Her Story
About Katie
I started in banking in 2015 after a significant life change when my now-husband called off our wedding. I moved back home and decided to transition from healthcare, where I had really enjoyed the work but found limited advancement opportunities without licensure and the pay wasn't there for me. I got a job with Capital One 360 because it made sense at the time - it was full-time with guaranteed hours, stable, I wasn't working weekends, and I had a baby at the time, so I needed that stability and the financial piece of it. From there, my career has just grown because banking is the only field I've been in where I've been able to advance and continue to grow without needing a college degree. Now I'm the retail manager at United Prairie Bank in Spicer, Minnesota, where I oversee all retail operations - the tellers, personal bankers, and essentially the face of the bank. I manage all consumer relationships and also do consumer lending. I've been in finance for over 10 years and in management for 7 years. My current focus is to potentially move over to the commercial side of things, learning a whole new side of banking, with hopes of moving into the market president's position when she retires.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Katie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say it's probably a combination of things. Part of it is I'm a stubborn human. I'm not about what's in it for me at all times, but there are times where you do have to be like, is this serving me anymore? Is it time to move on? Taking the opportunities that you can get when they come to you and running with them is really important. I think I've been extremely blessed, and God has blessed me as well, because I don't always feel like I deserve to be in the position that I'm in. There's been kind of a handful of things over time, and it kind of changes as time goes on too. It doesn't always stay the same. The same thing that drove me years ago is not necessarily the same thing that drives me now.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say just learn everything that you can, and figure out where your niche is, and what interests you about the career, or about the field in general. There's so many different pieces of it, so explore all sides of it and figure out exactly what it is that you like. The more well-rounded you can get with all of the pieces of banking, the more opportunities that you have. You have to be a lifelong learner because it takes a lot of learning throughout banking, whether it comes to the risk, or the regulations, or even just working with the team. You have to be confident in yourself, too.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think integrity is probably one of the things that is most important in my life and for my values. It was ingrained in me from the way I was parented, but then I also spent 10 years in the military, and that was another thing that they really kind of ingrained in us too - doing the right thing when nobody is watching. I think that sometimes that gets a little lost in today's world, when it's kind of dog-eat-dog and everybody wants to get to the top. So just kind of maintaining that honesty and integrity and continuing to just work on relationships. Everybody does make mistakes, and it's bound to happen at some point, but being able to own it is key. It makes you relatable, you know?
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