From Compton to the C-Suite: The Blueprint for Black Excellence

Summary

Money And Wealth With John Hope Bryant Episode: From Compton to the C-Suite: The Blueprint for Black Excellence Date: May 21, 2026

Episode Overview

This powerful episode features John Hope Bryant in conversation with Kristy Fercho, Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Financial Inclusion at Wells Fargo. The two trailblazers, both from Compton, delve into Kristy’s extraordinary journey from her humble beginnings to the highest echelons of banking. The discussion unpacks the unique challenges and mindsets necessary for Black excellence in corporate America, explores practical financial wisdom, and offers a blueprint for anyone aiming not only to survive—but to lead and thrive—in spaces where they might be the “only one.” This rich masterclass overflows with candid stories, strategies, and inspiration, especially for listeners from underrepresented backgrounds.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing Kristy Fercho: Breaking Barriers in Finance (01:49–05:47)

• John frames Kristy Fercho as not only a senior executive at one of the world’s largest banks but also the first Black woman on the Wells Fargo operating committee.
  • “She’s from Compton, California. Can't make this up. This is going to be a really powerful episode because we're going to go from Compton to the C-suite.” —John (03:10)
• Kristy’s prior experience includes CEO of Wells Fargo Mortgage with $1.2 trillion in assets and billions in revenue. She’s #17 on American Banker's Most Powerful Women’s list (2024) and was the first African American chair of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

2. Kristy’s Career Journey: Diverse Paths to the Top (10:37–12:34)

• Kristy briefly recounts her 30-year career across Baxter Healthcare, PepsiCo, Fannie Mae (“I was running a P&L”—Profit and Loss—“you are a business manager”), Flagstar Bank, and ultimately Wells Fargo.
• She emphasizes the value in broad experiences: “Each job taught me something that helped me be more successful at the next.”

3. Growing up in Compton & Tucson: Values, Wealth, & Identity (16:41–22:43)

• Kristy shares how she grew up with little money, but a wealth of spirit and strong parental support, moving from Compton to Tucson, Arizona.
  • “All unhappiness is caused by comparison… We grew up with this mindset of appreciation and gratitude for what you do have and never worried about what we didn't have.” —Kristy (18:37)
• She discusses the importance of community, church, and family, and a mindset of possibility: “What the mind can perceive, the will can achieve.”

4. The Power of Authenticity: Code-Switching and Confidence (23:16–25:15)

• Kristy describes learning to move between Black and white worlds after her family’s move, calling it early code-switching but always being true to self:
  • “You don't change who you are depending on what your environment is. You are always who you are. Allow people to adjust to you; you don’t adjust to other people.” —Kristy (24:09)
• This upbringing, “beat out” impostor syndrome early and set a foundation for authenticity in corporate spaces.

5. Understanding Fannie Mae & Financial Systems (25:15–27:26)

• Kristy explains the role of Fannie Mae in the secondary mortgage market, demystifying industry jargon for listeners.
  • “The value of Fannie Mae is it allows rates to go down… You can tell the effectiveness by looking at the rate spread between a jumbo and a conventional mortgage.” —Kristy (26:22)

6. Building a Career on Service, Not Self (30:40–35:50)

• Kristy’s mobility stemmed from doing each job well and making her bosses look good—not chasing titles or pay.
  • “I was always really focused on making my boss’s life easier… The first job I ever applied for was my first job out of college. All my other jobs have come from someone reaching out to me.” —Kristy (33:29)
• She frames career movement as chess, not checkers, and underscores the importance of relationship capital and helping others succeed.

7. Wealth Mindset and Money Conversations (40:04–41:33)

• On the topic of pay and generational attitudes toward money:
  • “Never… It never came up. It was always about the experience, learning new skills, new opportunities. That’s payment—it’s a different currency.” —Kristy (40:54)
• John and Kristy agree the richest “payment” is skill and network acquisition, not salary.

8. Moments of Power & Vulnerability (41:21–47:42)

• Kristy shares her most powerful moment: navigating her job switch to Wells Fargo Mortgage just a week after George Floyd’s murder.
  • “Homeownership is still the single largest financial purchase many will ever make… the quickest path to wealth and generational wealth.” —Kristy (43:36)
  • “My intention is to put more Black and brown people in homes.” —Kristy (43:49)
• Her most vulnerable moment was transitioning to Flagstar and feeling impostor syndrome, countered by leaning on family and relationships.

9. Corporate Responsibility & Diversity After Crisis (47:42–50:04)

• They reflect on Wells Fargo’s troubled past and how crises forced a reckoning, opening doors for leadership diversity:
  • “Rainbows only follow storms. You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first.” —John (48:13)
  • “It’s critically important that the company reflects the customers they try to serve… all the way to the C-suite.” —Kristy (49:49)

10. The Emotional Toll and Power of the “Double Only” (52:38–56:03)

• Kristy addresses the “double only”—being the only Black and the only woman in the room.
  • “Being the only is the only thing I know… The value is, no one else has your lived experience. You have an obligation to represent your experience in a way that can help inform and educate others.” —Kristy (53:55)
• She urges authenticity, representation, and using one’s unique lens to add value and open doors for others.

11. Being Misread and Navigating Stereotypes (57:08–59:39)

• On being misread as a confident Black woman in corporate settings:
  • “People look at me and think they know my story… I am the embodiment of don’t judge people because you never know their story.” —Kristy (57:08)
• She doesn’t let misperceptions define her, instead opting for direct engagement or leveraging relationships to move forward.

12. Biggest Mistakes Black & Brown Professionals Make (59:39–62:13)

• The most dangerous mistake: Not staying true to yourself.
  • “I have defined up front what my non-negotiables are… The mistake is compromising your line. That’s really dangerous.” —Kristy (60:13)
• Her advice to young professionals: know your values and boundaries; never move your line, and build a legacy rooted in integrity.

13. The Role of Emotion in Work Decisions (62:02–62:36)

• Kristy clarifies: “Sometimes emotion is important. You’ve got to know when to do it, who to do it with, and have relationship to do it.”

14. Financial Inclusion and the Hope Inside Partnership (63:20–66:32)

• Kristy describes her current role and the Wells Fargo-Operation Hope partnership, enabling free financial counseling and inclusion:
  • “People can have the financial future they desire. They just have to be willing to work hard, make the tough choices, and get over the shame.” —Kristy (64:12)
• She highlights her mother as proof that sacrifice, discipline, and values can lead to financial stability and wealth, even on modest means.

