Samreen Malik, MBA

I attribute my success to my parents, especially my mom. We're originally from Pakistan, and my mom grew up and was raised there. She had a dad who didn't really think women should be educated, so she pushed me immensely, not only just to be educated, but she always wanted me to stand on my own two feet. She said, you know, you can get married, you can do whatever you want, but you must be a career woman, you must be educated, you must be able to always provide for yourself. I took that to the highest degree and took it pretty seriously. I think I'm the first to be further educated amongst the girls, the younger generation even, so education is more important to me than it may be to others, because I just think about my mom, and how if she'd had the ability to have a college education, she may have aspired to do something else. She self-taught herself, she read all the time, and she's very well versed in many worldly matters, and I admire that, because she didn't allow it to keep her kind of in the dark. She continued to educate herself. I'm blessed to still have both my parents for all of my life, and they're in their mid to late 80s, and they've been a real source of support for me. My dad was a hard worker, a self-made man who rose out of Pakistan and had dreams for his family, and he worked really hard to get there and achieved. There's really no replacement for hard work. I put my whole heart into pretty much anything I do.

The best career advice I've received is that no matter what's going on around you, you just kind of have to put your head down and work. My dad was a hard worker, a self-made man who rose out of Pakistan and had dreams for his family, and he worked really hard to get there and achieved. I think there's really no replacement for hard work. Despite that I think we're currently in a generation that believes in shortcuts, I still believe that there is no replacement for hard work. I put my whole heart into pretty much anything I do. Another piece of advice is to always be able to block out the noise. I think sometimes we get caught up in the minutiae, and you can easily kind of have highs and lows. I once had a boss who told me that being even keel in all that you do is super important - ride the lows where they are, and ride the highs where they are, don't ride them too high or too low, because then you always crash when you come down. I think that's good advice, staying even-keeled throughout any situation.

I think one of the biggest pieces of advice is to continue to have the ability to share your voice in any type of circle. I think women tend to feel less empowered sometimes, especially in banking. Banking is very male-dominated, so develop a voice that you feel comfortable sharing in most environments. Advocate for yourself, always. Look for sponsors and people who will support you as you develop your career. Stay committed and work hard to accomplish your goals, but constantly reassess where you're going and how you're going to get there. Don't get complacent and feel like you get stuck at times because you don't know where to go. Make sure that you leverage your resources. I think in general, banking is more male-dominated, and even from a leadership perspective, when you look at corporations, there's still that struggle for women to have a place or a voice, and I think even more so for minority women. I always amend those women that are able to get there, but it has a lot to do with where you work and how open people are to having diverse opinions.

I think the biggest challenge is that banking is very male-dominated. In general, it's more male-dominated, and even from a leadership perspective, when you look at corporations, there's still that struggle for women to have a place or a voice, and I think even more so for minority women. When I look at my own organization and others, you don't see it very often. I always amend those women that are able to get there, but it has a lot to do with where you work and how open people are to having diverse opinions. I think once you have a mission and initiatives to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish, not having a woman's voice, minority people's voice, just having a mix of opinions and backgrounds helps you be better, because you're looking at things from so many different angles. On the opportunity side, I was selected by the bank to attend executive banking school this summer at Furman in South Carolina. It's something I've been wanting to do, which ties education and formal education by senior leaders at other financial institutions. It puts me on a path to understanding what it takes to run a retail business. It's a three-year program - first year is running a retail business, then the next one is sitting in the seat of a CFO or a CRO, and then the last one is sitting in the seat of a CEO. It's supposed to prepare me for an executive role from this point forward.

I think loyalty is a big one. We live in a world that sometimes you don't know who is in your real circle, and you can't really take people at face value, so I think loyalty, demonstrated loyalty is important to me. Family is super important to me. I'm blessed to still have both my parents for all of my life, and they're in their mid to late 80s, and they've been a real source of support for me. I don't have kids myself, but having them as an influence and a support system has been amazing. Integrity is super important to me. I don't believe in cutting corners or doing things that are outside the box of what's permissible in order to accomplish success, so I pride myself really on never having cheated or cut corners to get to where I am. It's pretty much through my hard work and my ability to do what I do with people and be a people connector.