Erin Edwards recently stepped into the role of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Manager at Cheetah.
With a deep background in trust and wealth management operations and a passion for helping others, she’s uniquely equipped to lead the back-office outsourcing services that Cheetah provides to banks and trust companies. In this Q&A, Erin shares her journey, vision, and the personal resilience that continues to fuel her professional drive.
You started out as a bank teller. How did that journey lead to your current role in BPO?
It was a bit of a winding road. I actually went to college to be a music teacher, but a car accident changed that plan—I lost function in my hand and had to undergo a year of surgeries. During that time, I went to the bank to change my name after getting married and, by coincidence, they were hiring. Within a week I was a teller.
I ended up staying with that bank for 16 years. I moved from teller to customer service, then into retirement and health savings account administration, and eventually into operations management.
During that time, I went back to school and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Management with a minor in Accounting from Indiana Wesleyan University, and later completed my MBA with a focus in Personal Finance. That education supported what I was already learning on the job and helped open new doors. Later, I worked briefly at a local RIA before joining Cheetah’s QA team in 2019.
Now, I’m here in BPO.
What do you think made you successful along the way?
I never stop learning. I can’t sit still—I’ve always wanted to understand things better, make them more efficient, improve them. Whether it was tweaking a process or jumping into something new, I’ve always had this drive to figure out how to do more and do better.
That mindset followed me into QA at Cheetah. I didn’t come in with a software background, but I learned how to code in the testing space, how to manage databases, how to think technically. Now I bring that knowledge into BPO—so I can help our team work smarter, scale more efficiently, and ultimately deliver even better service.
You clearly love music. Has that influenced your approach to work?
Probably more than I realized. I started on flute in sixth grade, then picked up clarinet, saxophone, and even bassoon. Pretty quickly, I learned all the woodwind instruments. That same curiosity and desire for mastery absolutely shows up in how I approach problems at work.
Also, in music—especially jazz and ensemble work—everything has to come together with precision. If one part is off, the whole thing feels wrong. That attention to detail and timing translates directly into how I think about processes and operations.
What’s your vision for BPO at Cheetah?
Right now, I’m still learning the job, but I see huge opportunity. One of my goals is to help our team understand why we do what we do—not just how. We have people with all kinds of backgrounds—accounting, service, ops—and when they understand how their role connects to the big picture, it makes them stronger contributors.
I also want to help our team lean into the fact that we play an integral role in Cheetah’s development and innovation That’s powerful. We can speak directly to the product team. We can suggest real solutions. I want to bring our voice further into the process, so we’re not just asking for change—we’re helping shape it.
What keeps you grounded outside of work?
Family, definitely. My son Wyatt is 15 and has cerebral palsy. My husband Jared and I homeschool him, which means we’re tackling algebra and world history after work hours. It’s a lot, but it’s worth it. He’s on a traditional freshman track now, which is something we worked very hard for.
The three of us are also part of the Miracle League, an all-inclusive baseball league. I’ve coached his team—the Pirates—for the last six years. The league is amazing. Every player has a buddy, every kid gets a hit, and it’s all about encouragement and fun. That community means a lot to us.
