Michael Sharpton: Finding Success Banking on Relationships | EP 30

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Thank you all for tuning into
the Carolina Business Leaders

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Podcast where we share the
stories of local impact makers

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who carve their path through
perseverance, passion, and what

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I like to call Carolina grit.
Today's guest is Michael

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Sharpton, regional president of
the Carolinas for Encore Bank

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define tailored concierge style
bank that recently opened its

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newest location here in
Greenville, SC So Michael, thank

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you so much for joining us.
Awesome.

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Thank you.
So when when was the bank here

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open?
I remember the party.

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The opening party is about a
year ago, a little over that.

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That's right.
So it's a little bit of a trick

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question.
We were here for about 3 years

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before we actually opened.
I don't know that.

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So as you can imagine, and it's
hard to build a bank without

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brick and mortar, but it was
really important for us to find

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the the perfect location.
So it took us a while to do

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that.
If you're running a small to mid

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sized business, you know there's
simply not enough hours in a day

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to take care of all your
business needs.

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From managing health insurance
to payroll, procurement,

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advertising, you're going to
need some help to get that

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initial momentum going.
That's why I would partner with

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Questco.
They take care of all the behind

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the scenes administrative and HR
work, letting you focus on what

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truly matters, which is running
your business.

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That's QUESTCO.
Questco.

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Visit questco.net or call your
local Questco representative

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Thomas Owens at 864-477-0843 to
get started today.

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So meanwhile, we opened other
branches across the Carolinas.

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So we open Charleston, Charlotte
and Winston Salem and so we were

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able to do business out of those
offices while I had a very small

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team here in green.
I've been pretty busy the past

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couple years.
Those are all within the last

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three.
Years.

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That's right.
So August of this year will be 4

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years for me because I was
tasked with building out the

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Carolinas.
And so like I said, we started

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in Charleston and Charlotte.
We built out teams and offices

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there, then went to Winston and
then to Greenville.

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The thought was transparently I
would be on the road a bunch for

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a few years and then get to sit
here for a few years while

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overseeing the newest market.
Which Greenville?

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Nice.
So I guess for our listeners,

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could you give us a little take
on what makes Encore Banks so

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special and different from other
banks around?

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Sure.
So let me admit at first, banks

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are not innovation experts.
There's not much new under the

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sun as the saying goes.
So as far as banking, we are a

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standard commercial bank and we
also have retail consumer.

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But I'll tell you where the
differences are and it's really

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we're we're sort of a hybrid.
It's really a split between two

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things that are essentially
banking.

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Number one is old fashioned
relationship banking.

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So we make a lot of local
decisions.

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We have small teams with a lot
of authority to do what is

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common sense and as long as the
regulators allow it, we try to

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make common sense decisions.
That local decision making is

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powerful because there's not a
chain of command that you have

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to go through.
It's the team that knows the

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most making the decisions.
Secondly, in relationships,

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which you know most businesses
founded on, that is knowing who

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to call.
So we don't have 800 numbers, we

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don't have calling trees and
automated systems.

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You're calling cell phones.
You're talking to real people

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who can give you answers.
Quickly that's.

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Right.
And I say a lot of times we

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don't say yes all the time.
That doesn't mean yes, but a

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quick no.
Sometimes it's just as valued.

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So we empower our people to say
we're not the right bank.

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So that's 1/2 of the bank is old
fashioned relationship doing

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business with people.
You know, we hire veteran teams

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so we know what we're doing.
But the other part of it is the

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interesting part.
Banking has changed radically

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and you see announcements every
week about banks opening

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branches and branches and
branches.

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The reality is people are not
going in bank branches anymore.

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That traffic is dying very
quickly.

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Most things you need to do can
be done from your cell phone.

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So what we've done is we do one
location in every market.

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We make it a high profile
location.

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So we're downtown Greenville
right across from the stadium.

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So it's a, it's a great
building.

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We've got a big garage door.
It doesn't look like a bank.

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We have, we host a lot of events
there.

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But instead what we do with the
money is we invest in

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technology.
So we make sure that our

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platform whether that's app or
things you never see that are

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behind the scenes are cutting
edge and they're as good as most

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big banks.
And the reason for that is,

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again, we're not building
offices, so we're saving money

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there.
But also that's how people want

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to be banked.
They want to be able to do

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everything from their phone that
they can.

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And then obviously with all the
regulations, the Patriot Act and

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knowing your customer, it's
important to have the best

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stuff.
If you have to open an account

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and sit while someone in the
back office looks at an Excel

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spreadsheet to find out if
you're on a terrace watch list,

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that takes too much time.
So we do all that in seconds

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with our technology.
So, so that's kind of a that's

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kind of a hybrid bank to me is
it's not an online bank,

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although our online presence is
good, but we've hired old

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fashioned relationship bankers
to go deliver the bank how

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people want it and deliver.
And I'll add too, we had the

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experience of going every to
your new location for the grand

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opening party.
We'll say fine ice cream

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machine.
I mean the whole 9 yards.

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That was cool, but I'm sure
there were challenges in

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building out all these branches
in the Carolinas, but with

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Greenville specifically in that
location, what challenges or

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anything you had to overcome
with establishing that location

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and getting it open?
Sure, absolutely.

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So the first is, as you can
imagine, there are a lot of

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cities across the country that
have a ton of office space

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available.
Greenville is not one of them.

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So we really struggled to find
the perfect location because if

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you only have one, I've always
said the thing you've got to be

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able to do is describe how to
get there in a sentence or two.

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And if I need to describe
directions then and it takes me

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a paragraph or 5 minutes to do
it, we're not in the right

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place.
So we had to wait and find the

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right spot.
I think other than that, once

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that came together, we love
where we are.

