Welcome to Community Masters, our regular chat with great people doing great things to bring great people together!
This week we’re welcoming Michelle Sims, Global Community Lead at Finimize to the Community Rocket blog – we hope you enjoy!
So Michelle, tell us more about yourself and where you’re from
Hi there! I’m Michelle Sims, originally from Sydney, Australia, but I’ve been calling London home for the past 8 years.
I’ve always had a huge passion for community before I knew what it was exactly. Thanks to my dad’s adventurous lifestyle, I often travelled and explored new cultures at a young age, and my mum’s constant encouragement (nagging) led me to get involved in local charities, clubs, and community initiatives.
Now, fully immersed in the community industry for the last 8 years, I’ve built and nurtured over 40 diverse communities, from a million-person finance community to a ten-person book club.
What’s your current role and what does it consist of?
I’m the Global Community Lead at Finimize, and we empower individuals to make smarter, more informed financial decisions.
For the last 5 years, I’ve been managing Finimize’s one-million-member global community, expanding our financial literacy movement to 50+ cities worldwide.
I oversee our ambassador program, our events, and organise the Modern Investor Summit, the world’s largest event for retail investors, featuring renowned speakers like Ray Dalio, Jamie Dimon, Cathie Wood, and Mark Cuban.
I’m also very dedicated to supporting women in investing through initiatives like the Female Financial Dialogue campaign and the Ladies Investing Club. I started the investing club in 2018 and we now have over 250+ members and they meet bi-monthly either virtually or in person in London.
How does Finimize approach community – what kind of a program do you run?
At Finimize, community is integral to our success as a business. We use insights from community activities like events and discussion groups to enhance all sectors of the business, from marketing strategies to content creation.
Our core community program focuses on increasing financial literacy globally and empowering members through our events ambassador program. They host Finimize events across the world, and we now have a team of global ambassadors running 300+ community-led events with 70,000 attendees across 35 countries annually.
To this day I’ve trained thousands of community members who have gone through the program. Not only do our ambassadors run events to help others invest, but they actively get involved in larger projects within the business. A great example is how one of the ambassadors introduced us to Cathie Wood, the CEO of Ark Invest who became our keynote speaker last year.
What does community mean to you?
Personally and professionally, I truly believe in the power of community.
We need to address the current ‘loneliness crisis’. Research has shown that loneliness is as bad for people’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day but there are not enough people speaking up about this because of the shame attached to saying you are lonely. I believe community professionals can play a key role in closing the gap for mental health and well-being.
From a business perspective, building from the bottom up, with customer feedback at the core, is essential in a world overwhelmed by choices.
Tell us what you think are some of the best community-led campaigns or initiatives you’ve seen during your career?
I’m a big fan of large-scale ambassador programs that activate thousands of members each year like TedX, Duolingo, and Startup Grind.
Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean In’ program, with its global network supporting women, is also super impressive, boasting over 56,000 circle leaders across 188 countries.
What other companies and groups do you think do a good job of community engagement?
I draw a lot of inspiration from local community clubs like ParkRun and Puresport Running Club, recognising the value of face-to-face gatherings, building rituals, ingraining community values and supporting members in their personal growth.
And – I’ve never seen so many happy faces running as I have at these local events! They’re doing something right.
What is your number one community and customer growth tip?
You won’t scale your business sustainably if you can’t give up control to your members!
Empowering others involves releasing a certain level of control. A great scalable strategy is to create the right tools like community playbooks, alongside vetting systems and touchpoints – this will help you accelerate a message and kickstart a movement.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Yes haha! Two more points from me – firstly, entering the community management industry is significant right now, given the current global need and its essential role in building sustainable products. If you’re thinking about joining the industry don’t hesitate to reach out to ask for advice.
Secondly, for podcast enthusiasts, I’d love to invite you to check out my podcast ‘Behind The Community’. I’ll be launching an exciting Season 2 in a few weeks and hope to make it super valuable.
Thanks 🙂
Thanks Michelle, it’s been great to catch up and good luck with your continued impressive community building at Finimize and beyond!