Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller, Tearsheet’s editor in chief. I really enjoy talking to marketers, especially about rebrands. For me, the process a firm goes through when it rebrands is incredibly insightful for the team, for customers, and for partners. Successful fintechs can grow so quickly, when they rebrand or even refresh their brands, it forces them to stop, to take stock, and look at who they really want to be when they grow up.

Today’s guest on the podcast is Brittanie Williams, chief marketing officer at EarnIn. My pronunciation is purposeful – part of the rebrand the firm with earned waged access at its core just underwent meant even looking at its own name differently. Britt and I discuss the customer research that went into the new brand and what it showed about Americans living paycheck to paycheck. We talk about the use of a brand muse and what that can do to help focus marketing and product. We also chat about how the firm expanded the aperture of its value proposition – to include helping people with financial anxiety – and what that enables the firm and brand to do going forward.

Brittanie Williams is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

‘Solving for financial anxiety is incredibly relatable’: Brittanie Williams, EarnIn

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. 

Earned Wage Access has become an important value proposition for workers and many neobanks generally offer it. But for largest incumbent institutions, few do offer it and a lot of it has to do with the lack of regulatory clarity – each state has a different approach to it. But that’s changing. 

Nico Simko, CEO of Clair, joins me on the podcast to talk about the evolution of EWA and some of the recent legal moves some states have taken to clear things up. Clair is a free on-demand pay app for front line workers. 


In addition to drilling down on regulatory changes for earned wage access, we also tackle:

  ** Clair’s distribution strategy
  ** How the app helps people save money
  ** The mechanics of wage advance and how they work
  ** Clair’s fundraising history and where Nico wants to steer the firm in the future

Revolutionizing Payroll: The future of Earned Wage Access with Clair CEO Nico Simko

One of the biggest trends that we’ve seen over the past 2-3 years is the emergence of early wage access, giving primarily gig and hourly workers access to their income on demand, as opposed to the hard-coded dates of a traditional payment cycle. 

Rain’s Alex Bradford joins me on the podcast to talk about what’s driving the demand for EWA and how Rain is challenging the status quo of some of hte larger players in the space. Rain works with some of the largest middle market and enterprise companies to provide EWA as a wellness benefit to hundreds of thousands of employees in the U.S. The company recently raised $116 million and claims it’s growing 10% every month. 

Alex also shares his view on where earned wage access is headed and who are likely to be the winners in the market. 

Here’s my conversation with Rain’s Alex Bradford

'Americans spend $170 billion a year just waiting for their next paycheck': Rain's Alex Bradford

As quick-service restaurants (QSRs) continue to adapt in a post-pandemic world, the challenges of managing a dynamic, high-turnover workforce have never been more complex.
In this episode of HRTechChat, 3Sixty Insights' Geoff Webb sits down with Yutaka Takagi, Principal Product Evangelist at isolved, to explore the fast-paced world of QSRs and how human capital management technology is playing a pivotal role in workforce transformation.
With deep insight into the daily realities of QSR operators and managers, Yutaka shares how evolving employee expectations—especially among Gen Z—are reshaping hiring, scheduling, and engagement strategies. He explains how the speed and fluidity of the QSR environment demand not only flexible tools but also a shift in how organizations think about HR: from back-office admin to real-time frontline support.
From earned wage access and self-service scheduling to AI-driven hiring and always-on HR chatbots, isolved is helping QSR leaders streamline operations and improve the employee experience—without compromising on cost or efficiency.
What does it take to attract and retain Gen Z talent in a high-churn environment? How can technology reduce friction for managers and enhance engagement for hourly workers? And how are QSRs rethinking their tech stacks to support sustainable growth?
Tune in as Yutaka dives into the unique pressures of the QSR space, the power of automation in small physical workspaces, and how isolved is empowering employers to act fast—and smart—at every stage of the employee journey.


HRTechChat: How Yutaka Takagi and isolved Are Solving Hiring & Retention Challenges in QSRs

Tearsheet is news, opinion, and analysis on the business of finance.

Candid conversations with senior executives, fintech entrepreneurs, investors, industry experts -- all weigh in on the trends impacting the industry and the disruptive impact technology is having on the business.

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The buying cycle for enterprise software and technology shouldn't be a power struggle between departments. 3Sixty Insights is a research, advisory, and consulting firm providing deep understanding of how to bridge the gap in perception and priorities between stakeholders. Through our research, we unearth strategic approaches for streamlining the decision-making process, successfully managing solutions, and maximizing value from business software and technology investments.

New tracks tagged #earned wage access