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It it took off from there.
The second challenge is what any

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build is and its people.
People are the most important

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thing.
So really had to leverage

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relationships of mine going back
a couple of decades, frankly.

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And so most of our team, we had
worked together some portion of

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the last 10 years, but 15 years
ago.

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So a lot of these people I had
not talked to regularly for a

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while.
So once we decided on Greenville

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and once we decided on that
location in particular, we

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really ramped up the staffing.
So before we found the location,

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there were only three of us.
Wow.

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That is wild.
Yeah.

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And now how many people are in
the Greenville branch?

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So now we have 7 and about to
add an eighth actually and

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probably by the time this hits.
Awesome.

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Perfect timing.
But I guess going back to you

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and your role as the regional
president, what does your

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day-to-day look like?
What are some of the maybe the

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fires you have to put out or
what are some of your daily

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routines when you get to that to
that level?

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And where are you located too?
Sometimes you're in Greenville,

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sometimes you're elsewhere.
So what does that look like?

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I'm, I'm absolutely in the truck
a lot and I still do the same

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thing.
So the days all are very

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different.
And frankly I wouldn't have got

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into this business if it was if
it wasn't like that.

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So early on we raised capital in
every market we went to.

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So that was a lot of capital
conversations, a lot like this

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sitting down with people one
off, 2 off.

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We didn't rent big ballrooms or
higher fundraisers.

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We did it ourselves sort of
grassroots.

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So early on it was a lot of
that.

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Once we were established and and
went through this couple of

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capital raises, what my days
look like now obviously depends

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on where I am and and the
customers.

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I still go on a lot of sales
calls.

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I still enjoy meeting people
whether there's prospects or

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current customers.
So when I'm in the other

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markets, when I'm in Charleston,
Charlotte, or Winston, the teams

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there usually stack my calendar
up, so I'm checking e-mail and

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returning voicemails in between
meetings.

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We do a lot of coffee meetings.
Oddly enough, I do not even

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drink coffee, but I have a ton
of coffee meetings so.

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Which the best part about that
is the first time Michael and I

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ever met.
We met at Spilla Beans for

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coffee and neither of us drink
coffee.

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It was an early morning meeting
and we both got water.

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Just taking Gil's advice, you
know, talks about always getting

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coffee with people great because
because if the if the

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conversation's going poorly, you
can leave, but if it's going

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great, you can get another cup
of coffee or another cup of hot

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chocolate for you.
Yeah, yeah.

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That was someone else we had on
the podcast.

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They encouraged that so.
That's right, you, you literally

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never waste a coffee.
I mean, it's just always worth

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doing it.
But I do always support them.

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I usually buy a chocolate chip
cookie water or something I'm

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going to speak to.
So I do always buy something,

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but I think past the the
customer interaction, there's

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always internal meetings to do,
making sure that we are bubbling

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up issues that happen to our
office back in Arkansas, our

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local team.
So there's a lot of

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communication around what's
working, what's not, and to stay

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close to what's going on in
every market, you have to have

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conversations.
You have to get in the market.

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You have to have coffees and
lunches and happy hours and ice

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cream cones with people to find
out what their business is

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facing and and how we can help
them.

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Because essentially that's what
it is.

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As I already mentioned, banking
is is banking.

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Most all of us have the same
products.

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It becomes about the people and
about the execution.

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Have you always been so
relationship focused?

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I have totally have, yes, the
whole time.

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In fact, I would tell you that,
and I'm sure we're going to talk

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about this at some point when I
look to hire people, what I look

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for.
But yes, I think relationship

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is, is the biggest part of it.
I had a boss early in my career

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that really identified something
that resonated with me that it's

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really the people.
You can teach them the skills

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and the trades and the processes
and the procedures.

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Especially in a regulated
industry, you've got you've got

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a lot of that kind of scripted
out.

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It's about the relationship and
it's about execution because

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people, as long as they know
what to expect in a rough

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timeline, we'll we'll stick with
you.

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They'll be loyal back to you.
But anytime you get into the,

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you know, the dangerous part of
over promising and under

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delivering in our industry,
you're sucked because there's

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too much competition.
Yeah.

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So being so relationship
focused, is it hard to build out

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strong relationships in areas
that are farther away like

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Charleston, like Winston when
it's a 3 hour drive or so?

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So I will tell you, no, it's
not, but that that comes with a

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caveat.
You've got to be in the markets.

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So it is hard if your intention
is to go one time for a night or

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for a week, it doesn't really
matter.

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And then never go back and try
to do it on phone or social

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media or mailings or even
handwritten cards.

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You've got to do it in person.
So I've been a big believer in

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that.
That's why I say I always am

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willing to get in the truck and
travel and sit in front of

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people because because that
that's where that's where you

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deliver that frankly, and that's
where you build that

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relationship.
Definitely.

230
00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:36,560
We see that across banking, but
it's really any business as if

231
00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,320
you were in another city.
So a lot of South Carolina and

232
00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,680
the Upstate is covered from
Atlanta and Charlotte.

233
00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,440
And the biggest mistake those
companies make is never coming

234
00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:48,320
to the market and not knowing
the market.

235
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,040
So I'm committed to that.
I always have done that in my

236
00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,520
career.
This is awesome because I don't

237
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:55,280
fly.
I don't fly to the northeast.

238
00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,000
I'm a three to three and a half
hour drive from home at any

239
00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:00,120
given point.
That's nice.

240
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,800
If I am needed work or family
then it.

241
00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:04,960
You can get there immediate.
That is nice.

242
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:06,560
That's great.
So have you always been in

243
00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:09,160
banking or what does your career
journey look like?

