Her Story
About Kaelee
Kaelee Trammell serves as a Personal Banker 2 and Marketing Liaison at a bank in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She began her banking career in November after years of customer service and cash handling experience, including roles at a Walmart customer service desk and concessions work at the YMCA. In her current position, which she has held for seven months, Trammell handles account openings and closings, including CDs and money market accounts, while also managing marketing liaison duties and training new staff. She earned her Notary Public credential within three months of starting and has been recognized for her rapid advancement, with colleagues noting her potential for supervisory roles. Trammell holds a bachelor's degree in English with a creative writing emphasis, a minor in world languages, and completed an internship in editing and proofreading. She is a member of the Oklahoma Bankers Association and volunteers with the Shawnee Food Pantry. Trammell attributes her success to her upbringing, which has fueled her determination to break cycles of addiction and trauma, and she values empathy, communication, respect, and honesty in both her professional and personal life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kaelee
01What do you attribute your success to?
My upbringing. I did not have the easiest childhood. I endured a lot of trauma and abuse, and it's turned me into somebody who refuses to be another statistic. The statistics are that if you have one parent that was a substance abuser, you are far more likely to become a substance abuser yourself. If you have one parent who is in prison, you're far more likely to be in prison yourself. But I don't want to be another one of those statistics. I'm trying to break the cycle of addiction. It's ending here. It's ending with me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Everyone is going through something outside of these walls. Whether that be your customer, your coworker. We all have lives outside of what's going on in this interaction. If there's heightened emotions, things are said, it's always best practice to kind of zoom out and take a step back, and just remember that we're all human, we all make mistakes. We can't hold each other to every tiny interaction that we have.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just don't let anyone tell you who you are and who you can be, because most of the time, they're wrong. And if they're not, guess what? You have the power to change it.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
It's an ever-growing industry. It's pretty much always going to be here. I don't think we're gonna lose the convenience and the benefit of brick and mortar banks anytime soon. Banking was appealing because it's never-ending. You get your foot in the door and from there you just have a world of opportunity opened up to you.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Empathy. Communication. Respect. Honesty. Treat each other like we would want to be treated, and communicate.
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