Every unique and talented Avantee is a co-creator of the Avant culture we love. We hope the @Avant series helps you get to know who we are, how we do what we do, and what it looks like to build your career at Avant.
Sharity Nichols
Deputy General Counsel, Head of Regulatory Legal, on the Legal Team
Joined Avant in 2022
What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Sharity for her take on our culture, and here’s what she said:
1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?
Avant values hard work, collaboration, and inclusiveness, and you can see it in our culture daily. Teams are working together and sharing ideas and information to support weekly product sprints. The diversity of ideas and feedback help push projects across the finish line quickly and efficiently.
One example: A good chunk of my workload consists of change management and collaborating across business units. I need to understand the facts of the change and the underlying reasons for it from each distinct party involved in the change. So I am asking questions like: Why do you want to do this change? How is it going to serve you/the business? How is that going to help our yearly goals or departmental goals? Those questions lead us to solutions quickly and efficiently, and all teams feel rewarded when we achieve our shared goals.
2. Why are you happy/successful here?
I thrive in this type of culture. Something I’m really good at is connecting the dots—either serving as a liaison between two teams or sharing information within my team. For example, if a team is onboarding a new vendor and they need to implement new processes, I connect the dots with the business team and Compliance. I explain the legal considerations so that Compliance can assist with effective compliance controls and the business team knows what they need to do to be regulatory and contractually compliant. I try to take all the feedback I receive during these interactions and apply them to any future onboarding scenarios. The company culture of collaboration really speaks to me—I think it’s a primary reason why I’m successful here.
Same thing with inclusion. I get to work with people from across the org, people in different roles and at all levels. That creates this exchange of diverse ideas and fosters inclusion, which then improves my work product.
3. What’s something Avant is really good at? What’s something you’d like to see us get better at?
We’re really good at striving for excellence and not perfection. What I mean by that is, as a business, you’re often in a situation where you have 70-80% of the information you need to make a sound business decision. Often, the right move is to move forward and not labor over the fact that you’re uncertain whether you’ll get to 100%. We’re really good at operating efficiently like that.
What we can improve on is making sure everyone is on board with that mentality. I face that challenge all the time, where I already have everything I need to be compliant and/or make a sound legal decision, yet we’re on the verge of “analysis paralysis.” So making sure everybody incorporates that approach into what they do is something we can improve on.
4. If you were to describe who you are and not mention your work at all, what would you say?
I like to think that I am approachable and easy to talk to—I enjoy getting to know new people. I’m family-oriented and love anything to do with my family and friends, and I spend most of my time with them. We just had our first baby last November, so right now, my favorite description is “Nini’s Mommy.” We have a little clan of nearby family and a lot of great friends and support. Being with them is what I enjoy the most.
5. How does your work at Avant fit into the rest of your life?
The best part about my work at Avant is that it’s perfectly balanced. Avant has provided me with an opportunity to grow, as a lawyer and as a person, and I am really passionate about that. I get to work on new evolving issues that I might not get to work on somewhere else. Privacy, cybersecurity, consumer protection—some of my favorite things! And yet, my role doesn’t consume every moment of my life. I have thriving relationships with my family and friends.
8. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a lawyer. I used to hide behind my parents’ couch when my dad was watching Law and Order (Dad thought I was too little to watch some of the content). I was like, “I want to be just like Jack McCoy,” because he commanded the courtroom, invoked empathy in the jury, and he never lost a case. Lo and behold, I ended up in-house with a tech company instead of in private practice—but still, a lawyer. So this has always been my dream. I think there are certain professions out there that once they grab a hold of you, they are always on your mind until you just do it.