244
00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,400
No, I have not.
In fact, I would tell you I am.

245
00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:14,640
I'm still don't believe I'm a
banker.

246
00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,440
That's that's unusual for me.
But no, I started actually on

247
00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,520
the leasing side of things back.
I'm obviously old back when

248
00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,040
Fastly 13 and off balance sheet
leasing was done.

249
00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:32,200
So I come from that environment
more of an equipment finance and

250
00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,560
working for a couple of
manufacturers before I got into

251
00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:39,160
banking.
The natural progression was you

252
00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,120
deal with a lot of banks as a
manufacturer because you sell

253
00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,040
your paper and your leases to
banks.

254
00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,720
And so I formed a good
relationship with the bank a

255
00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,880
long time ago, over 20 years ago
and they asked me to to come on.

256
00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:55,280
And so that's how I got in, got
kind of indirectly, not the

257
00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,920
traditional path.
Sorry, I was just going to say,

258
00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,000
did you know you wanted to be in
banking or finance or something

259
00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:03,640
with numbers when you were
younger?

260
00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,400
High school, maybe college.
No, absolutely.

261
00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:11,920
I I do not enjoy numbers.
I like the relationship, but no,

262
00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,520
I was not.
I was a history book.

263
00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:18,560
I also am a history book.
She does not like history.

264
00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,600
I I read the most boring books
to most people.

265
00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,080
I do not read any fiction.
I love reading about historical

266
00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:31,080
figures or and so no, I thought
I was going to I was going to go

267
00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:35,600
to law school.
I was going to go the half law,

268
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,240
half political route.
I wanted to be a city planner,

269
00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:42,480
city manager.
I work for a company in

270
00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,640
Birmingham, AL in school called
Operation New Birmingham that

271
00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,760
found new uses for vacant
buildings.

272
00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,720
So back before all the
regeneration of of old buildings

273
00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:54,800
downtown, that's what I thought
I wanted to do.

274
00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,040
Your interest in that at a young
age?

275
00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,600
You know, I think I can't really
tell you what they're.

276
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,440
Just.
Naturally, just natural.

277
00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:06,680
I loved it.
I liked the idea of servant

278
00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:08,880
leadership.
And so, you know, when you're

279
00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,160
young, you think of government
as one of the ways to do that.

280
00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,320
Now that I'm older, I know that
that's you actually accomplish

281
00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:18,520
even less than you would like to
show it down that way.

282
00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:20,560
And I have some friends in in
politics.

283
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,480
And of course, I mean no
disrespect to them, but that's

284
00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,880
what I thought I wanted to do.
But you know, life alters

285
00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,320
things.
And so I, I came out of college,

286
00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,080
did not want to go to law
school, did not want to pay for

287
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:33,960
that, did not want to.
Ask you went going into college

288
00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,080
thinking law school then OK,
nice.

289
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,720
And then I changed so working a
handful of jobs in college and.

290
00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:44,240
You're a history major.
I was a public administration.

291
00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:45,280
OK, got you.
So.

292
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:48,080
Just history on the side.
History on the side, history

293
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:49,480
minor.
Most of my electives were

294
00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,840
history, but I felt like public
administration was the way to

295
00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,440
get into the city government God
shit level.

296
00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,440
So then what was your first job
when you did graduate?

297
00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:03,720
So I worked for Enterprise Rent
a Car, which at the time was a

298
00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:08,440
family owned car rental company.
They also took a little bit of a

299
00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:10,320
different approach to rental
cars.

300
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,960
When you say that now you think
flying into an airport, picking

301
00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,600
up a car and going, that was not
their model.

302
00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:19,880
In fact they were very rarely at
airports.

303
00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:24,560
Our model is what we did at the
time was insurance replacement

304
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:26,880
business.
So if you wrecked your car and

305
00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,040
the body shot was going to keep
it for three weeks, Enterprise

306
00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:32,200
wanted to rent you a car.
And.

307
00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,400
How that ties in to my career is
1.

308
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,360
They gave you a lot of
responsibility at a very young

309
00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:42,440
age.
So I graduated.

310
00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,640
I worked there during college
and graduated as an assistant

311
00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,600
branch manager right off the bat
and we managed a P&L and a

312
00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,040
balance sheet.
We had to keep the cars in good

313
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:54,280
shape.
That's a good experience at a

314
00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:55,800
young age.
You're learning how to run the

315
00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:57,520
business.
Well, you did, and we dealt with

316
00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,280
cash back then.
You did all your marketing.

317
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,480
So we would do doughnut drops
every Friday.

318
00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,880
Yeah, insurance agents and body
shops, because what we wanted

319
00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,680
was that Body Shop when they got
a customer to recommend.

320
00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:11,000
Us, definitely.
So you're building

321
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:12,400
relationships, building
relationships.

322
00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:14,600
That's right.
Very sales oriented, yeah.

323
00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,160
And then obviously you also
learned to sell damage waiver

324
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:21,520
insurance and things like that
where there were sales metrics

325
00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:23,720
and stack rankings and
Commission checks.

326
00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:28,760
And so that's how I got into
leasing is from doing rental

327
00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,560
cars, which, you know, I, it
took me a long time to get over

328
00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,760
that coming out of college with
a degree in renting cars, that

329
00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:38,040
was not what I thought I wanted
to.

330
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,360
Do that's fair, Yeah.
Did you ever, did you ever have

331
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,680
the idea of pursuing some kind
of like history working at the

332
00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:45,440
Smithsonian or something like
that?

