Talbott Roche the CEO and President of Blackhawk Network, is our special guest on this the 103rd episode of the Leaders in Payments Podcast as we continue to celebrate Women Leaders in Payments month sponsored by American Express. 

Talbott grew up in Richmond, Virginia and attended an all-girls school from kindergarten through high school. She majored in economics at Stanford and was the first person to go to college west of the Mississippi from her high school. 

She co-founded Blackhawk Network which was at the time a subsidiary within Safeway. During a holiday season 20 years ago, they put 7 gift cards in the northern California division of Safeway stores and did about $9 million dollars in sales. Fast forward to now, and Blackhawk Network will do $26B this year in total load value across 28 countries. What a remarkable success story. 

Her guiding principles are simple; commit, create and connect.  Talbott has some very impactful phrases that she used during our interview such as “focus on action over perfection,” “turn a crisis into an opportunity,” and “know your own worth and ask for the opportunity.”