15. Blueprint for Accessing Capital — Relationships, Not Just Credit (66:49–69:31)

• Practical advice for listeners seeking to “level up” financially:
  • “Develop a relationship with a banker and tell them your dreams… That person will invest in you, help move you along the path.” —Kristy (68:02)
  • “People think you have to have money to go to a bank—you don’t. Banks are here to help people get into the system.” (68:56)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Code Switching and Authenticity:
  “You don't change who you are depending on your environment… You be who you are, authentic to who you are, and the world will adjust to you.” —Kristy (24:09)

• On Wealth vs. Money:
  “All unhappiness is caused by comparison… What you have is what you have. Be grateful for it.” —Kristy (18:37) “You had something in Compton—you didn’t have money, but you had wealth. You had wealth of spirit.” —John (20:33)

• On Leadership and Career Progression:
  “I haven’t applied for a job since my first one. Opportunities have always come from people reaching out, noticing my work.” —Kristy (33:29)

• On Homeownership & Generational Wealth:
  “Homeownership is… the fastest way to wealth and building generational wealth that most people will ever have.” —Kristy (43:36)

• On Being “the Only” in the Room:
  “You represent your experience… You have an obligation to bring others—the doors were opened wider so those who came behind me could come through with more ease.” —Kristy (55:15)

• On Crossing Boundaries:
  “Don’t be afraid to ask for help, to lean on other people… we don’t do anything, including this life, alone.” —Kristy (47:28)

• On Operating Ethically:
  “You always have more power than you think you have. Use your leverage for good to make things better for others… Don’t be afraid to hold on to what you have or what you might lose.” —Kristy (44:07)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Kristy’s Background/Role at Wells Fargo (01:49–05:47)
• Career Path Before Wells Fargo (10:37–12:34)
• Childhood in Compton/Tucson: Early Lessons (16:41–22:43)
• Authenticity, Code Switching & Corporate Confidence (23:16–25:15)
• Fannie Mae & Mortgage Industry Explained (25:15–27:26)
• Service-Driven Career Strategy (30:40–35:50)
• Valuing Skills/Experience over Salary (40:04–41:33)
• Moments of Power & Vulnerability (41:21–47:42)
• Wells Fargo Transformation & Corporate Diversity (47:42–50:04)
• Emotional Toll of Being 'The Only' (52:38–56:03)
• Navigating Misperceptions & Stereotypes (57:08–59:39)
• Biggest Mistakes for Rising Professionals (59:39–62:13)
• Financial Inclusion Initiatives / Operation Hope (63:20–66:32)
• Accessing Capital & Relationship Banking (66:49–69:31)
• Closing Blueprint for Black Excellence (69:31–end)

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Conclusion: The Blueprint for Black Excellence

John closes by reinforcing Kristy as a replicable “blueprint”—not an exception. She didn’t wait for an invitation, didn’t shrink from being the “only,” and built wealth and impact by showing up fully and being indispensable. Her story is a masterclass in not just succeeding in a system not built for you, but redefining it for those to come.

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This inspiring conversation is indispensable listening for anyone aiming to build wealth, break barriers, and lead authentically—especially Black professionals and other underrepresented groups seeking “the memo” on money and legacy.

Transcript

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[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Hey, guys, it's us, the Jonas brothers.

[John O'Brien]

I'm Joe.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called hey Jonas.

[Christy Furco]

We invented a podcast.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Well, we didn't invent it, we just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Sidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

[John O'Brien]

We do some retirement homes.

[Robert Smigel]

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[John O'Brien]

Welcome to Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant, a production of the Black Effect podcast network and iHeartRadio. And this is season three. I want to thank you all for making this one of the top podcasts for business and entrepreneurship in the country and on every continent around the world. And for our NAACP nomination, we lost to Michelle Obama, but I'd be willing to do that any day of the week. We have talking about amazing women and we don't feature women Enough. We want to do more of that. And I feature women in my upcoming book. My book is out now. That's capitalism for all. And right today we have an amazing woman with us who is also a good friend. Chrissy Burco is senior executive vice president at Wells Fargo, which I believe is a Fortune 100 company. It may be Fortune 50, one of the biggest banks, one of the four biggest banks in the US and by extension one of the 10 biggest banks arguably in the world. When you, when you take out Chinese banks that are government related. Now that title I just gave you. And she's also head of financial inclusion and she's on this is very important, the operating committee for the bank. Now, for those who are listening to this in their car while they're going on a jog or whatever in a traditional podcast environment where most people are listening to it initially and you won't get around and seeing this on YouTube until later or in social. Let me help you out. She's black, she's a sister. S I S T A and like me, she's from Compton, California. Can't make the. So this is, this is going to be a really a powerful episode because we're going to go from Compton to the C suite. The unlikely journey and what does that take? What does that involve? What does that require of someone to be made of the kind of material to be made of? What kind of material do you need to make yourself of along the way? How do you fill in the gaps? What to do, what to not do in that high powered position? Now you, I'm going to give some background so you have some context for her. But people hear vice president at a bank or whatever, or senior vice president of a bank. Oh, I've seen that before. I've seen a business card that had senior vice president on it. Yeah, you might have you seen a. It might have been in your local branch network in Houston. It might have been in a local market in Miami. And you might have saw, oh, this person is a vice president or a senior vice president, by the way, no disrespected intended to what I'm about to say to those people hold those titles locally that's very important. And locally they have enormous authority. What I'm talking about is a corporate officer. I'm talking about on the operating committee, which is where the CEO of the bank, Charlie Sharp, in this example sits. I'm talking about again, I'll repeat this, senior executive vice president. Anybody knows corporate structure. That's a big baller shot caller that's not an official phrase. So let's talk about her prior role before we get into letting Christy talk. She's head of home lending. She was head of home lending for Wells Fargo leading 25,000 professionals. So she was basically in charge of Wells Fargo Mortgage. She was essentially the CEO of Wells Fargo Mortgage. I actually asked what her title was. I wouldn't be surprised if it literally was CEO. Well, Christy, what was the title of Wells Fargo Mortgage?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah, the CEO of Home Lending.

[John O'Brien]

I told you. Big baller shot call. What was the asset size of Wells Fargo Mortgage when you were CEO?

[Christy Furco]

Well, we had 1.2 trillion in our servicing book.

[John O'Brien]

Jesus.

[Christy Furco]

We did 8 billion in revenue that year and 2.2 billion in net income.

[John O'Brien]

See, See, when you got the power, you'll need to d to use it. She, she, I was all loud like a preacher. She's like, yeah, just 8 billion here and I'm trillion there. And see, she's just so cool. When you got them, when you got the power you don't need to use. She just low key. I want you to guys, anybody riding their bicycle listening this you might have read off the road. I need you. I need to buckle up. This is a black woman making history. And she's nice, by the way. She's a nice person. She's authentic. So let me get into a bit more of the backstory and then I'm going to do something I don't typically do. I'm going to shut up and give her a couple questions and let her just rip. Because she's got a lot to share with you and a lot to teach. School is in session. Backstory. Christy grew up in Compton, California, and if you want to do some research on her owner, it's K, not C. K R I, S, T, Y F, E, R C H O. The h is silent. Ferco. I took me like 20 years. Say Ferco proper. Christy Furco. First time I called her Christy with a C, she's corrected me. It's with a K, John. She's got no self esteem problem. So Christy grew up in Coblin, California and then moved to where I grew up and moved to Tucson, Arizona. A completely two different worlds and she never stopped traveling after that. She mastered what I called code switching before there was a language for it. She became a finance major who dreamed of Wall street and ended up rewriting what leadership and financial services looks like for a black woman everywhere. This episode is not a career retrospective. It's a survival guide. It's a Swiss army knife for women and anybody who is striving, it is a master class in how to be excellent in any room where no one looks like you and how to use that position not as a burden, but as a platform. I'm going to bring my own experience to this, where I need to layer in context, maybe telling you a phrase that she mentions, that it needs to be defined, or saying something that she says very casually like billion or trillion, that needs a little bit more emphasis. But other than that, I'm going to let her rip. So she is really singular. I think you're the highest ranking black female certainly at the bank.