333
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,400
I did.
But you know, what I would tell

334
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,960
you is that I think the grind of
being a professor or a museum

335
00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,840
job, how long you have to pay
your dues, there's a little

336
00:16:55,840 --> 00:17:00,080
income, the fact that you do
need to live in a very big city,

337
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:04,440
most likely DC or New York or
Boston, None of that appealed to

338
00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:06,280
me.
I I grew up in South Georgia, so

339
00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,520
I'm a little bit of a small town
guy, even though we've lived a

340
00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,960
lot of places.
We can understand that and

341
00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,160
relate to that.
So it sounds like through your

342
00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:16,760
career though, and the different
roles and jobs you've had,

343
00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,640
they've all kind of contributed
to the role that you're in now,

344
00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,240
working with people and managing
a business.

345
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,960
So which jobs throughout your
career do you feel like like

346
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,520
helped prepare you the most for
the role that you're in today?

347
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,680
Sure.
That's, listen, I think when

348
00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,600
you're in the moment, you don't
see the path very clearly.

349
00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:37,640
And now when I can look back, I
do, I see, I see the path and I

350
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,560
think I have to give enterprise
a lot of credit.

351
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,640
They they taught you how to run
a business, how to manage AP.

352
00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:46,560
And L that really is sweet at a
young age.

353
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:51,080
And you benefited from selling
the cars at car sales.

354
00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,760
We'd work car sales on the end
of the of the week once a month

355
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,280
every now and then.
And you benefited, you got

356
00:17:58,280 --> 00:17:59,920
Commission checks from selling
cars.

357
00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:01,120
You had to keep them in good
shape.

358
00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,240
You learned how to sell and
market.

359
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,600
So that and it was a high
pressure environment too,

360
00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,800
because you the irony of rental
cars.

361
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:14,400
And this gets into a Seinfeld
quote, but is you want to run an

362
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,080
operation with no cars at the
place, but yet when people show

363
00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,520
up, you need to have them a car.
So you have to juggle that

364
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,240
because you don't make money
with cars sitting in the lot.

365
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,640
So that was probably the first
place that taught sort of the

366
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,720
the P&L knowing that we're in
business to make money and that

367
00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,160
you are responsible for making
money if it's your branch.

368
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,000
The second thing was a very high
customer service satisfaction.

369
00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:42,760
That was super important.
Me as a recent college college

370
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:44,920
grab.
I could wave.

371
00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,200
If you rented a car for me and
you came in and we're not happy,

372
00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:50,480
I could wave 2 days without
going to my boss.

373
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:52,400
So I so you had freedom with
that I.

374
00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,840
Had freedom.
I learned that importance of

375
00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,760
empowering people on the ground
no matter their position, but

376
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,800
also making sure that the
customer's experience was great.

377
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,200
So I think that was one of the
first.

378
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:08,600
The other one I I will share is
that directly after that I went

379
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:12,120
to a Terex final stage
manufacturing company.

380
00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:16,240
Back then it was called Combitel
again, a family owned business

381
00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,560
that built bucket trucks and.
What is a bucket?

382
00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:23,440
Truck so a bucket truck is what
you see people working on power

383
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:28,120
lines after storms.
So before storms come you see a

384
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:29,920
bunch of them going down the
Interstate.

385
00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,320
So before you're aware of those,
you never really notice them,

386
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,120
but.
I never noticed them until the

387
00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:37,280
hurricane about a year ago.
They were all over the place.

388
00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,400
They had the Haywood Mall parked
with thousands.

389
00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,000
Of that's right.
So that was a big, that was

390
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:48,440
another place where I was given
a lot of responsibility early in

391
00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,840
my career.
They did a joint venture with

392
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:56,040
Asplundh Tree Company where they
rented and leased bucket trucks

393
00:19:56,040 --> 00:20:01,120
to small contractors all the way
up to like Alabama Power Seng.

394
00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:05,320
So we, I got a lot of experience
flying to Tampa and presenting

395
00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,680
to Florida Power and Light.
I got to structure a lot of

396
00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,600
rental contracts for short term
rental for bucket trucks for

397
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,040
storage stuff.
Got to meet with a lot of power

398
00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,120
line contractors out in the
Midwest and really caught up.

399
00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:22,400
Sort of propped up a lot of what
we did because it was

400
00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,080
transitioning from writing a
check to buy a bucket truck to

401
00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,040
making a monthly payment, and
the power companies could make

402
00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,240
their budget last longer if they
make monthly payments and not

403
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,920
pay cash for trucks.
So you talked about presenting

404
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:37,920
there at other companies.
Are you naturally a good

405
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,880
presenter?
So she's naturally like, get me

406
00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:42,640
in front of the camera, like all
about it.

407
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,720
And I'm like shrinking inside
when that's me so.

408
00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,160
Yeah.
Well, I will say I think so.

409
00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,360
I'm comfortable that now whether
I watch this, yeah.

410
00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,520
I feel like there's been being
comfortable, like naturally,

411
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:55,640
like that's what you're drawn
to.

412
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,040
Like I feel comfortable with it
now, but like naturally it took

413
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,760
a lot of practice for me.
Like at a young age I definitely

414
00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:02,640
was not.
But when you first started out

415
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,200
your career, was that something
you were like, like, did you

416
00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:09,400
enjoy those kind of moments or?
So I did, I always, I mentioned

417
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,720
growing up in in South Georgia,
my dad for most of my childhood

418
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:16,160
was a Southern Baptist pastor of
a church.

419
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:23,080
So back then, being a preacher
was very robust and dynamic, and

420
00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:26,280
what all he did on a daily basis
is a little different than

421
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,480
churches do it now.
One's not better than the other,

422
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:34,880
but he used to have to do a
radio show at 7:30 AM every

423
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,200
weekday.
He did hospital visitations.

424
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:41,440
He obviously did funerals and
weddings and he was the center

425
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:43,720
of of that church and the
relationship.

