Matt Oppenheimer, CEO and Co-founder of Remitly, the largest independent money transmitter in the US, has felt free to follow his passion from an early age. He started alcohol-free and drug-free parties in high school. He derives deep joy from connecting with others human-to-human. His interest and aptitude in connecting with others has helped him through many challenging moments, like when he and his team were looking for seed funding to start Remitly and he kept getting no’s. Instead of giving up, he kept asking for feedback. Some of the same investors that had said no, became lead investors and advocates for Remitly in subsequent rounds. Sometimes his fear didn’t allow him to go back to the no-investors right away. “You have to recognize when you are flooded,” says Matt. It required him to do his inner work of healing his anxiety and fear before he could reengage. He sees this as our biggest work: to recognize when we are stuck and let go of our inner crocodiles, these patterns that keep us small. Greatness lies on the other side of facing our discomfort.
