Elma Ocampo
For the past 10 years, Sarah Elizabeth has played an integral role in helping ClearSale grow into an international name in online fraud prevention. She’s worn many hats during that time and has shaped everything from sales and marketing to international development. Sarah’s passion and pride are aligned with ClearSale’s commitment to social responsibility and gender diversity.
Q: What brought you to ClearSale? Can you share a brief background on your experience?
Sarah: I began my career in sales and corporate finance at a Fortune 100 consumer goods company and was able to advance quickly.
After about five years, I wanted to find a smaller company that aligned with my values, and where I could make a bigger impact. A friend of the family told me about ClearSale and that it helps companies prevent online fraud, which seemed really impactful to me.
So, in 2012, I became employee No. 300 at ClearSale.
My first initiative was to restructure the sales department. Next, I was head of new products and verticals. And in 2015, I was on the team that opened ClearSale’s first international office in the U.S. where I oversaw business development, lead generation and marketing.
Most recently, I’ve shifted to grow our Latin America region. So you could say I’ve seen it all.
Q: What do you appreciate about ClearSale’s company culture?
Sarah: ClearSale has a culture that’s rich in diversity and inclusion. There’s also a high level of expertise and empowerment, which gives employees the freedom, autonomy and support to take calculated, intelligent risks.
Q: What are you most proud of in your tenure at ClearSale to date?
Sarah: With that autonomy I just mentioned, I’ve leveraged my business knowledge to propose projects that have led to new product offerings. An example of this would be ClearSale’s Demand Generation program.
Another accomplishment I’m proud of is completing my MBA at Northwestern University while maintaining my full workload. That took some flexibility on my end and ClearSale’s, which is a testament to how much this company is dedicated to employee and client success.
Q: What do you see as ClearSale’s role in social responsibility?
Sarah: We have a very large team of secondary fraud analysts who live in some of the poorest regions of South America. Our social outreach is primarily focused on supporting that vital workforce with free courses in finance, health, ESL, and even fun hobbies like acting.
We also offer college scholarships – whether their current job at ClearSale fulfills their passion or they strive for another dream, we want to serve as a bridge to their future.
Q: How does your role at ClearSale help fulfill your passion?
Sarah: At ClearSale, there are female leaders in departments across the company, which makes me very proud. I am passionate about gender diversity and believe strongly that female leadership and profitability go hand in hand. My hope is we are setting an example for other companies to follow.
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“At ClearSale, there are female leaders in departments across the company, which makes me very proud. My hope is we are setting an example for other companies.” |
Q: What are the biggest trends you're seeing among ClearSale's current and prospective clients?
Sarah: I’ve been hearing a lot of reaction to the recent data privacy changes where brands are exploring ways to adapt to the end of third-party cookie support in Google Chrome.
They will need to collect data directly from their customers (zero-party data) and leverage it for personalized marketing. That way they can future-proof themselves from further data privacy changes and dramatically increase revenue in the process.
Q: What else should people know about ClearSale as an employer and a partner?
Sarah: This company is fast-paced and proactive – it’s the nature of what we do, right? So we would rather people brainstorm and test new ideas, even if they have to be modified, than waiting for instructions or, worse, not sharing their expertise.
Q: What’s one thing we might not know about you?
Sarah: I always thought I was going to be an engineer and even pursued civil engineering in college – for about three weeks until I stopped and asked myself if that was really what I wanted to do. Physics and math were my favorite topics and I wanted to pursue something broader that would give me flexibility in my career. That’s when I switched to business administration and economics. And I haven’t looked back!