[Christy Furco]

I am, yes. And the first ever on the operating committee.

[John O'Brien]

Amen. I have immense respect for this lady. I like her, I admire her, I respect her. We laugh together, we. We scheme together about making the world better. She's been a protector at the bank, a supporter behind closed doors. And for me and for others, she. When. When somebody like Bishop T.D. jakes, the great spiritual legend, icon in the world, when he says he talked to somebody at Wells Fargo bank, nine times out of 10 is Christie. He's gonna get to the CEO. But the CEO really asked Christy to. To do the heavy lifting really for these relationships, to make them work and make them real. So here is some context and some questions for you. And I guess before we get in that we should go a little bit more on the backstory you worked also other places you were at Fannie Mae, but tell the audience a little bit more about the different roles you played being before getting to Wells Fargo, before I say that, by the way, 30 years of experience in financial services industry. Even though she only looks 35, black don't crack. She's number 17 on the American Banker Most Powerful Women's list in 2024. First African American, chair of the Mortgage Bankers association and led in her prior role, 25,000 team members. Again, that was her priority role. She's doing much more now. Tell us a little bit. Take us a bit back and fill in the blanks, Kristi, on your prior corporate roles. I think it included Fannie Mae and PepsiCo, if I'm not mistaken. Mistaken, yep.

[Christy Furco]

Yeah. So I've. Wells Fargo is the fifth company I worked for. So I started at Baxter Healthcare, had roles of sales operations, total quality management back then when that was a big thing, went to Pepsi, kind of the Frito Lay division first and then ended up at PepsiCo headquarters. So spent about eight and a half years there at the Pepsi companies. After Pepsi, I went to Fannie mae and spent 15 years there, the first five was in human resources and then got the opportunity to actually move into the line business at Fannie Mae. So my last 10 years there was running a P and L in the line business.

[John O'Brien]

What's a P and L?

[Christy Furco]

Sorry, Profit and loss statement. So you are a business manager. You're making the decisions about the, about the business. And then left Fannie Mae and joined a regional bank up in Detroit, Michigan, called Flagstar and went in as the president of mortgage there. When I got to Flagstar, they were really. And they started as a mortgage bank that actually bought a savings and loan and to actually have a stable funding source for their mortgages. And so mortgage was 80% of the revenue of the bank when I got to Flagstar. So it was really a mortgage bank inside of. Inside of bank. And then was there for three years and then got the call about Wells Fargo. So as you've already said, came into Wells Fargo almost six years ago now as the CEO of the mortgage business and did that for a couple years and then got the opportunity to get promoted onto the operating committee and did a role with diverse segments, kind of bringing in diverse customers across our five lines of business. And then for the last year have been in this financial inclusion opportunity role.

[John O'Brien]

My guess is when you got the, when you were at Wells Fargo Mortgage as CEO, you thought, my God, I've hit the lottery. This is the top of the, of the top. I never thought. I mean, this is it. I'll never go any further. I don't need to. I'm at the. I mean, I'm at the pinnacle. Am I right?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah, it was. Well, and when I got the call to, for about the Wells Fargo job at Flagstar, the Wells Fargo job was 10 times the size of the revenue that I was doing at Fannie Mae or at Flagstar. And it was a. Yeah, it was a big role. It was the number one bank lender and number one servicer in the country. It was the biggest mortgage job. And so, yeah, I thought, I thought I'd made it for sure.

[John O'Brien]

Yeah. And then, then the call came to do something bigger and more pronounced, and you stepped up and stepped into that. And we're going to get into why, how in a minute. What's a servicer? You mentioned another phrase. We don't know. What's a loan servicer?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah. So when people get a mortgage, it's when they pay their payments every month. The servicer actually disperses those payments, pays taxes, pays your escrow bills and services the mortgage, basically.

[John O'Brien]

So the mortgage servicer and the mortgage company that funds a loan could be, and in many cases are different, correct?

[Christy Furco]

Absolutely.

[John O'Brien]

Okay.

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[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called hey Jonas.

[Christy Furco]

We invented a podcast.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Well, we didn't invent it.

[Christy Furco]

We.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

We just contributed to first people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, pretty wide pretty range of podcasts. But this one's extra special. So how did we. How do we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and well, we were thinking. I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say hey Jonas. And. And then I wrote down on my little notepad hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys, listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week. My guests SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs Banter where does your group perform?

[John O'Brien]

We do some retirement homes.

[Robert Smigel]

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[John O'Brien]

All right, let's go back to Compton, California.

[Christy Furco]

Yeah.

[John O'Brien]

And, you know, what did money look like growing up? What did you see on those corners growing up? And what did you make of it? Now we're going to put the postscript that I grew up in Compton and I didn't see ladies like Chrissy because she's fine. All the pretty girls were on the west side of town with the stucco houses. So to be real clear, it was. It was all the pretty girl territory. I didn't know where her dad was hiding. Her dad was hiding Christie. Because I'd have been all over, like a cheap. So on a series, how'd you get so. How'd you become so nice? I'm sure in kind and decent. I'm sure that's a parent thing. And by the way, Chrissy is happily married, so, guys, back off. But let's go back to Compton and tell that story. What? Where did money look like growing up? And where do you see on those street corners?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah, I mean, it. And it certainly changed over kind of my upbringing there, but my dad was a track coach at Compton High, actually. And so that's kind of where it started. My mom, you know, was a stay at home mom kind of at first, but my parents got married when my dad was in college, his sophomore year in college. And so my dad was on scholarship at San Jose, and so scholarship athletes had to live in the dorm. And so my mother worked a job and held it down. My brother was here at the time. I wasn't here yet. And then when my dad graduated college, they moved back to Compton. My dad got the job at Compton High, and I was born. And so, you know, growing up on the streets, it. It evolved over time. I think when you're a kid, you don't realize what's the environment that you're, you know, growing up in. But as I grew and got older, a lot of the kids that I grew up with that were friends, like, started going to jail, started selling drugs, started being killed, and we just had a different path. My father ended up getting the track coach job at the University of Arizona. In fact, he has the distinction of being the first Division 1 black head coach ever. And we moved to Tucson, Arizona. And so it was 99.9% black to 99.9% white in Tucson. So my life really was. You talked about code switching. My life really was traversing both of those versus those worlds. But no matter where I was, it was like, these were the kids I grew up with. And I think that's the beautiful thing about kids. They are resilient. You don't realize if you have money or if you don't have money. You don't realize what you have or what you don't have. I always say all unhappiness is caused by comparison. And my parents. Yeah, my parents really didn't let us focus on comparison. It was like, what you have is what you have. Be grateful for it. And so grew up with this mindset of appreciation and gratitude for what you do have and never worried about what we didn't have. I think it wasn't until later in life, actually. I went to usc, University of Southern California, University of Spoiled Children, Los Angeles. But that's when I saw what real money looked like. Like, that's when I was first aware. Like, oh, there's kids that have things that I do not have. Like, my roommate, my freshman year, you know, they. Her. Her father pulled up her car, and it was a BMW on a flatbed truck. Like, I did not go to school with a car. In fact, I didn't have a car my whole four years of college. That just. That wasn't something for us. So it wasn't really until I went to college that I really realized the difference in people with money.

