After 4+ unforgettable (and occasionally truly unhinged) years, it’s time to say farewell.
When I joined, I thought I was signing up for one job… but 4 months in, surprise! A merger turned all of our jobs upside down and gave us a front-row seat to a masterclass in change management (and “how to bond with strangers over shared chaos”). From there, it only got more interesting—company collapse, another acquisition, new teammates, new systems, new acronyms.
Despite the plot twists, I feel incredibly grateful. I had the chance to work with 300+ amazing humans, drive meaningful digital and cross-functional efforts, and work with “tiger teams” that Got Stuff Done! Thank you for the great memories.
TEAMs Therapy & Thank You
What truly kept me grounded were the friendships I made and the many hours of TEAMs therapy—those vent sessions, sanity checks, and occasional “is it just me?” convos. You made the rollercoaster ride survivable and interesting.
Over the last month, I’ve had 50+ 1:1 farewells. My calendar looked like a farewell speed-dating app—and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you for making time.
To My Business Partners: Thank you for sharing your knowledge, passion, and business goals with me. Your insights enabled our team to better understand how digital solutions can support your objectives. I appreciate our partnership and your willingness to answer my questions & provide honest perspectives. I’ve learned a lot from each of you, and I’m grateful for our work together as one team.
To My Working Partners: I couldn’t have done any of the DX work without your expertise and support. Thank you for being open to engage with me in new ways and allowing me to push you beyond your comfort zone. Together, we blazed new trails and got stuff done for our customers and our bank. Thank you!
To My SF/Bay Area Colleagues: I will miss seeing you in the office – our spontaneous chats in the hallway, our walks around SalesForce park, eating free lunches or snacks together. I am always snacking 🙂 Thank you for those who came to my bay area farewell events. I appreciate you making time to share memories, hugs, and of course food. A special thanks to Ellen and Ash for coordinating these gatherings.
To the Digital Team: So many things to say. We have gone through a lot together. I will miss our team off sites, group chats, and bonding events—from axe throwing and escape games to urban putt and those delicious dinners. We’ve navigated many challenges together, and your tenacity, creativity, and support have made my time here truly special. I will miss working with you.
Lastly to Steve: thank you for being a caring, thoughtful manager. I still remember our first email exchange after the BP acquisition announcement—I immediately thought, “Thank goodness there is someone knowledgeable and cool leading digital for BP. We’ve been a good team. You’ve made the last 4 years an unforgettable experience in many ways. I know you and team will do great things for FCB’s digital experience and for our customers.
A Final Ask
I know I am greedy but I want more from you. If you are inclined, can you leave me a note in the comments below? It can be anything from our time together.
- A favorite memory
- A funny moment
- An unexpected learning
- Or how unbearable it was to work with me!
Big or small, serious or silly—I’ll treasure each sentiment.
I look forward to staying in touch and hearing about your latest adventures at work and in life.
Until then, Lei signing off.
Lei, I truly enjoyed our partnership. We did not get to work together nearly long enough, but I think we made a great impact in a short time. Your focus on Digital Strategy and Customer Experience paired well with what we were looking to accomplish in the CEC. We can’t thank you enough for your dedication and your expertise and you are going to be missed! I am glad we were able to spend time together in Raleigh last year. Take care of yourself and keep in touch!
Thank you Allyson. I am glad we got to work together and also hang out a little in person. You and your team really helped me understand how the call center worked and how it intersected with our digital experience. I look forward to keeping in touch and hear about any results from our recent launch. So many opportunities to explore and improve there. I know our digital team will follow up and do more with you.
Lei, it has been a pleasure working with you and getting to know you on a personal level:). Thank you so much for all the mentoring sessions and also for always looking out for everyone’s well-being. As you mentioned, it has been a whirlwind the past few years and it meant so much to everyone that you made such a great effort to help people connect and get to know each other across SVB, BP and FCB. My favorite memory was the mini golf event, so fun! I’m so excited for you to embark on your next career journey. I… Read more »
Cindy, it has been a great pleasure working with you. You will do well in anything you set your heart to. I witnessed it first hand. Keep being a sponge for new learning. I also really enjoyed meeting your daughter in Philly. She had some great tips for my daughter going into design. Appreciate the connect. I will definitely stay in touch.
Lei, truly wish you the best my friend! We were able to build a healthy partnership immediately that transitioned into a friendship, for that I’m thankful!
Remember the time we first met in San Fran, the walking strategy session in the rooftop garden by the office was such a joy. I also fondly recall our Charlotte touchpoint (with Gayla over dinner) and AZ touchpoint (serving as your Uber driver), we always made time for each other.
You have been a great partner; may the best of your life be ahead of you friend!
Thank you Joel. ❤️Great memories in such a short amount of time and 10 stars for the drive from office to my conference in Phoenix. You are full of good surprises. I loved the company and all that I learned from you and your team. I look forward to our next walk and dinner in San Francisco. There is so much more to show you of sf. Please come and visit me.
Lei, It has been a marvelous pleasure to get to know you and work with you! You’re an outstanding colleague because of the way you bring an exuberant curiosity to complex and nuanced problems that need to be solved; then set about helping solve them in very collaborative ways. I remain grateful for the extra effort you put in to understand the technology interface needs of one of our most important and sophisticated clients. Thanks to your amazing help, many significant issues were solved that greatly improved our likelihood of keeping them as a client during very challenging times. I… Read more »
Thanks Mark. I am glad I can help with that client. I learned a bit from their digital lead about what they struggled with. Always a good experience to learn from our customers.
