Tanya A. A. King, MBA, CPPM

I attribute my success to having good mentors around me and a strong support system. My family is my rock, and I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't had that support from them. Another key factor has been the opportunity to say yes to different opportunities or different things that come up. Just saying yes, even when things are challenging or scary, has opened doors I never expected and allowed me to grow in ways that have shaped my entire career.

The best career advice I've ever received is to dress for the position you want, not for the position you have. I heard that early on in my career, and that has stuck with me throughout. It has produced some really significant momentum within my career as a result of that advice. It's about being forward-thinking and positioning yourself for where you want to go, not just where you are.

I would say three things. First, just say yes to opportunities. You never know where it will lead you, and you might be surprised by the outcome. Second, when you think of banking, don't just think of a brick and mortar where you go in to draw money or deposit money. Banking is so much more than that. There are so many different attributes and functions within the banking space that if you are close-minded or thinking very narrowly about what banking is, you will essentially shut yourself out of opportunities. Have an open mind, ask questions, ask clarifying questions about what functions people perform in the organization. You have HR functions, technology functions, operational functions, transformational activities, true finance functions, and so many different divisions and avenues within banking that if you are open-minded and willing to learn, you're able to step into just about any space. Third, don't just take the word of one person in that space. One person's experience doesn't necessarily mean that will be your experience as well. I liken that to college, when you hear from someone that a class is the hardest they've ever taken and the teacher grades really hard, and you've already developed anxiety going into that class. But you might have a very different outcome, a very different experience. Don't take one person's experience and mirror that to equate that it's going to be your experience as well. Walk into it with independent thought of making the best of the situation, and don't allow somebody else's influence or experience to dictate how you embrace it.

I would say that when you're at a larger institution, a more regional or global bank, there are a lot more opportunities for movement because there's more divisions, more teams, more structure across the platform. But in smaller community banks or credit unions, you have one individual operating and wearing multiple hats. So equating that to where one would leave a community bank and go to a larger institution, they would perhaps thrive a lot better in a larger institution than they would in a smaller community bank. Though that thought is quite candidly subjective. If you asked 10 individuals who are in banking that question, you'd get a very mixed response. Perhaps someone would say that one would thrive better at a community bank, and someone like myself would say you'd thrive better at a larger institution. It also depends on what point they are in their journey.

I value honesty and transparency above all. I believe in doing what you say you're going to do, and when you say you want to do something, you step in and actually do it. This is going to sound very rudimentary, but humaning well, being a good human, is something that I highly value. In this day and age, we need more of that. My family is my rock, and having that strong support system around me, including good mentors, has been essential to where I am today. I wouldn't be where I am without that support from them.