[John O'Brien]

Go back. Yeah, let's go back to Compton for a minute. Because you had something in Compton. You didn't have money, but you had wealth. You had wealth of spirit. You're. Who in your. Who in your family told you they loved you, gave you confidence, gave. You were your daddy's girl?

[Christy Furco]

I was a daddy's girl, yeah. Very much so, yeah. I think in our family, actually, we didn't use the word I love you in our house. And in fact, I have no memories growing up of hearing my parents say that I love, they loved me. It was just a word that my parents didn't use. And that sounds crazy, but it wasn't. But we felt very, very loved, and we felt very, very secure in that. It just. The words weren't spoken. And so we were. We grew up with this belief that we could do anything that we wanted to do, anything that we put our minds to. My dad used to always say, what the mind can perceive, the will can achieve. And it was the statement of constantly believing that you could do whatever you put Your mind to. It was about hard work. It was about sacrifice. It was about, you know, doing what you needed to do to be successful. That hustle, that grind. And so we grew up believing that there wasn't anything that we couldn't do if we put our mind to it. We worked hard, and we believed that we could achieve it. And so that was the richness. Obviously, we grew up in the church, and so, you know, we had a spiritual grounding and knew where our gifts came from, believed that our steps were ordered and that it was our job to use the gifts we were given to make the world a better place. And so growing up with that as the upbringing, you just believe that you not only can do things, but that you're required to do things to make things better for people.

[John O'Brien]

So fascinating. Your parents didn't physically tell you they loved you, but somehow you knew it anyway through, I guess through their actions, right?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah, we were hugged a lot. Yeah. A lot of support, a lot of affirmation, just not the words I love you.

[John O'Brien]

And let's put your parents in history, historical record. Let's say their names, please.

[Christy Furco]

Yes. Willie. Willie and Margaret Williams.

[John O'Brien]

Thank you. Willie and Margaret Williams. You did a good job. You had to not transition. You had to transplant yourself from a black world to a white one. You just mentioned that earlier. How did you survive that, and what did that teach you that allowed you later on to survive and thrive in the corporate setting? Then I want to go back to college.

[Christy Furco]

Yeah. I think what became really fascinating very quickly is as we traverse those worlds. And so we would spend. Spend nine months in Tucson, and then we'd go back to Compton for. And spent our summers in Compton. The practical reality was it was 110 degrees in Tucson. But the other is when your dad's a track coach, you know, kind of summers are the only time he really has. Has off after the track season ends. And so our life was very much traversing back and forth between those two worlds. And I think very, very quickly, we realized we weren't black enough for the black kids anymore, and we weren't white enough for the white kids. So all of a sudden, the black kids started saying, you talk funny. Why are you talking like that? You talk with an accent. You know, the white kids were like, your hair is different. Why is your hair different? And so going back to what you were saying earlier with good parents, my parents were very grounded in the fact that you don't change who you are depending on what your environment is. You are always who you are. And allow people to adjust to you. You don't adjust to other people. And again, I didn't realize it at the time, but what that instilled, that has served me very, very well in my life, and especially in corporate, is I show up authentically who I am. Like when people talk about imposter syndrome, I'm fortunate that that's something I've never understood because my parents kind of beat that out of us at a very early age. Right. Which is like, you be who you are, you be authentic to who you are and the world will adjust to you. You don't adjust to the world. And I think that was really foundational for us as kids. And so it gave us permission to be who we were authentically.

[John O'Brien]

Quincy Jones once told me, God bless his soul, rest his soul, he said, not one ounce of my self esteem depends on your acceptance of me. That reminds me of how your parents raised you. Yeah. 15 years in Fannie Mae. And so we should probably describe very briefly what Fannie Mae is. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae is the bigger of the two entities in a culture that rewards jumping in, title stacking. What made you stay? What were your building blocks there that you, you couldn't get somewhere else? Why was that important to stay there for 15 years? And again, let's unpack just very briefly what Fannie Mae is.

[Christy Furco]

Yeah. So Fannie Mae takes. So they're in what's called the secondary market. So Wells Fargo is in the primary market. We lend directly to consumers. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac then take those loans and lenders actually sell them to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They take a bunch of loans and put them together and then put them out into the capital markets as a security. And it's those securities and investors investing in those securities that then allows rates to go down or rates to be lower as a result of the efficiency of the investors getting those returns. So Fannie Mae had a really critical role to play. I always tell people, the way you can tell the effectiveness of Fannie and Freddie is if you look, you don't have to look in the paper anymore, but if you go online and look at what rates are for a jumbo mortgage or what rates are for a conventional mortgage, which is, which is what Fannie and Freddie secure. That spread difference is the value or that gap is the difference of what the value of a Fannie Mae or Freddie is to, to consumers.

[John O'Brien]

It subsidizes the rate. It, it buys down the, the cost of getting mortgage when. So Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are like, they're not government entities. Well, they're government related.

[Christy Furco]

They're government related. Yeah. Government sponsored entities.

[John O'Brien]

Government. That's right.

[Christy Furco]

Term GSEs.

[John O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Christy Furco]

Yeah.

