By Tina Vasquez
When Cynthia Freund was growing up, she dreamt of flying. After minoring in aviation technology and obtaining her private pilot’s license, she applied to the Air Force with the hope of making her dream of being a pilot a reality. The atmosphere was ultra-competitive and Freund jokes the closest she came to flying was sitting at her desk, but her time in the military gave her something some spend their lives in search of: their voice.
Freund’s first big assignment as a communications officer for the Air Force sent her to Panama, where she had an “outstanding” commander who would be responsible for one of the most significant moments of Freund’s career.
“My commander took me aside one day and said, ‘Cindy, you’re here to make decisions. That’s your job. You might not always make the right decision and if you make the wrong one, we can fix it, just know you have to make decisions.’ I’ll never forget it,” Freund said. “I needed to be reminded of that and it was empowering to me. It’s what put me on the path that got me where I am today.”
Today, Freund is a Wells Fargo & Company’s Senior Vice President in Consumer Lending Technology, where she leads a team of over 70 project and relationship management professionals and manages a multimillion dollar project portfolio. Each day, she and her team are working toward providing innovative, cost-effective solutions and services and it’s an environment she feels wholly comfortable in and has been highly successful in, though she admits the financial services industry is a bit of a stretch for someone who began their career in the military.
Before joining First Union in 2000, where she held various leadership roles, the former Air Force Captain worked primarily in technology for Science Applications International Corporation in Virginia and Washington D.C., taking advantage of her high security clearance. When she and her husband moved to Charlotte, Freund became a road warrior, spending the bulk of her week away from home and away from her two young children, who were one and three-years-old at the time.
“When I began looking for something local, I wanted to continue offering complete business solutions. When I heard about the First Union position, banking seemed like a bit of a stretch, but I knew I could be an asset at First Union because I had a strong project management background. It was around that time I began to realize that so many of the skills I learned in the military were transferable to financial services and on a larger scale, to corporate America,” Freund said.
Freund’s last assignment before walking away from eight-years in the Air Force was managing a help desk at the Pentagon, a role she says was crucial in her ability to walk into any position – no matter how new or challenging – and be successful. It was a matter of having the confidence to make decisions and stand by them, as well as being given the tools needed to adapt and thrive in any situation.
Her military training is also why Freund didn’t struggle with any of these transitions, from military to corporate to financial services. Something that’s helped, she says, is working with wonderful leaders.
“When you work with great leaders who are there for you and who teach you, any transition can feel seamless,” Freund said. “Here at Wells Fargo, I’ve had a number of different roles. I started in capital markets and then I moved on to support community banking and then I went on to support operations. Now, I’m in consumer lending technology. I’ve been so fortunate to work with so many wonderful people and see so many different sides of the bank. I’ve learned so very much.”
As it turns out, learning is actually one of Freund’s biggest strength. This is something she learned from Gallup’s StrengthFinder, an assessment included in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths, which spent more than five-years on bestseller lists.
“I enjoy learning and I’m good at it, so while it may seem like my career has been all over the place, I haven’t just hopped around to hop around,” Freund said. “I’ve used the tools and skills I learned in the military and in every other aspect of my career, taking advantage of every opportunity and chance to learn.”
Freund is incredibly proud to work for an organization that appreciates service members, as evidenced by the Wells Fargo’s Veteran’s Team Member Network and its commitment to helping veterans, military members, and their families. This year, the Charlotte chapter of the Veterans’ Team Member Network is participating in the 2013 “Salute to Veterans” Parade, sponsored by the Carolinas Freedom Foundation, which will coincide with Veteran’s Day. Wells Fargo also recently announced the donation of 66 real estate owned (REO) properties to wounded warriors. The organization has also participated in more than 150 military job fairs and launched its Hand on Banking for Military financial education program.
Though her time in the Air Force has been instrumental in informing her approach to leadership, the mother of two doesn’t necessarily advertise to everyone she meets or works with that she spent eight years in the military.
“It’s funny, though,” the SVP said. “When new colleagues do find out, I always hear, ‘Now everything makes so much sense!’ I think the things I was taught in the military – integrity, honesty, respect, accountability for myself and for others – they’re apparent in everything I do and they’re attributes I try to pass on to every team I work with.”