426
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:45,200
That.
Community.

427
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,000
That's right.
So I would stay back with him

428
00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:51,720
even as a kid and shake hands at
the back door and meet people

429
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,680
and go on all the trips with the
with the that's.

430
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:56,560
Helpful.
Getting your kids exposed to

431
00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:57,720
that kind of stuff is very
helpful.

432
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,040
We've talked about it before
because she was always, I mean

433
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,400
with her or with her dad and
shaking hands and talking to

434
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,440
people.
Yeah, as as a. 13 year old

435
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:07,560
talking to adults and stuff.
Whereas I didn't have that

436
00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:09,800
experience that I was pretty
nervous about at first.

437
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:11,320
But I don't know.
That's cool you had that

438
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,240
experience.
Yes, that that so that

439
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:15,720
definitely helped me.
So standing up in front of

440
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,920
crowds and talking whether I'm
prepared or not, typically I do

441
00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,200
pretty well.
Now, am I super hard on myself

442
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,120
after?
And you know how I did?

443
00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:24,840
Yes.
But.

444
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,240
That's for the most part.
I'm I'm comfortable talking or

445
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,520
delivering a message.
Which that's a great segue into

446
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,520
some research that Heath did.
So just reading off his

447
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:38,560
research, it seems that you
managed 1/2 billion dollar

448
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:43,280
portfolio in 2005 with Citibank.
So the curiosity for us is how

449
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,200
comfortable was it for you to
manage that portfolio and lead

450
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,160
that strategy and that kind of
goes right into what we were

451
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:50,680
saying and how comfortable you
are leading.

452
00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:53,520
Sure.
So, you know, you're always

453
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,200
nervous when when it's that big
of a territory.

454
00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:01,240
And at the time went up, we
called it the Mid-Atlantic.

455
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,120
So it went up to Delaware, over
to Kentucky, and then down to

456
00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:05,760
the Carolinas.
Big area.

457
00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:11,280
Big area, I had a team that was
between 7:00 and 11:00, people

458
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:13,600
at any given moment.
Obviously in big banks there's

459
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,760
always consolidation, so I
picked up Florida and Georgia at

460
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,200
one point during that.
But I think, you know, the

461
00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:24,160
ironic part now as I sit here in
2025, twenty years later, that

462
00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:28,960
number's small.
It's amazing how big the numbers

463
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,640
are now and how it was hundreds
of billions of dollars later at

464
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,360
Wells Fargo.
But I think your point is valid.

465
00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:40,040
It's intimidating to be, you
know, moderately young in your

466
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,400
career, have a lot of people
reporting to you that that

467
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:48,440
ranged in age from, you know,
early 60s to early 30s older

468
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,800
than me.
For the most part, most of the

469
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:54,520
time in my career until fairly
recently, I was always one of

470
00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:58,280
the youngest ones.
So oftentimes I, I was managing

471
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,080
people that were significantly
older than me, had significant

472
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,040
more life experience.
And I just learned, again, back

473
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:08,280
to the relationship side, that
my job was to make sure that

474
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,400
they knew I was willing to do
anything I asked them to do #1

475
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,440
#2 that I was there to clear
obstacles for them, that I

476
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,240
wanted them to be the most
successful.

477
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,000
I did not have an ego about
whether one of them made more

478
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,680
money than me, outperformed each
other.

479
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:28,680
I, I just, to me, a rising tide
lifts all boats and we want all

480
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,960
of your team excelling and you
being a part of that and then

481
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:33,880
everything sort of comes along
after.

482
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:35,880
That so that sounds to me like
great leadership

483
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:37,840
characteristics.
Where would you say that you

484
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,200
learned those?
Oh gosh, I, I have to give

485
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,440
credit to, to family and to
early experiences.

486
00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:47,400
You know, my dad was a leader.
I, I did play sports.

487
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,600
I give, I give credit to that.
I I played for an old school

488
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:53,360
South Georgia football coach.
Nice.

489
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:55,800
What position were you?
So I was a quarterback.

490
00:24:56,120 --> 00:25:00,160
Yeah, leadership is forced on.
You I.

491
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,720
Think that's one of the greatest
positions in all sports.

492
00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:04,320
Like you take the blame when
things are going on.

493
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:05,960
It's like leading the business
essentially.

494
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:07,600
It's very similar, yeah.
That's right.

495
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:12,520
And at any point in your career
as as an athlete, A-Team, sport

496
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,080
wise, you have to be ready
whether you're a starter or not.

497
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,280
And I think I learned that as
well early on, as, you know,

498
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,800
having a lot of success going
from middle school to high

499
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,360
school and being on teams with a
lot of great players.

500
00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:26,080
And sometimes you're one of the
great ones.

501
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:27,080
And sometimes.
You're not.

502
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:30,720
Yes, it's hard to transition
being one of the best to not.

503
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,120
That's right.
So all that all that applies

504
00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:36,680
frankly to to lessons that I
learned around leadership.

505
00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,760
Nice was sports and then seeing
it in family and then early

506
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:45,240
career, like I mentioned, the my
first three jobs, I had probably

507
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:49,120
more responsibility than than
maybe I deserved, frankly.

508
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,480
So I learned from that little
bit of trial by fire, but had a

509
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:56,920
good support system there of of
coworkers and frankly friends.

510
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,520
So I know it definitely was not
always easy throughout your

511
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,720
career and 2008 was a really
tough year for a lot, especially

512
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:07,320
those in finance.
Was that a challenge for in your

513
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,680
career and and how did you get
through some of those obstacles

514
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,880
if it wasn't?
Yes, no, it, it was unbelievably

515
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,040
difficult.
It it's interesting, usually you

516
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:20,040
hear time here heals all wounds
and that that is one that still

517
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,360
can can give me nightmares.
It was it was bad.

