im Fitzsimmons, President of Independent Sales for First Data Commercial Services, readily admits to having a Type A personality. Even as a child, she required no prodding to nail her goals.

At the tender age of 15, she signed on as a telemarketer for a fitness center. She worked the phones in a room not much larger than a closet.

Fitzsimmons progressed on that job _ but not before receiving a pink slip. She was confused about why her supervisor had fired her.

Rather than accept the news, Fitzsimmons called the company's owner (with whom she had never spoken) and asked for an explanation. The result? She was rehired. And she became the department's manager at the age of 17.

Through this experience, Fitzsimmons learned "if you don't ask, you don't get."

This first job required an aggressive type of sales, which was valuable experience, Fitzsimmons said. She worked 20 to 25 hours a week throughout high school and college.

Up, up and away

Upon graduation in 1987, Fitzsimmons continued her career, taking a job as a Sales Representative for Concord EFS Inc., a payment processor. She began in telephone sales. Then she moved into management and began selling in-person on the road.

At Concord, she advanced to the position of Senior Vice President. Then, in 2004, First Data Corp. acquired the company. "I was presented with a great opportunity to work for an organization that had not only been a leader in the industry, but was an innovator as well," she said.

Fitzsimmons was deeply involved in the integration and merger of the two companies.

"I'm very proud to be a part of a team of people who joined this company in its early stages and helped create growth and influence on the industry in a very positive way," she said.

Today, Fitzsimmons is integral to the creation and execution of FDCS' business development and vertical market strategies. Her responsibilities include partner strategy, which encompasses more than 700 financial institutions, ISOs and agents. Fitzsimmons believes in the power of competition. That, coupled with her innate nature, prepared her for a career in the payments industry.

"I have always had a very entrepreneurial spirit," she said. "That is something I've been able to further embrace in the work we do with our ISO partners at First Data _ develop leading-edge technology while continuing to grow together."

Fitzsimmons' goals include growing business efficiently and effectively to usher in the next stages of development. "It's most important that we continue to proactively deliver the right products and services to our customers as we help move the needle for these partners," she said.

A leg up for others

Fitzsimmons is enlivened by competition, but her true pleasure is in helping others achieve. "If I can manage a sales force and watch others succeed, I get more enjoyment and satisfaction out of that," she said.

That motivation is a major reason why she gives her time and talent to industry associations. Fitzsimmons is a member of the Electronic Transactions Association's Advisory Board and will become a full term ETA board member in July.

She is also an inaugural board member of Women Networking in Electronic Transactions, W.net for short.

She is active in both organizations because it allows her to be even more involved in helping those who could use a boost. She also believes giving back is important to the industry.

"I wanted to get involved [in W.net] because I saw the importance of women's organizations in our industry," she said. "If you look at any industry, there are so many avenues to mentor each other.

"Find good mentors, people you can trust and ask questions. There is so much wisdom and experience from people in this industry that you can learn from and grow."

Two important pillars

Part of the reason Fitzsimmons believes in mentorship and networking is that two key people were instrumental in helping her build a thriving career.

"My father was an outstanding mentor for me, as he helped shape who I am, my aspirations, and my approach to business and personal life issues," she said. "He clearly instilled the important characteristics that I have today.

"Even though he was never a salesman, he understood and taught me how to sell myself, my products and my company each and every day."

Armed with the skills learned from her father, Fitzsimmons was fortunate to work alongside Ed Labry, President of FDCS.

He taught Fitzsimmons about the industry and instilled in her the importance of being assertive, having confidence, setting goals, working through obstacles and doing things the right way.

Those two mentors, coupled with her work ethic, helped shape Fitzsimmons' business philosophy: "Work hard every day and do things the right way for your clients, your colleagues, your company and all those that are affected by your efforts."

Safeguarding consumers

While Fitzsimmons is honest in her business dealings, she knows the payments industry has taken its share of bumps and bruises when it comes to ethics.

"The industry has come a long way from the Wild West days of the '80s," she said. "We have done a good job of changing the perspective in the industry, and we've talked about doing some certification for training and policing ourselves."

Fitzsimmons noted that the payments industry has an obligation to maximize security for all parties involved in transactions.

"It's our responsibility to make consumers feel safe when paying for goods and services through today's diverse payment tools," she said. "We must fully understand and implement the industry's requirements and work within those guidelines to maximize the consumer's confidence."

Yet, she also cautions ISOs and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) not to get too bogged down in risk management and to trust others who are trained in such matters.

"Too many ISOs try to manage the risk on their own, and they need to know that there are good opportunities to offload that risk and concentrate on their core business," she said.

Beneficial changes ahead

Fitzsimmons predicts there will be continued consolidation as larger ISOs acquire smaller players, and this will be positive for ISOs and MLSs. She knows that many people enter the industry intending to build a business and create an exit strategy that involves selling to a larger entity. "That is how they monetize their investment and their time," she said.

Over the past two decades, Fitzsimmons has seen technology change our industry. She expects more of the same. She foresees wireless, radio frequency identification and mobile merchant solutions becoming the norm in the near future.

As these technologies drive the market, they will create choice, convenience and flexibility for consumers, which is also good news for ISOs and MLSs, she said. "This is by far one of the most entrepreneurial industries our society has, and it creates tremendous opportunities," she said.

Fitzsimmons believes now is a great time to be a payment professional. She is excited to be in her current position, which allows her to experience changes firsthand and help direct the industry's evolution.

"I've had the opportunity to witness and help shape changes that have had a significant impact on consumers and merchants alike," she said. "Anytime you can be a part of such change, it has a profound effect on you as a person."