As part of our 75th Anniversary celebration, we sat down with some of our executives to get their thoughts about Bank Independent’s legacy of making a positive difference and what they are excited about for the next 75 years of our company’s future.
Q: Introduce yourself and tell us what you do here at the bank.
A: My name is Penny Camp, and I have the privilege of working alongside the leaders who are responsible for our customer experience and our team member experience.
Q: How long have you been with the bank and what was your first role?
A: I will have been at the bank 20 years this October. My first role when I came into the bank was in our marketing department and then the opportunity to lead our Muscle Shoals Sales Office came available. We had a long-term team member who retired, so I stepped into the sales manager role at that office. I also sold what we called ‘cash management products’ to our business customers. We call this Treasury Solutions today.
Q: What is your favorite thing about working at Bank Independent?
A: The bank is special because of the people. I think it's a wonderful place to work because of the people who make up this organization and who we get to be around each day. We're also special because we get to take care of our customers. We get to make investments into our community and make things around us better. That gives us a special purpose and creates a special place to be each day.
Q: What is a favorite memory that you have from working here at the Bank?
A: There are so many fond memories that bring a smile when I think back over 20 years. The things we experienced, that some might view as difficult, would be the most memorable. Those things took a lot of extra demanding work. When we were doing a system conversion or when we had a big project to work on that created a lot of collaboration, a lot of camaraderie. When you work long hours and hard on something, you get to know each other well. I think those are the fondest memories – how all of that worked out and how we grew together as a team and just made a positive difference within the organization.
Q: What about somebody here at the bank that had a positive impact on you, professionally and personally?
A: Over a 20-year span, I can think of so many people who have been special to me and who have invested in me, both professionally and personally. One person, who was always behind the scenes so it's not a name that everybody within the community would know, was Barbara Riant. Barbara worked to support a lot of people throughout the organization. She worked closely with Fennel, our chairman, and retired CEO, for a number of years. But Barbara truly was to me like a second mother when I came here. She helped me to grow up. And she helped me build confidence and to make me feel a part of the organization. When I look back at the investment she made in me and the positive difference she made not only in my life but in so many others, I'm incredibly grateful for that.
Q: What are you most excited about for the future of Bank independent?
A: We have an amazing mission to make a positive difference in people's lives. When I think about the legacy of the last 75 years of how that has shaped our communities, our growth, and our success just create additional opportunities to continue fulfilling that mission in new and exciting ways into the next 75 years. That’s what excites me: how can we better serve our customers; how can we better invest in our communities and serve them? And how can we continue to build an organization where team members want to be a part of a great place to work and serve each day.