518
00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:27,480
We definitely in the finance and
banking world had to lay off a

519
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,960
lot of people.
Many of us got laid off

520
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,080
eventually ourselves.
A lot of reorg.

521
00:26:32,360 --> 00:26:35,680
And so I went through that.
I went through some scaling down

522
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:39,080
of offices and having people,
you know, upset and crying.

523
00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:43,360
You know, it's their job.
Maybe A1 working parent, single

524
00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:45,360
mom.
That's like worst nightmare in

525
00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:46,760
the real world is very.
Bad.

526
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:50,120
So it was that.
And then eventually, yes, I, I

527
00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:54,760
actually got let go as well
because the organization I was

528
00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,840
with, it wasn't a big bank ran
out of money and they couldn't,

529
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:03,360
they couldn't fund things.
And so eventually if times don't

530
00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:05,200
turn you, you have to thin out
people.

531
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,760
So I was fortunate that I made
it through OK.

532
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:13,440
We had a good network of friends
and family and one of my former

533
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,920
bosses actually reached out on
LinkedIn when LinkedIn was very

534
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:21,040
new and just said, hey, looks
like you're having a tough time

535
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,560
when you talk to me about about
working with me.

536
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:28,640
So again, a life lesson for
people is is you got to maintain

537
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,480
relationships because you never
know when they come back around.

538
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,920
That's a blessing right there.
So I was very fortunate.

539
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,440
So what?
What is your mindset whenever

540
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,960
like I don't want to curse on
the podcast or say, but like

541
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,360
whenever that's like fire, just
like when shit hits the fan per

542
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:46,640
SE and and the worst of the
worst has happened.

543
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,640
Ultimate nightmare when it comes
career wise, like how do you

544
00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:51,560
bounce back from that?
What's what are you thinking?

545
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,160
What's the next step?
Like kind of what's your mindset

546
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:56,200
there?
Well, it's super hard, I think.

547
00:27:56,320 --> 00:28:00,640
I think #1 you, you internalize
very quickly and you think, did

548
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,280
I make the wrong decision coming
to this organization?

549
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,280
What did I do wrong?
What could I have done better?

550
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,320
Those kind of things.
And I think for me, it was, you

551
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,920
know, I had a, a good family
behind me that was depending on

552
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:17,800
me, two fairly young girls at
the time and a wife that that

553
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,840
needed me to, to get out of it.
So I think some of it is you

554
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,000
internalize and then you, you
just kind of plow 3, you lower

555
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,680
your, your head and shoulders
and plow through.

556
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,520
And so I was willing to do
whatever I needed to do.

557
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,280
I was going to go to work at
Home Depot or deliver pizzas or

558
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:35,680
whatever because I did know it
was short term.

559
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,200
So the last thing I will say is
is you still got to have the

560
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,200
ultimate confidence in yourself
and your abilities and realize

561
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:47,480
that circumstances come and
they're often very much out of

562
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:52,360
your control.
And while I think the natural

563
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,280
inclination is to internalize
and feel sorry for yourself and

564
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,400
get way down, you got a wallet
for a little bit and then you

565
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,480
got to get out of it and you got
to move on.

566
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,080
And so you've got to engage
people and work your network

567
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,800
and, and know that it's, it's
not you in most, most

568
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,760
circumstances.
That's great.

569
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,680
Shifting gears a little bit,
with the growth of the bank now

570
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,520
and you just mentioned how
you're hiring on, we touched on

571
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,680
this earlier, but what traits
are you looking for in a

572
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,880
candidate that you want to hire?
Sure.

573
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,480
So work ethic is super important
to me.

574
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,920
The desire to succeed
personally, but also to jump in,

575
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:31,960
roll up your sleeves and do
whatever's needed for the

576
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,120
organization.
And sometimes that's rolling

577
00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:36,920
down the trash can, you know,
before because we forgot the

578
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,560
night before.
Other times it's staying late

579
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,200
working on a presentation or
hosting a happy hour or

580
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,480
networking.
But to me it's, it's drive and

581
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,720
along that they're subsets that
are important to me.

582
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,920
I think character and ethics are
very important.

583
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,760
There's no shortcuts.
And I think people that take

584
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:59,760
shortcuts often end up being
burned because there's typically

585
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:04,080
either an ethical or something
issue that goes on.

586
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,000
So I think character is very
important.

587
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,160
And then the last thing I look
for is a willingness to learn.

588
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,480
I think people that sit across
from you and think they know

589
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,720
every single thing, that's
typically a red flag.

590
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:19,600
And I enjoy people that talk
about I want to learn because

591
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:23,600
then, you know, sort of what I
mentioned earlier, then you can,

592
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:27,200
you can position them and
various places and they'll

593
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,440
succeed because they've got the
character in the drive.

594
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:30,600
Nice.
To do it.

595
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,200
So you talked about earlier too,
about like previously in your

596
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,760
past, not having an ego, like
not being bothered if your

597
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:38,040
teammates made more money than
you.

598
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,040
And from sitting here talking
with you, I can tell you don't

599
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:42,440
have an ego, like very down to
earth, like enjoy the

600
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,080
conversation a lot.
How do you deal with other

601
00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,480
people when you're working with
others that do have egos and

602
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:50,720
that gets in the way of
productivity of the job?

603
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,680
Sure.
I found you.

604
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,440
You have to hit it head on.
You have to talk very

605
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,240
transparently to people,
especially if you're a leader

606
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:05,160
and often times even as a peer.
Frankly, I think that team

607
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:09,120
chemistry is really important.
And if you want your team and

608
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,480
that individual to succeed, you
have to talk about strengths and

609
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,080
weaknesses with them and you
have to bring up that fact.