[John O'Brien]

Okay. So you ran worldwide. Oh, this is so sexy. You ran worldwide. Worldwide corporate HR at PepsiCo. Now that's all cool. You come to Atlanta. You can't come to Atlanta talking about no Pepsi, but Coca Cola. But that's cool. You were a worldwide HR human resources at PepsiCo. That's not typical move for someone in financial services. What did a role like that teach you that no finance job would? And was that intentional to take that role?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah. So Pepsi was before my financial services career. So I went from Baxter Healthcare. Yep. Yeah. So I went from Baxter Healthcare to then Pepsi and was in my whole eight and a half years at Pepsi, I was in human resources. And so I had been with the Frito Lay division in the field for six years and then got this move to move to corporate headquarters and manage worldwide. I think what was, what was powerful about having worldwide responsibility was getting the international experience, like really trying to figure out how other countries, how they actually operated, how the culture was different. It was all Pepsi, but the culture was different depending on the culture or the country where people were from. And so it was like learning how to drive results and be successful in cultures that had different values, that had different systems than kind of what we had at Pepsi. So that was really powerful. And then I left Pepsi and went into financial services. So I think the building blocks, John, when I think back on my career, there's a common thread that goes through it all. Whether it was health care or consumer products or financial services. The common thread really was this understanding people, understanding the needs of people and figuring out what solutions were to make that make things better for those people. And so, you know, whether if it's in sales, it was actually selling a product to be able to deliver that and understand what people's needs were around that product in human resources, it was around kind of putting talent together and helping kind of drive results for the company or making sure we had the right people in the right seats to deliver what the company needed. And then when I moved into, then managing, you know, a business and actually running a business, it was about, how do you put all those things together? How do you get the most out of people? Take this incremental effort that people have and have them give it to you so you can get better results, but then deliver for whatever the stakeholder needed. And so you talk about Building blocks. It looks like diverse jobs, but it really was building blocks on. In each job, I learned something that helped me be more successful at the next job, right? Learning how to get along with people, learning how to get the best out of people, learning how to design systems so that the company could work better. Each one of those jobs taught me how to do that. So that when I was then running a business, I was able to take all those experiences and put them together.

[John O'Brien]

You know what's really wonderful about listening to you unpack all of this? Putting the fact that I'm a personal fan of yours aside, if I had taken off the visuals here, we weren't just doing a simple podcast. I hadn't said you were African American. And if we even had AI mask your voice so that it was neutral and you couldn't tell whether you're male or female, no one listening to this here around the world would be able to discern because you're just talking to us. Excellence. It's just, it's not black excellence. It's not female excellence. It's not some aster excellence. It's just excellence. And you come ready to play. And I like that. And what hit me also about your story, and I really hadn't thought about it until this interview, I think, because I think about, I try to be present, I think about you in the current context. You went from, you, you, you've traveled industries and you've traveled the world. You went from health care to a government sponsored entity, I mean, not necessarily to a beverage business, a government sponsored entity, not necessarily in this order, a mortgage operation, really a, an operating leader and of a regional company, a balance sheet. Running a balance sheet in an income statement at a pretty young age, then running a national company and sorry, yeah, a national company in the, in the banking and in the finance and mortgage space and now and then internationally, whether the second time in international PepsiCo and this one with Wells Fargo and, and you're going from Compton to Copenhagen. And for anybody listening to this who want to know how to play it in a high level, you never want to pay for stuff yourself if you can avoid it. Like you don't want to pay for a corporate jet, you want to go on the company's corporate jet, right? You know, if you're swiping your own credit card, you're doing something wrong. You don't want to pay to travel all around the world. You want to get a job. If that's your passion that takes you around the world, let them pay for it. I mean, you're, it's fair exchange, no robbery. You're not, you're not cheating them. You're. You're their emissary, you're their ambassador around the world. You're doing the job, you're putting the work in. 90 of your travel is going to be business, but you'll take 10% while you're there and explore the culture. And that makes you, as you're hearing from Christie, a well rounded person. There's a version of career advancement, Christie, where you're always sort of playing offense, getting the next title, the next check. And then there's another version where you're playing chess and not checkers. Which one were you playing? I know the answer. And at what point did you know the difference between which one you were playing?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah, it's a good question, John, because I don't. I, you know, Steve Jobs said you can only connect the dots looking backward. And I think as I was in it and living it, I was always really focused on doing a good job at the job that I had, I was always very cognizant to. My job was to make my boss look good and to make my boss's life easier. Easier. And so I not only was doing my work, but I always tried to understand from my boss, like, what are we trying to achieve and how do I do my part to help you achieve that? And I think what that did for me, and maybe this is a little bit of the chess as you think about next moves. I never was focused on what my next move was, but by really being intentional about making sure my boss was successful and making sure we were doing what the company needed us to do. I was always thinking broader about the company, never just about the role that I had. And so that really helped. When an opportunity came up, my boss would say, hey, I hate to lose her, but Christie should go on that, or special projects. I would get nominated for special projects. That then got me exposure to other people in the company. That then just led to my next opportunity and my next job. And so the first job I ever applied for, and really the only job I ever applied for was my first job out of college at Baxter. All my other jobs has come from somebody reaching out and saying, will you come take this job? Or we think you'd be great at this. And so the movement happened by other people, not by me applying, applying for jobs. And so I think, you know, that is the. I was focused on doing a good job. I was focused on leaving an impact and having an impact broader than the role that I was in, but trying to have a broader impact on the company and really trying to understand what were the problems of the company and how could I help solve them, even from my chair. And that just made people notice me and say, let's give her the opportunity to go do more. And that just afforded me continued opportunities to go do more.

[Robert Smigel]

Dish has been connecting communities like yours for the last 45 years, providing the TV you love at a price you can trust. Watch live sports news and the latest movies, plus your favorite streaming apps all in one place. Switch to DISH today and lock in the lowest price in satellite TV starting at $89.99 a month with our two year price guarantee. Call Eight or visit dish.com today.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart streaming radio and podcasting. Let us show [e-mail] that's iheartadvertising.com hey,

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called hey Jonas.

[Christy Furco]

We invented a podcast.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Well, we didn't invent it, we, we just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts, but this one's extra special. So how did we, how did we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and well, we were thinking. I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad hey Jonas. And offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys, listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirch to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guests SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

[John O'Brien]

We do some retirement homes.

[Robert Smigel]

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[John O'Brien]

So you and I never had this conversation before, you know, so this is the first time. And it's ironic that you're answering in ways that just are very consistent with top line leaders. I mean it's not ironic. Maybe ironic to the audience, not ironic to me. It is pleasing to me that all these things are pretty much the same. What do I mean by that? At never at one time did you infer this was about you. This is about making your boss look good. And you know, this is about to give. And I say about about relationships. A giver and a giver is exotic. A giver and a taker is neurotic and a taker to take her is psychotic. And when I'm hanging around you, I see you around other givers. And even the way you just talked about leading is leading through service. It's how do I make my boss look good? You talk about your husband when he's not there in very admirable ways. You're always giving him props, by the way. Let's give him his, let's give him his props publicly.

[Christy Furco]

His name is Steve Furco.

[John O'Brien]

Steve Ferco. Good brother. And, and so my guess is, and I'm the same way in the way I think you're going to answer, you never asked for money. Sorry, you never asked for what? How much are you going to get paid in these different jobs? That was never one of the top three questions. Let me back up before I say that. Let me say that you also mentioned relationship capital. And I often say if you hang around nine bro people, you'll be the 10th. So you, you, you around the right people. You didn't fill out an application. But one time it was people saying, you know what, Chrissy's pretty talented. And these might be white people. Just be really blunt here. These might be in all the times white people because they're in the power structure and they weren't.

