Ep. 611 - Caliza Head of Finance Awa Kone - Make Sure Success Does Not Become Failure

What does it take to build a global team from scratch when a pandemic hits weeks into your new job?

In this episode, our co-host, Lindsay Smith, sits down with Awa Kone, Head of Finance at Caliza. Awa previously served as COO of Corridor and as global head of operations at Flutterwave.

Awa shares why she never expects the fires to stop, how she works with a CEO without being a yes-woman, and what it takes to keep a culture intact across continents.

Listen now.

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Timestamped Highlights02:44 Early Life in Ivory Coast & Actuarial Career

06:42 Joining Flutterwave During COVID

08:09 Building Remote Teams in a Pandemic

12:29 Scaling Infrastructure Without Breaking

14:30 Working With the CEO as Second in Command

17:56 Fire Prevention vs Firefighting in Operations

19:54 Different Titles, Same Core Role