France Au is a Principal Consultant at Clausematch. We recently sat down with France to learn more about his role at Clausematch.
What is your role at Clausematch and what does it entail?
As a member of the Professional Services team, I view my role as an intermediary between Sales, Customer Success, and Product teams while helping clients bring our Clausematch platform to life for their compliance needs. My role is mainly focused on the formal implementation of the Clausematch platform once contracts are signed, sealed, and delivered. I also provide assistance to internal stakeholders and external prospects during the sales process.
What were you doing before joining the Clausematch team?
Personally, I was trying to train one of my two cats, named Sunny, how to fetch. It is still a work in progress, but I think he may have reached his peak potential, or I am a terrible trainer.
Professionally, I was a consultant implementing GRC solutions for clients across various industries from retail, financial, universities, hospitality, food and beverage, to hospital networks and healthcare clinics.
Why did you decide to join Clausematch?
There are so many reasons, but if I had to boil them down into four, it would be:
- The People: I had the rare opportunity to learn about and experience the culture prior to joining. During the interview process, everyone kept reiterating how fantastic the culture here at Clausematch is. What hit it home for me though was when Danny Gal, our CRO and COO, was in Charlotte, NC and he was kind enough to invite me out to a company event where I felt really welcomed by the team even though I was just an outsider at the time.
- The Place: I’ve worked many years alone in my city and while I enjoy remote work it can get lonely at times. When I learned that Clausematch had a Charlotte presence, it really piqued my interest and I thought to myself, “How nice would it be to have colleagues in the same city that I can grab drinks and interact with from time to time?”
- The Product: During the interview process, I learned a great deal about what Clausematch was trying to do from our senior leadership team. Having been in the industry for a while, I have found that there always seems to be a “missing link” between the two key areas of Policy Management and Regulatory Change Management. I view Regulatory Change Management as a “beacon” to guide Policy Management, but due to technology offerings in the marketplace, both areas still tend to operate in silos. When I learned that Clausematch was in the business of bridging that gap, I immediately saw the value and importance of the solution.
- The Process: I fell into this industry by chance and have grown to love and respect the risk and compliance industry. From my conversations with the team prior to joining, I learned where things are and where things were headed. This brought it together for me from hearing the differing perspectives and I thought to myself, “I see where I can contribute to the story of Clausematch while continuing my journey as a consultant.”
What has been one of your most memorable moments at Clausematch?
It’s been a short amount of time since I’ve joined so those moments are still building for me. However, the one that sticks out to me the most is the “coming together and support for” our colleagues in challenging times. I am so impressed by the leadership team’s resiliency, responsiveness, and continuing aid to its employees. It speaks tremendous volumes about who they are, what values they stand for, and the love they have for everyone at Clausematch.
We’ve all heard the phrase “Actions speak louder than words”, and Clausematch truly embodies that mantra.
What advice would you give to a future Clausematch employee?
I think the one piece of advice that I would give is to not be afraid to reach out to your colleagues and introduce yourself and learn about them and from them. They have great experience, knowledge, and interesting stories!
It has always helped me to 1.) feel connected and 2.) expedite the learning process.
What are your hobbies outside of work?
I have always thought of myself as a bland person, and sadly for me, it was confirmed to be true after speaking to some of my colleagues and learning about their hobbies. While I don’t have very many hobbies, I do enjoy traveling, golfing, watching nature and crime documentaries, and trying not to burn my food when I cook.
If you could go anywhere in the world post-COVID, where would you go?
It’s a bit of a toss-up between traveling to a place of nostalgia or a place yet to explore. I spent a few years in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam after college, and it seems like it was just yesterday that I was there, but it’s been over a decade since I’ve been back. Out of all the Asian countries that I’ve been to, it is my favorite and a second home to me. I miss the warm culture, rich history, exuberant sites, smells and sounds, and most importantly the food.
For a place unexplored, I’d love to go to France. My name is “France” so I think it would be pretty funny for the French to meet me. I imagine a recurring scene would be something like, “Hi my name is France. No, you are in France. Yes, I know but no. My name is France. What?”
