Serving more than 5,500 clients throughout North America, AvidXchange is an industry leader in automating invoice and payment processes for mid-market companies. In today’s blog, we’ll take a look at what it’s like to work for AvidXchange in Charlotte and get to know Jessica Piazza, Talent Business Partner. The Atlanta native has a passion for volunteering and helps coordinate events with AvidFoundation, our community outreach program.
So, Jessica, tell me about yourself…
I was born and raised in Atlanta, GA, and am the youngest of three girls, which means I am rather competitive by nature. I attended Kennesaw State University and received my BBA in Marketing, venturing out into the world at the ripe age of 20. I started my career in HR software sales in Atlanta, walking door-to-door and selling ADP payroll services to small businesses with 1-50 employees. I like to say that I put in my sweat equity early on in my career – it is “Hotlanta” after all.
After a couple of years, I moved to the second largest software company in the world and had the opportunity to travel the country (and occasionally aboard), consulting large national and international clients on best practices in the modern HR world. The time came to put up my suitcase, however, and I decided to call Charlotte home. Eventually I found my true home when at AvidXchange and have been loving life as an AvidXer ever since!
How long have you been with AvidXchange? What exactly do you do here?
I am quite the veteran at AvidXchange, having started here in March 2016. I’m part of our awesome Talent Team, serving as the Talent Business Partner for our Engineering, IT, and Product Management groups. My role is to provide the individual AvidXers, leaders, and executives with any talent-related support they need from hire to retire; I am their go-to-girl for anything in the world of Talent or HR. I also help lead our Avid Awesomeness initiative, supporting ambassadors across all of our locations and departments to help make AvidXchange even awesome-er!
And you’re also involved with AvidFoundation? Can you tell me a little about that?
My first introduction to AvidFoundation was when I coordinated the first ever Take Our Sons & Daughters to Work event for our Charlotte offices in April, and we had the AvidXers’ children organize hygiene kits and write inspirational notes to unprivileged children in the Charlotte area. The AvidFoundation team was then kind enough to welcome me in earlier this summer when I came to them looking for an event to involve our 2016 Summer Interns. We knew we wanted to provide our interns with a holistic view of AvidXchange and that absolutely included Avid’s heart for kids with AvidFoundation! AvidFoundation is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of children in not only Charlotte but across the U.S, through many different non-profit organizations and endeavors.
I have always been involved in philanthropic activities, starting my own non-profit chapter of Rotary International at my university, so AvidFoundation and its cause spoke to me immediately. My second day living in Charlotte, I started volunteering with Safe Alliance as a homework helper to the kids at the shelter, so when I joined the AvidFoundation team, I knew there was a huge opportunity for AvidFoundation and Safe Alliance together!
Tell me about the event with Safe Alliance that’s coming up…
Safe Alliance assists over 12,000 people annually throughout Mecklenburg County and Lake Norman, with a large majority of those individuals being children. Their mission is to provide hope, healing, and assistance for people in crisis and those in various abuse situations. We have partnered with Safe Alliance in a back-to-school effort this summer. AvidFoundation is supplying 48 filled backpacks (500+ pounds of school supplies!) to pass out to the children at the shelter just in time for back-to-school.
AvidXers will be sorting the school supplies and packing the backpacks early this week, then providing a cookout with activities to the shelter residents this Friday. We are preparing hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. and bringing a ton of fun items to interact with the children. Footballs, kickballs, basketballs, soccer balls, sidewalk chalk, bubbles – we’ll have it all!
What do you enjoy most about working at AvidXchange?
The people are by far the most enjoyable part of working here. AvidXchange considers its people, our AvidXers, to be its largest competitive advantage and I could see why that was in a short amount of time here. I have never met such a fiercely passionate group of individuals who are always willing to go the extra mile to serve their customers and care so deeply about their colleagues’ successes. I always look forward to coming into work, because it never feels quite like work; it feels like this really cool opportunity to be surrounded by some very talented, collaborative individuals to do the unimaginable – revolutionize the accounts payable industry!
What are some of your favorite things about living in the Queen City?
I moved to Charlotte in 2014 entirely on a whim. I was a consultant at the time and had the luxury of calling anywhere in the US home, and Charlotte sounded like a young, fun city and a quick 4-hour trip from my hometown of Atlanta, with a lot less traffic! Charlotte has not disappointed – I love the energy of the city and the walkability. I live in Wesley Heights, so I love walking to Carolina Panthers games and tailgating with a great local brew, like Wooden Robot. Charlotte also has quite a few music venues, so catching a live show at the Fillmore or Uptown Amphitheatre is a favorite for me, and I cannot wait until AvidXchange’s new home is right across the street at the Music Factory!
Start a New Career at AvidXchange
AvidXchange has been recognized as one of the 50 fastest-growing private companies in the Charlotte area for four consecutive years, ranked among Deloitte’s Fast 500 this past year, and recently was named of the top 100 technology companies in North America by Red Herring.
