From the American Bankers Association, this is the ABA Banking Journal podcast. Welcome back. I'm Evan Sparks. Today's episode is presented by Alkami and and it's March and it's when, as and every, and as we all know, March is Women's History Month and it is a great time to talk about the contributions of women in banking previous years. We have featured stories of women from the past in banking.
Women who women like Anna Mebus, Martin, one of the 1st bank presidents in Texas, or Maggie Lena Walker, who was the 1st African American woman to become a bank president. And these are, these are great stories, and we loved it. We will continue to tell them, but I'm really delighted to bring you 3 female leaders. From one bank a regional bank based in the based in the mid south. That's 1st horizon.
And I'm delighted that we are able to bring you a conversation with Hope Dmuchowski, chief financial officer; Erin Pryor, chief marketing and experience officer, and Beth Ardoin, who is chief communications officer, all of them senior members of the First Horizon team who bring a great perspective, not just on on, on the role of women in banking and elevating women in banking careers, but on leadership and banking in general.
So so I'm really delighted to have each one of you on the, on the podcast today. Thanks for joining us.
Thanks for having us. Yes. Thanks for having us. I'm glad we could be part of the current the current feature and not the bankers of the past.
It's women's history month, but I like to just think it's, it's, you know, it's, it's women in banking month as well. So, so I'd love it if if we could just kind of start out with some introductions for the benefit of our, of our listeners. Could you, you know, Tell us, could each of you tell us a little bit about, you know, your journey about who you are and your journey in in the banking industry. And maybe Beth, we'll start with you.
Yeah, absolutely. Beth Ardoin, I am chief communications officer for the company, which includes responsibility for corporate communications, public relations, community affairs, CRA and ESG started actually in the print media business and have been with the company for a total of 22 years in a number of leadership roles. As we discussed earlier, came up through The recent merger of equals and in total again, 22 years with the organization.
And I'll pass it over to you, you hope with an introduction of your name. So our listeners can pick up who's who here as we begin the show.
Thank you, Evan. Hope Dmuchowski. I have been with First Horizon for two and a half years as the chief financial officer. I've spent 22 plus years in banking now, started my career in New York City with Deutsche Bank and investment banking on Wall Street, then moved to North Carolina with BB&T, which became Truist and spent 15 years there before joining First Horizon two years ago.
And back over to Erin.
I am Erin Pryor. I am the chief marketing and experience officer for First Horizon. I've been with the organization for three years. I just had my three year anniversary. Prior to that, my career has definitely not been linear. I started in journalism. Then I went to more of a startup banking scenario and into some FinTech. And most recently I was with USAA. So really excited to be here.
Well, great. Welcome. Welcome to all of you. I'd love it. If you could kind of give us a little bit, give us a little overview and open it up to whoever would like then on the you know, some of you've been with First Horizon or Iberia. It's probably, you know, the one of the, one of the companies, it's part of First Horizon for a really long time. Some, some of you relatively new.
Can you talk a little bit about how First Horizon has helped to empower women leaders throughout the, throughout its banking organization?
Yeah, I'll jump in if you'd like me to start with the most senior most tenured person. You know, I think that the, the, there's, there are a variety of ways in which we empower women each and every day. I mean, number one is our commitment to diversity, including women, which truly starts at the top of the house and is embedded throughout the organization. I think our, you know, our stats speak for themselves. We were highly unique with the largest female executive team leading the company.
62 percent of our executive team is female, 54 percent of our 1200 corporate top corporate managers in the company of the, of the 1200 54 percent of that group is female and 33 percent of our board of directors is female. So, it's really indicative of how proactive our CEO is and empowering women and advancing their careers as well as services and inspiration and a catalyst for the other women in the organization.
So it's really a, it's a. Business imperative at First Horizon to make sure that we are committed to building a diverse organization in particular with women.
