Where I’ll Be This Month I’ll be wrapping up ICBA LIVE in San Antonio, Texas, and then joining our friends at Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT) for the annual Tour de Texas. Connect with Rebeca on Twitter @romerorainey one of work centered around human connection, care and community. We have an incredible opportunity to show that what we do matters to the day-to-day workings of the communities we serve. So, let’s arm ourselves with the stories of our leadership to help stake a claim on the future of banking. Our customers deserve it. INFORM • IMPACT • INSPIRE YOU'RE AN ADVOCATE FOR YOUR COMMUNITY, BE AN ADVOCATE FOR YOUR INDUSTRY. REGISTRATION IS FREE FOR ALL OF OUR NATION'S COMMUNITY BANKERS REGISTER TODAY ICBA.ORG/CAPITALSUMMIT MAY 1–4 WASHINGTON, DC Our community-based missions and customer-first relationships distinguish us in today’s crowded marketplace. That’s why we must keep working at telling the story of who we are. We need to ensure that customers know and understand what makes us different, because what we stand for matters. Once, when my youngest daughter was about seven years old, a megabank was running a large-scale ad campaign focusing on how it served its “community.” When my daughter heard the commercial, a look of horror washed over her face. She turned to me and asked, “How can they say that? They’re not a community bank!” My first thought was that she had been listening to too many of my speeches, but at a second pass, I realized it was her experiences with her community bank — fiestas, county fairs, school fairs, holiday gatherings and more — that created that emotional connection for her. Those collective encounters shaped her perception of what it means to be a community bank. This just proves that it’s not only the stories we tell, but the actions behind them, that make the impact. As relationship bankers, we go far beyond our financial offerings to create a connection with our customers. And we need to find a way to amplify that message. As you read this, I hope you will consider how you can better tell your stories to demonstrate that we are different — not just in words but, more importantly, in deeds. In a world that’s so full of noise, the story we’re telling is compelling and resonates with our customers, because it’s 7 ISSUE 2 | 2022
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