Action and Adventure in Finance: Zoie Smith Joins PSDS

Zoie at her graduation with her sister

Zoie Smith is one of three new members of Procurement & Supplier  Diversity Services. She is part of the Payables Team and will work  closely with Korby Griffith, Jonathan Agop, Addie Coe, Sue Clements, Alita Sally, and Jen Glassman. The team’s priority right now is the implementation of PaymentWorks, the supplier onboarding and management system that UVA is transitioning to as part of Finance Transformation.

Implementing PaymentWorks requires collaboration with a lot of different departments and units across the University. “With PaymentWorks,” Zoie explains. “We’re hoping to keep everyone’s best interest in mind. That’s part of what drew me to this position at UVA—in my previous position, the focus was a bit limited. Now I can think about how things will affect everyone at the University.”

Before coming to UVA, Zoie was working on minority business development, helping existing minority business owners and entrepreneurs. She enjoyed this but wanted to do something new and had heard good things about UVA. “Also, I wanted to do something more related to my interests and education. I’ve always been a numbers person and like to manage finances even in my personal life. In math, there is always a right answer, and I like that.”

So far, Zoie has had a positive experience at UVA. “Everyone at UVA has been so nice and welcoming,” she says. “Such team camaraderie is so great, and I’m excited to go to the office to really meet people.” In her previous roles, Zoie was often the first person there and had to navigate through information and responsibilities by herself. “This time, Korby in particular, didn’t give me too much to handle on the first day,” Zoie says. “It was the right amount of new information and all explanations used real-world examples. Being a trailblazer in your job can be great because it’s nice to make your own way, but sometimes it’s good to have a team to support you.”

Outside of work, now that it’s warmer, Zoie is playing a lot of golf. She’s still learning, but she loves it.

Young Zoie playing golf for the first time

She also really loves movies, specifically action movies. “For me, a good formula for a movie is a good fight scene, a car chase, and explosions.” Undoubtedly, her love for intense action scenes will help her with the fast-paced environment that is UVAFinance during the FST project.

One thing that Zoie doesn’t enjoy: cheese. “I hate cheese!” Zoie explains, laughing. “People are always very surprised about this. I don’t eat cheese on pizza, and I don’t like mac & cheese, lasagna, etc. Basically, I won’t eat anything with cheese on it.”