[Christy Furco]

Most of the time it was, yeah, there you go.

[John O'Brien]

So they, they were just recognizing here's a very talented person who can help me grow my thing. It's, it was irrelevant that she's black female. It might have been positive because it makes them look good in some way, but they didn't. That was an afterthought. It was like, oh, no, she's competent. And I want people to hear that. And I also want you now go to this question about was it ever about money? Because this generation behind yours and mine, I'm so. I'm just getting so tired of everything being a conversation about money, money, money, Even relationships now are getting transactional. And that's just wrong. You're going to lose, lose, lose the taker mentality. Am I right that your top three, four questions when asking about a new position, new job, you did not even cover the issue of what does this position pay?

[Christy Furco]

Yes. Never. It never came up. It was always about the experience. It was always about taking an inventory of what I had in my toolbox and what skills I wanted to learn. And if it was about learning new skills and new opportunity, I was all for it.

[John O'Brien]

That's payment, actually.

[Christy Furco]

Yes, that's payment. Yeah. It's a different level of currency. It's a different currency.

[John O'Brien]

That's it. Where did you feel genuinely powerful in your career? When? At what point and when and where. When did you feel not comfortable or powerful? It might have been a different day in the same position. Who knows?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah.

[John O'Brien]

What did you like and what did you feel like in that. That moment? Like what? In other words, share with the audience that you. If you ever felt not enough.

[Christy Furco]

Yeah, well, the I'll. I'll start with the. I'll start with the powerful one first. I definitely have felt both, but I think the. And it was. It had to do with my coming to Wells. So I got the call about the job at Wells and I went into the interview and interestingly, the job about the. Or the call about the job at Wells came one week to the day after George Floyd's murder.

[John O'Brien]

Wow.

[Christy Furco]

And I had spent that week really, really struggling. And I don't know if people remember, but taking people back. We had had a succession of murders with people being killed in their homes, on the street. And it was this awareness for me that my all of a sudden made me uniquely vulnerable in this world in a way that I hadn't thought about before, because again, going back to my upbringing, we traversed both of those worlds. So it wasn't about being black, it was about being excellent. To your point. That's how I was raised. And so that awareness was like, and I'm a big runner. So it was like, you mean I can go out on the street and run and somebody shoot me or run me over with the car. So after the George Floyd, I was. I was really in a bad way. And I just kept thinking about, how do I contribute? What's my role? How do I make this better? What can I do to change the plight for black and brown families? And I just kept hearing a voice that said, it's housing, it's housing. You're where you need to be. Homeownership is still the single largest financial purchase that many people will make, ever make. It's still the quickest path to wealth and generational wealth if you keep the home in the family. And so it was about the back of the room.

[John O'Brien]

Say that again.

[Christy Furco]

Homeownership is what, the single largest or the fastest way to wealth and wealth gender, building generational wealth that most people will ever have. And so it was. I was in the right place. So when I got the call a week later about the job at Wells Fargo, in every interview when people asked, why did I want this job? My answer was, because I want to put more black and brown people in homes. And to my great surprise, every interviewer said, that's really great. Come do that at Wells Fargo. And the powerful part was, is I had a job. I had only been at Flagstar for three years. I had a job and was perfectly happy at that job. And while Wells Fargo was 10 times the size and the biggest mortgage job in the country at the time, it was that. That wasn't important to me. I was searching for bigger legacy, how to make things better, bigger, better for others. And so the boldness, the power that I felt in saying my intention is to put more black and brown people in homes and to have them say, that's great, do that here, that made you know that that was like, wow, that's what using your power looks like. And so then stepping into mortgage, there was never a question over what my intentions were, because I had been really clear about that up front. And so I think the learning from that, and certainly the message to your listeners is you always have more power than you think you have. Use your leverage for good and to make things better for others. Don't be afraid to hold on to what you have or what you might lose. So that was the first thing I would say. The place where I felt pretty vulnerable was the first time I actually left Fannie Mae and went into Flagstar again as the head of mortgage. It was my first time truly in a standalone, running my own income statement and balance sheet. And every day I Felt overwhelmed. Every day I had the question of, am I good enough? Do I have the knowledge and skills to do this? It was one thing to run it inside of a company, Fannie Mae, or to be a part of. I was running a division inside of Fannie Mae, but somebody else was responsible for the whole thing. All of a sudden, I was responsible for the whole thing. And so. And we were a publicly traded company, and so it was. And with 80% of the revenue coming from mortgage. So that was an enormous amount of pressure that I was feeling about, am I good enough? Do I have the right knowledge? Can I pull all this together? And that's where, to your point, this relationship capital really fell in. It was leaning on people being very open and vulnerable about how I was feeling, coming home every night, talking to my husband. And, you know, he would boost me up, like, are you kidding me? You have it. Like, you know, you know what to do. You know, the right people, you have the right team, like, rely on. And I think that's what I've learned in my career, John, is success isn't about the contribution of any one individual. Like any career success I have, it is a culmination of the great relationships I've had, the people that I've invested in, and what I've been able to achieve with other people. It's also the most rewarding part of a career as well. But it is, you know, not being afraid to ask for help, not being afraid to lean on other people, because wherever you feel you have a gap, there's somebody who's got that information, that knowledge, to be able to fill in the gap where you might feel lacking. And it was a really powerful lesson on we don't do anything, including this life alone.

[John O'Brien]

Amen. So, Christy, as we, as we begin to come in the home stretch of this incredibly good interview, and I want to, I want to switch from head to heart as we go into the home stretch and get real personal. But as we do that, let's take a, let's zoom out for a minute and let's not, not mention the elephant in the room. There was a time when Wells Fargo's reputation was in the tank, and I was on the community board in Los Angeles, where a lot of these shenanigans were dreamed up 20 years ago. And I advise people not to do this. And they ignored me. That was, that was two Wells Fargo's ago, even though it has the same name, I think without those problems, I mean, as I look back, the management was almost entirely white and they had some white females, but it was entirely white. And if it wasn't with those problems for. I want the listeners to understand this. Rainbows only follow storms. You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first, and nobody's perfect, so don't look for that. But without those problems at Wells Fargo, new leadership, I don't believe, wouldn't have said in more enlightened way, you know what, we need to change that and make sure that never happens again. We also need to change the people and make sure they're more reflective. And I think that's part of the reason why the management committee and two layers down also was much more diverse under Charlie Scharf. Would you agree with that?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah, I mean, I think Charlie was really clear about you have to get people in who, I mean, we had to fix the problem. So you have to get people in who have the skills to be able to fix the problems and could be laser focused on that. But as you know, we think of ourselves as, you know, kind of a large super regional bank. Like, we are the Main Street. You know, we do Wall street, but we're also the Main Street. And so we have 4,100 branches in communities all over this country. You have to be on the ground in those communities and look like those communities to understand the needs of those communities and develop product and solutions to be able to serve those communities. And so I think that's critically important that the company reflects the customers that they are trying to serve, and that's at the front line all the way into the C suite.

