Mayra Murillo
I've been in the financial services industry for 15 years, and my journey has taken me through some incredible experiences. I started at Bank of America where I spent 8 years as a banker, then moved to Wells Fargo for 5 years in the same role. After that, I worked at Farmers and Merchants Bank of Long Beach for 4 years as a CRA analyst in the compliance department. Now I'm a Senior Banker at Poppy Bank, where I've been for about a year. In my current role, I help clients open accounts for checking, savings, and CDs, but what I really focus on is building genuine relationships with each person who walks through our doors. I treat everybody as a family member, and I do it intentionally and with genuine care. I help clients with their credit, budgeting, and savings, and I also serve as a mentor to another banker on our team. One of my greatest passions is financial literacy education. I've been doing financial literacy programs for about 5 years now at schools, universities, community colleges, and high schools. I love teaching our young generation about budgeting, saving, and credit because they don't know the real world out there yet. My team and I also do a lot of networking, attending community events to talk about what Poppy Bank does and how we can help people with their financial needs. We work closely with Junior Achievement here in the OC, which is a big nonprofit focused on financial literacy. What keeps me motivated is seeing people succeed financially. When you help somebody from the bottom to the top, it feels awesome. It feels like I'm doing something right. Recently, I received a leadership recognition from my area manager at Poppy Bank, which I really appreciated because I do everything with intentionality and from my heart.
• Financial Literacy Certification
• Bachelor's Degree (in progress
• Graduating 2026)
• Leadership Recognition from Area Manager at Poppy Bank
• Junior Achievement - Financial Literacy Education
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my genuine passion for helping people and building real relationships. All the years that I've worked in the financial industry have gotten me to where I am right now, and because of that experience and knowledge, I'm able to provide real value to clients. When you help somebody and you really help them from the bottom to the top, that feels awesome. It feels like I'm doing something right. I do everything with intentionality and from my heart. I don't do it to win awards or recognition, I just do it because I really want to, and it comes from my heart. Once you do that, I think it shows. You don't have to say anything, you don't have to do anything, it's just going to reflect on you. That's what motivates me to keep going and helping people out, because at the end of the day, it's all about that.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Never give up. Keep going, and don't let nobody tell you you can't do something you really want to do. Just keep doing it, keep showing up, and you will accomplish whatever you have in your mind and your goals. Keep doing it. Don't ever give up. It's possible.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is staying consistent because a lot of things change all the time. Rates change, policies change, and you kind of have to adjust to that. Sometimes it could be a little bit challenging because you have to change everything around. But as long as you have that open-mind mentality of, okay, everything's going to be okay, then you're going to be okay. Things change all the time, so that could be a little challenging, but as long as you reflect and say, yes, there is change, but I'm willing to learn and I'm willing to keep going, I think we're good.
Locations
Poppy Bank
Brea, CA