Tell me about your role at CNB and how your journey lead you there?

I'm the Austin market president of Central National Bank which is a family-owned commercial bank that's headquartered in Waco. We've been there since 1978 and we also have markets in Temple and Austin, of course, which we’ve been in for 12 years. I'm just in charge of running this location with loans being my primary business. I'm also in charge of personnel and just general growth in the bank.

As far as what led me here, my major at UT was journalism and I was sports writer for 10 years. Sports writing to banking is probably not the typical path, but that was my journey because I’ve always been passionate about writing and I love sports. The interpersonal and writing skills I developed from journalism have been helpful in establishing relationships and making connections in banking.

My career as a banker started for me as an opportunity to be home more for my kids because it allowed me to travel less and be home more. Even though banking started out as a means to an end, it's morphed into something that I really am passionate about. I love talking with various industries about their issues and how I can help them.

What does a day in your life look like?

Well, it's a little all over the place although there is some structure to every day. That usually involves a meeting which isn’t particularly exciting but still necessary. Just like any organization, we get together and talk about goals and things that need to be accomplished. Then I have a handful of customer meetings, whether that's lunch, something more social, or an actual business meeting. Then I do underwriting alone which involves looking at financial statements and determining if it's a credit that we want to underwrite and make a loan to. That's typically the structure of the day, and it's full of interruptions from there such as phone calls, emails, and whatever else comes up. There's always a need, either dealing with employees, customers, or stuff outside the bank.

What are your favorite parts about working at CNB?

Central is very empowering to its employees. We want to reward people with work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit. At one time we have maybe 100 employees across the board so it’s like working in a little family. Even though I'm in Austin and Waco is 90 miles away, I know a lot of the employees there because we interact for business, but on a personal level. Fortunately, I get to spend the large majority of my day with people I like, doing something I love.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to get involved with CNB?

That’s a tough question to answer as far as getting involved. What really separates us as a company from some of our competitors, particularly some of our larger competitors, is that we're a community bank. Part of that means having a direct relationship with our customers. We are a 1.3 billion total asset bank so not tiny, but not huge. We don’t want to be huge because we want to interact with our customers regularly. When you're too big, it's just impossible to do that. Customers are looking for a bank that they have the bank presidents cell phone number, or direct office number and can reach them if they ever need anything. That's very important to the people that value who we are in a banking relationship.

There's a whole lot of people that use banks as a tool, but the people who bank with us realize that in a lot of respects we're a business partner. The small businesses and individuals that bank with us recognize the importance of that, and vice versa. To answer your question, how do people get involved here, as an employee if you're looking for a career in banking, I’ve already laid out what makes Central such a special and great place to work. We have a lot of fun when we’re not doing serious bankery stuff. On the customer side, somebody who appreciates a smaller environment and personalized service as opposed to everything being cold and transactional.

Can you share a little bit about Central's mission and how they apply it in the Austin community?

We have a three-pronged mission statement with mission number one being to provide a level of service that our customers recognize as being substantially better than our competitors. All banks deliver service on their own levels, but we're very personal in that delivery. We’re invested in making sure that our individual and commercial customers do well. And when you're personally invested, it means something since you approach your job in a different manner and that's what sets us apart. My job as the market president is to seek out people that fit and need us then to make life and business really easy for them

What are the some of the biggest challenges that you face in this? And how do you overcome them?

We're pushing 2 million people in the Greater Austin area and it's growing exponentially which can be overwhelming. When you're in a place that big it’s difficult to find those businesses and individuals that suit us and who we can help. But when you break it down and find the places that have people and businesses like that, it comes down to common interest. The chamber is a good example of this. We're all in the business world or in the interest of supporting the business community in Austin. We all have that commonality despite coming from different industries which essentially takes this huge community of Austin and shrinks it down into something personal and communal. That’s proven to be challenging in a gigantic city that’s getting bigger but my solution is finding groups that have common interests. Once you start doing that, the degrees of separation get smaller and smaller.

So what would you say has been the most rewarding experience for you?

It’s very rewarding to see my customers that I believe in do well. There's fundamentals that must be in place in banking for making a loan such as collateral, cash flow, and credit. But ultimately, a big part of my job is determining whether a person has the right attributes to succeed. I need to identify the people who have just gotten started in business or are post startup to get on board with them. I give them guidance, access to capital, which is a large part of my job, and then watch them succeed. That's my biggest thrill in this job.

Why did CNB get involved with the chamber and how has the experience been?

Initially it was just like any other business that signs up for a membership. We were tyring to network and get to know other businesses in town. It started there but I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved on the board level which has given me the opportunity to see the value of being involved as an Austin business. It's important to me to know what's going on in the city and the intersection of politics and business. But then there's also a feeling of responsibility or obligation that I have as a member of the business community to give back or to participate in helping shape what's good for business in Austin.