, collaboration, testing, and iterating. It is very human-centered, and it is very translatable.

“A lot of those skills are helpful in finance on a day-to-day basis. If I am trying to build a model, I need strong communication skills. I need to be able to ask the right questions, understand exactly what we are trying to solve, what the variables are, what the levers are, what the inputs are. You need that kind of dialogue to build something structurally the right way. It is the same with pricing strategy exercises, or negotiating contracts, or working out how we grow the organization from where it is to where it needs to be, at what pace, and what the financial picture behind that looks like. Design thinking applies to a lot of areas of business.”

8. How would your closest friends describe Sarah away from work?‍

“At work, in sports, or in anything competitive, I am very intense. Outside of that I am actually very laid back. My friends would probably be surprised at how intense I can be at work - everybody knows I am crazy about sports and competition, but away from that I do find pockets of being really chilled out and easygoing.”

9. Which talent would you most like to have that you do not?

“I do not know if it is a talent, but I wish I were better at networking. It is a social anxiety trigger for me. Away from work, I would love to do carpentry. I would love to be able to build things if I had the time to learn how.”

10. What is your greatest extravagance, or your go-to indulgence after a brutal week?

“I am pretty cheap! Takeout and a glass of wine. I am not very extravagant in general.”

11. When and where in your life have you been happiest?

“I am always happy. Happiness for me depends on who I surround myself with, and I am always with my family, my friends, and even my coworkers. They all give me joy and make me happy… for the most part.”

12. What is one piece of advice you would give the version of yourself who walked into Olayan Group in 2005?

“I do not know if I would give myself any advice. Advice assumes you are trying to guide someone away from making a mistake or going down the wrong path - and looking back, all of the mistakes I made were important. Navigating those is something I am proud of, and it got me through my journey so far. I do not think I would want to change anything.”

13. Do you have a motto, official or otherwise?

“‘The sooner everybody realizes I am just right, the better off we all are.’ [Laughs] Chris [Pallotta] and everyone else will roll their eyes at that one! I also say ‘everything is fine’ all the time. Otherwise, no official motto.”

Quick-fire Questions

14. Movie seen the most? The Devil Wears Prada

15. Favorite song? You’re a Grand Old Flag

16. Dream holiday destination? Aspen

17. Best book? How Children Succeed by Paul Tough

18. Favorite cuisine? Italian

19. What did you want to be as a kid? A hairdresser or a nurse

20. Favorite sports team? The Patriots