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[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart streaming radio and podcasting. Call 844-844. IHeart to get started. That's 844-844 iHeart.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called hey Jonas.

[Christy Furco]

We invented a podcast.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Well, we didn't invent it.

[Christy Furco]

We.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

We just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, Pretty wide range of podcasts, but this one's extra special. So how do we. How do we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and. Well, we were thinking. I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast. People could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, hey Jonas. And offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys, listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

[John O'Brien]

We do some retirement homes.

[Robert Smigel]

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[John O'Brien]

And I think that the bank is now best in class. I mean, everybody makes mistakes every now and then, but I'm. I'd put Wells Fargo right up there at the top and. And it's. She's right. It's Wall street with a. With a touch of Main Street. So let's go personal now.

[Christy Furco]

Main street with the touch of Wall Street.

[John O'Brien]

She's gone one step further.

[Christy Furco]

We're Main Street.

[John O'Brien]

She flipped it. For those who, who understand code switching, she just flipped the code because they really are a huge Wall street firm and even to give them the compliment that they understand Main street would be a compliment. She's flipped and said, no, no, we're Main Street. Don't get it twisted. Yeah, yeah, that's. That's gangster. You've used the term double only. The only black person and the only woman in the room. Of course, I know half of that feeling. What's the emotional cost of carrying that role? How did you not let it crush you? And you've also said that because you're the only person in the room, people listen, that you were never afraid to be the challenge voice. Talk to me about and us about what it takes, what that actually looks like, and what it took to learn how to use that voice that way. Because a lot of people in your position go completely quiet.

[Christy Furco]

Yeah, well, I, I think two things. One, the double only is the only thing I know, right? So being the only woman in the room, being the only black in the room, especially in mortgage banking, you. You just get comfortable. And I think my upbringing had a lot to do with that. Given our upbringing, we were comfortable in every room because we were just authentic to who we are. I think the value, though, when you are the double only, the value is no one else in the room has your lived experience. And so when you're there, you represent your experience. You also, you, I think you have an obligation to represent your experience in a way that can help inform and educate others so it can improve the decision making or whatever is going to, you know, going to happen. I was never afraid to ask the tough question, especially questions that were difficult, that got to the heart of the matter, if that's what was important for us to be able to move forward. And it was just really important that you understood that when you're in the room, you have this responsibility to bring others. Right. So as the double only, I had a responsibility to make sure that that perspective was represented in the room. If I tried to just blend in with my peers or with the others of the room, then I wasn't really adding the unique value that I could add. And I think that's what people miss when they're quiet in a room, which is you have a unique perspective that can actually help solve the problem or add a different perspective to move the problem in a different way. That different lens with which you see the world could be exactly the lens that is needed to solve the problem. And so for me, it was always this responsibility being in the room to make sure that the doors were opened wider so that those who came behind me could come through with more ease and opportunity than I did.

[John O'Brien]

I. I'm going to ask you a question I never asked anybody, and you're uniquely able to answer it. And the audience is thriving, is desperate for these answers. I'M gonna give you both questions at the same time. Answer it however you like. What's the most dangerous thing that a black executive can do in corporate America? You sort of almost already answered what's the most dangerous thing they can't do, which is to not be representative. So what's the most dangerous thing that a black or a Latino or a woman. Fill in the blank. Executive can do in corporate America? And has there ever been moments when you, you were misread? I know the answer to this. Where your confidence was labeled something else, your directness mistaken for something it wasn't. How did you handle that without compromising who you are? Boy, these are loaded questions. Yes. Come on, let's go at it.

[Christy Furco]

Wow. Yeah, I get misread all the time. Even, even to this day, I get misread all the time. People think they know my story. People look at me and think I. They make assumptions about me based on how I look or based on how I talk or what they see of me, that they have no idea what my story is. And so when I say I'm from Compton, when I say, you know, my father committed suicide when I was 15 years old and I was raised by a single mother, people are like, oh, I just assumed you grew up in a two parent household. Like people make assumptions all the time. And so I am the embodiment of don't judge people because you never know their story. And so what I always try to do when people misunderstand or misinterpret, I do two things. One, I don't overly worry about it because it's not mine to control. Their perception of me has nothing to do with who I actually am or what I actually am. And so I think of it more as that's their problem than mine. To the extent that is impacting then my ability to get something stuff done, I lean into relationship. I try to, I try to either engage them directly and understand what the problem is and how we move forward so we could focus on the work. Or I engage somebody that I know has a good relationship with them, that I also have a relationship with them, to kind of be a broker or a bridge to be able to get us kind of on the same page. But I think my entire career I've been underestimated or labeled. And it's about, it's about just staying on your path. People's view of you doesn't actually change who you are or what you are. You know what is true. And so you just keep leaning in. And if that door isn't open for you as a result of someone's perception of you, then that wasn't the door you were supposed to step through. I believe that what's intended for you will be and that no one can actually stop that from happening. So if that door is closing, then maybe that's not the place you should be.

[John O'Brien]

And what's that dangerous thing that a black executive or minority executive can do and needs to avoid? And I mean, let me. We're running out of time and this is so rich. I want to get as much in. I'm going to, I'm join that with another question for efficiency sake. What is the one mistake you see brilliant young black and brown professionals make most often as they try to move up? So you have a black executive that's in the seat and what's the thing they must not do to avoid? And then what's that thing that young people do that you're like, oh, you know, I really would suggest you not do that.

[Christy Furco]

Yeah. I think what is dangerous and mistakes I see people make, it's not being true to who they are. I am always really clear about where my line is. And I have defined up front before I go into a situation, what my non negotiables are, what's important to me, what do I stand for. It's rooted in my faith, it's rooted in my values, it's rooted in who I am. But I never move that line. And the mistake that I see people make is compromising on where their line is or moving it. And you justify. You just make one little decision, but you keep moving your line. That's really, really dangerous because you'll wake up one day and not recognize yourself or not recognize what you've become. And so it's always important to be true to yourself because at the end of the day, when your career is over or when you leave that company and you go somewhere else, what you are left with is your integrity and who you were, who you are, who you were and, and what was most important and what's most important at the end of the day? No one ever says on their deathbed, I wish I had more time at work or I wish I would have made a difference at work. Right. It's about what's the legacy you're leaving behind, who you loved, who you, you know, it's about family, it's about legacy, it's much bigger. It's about who you loved and, and loved in return and where you loved in return like that at the essence of our life is kind of what's critically important.

[John O'Brien]

So the advice. So the thing that you would not want the corporate executive to do and the young person coming up is the same thing.

[Christy Furco]

It's the same thing. You got to be authentic to who you are and you got to know where you're lying line is.

[John O'Brien]

And would you agree don't be emotional in your decision makings at work because it's going to be probably be misread.

[Christy Furco]

Yes. Yeah, yeah.

[John O'Brien]

Trick to be a person of color. Yeah. So I was gonna.