Evan, I'm the newest person here on the podcast with First Horizon. I'll tell you, you know, when the recruiter called and asked me if I was interested in moving to Memphis, Tennessee and consider a CFO seat with First Horizon. I said, no, I'm not really interested. We were 2 years into the merger of equals with BB&T and SunTrust. I had just moved my whole family to Charlotte. And he sent me an email back and said, Well, you just spent a couple minutes.
We'd like to tell you about the company. And the first thing he told me is this company has the most diverse executive team in the industry currently, and almost half of the leadership team is women. I said, "Oh, that is unique. Tell me more." And so for me personally, is the first. It was what got me to pick up the phone with a recruiter and talk to him about First Horizon. And so it really creates an opportunity for us as we continue to have, as Beth said, a supportive CEO, great programs.
As we recruit top talent, having diversity across the organization makes such a big difference and creates a culture where everyone feels like they can thrive.
I mean, I don't have anything to add to both of you. I mean, those stats speak for themselves. I think you nailed it.
So, I mean, so, so we, that's, I mean, that the, the stat, you know, of a 62 percent female executive team certainly is absolutely, you know, unusual. I do think it's, we're seeing it, we're seeing that change. So it's a little less unusual, but we, that, that, that is an unusual statistic. What are, what, what effects do you see on the the team dynamic?
On the, the, the workplace culture at First Horizon from having this highly highly balanced dynamic on at, at, at the senior level, at the manager level, at the board level and all the way down.
Yeah, I can, I can speak on that one. You know, great brands are built internally. And so it starts with on with who's on the inside. And as you look at diversity and inclusivity, You really have to solicit other people's voices, and it's in that helps with, you know, diverse leadership. It's a variety of opinions, backgrounds, ideas, and that's what really makes the company culture and the leadership.
Better. And so I think the more diversity you have, both with gender diversity and racial diversity and all the different backgrounds, the more, the stronger you will be because your clients and your prospects and the population has various backgrounds and various genders and all the things, right? And so I think it can only empower and strengthen the company from the outside perspective, but also internally from a cultural perspective.
Yeah, when you think about when you think about the effect or the benefit of this, you know, diverse population and the commitment to build it, it's important to think about retention. And this, this month is not just women's history month. It's also our 160th anniversary. And so during this month, we're recognizing long tenured associates. And so I was looking at that yesterday of the top 200 associates who have been here 35. Years are longer. They're 75 percent are female.
So really, that that reflects the long standing commitment. This company has had to women in the workplace, right? That's well before, you know, 35 plus years. That's well before women were able to hold different leadership roles throughout the organization. So it's it's a commitment that the company has carried forward for a very long time.
Y'all talked a little bit about you know, about about your CEO commitment, CEO's commitment. And we've, we've had Bryan [ Jordan] on the, on the show before it's a number of years ago, when he was chairing the American Bankers Council for, for the American Bankers Association and a great, a great leader, a great leader to speak to. Can you, you know, I, I suspect that that role of a male CEO modeling what This being proactive in this area has a lot to do with allyship.
Can you speak a little bit to to how allyship works at at First Horizon and what how it's practiced and how it's how it's modeled and how it's practiced.
I would say, you know, Bryan gets asked this question all the time and then having a, you know, a lot of senior females and what he always says he's hired the best person for the job and I think that is really the answer is that the unconscious bias is just removed and it's always there and it's intentional. There's a lot of companies that go out with quotas for diversity. We actually don't have one. And we for legacy First Horizon can't speak to Iberia. Maybe Beth can.
Has never had diversity quotas. It has just organically happened. We heard from a board member this past month on a panel who was our first female board member. She's been here for 30 years and she talked about the progression and the prior CEO being so inclusive. And so when you have really great leaders who it is part of their core DNA to just say, I want an inclusive environment.
I want everyone to feel that they can learn and grow and thrive here, whether it's clients or associates in the communities we work in, it makes it really easy.
