Meet the SpringFour Team — 5 questions for Phylicia Clifton

May 22, 2024

Phylicia Clifton joined our team in November 2023 to help ensure our clients get the most out of their SpringFour partnership as our Senior Manager, Client Success & Impact. She works closely with our clients to build and develop their campaigns, materials, and strategies to promote and market their SpringFour deployments to their customers and employees. Additionally, she works with clients to understand their usage metrics and how SpringFour is impacting their customers’ financial lives and their own bottom line. Phylicia brings with her four years of experience in financial technology and over 13 years in marketing. Previously, she studied to become a certified financial counselor to better understand the financial struggles many people face and the solutions available to them.

What excites you about being part of SpringFour?

The ability to impact change in our industry and help people find the answers and resources they need to make better financial decisions and ultimately improve their lives. Traditionally, so many people have been left out or left behind when it comes to financial health, often due to a lack of tools, resources, and knowledge that help them take control of their finances and build wealth. In recent years, the financial services industry has recognized this more than ever before and is primed to make a real change in people’s lives by providing services that bridge the gaps, educate consumers, and make help available when and where people need it.

At SpringFour, we’re working with game changers in the industry who believe financial health should and can be accessible to everyone. We’re poised to help the industry shift to strategies that emphasize empathy, understanding, and support. Every resource accessed has the ability to change someone’s life for the better. What’s more exciting than that?

What does financial health mean to you?

To me, financial health is a reflection of your financial journey. We all start our financial journey at different places, with our own advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes, things go well and we feel financially stable and secure, while at other times our finances may be more strained and uncertain. Almost everyone goes through these financial ebbs and flows, and your financial health reflects that. We aren’t always “financially healthy,” but with the right help and support, we can make our way back to a more comfortable position.

What financial health trends do you expect to see in the near future?

I think we’ll see a rise in artificial intelligence leading to emotional intelligence. As more and more strategies become automated through AI, the most successful strategies will be the ones that use that information to gain the emotional intelligence needed to not only meet people where they are, but also to truly understand their individual situations and provide personalized help and recommendations when and where people need it. AI won’t solely be used to drive business results, but empathy as well.

What gets you up in the morning?

In a literal sense, usually a hungry cat or a dog that wants to go outside. In a mental and emotional sense, the potential in every day – to be better, to do better, to go further, to laugh more, to love harder, to leave the world a little brighter. I’m a glass-half-full, find-the-silver-linings kind of person and have a tendency to believe every day has the potential to be greater than the day before and that I have the ability within myself to make it so. Holding on to that belief makes getting up in the morning to feed the meowing cats or take those antsy dogs outside the first step in a new adventure.

What is your financial health rule to live by?

I’m a big fan of the 50-30-20 rule, which recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. Before learning about this budget rule, I struggled to understand how to build my budget and what to work toward. Since implementing this rule in my own finances, not only have I been able to better balance my budget, but I’ve also been able to better understand my own financial needs, set personal and professional goals, and gauge my own financial well-being. I may not always perfectly achieve the 50-30-20 balance, but I know where to focus my attention to get back on track.