Emily McConnell

My journey into banking and finance started during my freshman year in college when one of my professors told all the freshmen to pick a career where your skill set and your passions intersect. For me, I've always been really good at numbers, and I've always wanted to help people, so that is how I landed on this banking finance route. What my professor said was that's what will keep you passionate about what you do and excited about the job and the career that you choose, and that just always stuck with me, even 10 years later I'm still quoting him. I started out in accounting, which I loved, but I wanted to be a little bit more client-facing and go back to my roots from my MBA, so I went more the finance and banking route. In January 2022, I did a credit analyst class at Cadence Bank, which is a very well-known training program. Cadence Bank just got acquired by Huntington Bank, and Huntington now adopted that program and they're going to implement it in their headquarters as well. I'm most proud of going to Third Coast Bank because it was a push for me career-wise. I'm learning so much every day, and I knew it was going to be a little bit of a challenge where I was going to have to work hard and jump in the deep end. I'm most proud of not staying comfortable and trying something new and a hard thing. I've already learned so much and grown so much as a banker. I'm a mom of two kids, so this is a busy season of my life, and I think there's nothing wrong with staying at a job, but it would have been easy to stay, and I just wanted to push myself and learn something new and work with new people, and it's been great. I'm really proud of the team that we're working on and getting into this beverage lending service, which is really exciting for me. I haven't done a lot in this industry at my last bank, and just getting to work with other women and to see things through to the finish line is really empowering.