{"id":4374,"date":"2018-05-29T16:27:42","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T20:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=4374"},"modified":"2025-01-31T08:46:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T13:46:40","slug":"ceo-krista-morgan-best-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/ceo-krista-morgan-best-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Advice from fintech CEO Krista Morgan on making authentic connections"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/trends-insights\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Trends &amp; Insights<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAdvice from fintech CEO Krista Morgan on making authentic connections\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2018-05-29T16:27:42-04:00\">May 29, 2018<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Advice from fintech CEO Krista Morgan on making authentic connections\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/ceo-krista-morgan-best-advice\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/jennifergregory\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/Jennifer-Goforth-Gregory-headshot3-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"Jennifer Goforth Gregory headshot\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Jennifer Goforth Gregory<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Krista Morgan, CEO of lending firm&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.p2bi.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">P2Binvestor<\/a>, spends her days helping business owners fund their ventures and encouraging women as a part-time-host of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.womenwhostartup.com\/thepodcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cWomen Who Startup\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;podcast. She\u2019s made a career out of giving great advice, though Morgan says she learned one of her most valuable lessons when someone else took the time to help her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years ago, Morgan was meeting with potential investors for P2Binvestor, a financial technology company that provides credit to companies too big for small business loans, but too small for traditional bank lines of credit. She told her mentor she felt out of her element since she was usually the only woman in the room<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShe told me, \u2018Be authentic and vulnerable. You don\u2019t have to know everything to be the perfect CEO. It\u2019s okay to say that you don\u2019t know the answer to a question or that you don\u2019t understand something,&#8217;\u201d Morgan says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Morgan took that advice to heart. She started to answer honestly when someone would ask her how she was doing before an investor meeting. She might say, \u201cYou know, my flight was terrible,\u201d or \u201cMy husband is driving me crazy.\u201d The mood in the room would change almost immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt immediately breaks the tension, and everyone in the room begins to connect on a personal level. Our natural reaction, when someone is vulnerable, is to be vulnerable as well, so they don\u2019t feel alone,\u201d Morgan says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>And she noticed that investors and supporters were drawn to extend this connection to a business relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p><br>\u201cBe authentic and vulnerable. You don\u2019t have to know everything to be the perfect CEO.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>During a business lunch a few months later, a fellow CEO in the finance industry asked how business was going. She started to say \u201cGreat,\u201d but then stopped herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>\u201cI shared how the company was having some challenges, and that I had hit a rough patch,\u201d Morgan says. To her surprise, the lunch companion said that his company had gone through similar challenges, and he offered support and potential solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Their connection continued after the lunch, with regular calls and lunches to support each other. \u201cWe now have a relationship where we get real value from each other because we can share with each other honestly,\u201d Morgan says.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Krista Morgan, CEO of lending firm&nbsp;P2Binvestor, spends her days helping business owners fund their ventures and encouraging women as a part-time-host of the&nbsp;\u201cWomen Who Startup\u201d&nbsp;podcast. She\u2019s made a career out of giving great advice, though Morgan says she learned one of her most valuable lessons when someone else took the time to help her. A [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":587,"featured_media":25068,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[138],"business_type":[40],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[96,97],"imagine_tag":[230],"coauthors":[727],"class_list":["post-4374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trends-insights","tag-leadership","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Jennifer Goforth Gregory","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/08\/BrandShootSF_Oct2021_FinancialServices_10773.jpeg","imagine_tags":{"230":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/587"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/25068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}