Page 1 - GS231102

November 26, 2023 • Issue 23:11:02

Payments, a retrospective
Payments, a retrospectiv e

Merchant services: it's a family affair

By Patti Murphy "When we were living in the same house, we were always
talking about work," Cheryl said. Then Ashley purchased a
s a young man, Steven Morris never expected home about two miles away. "Now we have a better separa-
to join the ranks of merchant services profes- tion between our home and work lives," Cheryl noted.
sionals. "I fell into the payments business by
A mistake," he said, echoing a sentiment I've heard Elaina Smith, CFO at Secure Bancard, understands. Smith
countless times from merchant services professionals. and her husband, Kevin, the company's president and CEO,
started Secure 12 years ago as a wholesale ISO.
But it didn't take long for Morris, now managing director
at Gatlic Group, to realize he had a knack for selling mer- "Our professional lives and personal ones are so tightly
chant services and that he was good at recruiting. Eventu- wound together, that it is impossible to separate them," she
ally, Morris tried recruiting his son, Marq-Anthony Morris, wrote in a recent LinkedIn post. "It's a challenge to shut
but he just couldn't spark much interest with the 18-year- down work talk at the dinner table, but our kids often in-
old. Eight years later the younger Morris changed his mind. sist, rightfully so. Has it been perfect? No. Has it always
"He's at a stage in life where he understands the lifestyle been easy? Heck no. Working with your spouse is not for
and freedom the job offers, and he's ready," Morris said. the thin skinned. We hold each other to a higher standard."
And it works, she added.
Ashley Lewis, the mother of a two-year-old, said she, too,
appreciates the flexibility that comes with being a merchant
level salesperson. She and her mother, Cheryl, are known
around Oklahoma as the Credit Card Ladies. "When I was Contributed articles inside by:
pregnant, during COVID, I had the flexibility I needed,"
she said, and now that flexibility "allows me to do more Dean Nolan .............................................................................................18
with my son." Nick Cuuci................................................................................................28

"At this point, I don't think either one of us would be able to Cheryl Fitzgaarld ..................................................................................30
work for someone else," Cheryl added. To hear Cheryl and Michael Boukadakis .............................................................................34
Ashely tell it, the biggest obstacle to building their fam-
ily business was establishing a proper work-life balance. Matias Fainbrum ...................................................................................35

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