Remember that time we took the rickshaw around Austin to the outdoor bar? I do. I have photos 🙂
Thanks for the callout. It’s been a trip.
Steve, you must send me that photo.
To Lei, With Gratitude By Ash Two and a half years — where did they go? You’ve inspired so much more than you know. You led with passion, strength, and flair, With every step, showed how much you care. You remembered I’m veggie — every time, Found the best spots for food that’s sublime. You knew each quirk, each story, each face, And made every person feel seen in their space. Glassy skin and a youthful glow, Lean and fit, always ready to go. With dancing feet and laughter bright, You turned even workdays into light. We swung at Topgolf,… Read more »
This is amazing, Ash. thank you. We will be in touch. I know you will shine at FCB and wherever else your career takes you. I am honored to have played a part and will always be here for you.
Lei, I’m definitely going to miss you at SVB/FCB. I’m glad we got to work together over the last couple years and I know we will be seeing each other again soon. Here are a couple of memories/thoughts, in no particular order. As you know, Halloween is a big holiday for my wife and me. We go big every year. You are one of the few coworkers who gets their family to dress up. I always enjoy seeing your family pictures the day after Halloween. You are so creative. A memory that makes me chuckle is when Steve gave you,… Read more »
These are such great memories. thank you for sharing them with me. I am laughing right now as I read them. I am also glad I took the pictures and iphone made such a nice movie out of it. Such a great memory. You and I are the first people in SVB Private digital. I am so grateful for all your help and knowledge. You always give it your all and put your whole heart in your work. I love that. I won’t have to miss you because we will stay in touch. I look forward to our next gathering… Read more »
Lei, you were one of the first people I met at SVB Private. It is truly incredible to look back at what we have been through over the last several years, it almost feels like 100 years with the major events that have been crammed in (LOL)! Your passion for Digital Banking always amazes me and your dedication to your partners, your team, and your customers is incredible.
4 years ago, you were my client and now, you are my friend.
Best wishes to your future,
Sara
Sara, you literally saved me from going insane during those early SVB and BP migration planning days. I am thankful everyday that Capco assigned you to help my workstream. It’s been so fun to get to know you and all your hidden skills. I still think you are a poll shark. hehe. You are such a rockstar and a great leader. I am looking forward to keeping in touch and seeing your career soar.
Lei, I’ve so enjoyed working with you on the various initiatives we’ve partnered together on during your time at First Citizens. I love that we have a shared desire to improve the customer experience and understand what they want to see from us as a company — it really was evident during our work together. While there are several things I could comment on, I really appreciated the ownership you gave me during the development and deployment of the Zelle FAQ enhancements. As I seek to take on more of a leadership role in the future, being given the opportunity… Read more »
Thank you Amanda. Having you on the core team to enhance Zelle FAQ was a big help. I am glad you were available and of course I knew you could do it 🙂 Thank you for always staying on top of your part. Our tiger team rocked! Best wishes to you and your family as well.
Lei, my favorite memory with you have to be the aura reading session at QM Leap event in Phoenix Arizona. We discovered some interesting stuff about each other and found out we have one thing in common which is lot of innovative ideas 💡 We also discovered that we both love to dance. Although I me never got a chance to dance with you at our office parties, I am hoping we can someday go take a dance class together! I wish you all the best and I am sure wherever you go you will spread a lot of positivity.… Read more »
OMG the aura reading was really fun. that whole conference was a blast. Thanks for inviting me. It was one of the best vendor conferences I have attend. You also said the magic words. Dancing. I love to dance. Let’s definitely go dancing. Thank you for the very nice note 🙂 Best wishes. See you in May
Lei – So sad to see you go but excited for your next adventure because I know you will crush it just like you do with everything in life… full forth. I will never forget my first meeting with you I have to admit it felt like an interrogation. I had never meet someone so interested in our digital platform and asking so many questions that I had never even thought of. At first, I was like why is she asking but then I soon realized what an out of the box, strategic thinker you were and how you were… Read more »
Roxana, thanks for letting me “interrogate” you. I have no idea that’s how I came across. I am know for asking a lot of questions. I am honored that you still talk to me after that. Best wishes.
Dear Lei, One of our first one on one meetings to discuss e-statement success metrics was probably the most challenging meetings I’ve ever had here. And I mean that in the best way lol. Rather than coming outright with the answer on how to accomplish a task, you sat patiently as the dust shook off the left side of my brain and gears began to turn. You knew I was capable and saw potential in me even though I felt, at the time, that that sort of work was out of my wheelhouse. Thank you for pushing me to go… Read more »
Kalli, this note means the world to me. Thank you. You are so talented and your future will be bright. I know it. You also have an amazingly supportive manager and senior leader. You are lucky.
I am glad you let me push you. It’s been my honor to work with you. Please keep in touch and I look forward to helping you more in the future
I’m glad. Thank you for the kind words. I am lucky! Very happy to have you in my corner 🙂
Thanks for all your writing here. I’ve recommended this to many graduate students seeking to understand more about the communication skills they need as they shift to the working world.
Thank you for letting me know. You made my day. I am glad this can help them.
Samir, to clarify, I am not signing off from writing this blog. I have been doing it for the last 15 years and I don’t plan to stop. If there is anything you would like me to write about. Please ask.