610
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,200
So I, I can tell you I am super
driven.

611
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:22,600
I want to be #1 But I do it in a
little bit different and softer

612
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:24,480
way.
I'm not the guy on the

613
00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,760
pickleball court on the weekends
like an old ladies.

614
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,800
I want to succeed in business
and in life.

615
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,440
And I'm very, very driven.
But I don't let that interfere

616
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,440
with relationships and
interpersonal dynamics.

617
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,200
And frankly, people that do, I
just try to sit down and talk to

618
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:48,400
them and let them know the the
reality is you need a little bit

619
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,760
of ego to be successful, but too
much tips the balance, too bad

620
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,080
team chemistry.
Then you make decisions for

621
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:58,680
different reasons.
Do you sell people things they

622
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:00,840
don't need?
And you see scandals in the

623
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,320
banking world all the time, and
they're centered in that.

624
00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:08,160
They're centered in too much
ego, too much drive, too much

625
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,920
greed.
So I just typically try to talk

626
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,160
about head on and hopefully I've
got a good enough relationship

627
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,200
with the person that they see
I'm coming from a place of

628
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:21,360
sincerity and I'm not trying to
knock them down a peg.

629
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,360
I'm trying to lift us all up
with.

630
00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:25,240
Their help?
Does it always go well though?

631
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,680
No because big ego means
sometimes they the meeting is

632
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,640
heated and you and you have
difficult conversations and you

633
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:37,000
leave.
I'm wondering, but if you've

634
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,160
hired the right person and
characters been in that trait,

635
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,520
typically they come back whether
it's the next day or a week

636
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:47,560
later and say I'm sorry I've
reacted this way.

637
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:49,800
That's big.
If someone does that, you know

638
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:53,600
that's a good sign.
Most of the time, I really can't

639
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,640
think of many that didn't end up
that way.

640
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:57,920
Not again, not in the moment.
And you?

641
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,720
Can certainly agree to disagree
and you know, sometimes as a as

642
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,240
a leader or as a boss, you have
to pull that card.

643
00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,600
But to me, it's better to talk
about it and let them come to

644
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,360
the realization through
experience or time than to force

645
00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,000
someone to do it.
That's great.

646
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,120
What does this season and the
next chapter look like for you?

647
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,800
You mentioned how much to your
career you were younger and

648
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:21,760
leading people older than you.
You said now it's a little

649
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,440
different.
So what is this season and kind

650
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:26,200
of the future look like?
Sure.

651
00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:31,320
So Encore has given me a great
opportunity to take some of the

652
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:35,240
relationships I've built over my
career, especially in the

653
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:40,040
Carolinas and and do do a new
venture where I've also learned

654
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:42,720
a whole bunch.
And we feel like we're providing

655
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,440
a unique bank to the market to
the Carolinas.

656
00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:47,440
So we think that's going to be
attractive.

657
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:51,840
So I think the immediate next
step is to continue to get this

658
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:56,720
off the ground and do a fabulous
job and continue to learn, but

659
00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:59,280
growing the bank.
So really digging in and.

660
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:00,560
Making it.
That's right.

661
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:04,120
That's the priority.
At the same time it's to invest

662
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:05,960
in other people.
There's I have some younger

663
00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,400
leaders, younger in their career
and by the calendar the

664
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,400
birthday, but I think it's also
to invest and empower them for

665
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,040
their next thing.
There's a great chance I have

666
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:18,920
another bank left in me.
Depending on what happens with

667
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:23,159
Encore, certainly we know it
happens to successful banks.

668
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:29,239
They acquire or they acquire
either way may lend to further

669
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:33,520
down the red for them or it may
end the road from there.

670
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:35,560
So it just depends on how that
looks.

671
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:39,679
But I think to be able to do it
with people that I enjoy working

672
00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:41,440
with is is really what I want to
do.

673
00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:44,800
And then, yes, obviously I want
to be able to retire and do all

674
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,800
the fun things that you work all
these years.

675
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:48,760
Yeah, you can.
Go play the pickleball that you

676
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,080
mentioned earlier.
That's right.

677
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,639
Nice.
We'll end it up here soon.

678
00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:57,720
But you talked about how you're
pursuing excellence, how you are

679
00:34:57,720 --> 00:34:59,640
very driven, how you are very
fueled.

680
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,200
Where does that come from?
Like not everybody has that.

681
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:05,440
What can what?
What does push you to be the

682
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:09,440
best?
You know, I don't know, that's

683
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:14,720
probably a, a great psychologist
question that I could go back

684
00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:16,800
to.
I, I, I've got some ideas on it.

685
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:22,920
So I think number one, I think
early on I saw successful

686
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:26,640
parents, I saw successful
friends and I didn't want to let

687
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:29,400
people down.
My dad had a lot of

688
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:32,040
responsibility early on in his
life.

689
00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,560
My grandparents were hard
workers, smart people, but hard

690
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:40,560
workers.
So I saw a family work ethic.

691
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:43,040
It.
Was modeled around me certainly

692
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:46,080
my sisters are younger, but both
very, very driven as well.

693
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:50,640
So I think some of it was the
the demand of not wanting to let

694
00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:53,480
people down in the drive.
The second thing I think

695
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:58,280
happened is is hard work.
And I, I like most middle school

696
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,440
and high school boys, I got in
my share of trouble.

697
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:04,720
And after one event that cost my
parents a little money, they put

698
00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:08,360
me in the tobacco field, tobacco
in the summer.