And Bryan's really leading by example, you know, how do we build the organization around exceptional talent, no matter who you are, where you came from. And so it's, it starts at the top and really does, again, live throughout the organization.
Well, I'm going to take a quick moment here to thank our sponsor for this episode. This episode Alkami, marketing for financial institutions made easy. You can accelerate your growth with financial services, marketing, automation, transaction, data cleansing and artificial intelligence and banking. Learn more by visiting Alkami. com. That's a l k a m i. com. And thanks again to Alkami for sponsoring this episode.
So coming back to the conversation here, you know, we've talked a little bit about kind of how the bank. Operates internally to develop, and I, and hope I really appreciate what you had to say about not relying on quotas, but relying on a culture that that addresses bias and and still being able to get the kind of results that you're looking to to achieve in that environment.
And I'd love to kind of take a little bit of a, of a look, you know, out outward and a little bit of a look to the future and, you know, as. And, and hear a little bit about, you know, one of the things that we hear about a lot at in the banking industry is succession planning. The challenges associated with succession planning.
You know, I was speaking with our current chair, Julie Thurlow, who's a female bank, ceo, from Massachusetts, and she was talking about how there are fewer female bank CEOs in Massachusetts now than there were when she became A CEO, you know, a number of years ago. And part of that tran, part of that reason has just been. You know, you go through succession planning, you go through a succession planning exercise, you figure out who's the best candidate to replace you.
And that, and that's just kind of how things happened at individual banks. And then they have this, you know, bigger picture change in the dynamic in, in the state of Massachusetts, I guess, Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
I don't call it a state, but you've got you know, that, that, that When you, when you think about how to, how your bank is doing succession planning so that you ensure that the best person is, is ready and raring to go and kind of rises to the top of consideration for all of these different levels, again, whether it's, you know, at the staff level, management, executive, how are you thinking about developing rising generations of women leaders at First Horizon?
And what can other banks learn from what y'all are doing?
We have great programs internally. Our culture team does an excellent job of providing opportunities to, you know, mentor and sponsor and advocate for everyone. But they also have some really great women's program. you know, for me personally, I I have an open door. So, you know, I'm always happy to spend the time with individuals within the organization or even those I, you know, I've been hit up on LinkedIn with some questions before, just like, how did you get to where you are?
What do you, what were your challenges? And those types of things. And I think it's just really sharing your story and being. honest about it. Everybody has a different path of how they got to where they are, and everybody has a story. But I think it's good to, to, you can't sugarcoat it. And so I think there's a lot of, of just direct conversation that happens internally. And I think that. To your point earlier, somebody mentioned it's about having the best candidate for the job.
Great work always speaks for itself. And so it's how do you take those who are doing great work and helping to lift them up and to lift the women who are doing great work in, in the organization and to really amplify them.
One other thing I'd add to that, Evan is we are really intentional about our succession planning for the top couple levels. So not just our seats, but our direct report seats. And we sit together as an executive team. Our CHRO, who's also a female, you can do a whole session with her on this, Evan, if you want. And she can talk about it. She's been here for, one of the people that's been here for 30 plus years.
But when we talk about success, Session planning for our directs as a team, we immediately go, okay, is somebody mentoring them? Are you having lunch with them? Do you know them to see? Do you all know our next level town? And if we don't, we all reach out and meet them. And the 2nd thing we think about is I'm developing talent in my group or Erin or Beth. We say, where else should they go work?
And so it's not just one person advocating for an ally, it's that we look at them as talent for the organization. So our top talent, whether it's female, male or diverse, we're making sure they have lots of opportunities, lots of people that see how talented they are. And we're running it as a group exercise you that, that conscious bias that can sometimes get in of I wanna hire somebody like me.
Well, when they're rotating to work in multiple organizations, you get that really great well-rounded experience and we often have the opposite. It was like, everyone's like, oh, we all like that person. We all wanna hire them. But majority of our top town has worked in one, two, or three organizations and we're, we're constantly trying to push 'em into their next place. So it's not vertical as much here as it is horizontal. Looking at how. We develop talent.
