Cheryl A. Heller is currently Managing Principal of Pillar One Consulting, a boutique consulting firm specializing in Finance and HR consulting. She focuses on helping start-ups and companies in transition ensure they have a robust financial infrastructure. Ms. Heller previously spent over 20 years at Capital One in a variety of operations and finance roles with increasing responsibility including CFO of the Retail Bank division. Prior to Capital One, Cheryl spent time in the insurance industry and in public accounting where she focused on regional banks and real estate partnerships.
Ms. Heller has built her career by leading organizations through financial, operational and cultural transformations. She has deep knowledge and expertise in finance but at the same time, understands the importance of corporate culture and the impact it has on the ability to achieve strategic objectives. She has experience creating and overseeing complex, cross-functional programs to ensure the successful execution of corporate objectives. Her experiences across organizations from Strategy to Finance to Operations to Human Resources make her a valuable advisor with a diverse set of experiences on which to draw.
Describe your industry experience:
- Heller has spent the majority of her career in Financial Services.
- Additionally, her expertise includes the real estate and transportation industries.
Describe your functional experience:
- Heller was the CFO for a $2.5B division of a top-10 financial institution
- Heller served as the Strategy and Operations lead for a $300M call center
Describe your key business transactional experience:
- Heller led a team responsible for transforming the culture of a retail bank after several acquisitions to a cohesive culture that was adaptive, inclusive and customer-centric.
- Heller led a 3-year cost reduction effort aimed at eliminated 20% of operating costs for a large retail bank.
- Heller led a retail banking acquisition integration with synergies of $200M.
What is the most important skill you bring to a corporate board?
- Proficient in financial and operational analysis;
- Experienced in evaluating near-, medium- and longer-term strategies;
- Accomplished at tackling large, complex projects and
- Effective at assessing and implementing mergers and acquisitions.