699
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:12,800
And and so I think you know.
In South Georgia, that summer is

700
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,400
not easy.
It's hard work, it's hot, and I

701
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,440
think it does two things.
Number one, it says do you want

702
00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:20,040
to do this for the rest of your
life?

703
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:21,760
Because you can absolutely do
that.

704
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,640
And it's at times a great
living, but it's a hard living.

705
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,040
So I'm sorry, that's my diabetes
device going off.

706
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:31,160
Yeah, it's expired or expires
soon.

707
00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:32,520
That's OK.
We'll take that out.

708
00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:33,560
All good.
We're good.

709
00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:40,480
So I think, I think that's,
that's a a drive thing too.

710
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:41,840
What?
What do you want to do?

711
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:46,800
So going to the tobacco fields,
my my dad grew up working the

712
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,200
tobacco fields and his my
granddad was a farmer.

713
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:51,160
So we have that in our family
line.

714
00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:53,560
We're very aware that he he said
I don't want to be doing this

715
00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:54,960
when I'm older.
And that's what kind of drip

716
00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,080
gave him drive to do more.
It's it's hard and I but I also

717
00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:04,600
think besides the kind of the
easy, OK, I don't want to work

718
00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:07,280
manual labor, you know, my whole
life.

719
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:11,640
The reality is I also was given
a little responsibility there

720
00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:14,760
because I went back in Year 2 on
my own, not as punishment

721
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:20,840
because one, the money was good
#2 I got to work with some of my

722
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:22,760
best friends.
We had a lot of the football

723
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:27,200
team out there doing it.
And I think the the, the pride

724
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,760
of accomplishing, seeing that
field day one and all you had to

725
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,360
do.
And then at the end, how, what

726
00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:36,160
the hard work, how you
accomplished it, I think was

727
00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:39,000
powerful.
And I'll never forget the field

728
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:40,600
was huge, I don't know how many
acres.

729
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:43,680
And that second year I was in
charge of driving the picker and

730
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:46,920
getting it in the line and then
going down and cropping and I

731
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:51,960
ran over 2 plants and the boss
man Curtis came out and said who

732
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,320
ran over these two plants?
And I said I did.

733
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:57,680
He said, I can't, I can't have
people running over plants like,

734
00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:00,720
and I'm sitting here thinking,
he's got this huge feel.

735
00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:05,120
These two don't matter.
Yeah, but that also speaks to

736
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:09,400
you as an impressionable kid,
you know, 151617 years old, that

737
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:14,440
the excellence matters.
And and the drive to make sure

738
00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:16,520
the reason he was successful.
And I looked up to him.

739
00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:20,320
He was a county commissioner
was, was he cared about the

740
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:21,880
little things and the big
things.

741
00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:25,960
So I think I think that was it.
And then finally, I mentioned

742
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:27,960
work experience.
I think just working for

743
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:32,880
companies and seeing what hard
work does, how, how you can

744
00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,400
elevate yourself and frankly how
you learn.

745
00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:39,040
One of the most fascinating
things that I get to do now in

746
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:43,360
my career that I appreciate more
than I did when I was younger is

747
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,280
that I get to talk to all these
different people that have

748
00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:50,000
started businesses or inherited
businesses or bought businesses

749
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:54,320
or split off for businesses.
And they have all figured it out

750
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,560
in one way or another.
And to sit with them and learn

751
00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,600
how they do it, how they think,
all the different ways to

752
00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:04,680
approach the way to make money
has been fascinating to me.

753
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:06,880
So that's cool.
I think that's that's part of

754
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,520
that drive too, is, is you want
to talk to as many people so you

755
00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:12,360
can give the best advice
possible.

756
00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:18,240
And so if you're not driven to
be great, yeah, not going to

757
00:39:18,240 --> 00:39:21,120
remember all that and you're not
going to be as additive in your

758
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:23,320
in your daily.
Yeah, I can say that's part of

759
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:25,480
the goal of the podcast, to
learn different stories,

760
00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:28,160
different ways people made
business, grew business, made

761
00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:30,600
money and that sort of thing.
So that definitely does help

762
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:35,640
with the drive.
Well, we'll end it with this,

763
00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:38,480
but we like to ask guests at the
very end, what's the best advice

764
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,720
that you were ever given as you
navigated your career?

765
00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:45,240
Maybe you received it from a
mentor, Maybe I I'm sure the

766
00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:47,560
tobacco fields might have taught
you a lesson or two, but is

767
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:48,840
there anything that comes to
mind?

768
00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,840
So I think the the one that
sticks out to me is not to get

769
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,600
too high or too low the
consistency amount.

770
00:39:55,600 --> 00:39:58,080
Quarterback right there,
probably throw a pick.

771
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,320
You can't, yeah, you can't get
all upset with the interception

772
00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:01,920
because you got another drive to
come out for it.

773
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:03,880
That's right.
That's that's probably true and

774
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:05,760
I think that's true in business
as well.

775
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,960
You, you get the big sale and
you're you're high fiving and

776
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,480
you're celebrating.
If you back off, you're not

777
00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:16,400
going to be successful down the
road in banking and in most

778
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:20,440
sales and relationship based
sales, your wins today didn't

779
00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:23,440
come from efforts yesterday.
It came from a consistent effort

780
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,480
months and even years ago.
And so if you're not

781
00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:30,280
consistently adding new names to
your hopper, they're not coming

782
00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:32,720
through the sales funnel.
So old fashioned sales

783
00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:37,040
management to me was manifested
and just being consistent.

784
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:39,400
Don't get too high or too low.
I love that.

785
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:41,600
That's great advice.
Well, Michael, thank you so much

786
00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:43,880
for joining us in the podcast.
We're very insightful and a fun

787
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:45,040
conversation.
Thank you.