That's, I mean, that's got to be a benefit of having continued to grow through acquisitions and everything, creating additional opportunities for people to move around and find the right spot and the right skills they need to move on to their next level.
Evan, a great example this week is we just announced a new deputy Chief Risk Officer. She came out of accounting and so she was in accounting and my team when I got here there when I started here two and a half years ago like, oh, you have a great talent, but she just moved over to risk. And now she's been promoted into risk this week. And so that's a great example of where somebody was the top talent in finance was given an opportunity to go to risk and has excelled.
And so now I would love to promote her, but somebody else has promoted her a couple of times as well. And so that's a great example of where you take talent and you give them the opportunity to shine in different places.
The you know, Erin, I was just reflecting on something you said, talking about great work speaking for itself. And I think one of the, the, the challenges in this space is that great work speaks for itself. But great workers don't always speak for themselves.
And I know sponsorship deals with that a little bit by creating opportunities for someone to be an advocate to someone to get noticed if they, if they, if they might not otherwise be, but, you know, what, what's your advice to people on your, to women on your team about advocating for yourself and, and be, and for your team members and trying how to, how to make sure that the, that the right people, the right decision makers.
Know that you were the one who nailed that project or who, you know, landed that, landed that great, that account or whatever the, whatever the situation is in, in your line of business.
I think you have to be clear on where you want to lean in and what you want to achieve, and that will enable and allow for more direct communication, whether it's You know, speaking up for yourself or myself, or whether it's soliciting feedback from someone else. So I think you kind of have to ask for the order in that regard. In terms of great work, I don't think. It's a fine balance. And I think this is for women. But I also think this is for anybody about the partnership.
And you don't want to be the person who's known as they're talking about themselves again. So there's a way to do it in building the relationships in the networks. To have people out there celebrating with you and bringing the teams on the journey. And I think that's so much more impactful and powerful and impactful. And going out and talking about yourself, I think it's a way to get others to advocate for you on your behalf by by bringing them along.
We all spend a lot of time together talking about how we identify talent in the organization and make sure that we use our voices to help. Coach support and bring people along in the organization because of the roles we play. So, to Erin point, there's a lot of collaboration that goes on in the company to make sure that we're celebrating the wins. We're recognizing the talent that's involved, but also looking for opportunities to continue to build those career paths around that.
We have just marked the 1st anniversary of the Silicon Valley Bank situation and everything that went on with that with the bank failures of last spring and the challenges associated with that. So a lot, a lot of turbulence out there. How do you help your teams respond to change and unexpected setbacks and broader turbulence that can, you know, that can create challenges, not just for our organizations, but for individual careers.
I'll say, you know, we're really good at change. So I welcome Erin and hope to certainly join in. But I would say it's one of our company strengths. We've been through, you know, quite a bit of change in the last few years. We've certainly faced some unexpected events, but, you know, those events and most often events don't define an organization, but the way in which we responded certainly does and our ability to really pivot be prepared.
You know, to pivot and to make sure the way in which we respond benefits, our stakeholders was really again, a defining moment for our organization. And so, as we go forward, I think it's a muscle that we've, we've built and we're really prepared for, you know, whatever comes our way. So, I think it's again, something we do really well and throughout our organization, we, we, we spend a lot of time making sure our associates or understand that change is inevitable.
And it's our responsibility to be prepared.
Evan, I think this is an opportunity for me to advocate for Beth. I thought she was going to advocate for herself, so we all looked at her. Beth does a phenomenal job and her team of making sure our organization is communicated to. And so when you talk about change, if you have a vacuum of information, people make up the story.
And so Beth has done a phenomenal job with her team of making sure that when there's change in the industry, when there's things happening in our company, Whether it's daily newsletters, videos, social media posts, internal posts, working with the media like you all to get our story out. And so I have to advocate for Beth and her team on this is one of the reasons that change has been successful here.
