Podcast Episode 1: Josie Valdez
We chatted with Josie Valdez who is Vice President Regional Manager at Byline Bank where she manages several branches in the Chicago area. Her position allows her to implement practices, set expectations, and use acute/savvy management skills to create partnerships within the company to continue to facilitate growth and customer engagement.
Explore some of the major takeaways from my conversation with her. We discussed organizational growth and personal growth, and got answers to some of our favorite banking and finance career questions.
Organizational Growth
1. The key to the perfect community bank is…
Having local decision making, bolstering personal interactions, answering customer requests quicker than larger banks, which creates a trustworthy and personalized experience.
2. Understanding the right way to manage
In banking, it’s critical to manage from a people perspective. You have to know your employees in order to understand what motivates them. As Regional Manager for a bank, when Josie Valdez performs branch visits, she speaks to every role in the branch from a part time teller to branch manager. She recommends being open to feedback, questions, and suggestions because it is important for employees to know they matter, like they are contributing, and that they add value. When that's delivered from a Regional Manager perspective, it can really propel the company forward.
3. What is recognition?
Recognition is not always about money. It could be a simple thank you, a thoughtful email, an appreciation that someone brought a situation to closure, a thank you for fulfilling a customer request so quickly. These things go a long way with employees.
4. Understanding that no matter your role, you can make a difference within your company by understanding each other and working together.
Understand that any organization always has room for growth, transition, and optimization. It is each employee’s job in any role to strive to make change from within. But also remember you can only do so much given your realm of responsibility and limitations. Forming more authentic relationships with your coworkers can allow you to build trust to work together and move forward together.
5. Paying it forward
Throughout your career, people will give you chances and opportunities to help you go for your goals. But there comes a point in your career where you should give back. Josie does this by leading the Latin X group at Byline, by being an active participant in DEI council, and by exerting energies and efforts into changing an organization from within.
Personal and Career Growth
1. How Willing to Hunt helped her…
Josie mentions how Willing to Hunt has changed her life twice. The contact was frequent and there were many checkpoints and updates that helped her transition from a branch role to regional manager. She says she is so grateful. Willing to Hunt’s hard work in placing her landed her in her dream role.
2. Every journey is different. “Things happen as they should”
In high school, a work school program where she started as a teller at a local savings and loan allowed her to graduate a year early. She then fell in love, got married and had kids. While she aspired to continue in banking, she didn’t have the higher education a career often required. She ended up working on an assembly line for 5 years eventually getting laid off due to company changes.
Josie ended up at a non-profit called the Spanish Coalition for Jobs where she took a 9-month advanced office training program. That program pushed her to interview and land a junior receptionist position at Harris Bank where she was able to transition to wealth management. Surrounded by super successful people solidified her goals of progression and promotion. It wasn’t about the money. It’s about wanting to do better.
She realized education was critical. Harris Bank ended up offering to pay for her undergraduate tuition, so she became a full-time student at age 36 while working a full-time job, a part-time job, and taking care of her family. When she thinks back on it, she doesn’t know how she did it, but when there’s drive and focus and passion, it can be done. Her journey didn’t happen the way she imagined, but the way that it did put her in the role that she’s in now.
3. Find an organization that values change and enhancements but stays true to their mission
While Byline Bank has gone through several shifts in identity, they have always prided themselves on being a community bank. This has always held true. From CEO to teller, everyone is immensely involved and has been an integral part of the bank.
4. Always continue educating yourself.
Banking continues to be the few industries where you can start as a teller and work your way up. There are people that may not have the higher education, but they have the experience. When it comes to progression, growth, promotion, the education component is critical. It proves beneficial in obvious ways, but it demonstrates to your employer that you have the drive, are goal oriented, have the focus, understand what it means to meet a deadline, what it means to have the beginning, middle and end of a project. And as a female in this industry, having that educational armory in your toolbox makes you an even more viable candidate when applying to a new position.
5. Accomplishing sky high goals
Josie Valdez advises that other early career bankers take stock in themselves and be confident. Find that confidence in who you are and equate that to who you want to be professionally, because you can make it happen. Plan. Be goal oriented. Some goals may seem far fetched. Make reasonable goals for yourself and celebrate them.
Every little step toward your ultimate goal is reason to celebrate and don’t let it go. If you apply for a job and don’t get it. Keep applying, keep learning, seek out mentors, seek out coaches, establish a relationship with your direct manager (let them know “I’m a teller but I’d really like to be a banker” for example). Get on a career path, get the feedback, seek out the education and resources within the organization. Lots of banks have phenomenal in-house training programs. Take them. Everything that you can have under your belt as an accomplishment particularly in the arena of education, learning and training, do it. It will ultimately get you to that goal. Keep on the track. Don’t get discouraged; keep adding more value.
Our Top 3 Questions for Josie
1. Women represented in banking, especially in leadership, is slim to none. Then when you layer on diversity, it’s even bleaker. What has driven you to achieve the level of success that you’ve had when you don’t see anyone else like you in these leadership roles?
“At Depaul, I was the only Hispanic. Whether you are the only or part of many, it is up to you to make yourself proud of who you are, find a space for yourself and continue with the drive within yourself.”
Summary: As leader of the Latin X group at Byline, Josie has realized, we can all point out differences. We all look different, act different, etc. But the critical area of success of working together is to identify how we are so alike. Because we are. You must find the commonality. And when you work with that person, associate yourself with that person, how you connect may be different each time. In that comes more of an association, more of a comfortability. It’s not easy though. It’s easier to feel different. But you must get past that. Melt in and create that similarity. Those differences should be valued and not criticized.
2. You are very focused on personal branding. One of the hardest working women in this business. What’s your message around personal branding and what can young professionals do to create that?
One of Josie’s favorite quotes is: “‘Good job’ is not what you want to hear.”
“Mediocrity should not be the standard for a team, department or yourself. You have to put forth your best work and be proud of that…Why do you want to be just ok? Wanting to be better and driving for the best is an incredible reward… You must strive to be better. If there are reasons for not being better, seek out training, mentorship, a coach; talk to someone in that role or who does that function and figure out how to do it better. Most coworkers, managers, employees will share, so keep growing through that path.”
3. You are an inspiration to a lot of folks. You started in a factory, got married, had kids, went back to school, and got your Bachelors and Masters while working full time and part time. You can’t make that up. It's inspirational!
“I’ve never lost my humility. I don’t manage from the style of I’m a manager and you’re not. We are all people. I find that sharing a bit of yourself when appropriate creates a much stronger relationship. I’m a person too. Whether you’re busing tables or are a CEO there’s honor in that.”
Summary: Josie has been told that her story is inspiring and that she should share it with others, but she finds more reward in assisting and facilitating others. Showing where she’s come from and where she is now shows people that they can do things and accomplish goals.
Any parting Words for people trying to find their way in banking? Especially those part of the Latin X community that don’t see as many role models.
- Always look at the possibilities
- Take stock in yourself, be confident
- Continued education is key
- Build authentic relationships with your coworkers and take the opportunity to learn and grow from them
- Understand, but also push the possibilities within your company
- Never give up on your dream. Persistence, tenacity, and celebrations are key
- Be grateful for the people who give you a chance and pay it forward