[Christy Furco]

Sometimes emotion's important though. But you've got to know when I said sometimes emotion is important. So you got to know when to do it and you got to know who to do it with and you have to have relationship to do it.

[John O'Brien]

That's right.

[Christy Furco]

When things are really unacceptable, you have to let people know that that's unacceptable.

[John O'Brien]

Boom. That part your value system.

[Christy Furco]

Your value system.

[John O'Brien]

So Operation Hope is a partner of yours in and we are in Hope inside of branches and you and Darlene and others have really kicked the door in there and made sure that we had a presence. And it's a real partnership and it is indirectly tied to your current role. As we wrap up. Help the audience understand your current role. Why is it meaningful in this moment that I think is historic moment. Third reconstruction from civil rights to civil rights. And if I just left you riff for the last few minutes of your podcast and whatever the you wanted to share, this was your. This is your ministry of finance. If you're. This is your pulpit of hope, what would you say to the audience?

[Christy Furco]

Well, first of all, just as I talk about Operation Hope and the relationship that we have with I think it is one of the greatest examples of public private partnership coming together to really make a meaningful impact. The Hope Inside centers that are in the Wells Fargo branches, I think we have over 40 now. We'll have 50 by the end of the year. Really is about a free service. Letting people walk in off the streets and get the help that they need to create the financial future that is going to make their life better and going to serve their families for generations to come. It's about giving the knowledge and investing in people with the knowledge, the tools and the resources and being a real partner to help them be able to do the hard work. Right. Building those daily habits to reduce debt, increase savings, start investing, buy a home if they so choose. And so that partnership is pretty important. Operation Hope brings the plan and Wells Fargo helps with the scale by being able to do it in our Branches in those communities where people can walk in and get help. And I think that's what I'm so passionate about, the role that I have with financial inclusion. It is recognizing that people can have the financial future that they desire. They just have to be willing to work hard and do the work, make the tough choices to be able to do it. And the first thing we have to do, John, is people have to get over the shame. There's so much shame and guilt about how we have managed or haven't managed our finances. We've all made like those money mistakes that have set us back or made bad choices. Maybe there's some of your listeners who are in that place right now. It is never too late. You can always start again. And I think Operation Hope, the Hope Inside Centers, are a great way for people to get the help that they need to be able to start again. And so I've just come to this understanding. My mother is 86 years old and she lives in her home that is paid for. So she, she paid off a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, never refinancing one. But she is 86 years old, living in a house that she has paid off, her car is paid off. And the most my mother ever made in her life was $40,000 a year. And so my mother is the embodiment of what is possible when you make, you know, the choice to sacrifice, to align your money decisions with like, your values. Homeownership was a value. Education for her kids was a value. So I'm a product of a mother who sacrificed so I could have an education and do what I'm doing. And so it's all possible. People just have to believe that it is possible. And once they have that belief, then seek the right help and support to be able to get the attention and the support that they need to be able to make that a reality for them.

[John O'Brien]

Beautiful, if you can believe it. I actually had more questions, but I'm gonna. We're over time. This has been fabulous. Can I ask one, one final bonus question, please?

[Christy Furco]

Sure.

[John O'Brien]

Folks are listening to this. They've been intrigued by you, inspired by you. By the end of this podcast, they trust you. They feel like they have their relationship with you. So they're willing to put their guards down. No shame. Somebody out here listening to this wants to be a baller. They want to access capital at a significant level. They want to be a preferred customer. They want to be able to get a credit line that's a hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, a million, five million they want their business to be able to be a business that the operating committee knows who they are in a capsulized way. As somebody sitting inside one of the biggest banks in the world and having a dual focus and being bilingual, can you tell the audience what, in your opinion is the key is to operationalize in a dream? First of all, is it possible as a person of color, to access capital at that level at a bank like Wells Fargo or others? And how, in summary, should they think about doing that? It may take them 2, 3, 5 years, 10 years to get there. But how do they get, how do they go about getting to your table?

[Christy Furco]

Yeah, I think it's really simple. I think people should develop. It's about relationship. So develop a relationship with a banker, in this case, develop relationship with a banker and tell them your dreams, tell them what you're trying to do, and create a roadmap for how you're going to get there. That person then will invest in you, they'll invest in your dream. They'll help move you along the path. So as you need capital to scale your business, as you need the information, the different tools and resources, they'll be helpful to help you move along. So no matter where someone is in this path, again, none of us gets to where we are by ourselves. We need people who, this is what they do, to partner with, to invest in. And so I would encourage people to develop a relationship with, you know, a local banker, I would love it to be Wells Fargo, but if not, then get it somewhere. But you've got to get with people that have access to the resources, the capital, the information that you need. And people think you have to have money to go to banks. You don't. Banks are here to help people get into the system, develop the resources that they need to be able to realize their dreams. And I think get a banker to invest in your dream.

[John O'Brien]

So as we wrap this up, Ambassador Andrew Young's quote, that's coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous, rings true. Because she didn't know, I didn't know what her answer was going to be. She knows going to answer the question, but that lines completely up with. My first Adobe account was at Wells Fargo at a branch on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles. And I think it was 18 years old. And I remember the bank branch manager, Shapiro, and he gave me my first credit card and all that kind of stuff. And, and he had, he could. I was, you know, I was bouncing checks, but I was floating, I was floating and he might cover me for a day or two. And he would be. It would. He'd get dinged himself if I didn't cover that check. But he had enough credibility to say, john, I'll give you a couple more days. And then as I. Every level I went up, I had somebody else I'd meet who was appropriate for that level, who said, john, I got you, And I would. My job was to inform them, educate them, keep them updated about the good news and the bad news. In my life, there was no surprises ever. If there was any bad news, I told them first. But what you heard here, she didn't tell you about financial statements and P. Ls and all that stuff. All that's important, she can tell you about a business plan. All that's important, she told you to build a relationship. Yeah, that. And. And that's what I've been telling you. So. Christy Furco did not wait for the world to make room for her, ladies and gentlemen. She walked into rooms where no one looked like her. She spoke when speaking had a cost, and she made herself indispensable, not by shrinking, but by showing up fully. That's not just a career story, that's a blueprint. That's why I call this a master class today. If you're navigating a space that wasn't built for you, and let's be honest, most of the spaces weren't, Christy just showed you what it takes and what it looks like to survive and to lead. Now, I can be written off maybe as a one off, as an entrepreneur and all that kind of stuff, but Christie's a blueprint. She's inside of a fortune, I think, 100 company, and it's Fortune 500 for sure. And she's done it for 30 years with competence that's replicable. You can be the next Christy Furco. Christy, thank you for joining us. This is Money and Wealth on the Black effect network on iHeartradio. And this is a masterclass from Compton to the C Suite. Thank you, Christy.

[Christy Furco]

Thank you.

[John O'Brien]

Money and wealth with John o' Brien is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from the Black Effect Podcast network, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite show.

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