What if kindness isn’t soft—but your most strategic business advantage?
In this episode of Scaling Stories Unfiltered, we speak to Stella Smith, award-winning FinTech founder and CEO of pirkx, a platform making wellbeing benefits affordable and accessible to the workers most often left out.
Stella shares the unfiltered story of leaving school at 16, rising quickly through the banking world, and building a business with heart, hustle, and a mission that got under her skin and never left.
From sleeping under her desk to holding her ground on pricing, she opens up about the emotional toll, the investor pressure, and what it really takes to scale a values-led business in a male-dominated world.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
• Why asking the right interview question changes who you hire
• How to attract top-tier advisors, even if you’re not “big enough” yet
• What happens when you design a business around kindness
• Why resilience is built by doing (and asking for help, unapologetically)
• What it’s really like to raise capital as a female founder
• How to balance mission with commercial pressure and why it’s worth it
From pricing decisions to people strategy, Stella’s story is full of bold choices, honest lessons, and practical takeaways for founders building something that actually matters.
Who is Stella Smith?
Stella is the founder and CEO of pirkx, a wellbeing platform serving freelancers, gig workers, and microbusinesses across the UK, Australia, and the US. A former investment banker, Stella’s leadership has earned recognition from Innovate Finance, the LDC Top 50, and the AccelerateHER Awards. She also serves as a trustee and advisor on human rights and financial inclusion initiatives.
Find Stella here:
🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/stellasmithpirkx/
📩 Contact us: [email protected]
🎧 Subscribe & listen:
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/2p93xe94
Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/yp9b4a49
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ScalingStoriesUnfilteredListener
#ScalingStoriesUnfiltered #FounderJourney #WellbeingAtWork #FemaleFounders #StartupLeadership #HiringForCulture #MissionDriven #ValuesBasedLeadership #ScaleUpInsights