A Day in the Life of a Community Banker

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an attorney. I stuck with this plan until late in high school when I applied to college and declared Spanish Education as my major.

Two weeks after high school graduation, I started my first grown-up job – a temporary position as back-office support at a local bank. Two years into working at the bank, I changed my major to business education and then again to business management, deciding I never wanted to leave banking.

Now, 20 years later, that’s still true.

Reflecting on the last two decades of my career, I thought to myself how did I go from wanting to be an attorney to a teacher to a banker? These have nothing in common! But in really thinking about it, I’ve realized that they do share a common thread – they are all “helping” professions.

I absolutely love helping people. I love seeing them achieve their dreams of owning a business, a home, a pool or whatever their passion is! There’s nothing else quite like the feeling you get as a community banker when you’ve helped someone start or reach their goals and it’s certainly why I continue to do so many years later.

So, what’s it like to be a community banker? Let me share a little bit about a day in my life.

The Morning Routine

My cell phone usually starts dinging about 6:45 a.m. each morning and that’s when the texts start rolling in. Texts such as:

• “I think I have fraud on my debit card. What’s the 800 number to cancel it?”
• “I need to get a cashier’s check today and wanted to text you before I got busy.”
• “I found a rental property I would like to buy - do you have some time to talk today?”

I always try to reply to what I can and make a mental note while running out the door of what to do when I get to the bank, but before I leave my driveway I submit an online order for one of my favorite Carthage coffeeshops – the Maple Leaf Coffeehouse.

I pull up to Maple Leaf on Central Avenue and the barista has my order ready. They are always very friendly and I usually run into at least one or two customers that I greet. On my heavy meeting days, I often have a non-profit board meeting at 7:30 a.m., a Chamber planning committee meeting at 8:30 a.m. and another board meeting that can last past lunch.

Throughout my career, I have been honored to serve on several local non-profit boards. As my customer base and responsibilities at the bank have grown, I’ve learned to limit my involvement but remain on boards that I feel I can contribute to in a way that impacts the community and supports causes that I’m passionate about.

For example, I’m part of a committee that organizes a series of speakers and events aimed at empowering women in the workplace. We like to have a variety of topics and quickly go about filling in the next year’s calendar with speakers and topics that will impact women. I’m also the treasurer for Children’s Haven of Southwest MO, one of the causes I’m most passionate about.

My Day at the Bank

Once I make it to my office, I jump right in on returning calls, texts and emails that I may have missed during my meetings that morning. I’ll often review financials and other information from the night before and work on presentations for commercial loans that will need to be approved by the bank’s loan committee. Then I’ll take a few minutes to visit with branch staff regarding any customer needs before meeting with customers that have appointments.

The first appointment on the docket for this day in particular is a first-time real estate investor that was referred by an existing customer. There are several options they could pursue, so we go over those in detail.

My next appointment is with someone wanting to start their own business. We go over different loan options and decide an SBA loan would be the best fit for their needs. I give them a checklist of items needed and email over a few forms while they’re in my office. Once they leave, I schedule a call with OMB’s SBA team to iron out any eligibility issues before they send in their packet.

Since I’ve been in meetings most of the day, my email inbox is often overflowing by now. I quickly organize them into categories:

• Issues that require immediate attention
• To-do later
• Items I can delegate

I like to try and zero out my inbox each day. As a rule for myself, if I don’t get to it before I leave the bank, I will get back on my laptop at home and finish clearing out emails so that each morning is a fresh start.

Community Banking with Heart

Today I leave the bank right at 5 p.m. because my daughter has a ball game in a neighboring town. Once we get to the ball field, I have more texts from customers that I respond to, and I often see several customers at Jasper sports games. That’s the great thing about living and working in a small community, my customers are my neighbors, school employees, friends and people I see on a regular basis. My favorite part of my job is visiting with people and learning how I can impact their lives in a positive way, so whether it’s helping them expand their farming operation, start a new business or expand their rental portfolio, helping people is what brings me the most satisfaction in my job.

Speaking of satisfaction, after finally making it back home I get to enjoy some time with my family, take care of a few household chores and get the kids to bed. Then I’ll hop on social media to see what’s been going on today. Scrolling, I come across a post where a customer of mine has decided to run for a local political office. They’ll be great at that I think to myself.

The next thing on my newsfeed is a small business owner that just posted about a milestone sales goal and another who posted the date for their public grand opening. Each of these make me smile at the successes they’re having and knowing that, as a community bank, OMB had a part in helping them achieve these goals.

Finally, I sign back on to the computer to wrap up an employee evaluation and respond to emails before letting my exhausted head hit the pillow.

At the end of the day, I know it was a good day because I was able to help those around me. I guess that’s why I have stayed in banking for 20 years – the relationships and friendships born from being a community banker are delightfully fulfilling.

I’m proud to work at OMB, a bank that is so passionate about helping our communities and the people we serve. To get in touch with me or learn about how OMB can help you, check out my page here.

OMB and its affiliates do not provide legal, tax or accounting advice. You should consult your legal and/or tax advisors before making any financial decision.