And we have walked through the turbulence is the all of the different channels we communicate with our team. Including, I think we have one of the, one of the most active CEOs who's out in our footprint all the time talking to our clients. So we've had any type of, you know, stress in the system in the last year and a half, Beth and him have immediately worked on, okay, what market you're going to go see? What are you going to talk about? Open Q&A sessions, videos, open conference calls.
We do open conference calls with, you know, what Beth, you organize about thousand, two thousand, three thousand of our leaders. We even had 1 with our whole company last year that had open Q&A during some of this time that was really turbulent. And so I would say Beth leads the charge on that and making sure that during any type of change, any type of disruption in the industry that our employees are hearing from us.
Yeah, I would agree. Beth definitely deserves some kudos here. She's done such an excellent job. I think that I think that the other part of that is the culture. We have a very adaptable culture. And people love the organization. And they love the communities they serve. And so there is a desire To get together and and to charge towards what it needs to be done. And so it's, it's just a really wonderful organization.
Well, thank y'all, Evan. I think we can end there.
I do have one more thing I want to ask y'all before we go. I'm just curious about what y'all are working on, each one of y'all are working on right now that you're really excited about, excited about sharing with the rest of the industry.
You're the CFO, you go. You know,
the core commonly marketing people have to go first. What is the brand we want out there? You don't let the CFO go on this one.
I'll go first. All right. There's so much I'm excited about. It's really hard to narrow it down, but you know, the last few years we've worked really hard to build the foundation of marketing. And experience. In the organization, we've had a lot of everybody's always focused on the client. The client is the center of the table in all of our conversations. But, you know, now we're up and running and I'm really excited to take 160 year old institution and brand is best said.
We're about to celebrate our 160th anniversary to market in different ways and, and just into the next iteration of what is First Horizon.
Yeah, I'll build on that and just say, you know, it's it's where I kind of started the conversation, which is this is a year of execution for us, right? We've had different priorities for the last several years. And this is say, this is our year. This is our year of the ability to really leverage the incredible team. You just heard about for 30 minutes. You know, the ideas, the business momentum that really this is the chance for us to capitalize on that.
And and solidifies as a leading financial institution. So it's it's an exciting year ahead of us.
Evan, I echo all their comments. It's been a unique few years in banking, especially for First Horizon and going through an M O E in the middle of a pandemic. And so we're excited to really head into 2024 you know, celebrating our 160th anniversary with a company that is dedicated commitment. dedicated and passionate about our commitment to our clients and communities, and continuing to build on that.
It's a really exciting time to be a 160 year bank, as you just talked about banks that failed you know, a year ago. We've been here 160 years. There was a, a Bloomberg spot last week and they opened with you were founded in the civil war when Lincoln was president. You've been through a world war. You've been through a world war, you know, two world wars. You've been through a great depression. You've been through multiple banking crisis. So what's next?
And that's a really exciting thing for us to build on this year. And so we've done a lot around our 160th anniversary. Beth again, advocating for her is, you know, leading that charge for us. And so it's really a benedict. exciting start to the year for us.
Great. Well, each one of you, thank you so much for being on the show and for sharing your expertise and insight with our, with the, with the broader banking audience.
Thank you, Evan.
Thank you. And to our listeners, thanks so much for listening. I want to share a couple of resources with you before we go. First of all, is the ABA women and banking page on aba. com, aba. com slash women in banking. There are resources there training opportunities, self paced training, in person training opportunities. And speaking of In person training opportunities, we will be holding the women lead symposium on July 17th, 2024.
It's a virtual synchronous conference that will be be available at aba. com slash women lead. And so I'd invite you to go to that URL, check it out and take a look, a great executive education opportunity. And and, and. So I want to also thank Alkami, our sponsor for this, for this episode, and thanks so much for listening. And we will be back with you again very soon.