Ashna Vaghela
Chief Customer Officer at Mercuryo
Ashna, you studied at London Metropolitan University and built your career in customer operations, eventually becoming a Chief Customer Officer at a global crypto payments company. What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome while building your career?
One of the biggest challenges I faced early in my career was learning to trust my own voice, especially in environments where that voice wasn’t always encouraged.
There were moments where I was underestimated and questioned, not necessarily on my work ethic, but on my background and whether I “fit” into fintech. I remember being in situations where I was made to feel smaller than I was, and where my potential wasn’t always recognised.
But at the same time, I was leading, supporting my team, and showing up consistently. I learned very quickly that leadership isn’t something you’re given through a title — it’s something you practise every day in how you show up for people.
That experience taught me two things: resilience and self-trust. I had to learn to filter out the noise and back myself, even when others couldn’t yet see what I could bring to the table.
I also learned patience. I didn’t rush into roles before I was ready. I took the time to understand operations deeply, to learn the details, and to build a strong foundation. So when the opportunity to lead at scale came, I was ready.
Thank you for sharing that — especially the point about self-trust. How would you say that translates into your role today? As Mercuryo’s CCO, what principles do you rely on when it comes to building partnerships in a fast-changing industry?
For me, it comes down to clarity and accountability. In spaces like Web3, clarity is really everything. You need to be honest about timelines, challenges, and priorities, and that’s what will build real trust. Don’t try to rely on overpromising, since it will only hurt your partnership.
I can also say the same about accountability, because there definitely will be situations when things don’t go according to plan. If you can handle it and solve issues quickly, it strengthens both internal teams and external partnerships.
But particularly, I want to highlight the importance of close relationships. There are real people standing behind every integration or partnership, and it is really worthwhile to understand them. It will help you to create stronger, longer-term outcomes.
It’s the same approach that I apply internally. As I see it, you need to understand your product and your teams deeply, and once you do, you can lead in a way that your team respects. You can say it is much more about enabling: after all, leadership is always about bringing people together and moving things forward, even when it seems hard.
A great point, actually. We all have our own strengths and flaws — maybe considering this daily is precisely what leaders can do to make their teams better. Now, what qualities do you think are most important for women who want to build influence and credibility in fintech?
As I said earlier, self-trust is definitely one of the most important qualities. You will certainly have moments where you can prove yourself to others and show your experience, but building influence starts with learning to rely on yourself. The way you think and reflect on things when no one is watching helps build up your understanding, and that understanding later translates to credibility.
And when I say “understanding”, I mean not only at a high level, but really knowing your team and all the daily processes. Throughout my career, I have led a large organisation, and I make a conscious effort to understand what each function, department, and team is dealing with.
If people see that you are really diving into their world and trying to support them, they will most likely respond with trust towards you. And don’t forget about keeping that behaviour consistent, since this trust can only be built over time.
There is a common misconception that fintech leadership is purely about technical expertise, but really, it always comes down to connecting the dots across teams and priorities.
There is still a stereotype that fintech is all about being the smartest person in the room, so it’s nice to hear that there are many other important factors at play. In your opinion, what still keeps women from reaching more leadership positions in this industry?
Firstly, I want to say that progress is happening, and it is important to talk about that. We’re seeing more women step into leadership roles, and more spaces where women can support each other and grow together. I find that community aspect incredibly powerful.
At the same time, though, there are still occasions where women hesitate to step forward until they feel fully ready. As I mentioned, I’ve experienced that myself. But you need to take that step, because growth often comes from taking the opportunity first and figuring it out along the way.
It is also worth mentioning the ways in which success is perceived. From my experience, I can see that women associate success with responsibility. They want to do things well and often support others and balance teams, and that is what holds them back from taking more visible risks.
I would encourage them to step into new opportunities with confidence. If more women do that and continue to support each other, the faster we’ll see that representation grow.
Those are really powerful words, thank you for them. Let’s move to our last question, then. Since you touched on encouragement, what advice would you give a woman who’s curious about crypto but believes she is not technical enough?
Like I already said: you don’t need to have a technical background to enter crypto, because there are many roles in this space. Operations, partnerships, customer experience, compliance — and they are all critical to making the ecosystem work.
Curiosity and a willingness to learn matter much more here than just technical expertise. Sure, at the beginning, crypto can feel like something complex, but nobody demands that you understand everything about it immediately. You can just start with the small things and ask questions, which will build both your own knowledge and others' trust.
I think it is also important not to underestimate the value of transferable skills. If you know how to communicate, have developed problem-solving skills, and understand people, you already have powerful expertise in this industry.
Most importantly, don’t disqualify yourself before you’ve even started. There is space for you here, and the industry is better when different perspectives are part of it.
