Diva Tech Talk interviewed Liz Armbruester, Senior Vice President, Global Compliance, at Avalara, a company that helps businesses of all sizes get tax compliance right. Avalara partners with leading ERP providers, accounting, e-commerce and financial systems companies, to deliver cloud-based tax compliance solutions, for a wide variety of transactions. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Avalara was founded in 2004; went public in 2018; has offices across the U.S., and the world, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, and India.
Liz characterized her path as “sometimes not so straightforward…” From her early years, she was a true multitasker. “I thrive on doing more than one thing at a time.” Liz also embraced a life-long theme, inspired by her father’s volunteer work as an emergency medical technician, of wanting to help other people. With early aptitudes in science, and math, “I am driven by curiosity, and solving problems,” Liz said. Beginning at Villanova University, she quickly transferred prior to sophomore year to the University of Arizona where one of her favorite subjects was organic chemistry, since “the pieces went together in a systematic way.” Originally planning to be a doctor, Liz graduated with a major in molecular and cellular biology, and a minor in ecology. It was during this formative college period that she learned “how impactful my instinct was, to listen and trust it.” This was a life-long lesson Liz later applied many times, even with her own son, who made a similar decision in 2019 to transfer universities in pursuit of his dreams.
Liz decided against going to medical school, driven by a decision to get married right after college and begin a family. “It took me a while to be ok with a change, and pivot” in her life plan. For years, Liz “easily got jobs in the medical field” and, while working with physicians, “I kept finding my way to the front office” of any given medical practice. “Application software was coming to the fore, and I see workflows on an easy ‘whiteboard,’ helping to solve a problem.” So, Liz grasped an “opportunity to do something different.” Having worked in various medical practices, deploying technology, Liz migrated to famous semiconductor provider, Zilog.
Liz’s innate curiosity, honed in the medical field and piqued at Zilog, coupled with a penchant to “continually seeking what’s new out there in technology and apply it in infinite ways,” has been core to her career advancement. Liz spent eight years at Zilog; and then moved to Vubiquity, a content distribution tech company, owned by tech media giant Amdocs. Vubiquity connects content owners to video providers, so that entertainment can be delivered to consumers on any screen. At both Zilog and Vubiquity, Liz wore multiple hats; worked on innovative projects that contributed to the viability of the overall businesses; and often operated in between the highly technical development teams and customers and prospects, “as a translator” of requirements to inspire tech solutions that solve issues.
Liz left Vubiquity, six years later, having been promoted to Vice President of Operations, and Procurement, because she found herself “not showing up for dinner. I had two kids, who were very important to me; but I was consumed by my work.” And, for Liz, “that was not ok for me.” Moving from Vubiquity to Avalara, Liz made it clear to the company’s CEO that balance was key. Admitting that being a visionary is not her sweet spot, she insisted on staying stationary, close to home much of the time. Yet she also committed to taking the company’s complicated startup thesis, and “operate, and scale like hell” to empower Avalara’s aggressive evolutionary stages. Her CEO, Scott McFarlane, recruited her, among other things, to scale Avalara’s systems to serve a dramatically increased number of customers, worldwide. Liz has accepted that challenge, to again “be the translator” between the vision, the partners who build and deliver the solutions, and “an infinite number of customers.” Liz expressed heartfelt gratitude to Avalara teams, “who are just brilliant and bring together all of the pieces; and cohesively work together” as the company’s client base has expanded exponentially. “Our finish line changes all the time,” Liz explained, because taxing authorities’ rules are ever-changing.
Liz believes that the transition to collaborative teamwork leadership is particularly hard for talented STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) experts. Often, she noted “one day, I am a ‘fixer’ and the next day, I have to be a ‘facilitator,’ and that transformation can be kind of tough. You must change your lens of success. You can’t do it, all. You have to let go; let others.” Key to that is teaching, mentoring and inspiring colleagues and teammates.
Avalara is also highly committed to a positive “intentional culture” including diversity in its ranks. Liz praised Amelia Ransom, the company’s Senior Director of Engagement and Diversity, “who has really raised the bar for us.” Liz proved her commitment to D/I initiatives by agreeing to be executive sponsor for Avalara’s Women of Avalara Employee Resource Group. Taking these programs and D/I both inside, and outside of the company, “has been a really fun journey” for Liz, because it also introduced her to new ideas that can dramatically improve the world. “I had the privilege of not being affected, as much, by gender bias,” Liz said. “I hadn’t lived that experience.” Working on D/I initiatives has been eye-opening. It allowed Liz to review her role, empowering the transition to true diversity, including all of Avalara leadership “locking arms. It isn’t a project; it doesn’t have a beginning and an end” but a revolution in their way of doing business. “It has shifted our perspective. I have seen hiring practices change,” said Liz. “I have seen the transparency with which we talk about bias radically change.”
Another leadership lesson from Liz is that she would encourage anyone, at any career stage, to continuously “take a step back and look at the bigger picture” as it relates to “what you do, what you like to do, and what you’re passionate about” in a disciplined fashion. “What are the things that make you successful?” is a consistent question to ask. Tying back your strengths to future contributions, and knowing your intrinsic talents and how they apply to any challenge, is vital to personal progress. “Don’t just think about the tactical things you are doing. Take a step back. Think about your skills, your unique characteristics” and then apply them to your plans and future goals. “It opens up and reframes your possibilities! They can be limitless.”
Liz Armbruester can be reached on Twitter at @sandgrl7.
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