Mike Richards has run a treasury podcast for nearly eight years with 440 episodes and 280,000 downloads, plus annual events drawing 3,000 people. He says he's not chasing fame but spotlighting treasury professionals and their work, which he believes is undervalued and often misunderstood.
Chapters
This is me, Mike Richards, the Treasury Influencer. Yeah, that's what I got called the other day. So, Mike, you're an influencer. Really? Made my skin crawl. I was like, really? An influencer? Me? But I know what they mean. But that's just not me. I don't think I'm an influencer. I think I'm just here to help. I didn't start the newsletter. Or the podcast because I wanted attention. I didn't start the events because I wanted everybody to look at me on stage. I wanted them to look at you as treasury professionals because the jobs you do are amazing and people should know about it. So that's why we bring your stories to life every week on the podcast for nearly 8 years now, 280,000 downloads. So it shows you guys love it. The events, 3,000 people a year come to them. This is ridiculous. It's all about you guys. Years ago, when my eldest daughter was 8, a number of years ago, she said, Dad, what do you do? And I told her, I do treasury. These guys do corporate finance, they're in companies, what they do is amazing. And she still looked back at me at 8 and said, yeah, Dad, what do you do? I don't understand. I went, you know what, I get people jobs. That's what we do. So in terms of being an influencer, I think it's you guys. You guys are influencing the way your companies run, saving the company money, helping the company. And that's what I do on the podcast every time. Each story is different. Every one of the, God, 400+ episodes— 440— I've just talked to treasurers about how you've helped your companies survive tough times, make money in the good times. Last week's actually episode, which I recorded live at our Treasure Career Corner Live, it's all about trust, relationships, and all the amazing things that you guys do for your companies. Yeah, for a lot of recruiters, it's about, hello, got any jobs? I've never been about that. I've always been about talking to you guys about your Treasury careers, and if you need advice about, is my salary right, what's the market doing, you can call anytime. That's why I'm there with the team, with Katie, with Carly. You can call us anytime, we're there to help. Am I an influencer? I'll let you decide. For me, it's about listening to you, helping with your treasure career. If you want to have a chat over a coffee or a beer, just reach out anytime. We're here to help. But just maybe don't call me an influencer. Still can't get over it.
