Rachel Stocks, EVP of Global Premium Products and Benefits at American Express, on Luxury in the Digital Age
Stocks speaks with Business Today during a fireside chat at the 45th International Conference, Business Today’s flagship event.
Rachel Stocks is a leader whose focus on results led to her appointment as Executive Vice President, Global Premium Products & Benefits. Based in New York, Rachel oversees American Express’ Premium Consumer Card Products, the Membership Rewards program, and global benefits. Prior to this role, Rachel was Managing Director for American Express Australia and New Zealand and oversaw the Consumer Card, Merchant, and Commercial businesses within these regions.
Stocks kicked off this year’s International Conference with a poignant look into company management and consumer relations in today’s world. In a fireside chat with Sophia Lewandrowski, Assistant Director of Student Relations at the International Conference, Stocks spoke about her career path, how she worked to improve Amex’s equity and diversity, and how Amex handled the transition into a more digital, global, and fast-paced world.
Although Stocks has been at Amex since 1993, her transition into the company was anything but ordinary. Stocks came from a lower-middle class background, and was the first in her family to attend college, where she studied psychology. In fact, Stocks originally worked at Amex as a part-time job. Her boss at her part-time job then informed her about a full-time job in the marketing department. The job clicked. Stocks chalks her flexibility and willingness to transition to “listen[ing] to other people who know better than me.” After a brief stint working at a startup, Stocks returned and began to climb the corporate ladder at Amex.
Stocks claims she’s never bored while working at Amex. Although she’s been at the same company for over 25 years, her roles have been so varied that it “feels like [she’s] changing jobs.” Indeed, Stocks has spent time in marketing, general management, and relationship management, amongst other areas. Then, just over a year ago, Stocks transitioned from working in the Australia office to the United States office in New York. Stocks claims that this is a large shift in her life. Beyond the cultural differences and the new people Stocks works with, she is also now in charge of a product portfolio that is five times greater than the one she oversaw in Australia.
Yet, despite her varied roles at Amex, Stocks has still managed to maintain a focus on improving the company internally. Stocks strongly advocates for gender equity in the workplace. While in the Australia office, Stocks helped to implement two policies: first, Amex no longer asks about salary history; second, Amex introduced paternity leave. Now in the United States, Stocks continues to fight for gender rights, and has also started to advocate for underrepresented minorities through mentorship programs.
Stocks finds mentorship extremely important: she herself was guided by mentors into her first role at Amex. Stocks has continued to give back. While in Australia, she joined a network that allowed her to mentor low-income students. Stocks praises Amex for its networks for minority groups (i.e. networks for black, Latinx, LGBTQ+ colleagues) that help to drive inclusivity.
The fireside chat concluded with a discussion of Amex’s strategies in the new age. Stocks noted two major changes: customer expectations and globalization. Customer expectations have changed in terms of their relationship with products and companies. Stocks first noted that customer expectations have moved away from purchasing consumables into something Stocks calls “being, not buying.” That is to say, consumers are now focused on experiences rather than objects. Amex has adapted to encompass this new consumer trend. For example, the company focuses extensively on travel (i.e. hotels, flights, etc). In a similar fashion, the customer has different expectations from companies on customer service. With increased digitization, customers have started to interact with Amex in different ways.
As a final thought, Stocks opened up the discussion regarding the convergence of Amex’s luxury branding and globalization—the theme of this year’s international conference—and provided an optimistic, new way to look at the growing interconnectedness of the world. She praised the high-network growth from China, into which Amex is expanding, and she noted the rise of collaborations between old brands and younger brands from all over the world - a trend that is appealing to younger generations.
In Amex’s changing environment, therefore, Stocks has become a leader for progress, equity, and technology and helped Amex remain a leader in its market.