Jim Edwards’ first car wasn’t an American teenager’s usual first car. As his longtime friend Scott Blackstock recalls, when Edwards turned 16, his first car was a very old—and very used—sports car. One of Edwards’ classmates ran into the back of it, significantly damaging the car. A local mechanic and salvage yard owner in Edwards hometown of Barnesville, Georgia, knew how much Jim loved that … Continue reading A Leader for Our Time
If you look closely at the chilly, choppy waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, you might catch a glimpse of sleek black fins—the telltale sign of J pod, the extended family of orcas who haunt the inland waters between Washington state and British Columbia. Like all orca pods, J pod is matriarchal, made up of descendants of four matrilines. The pod sticks together; … Continue reading Leader of the Pod
When Jelena Obrenic landed in Stockton, Calif., in July of 1991, her world was turning upside down. A month before, Slovenia and Croatia had declared independence from her home country, Yugoslavia, triggering several violent years of civil wars, ethnic conflict and the final collapse of Balkan Communism. It was her 18th birthday. She was alone in a new country as an exchange student, with $500 … Continue reading A Fresh Perspective
If you tag along with Jeff Szyperski in Kilmarnock, Va., the first thing you notice is that he seems to know everyone he sees. Drivers roll down their car windows to yell hello. In a branch of Chesapeake Bank, he greets the customers in the teller line by name and asks them about their kids. And he knows the names of all 240 employees of … Continue reading Where Jeff Szyperski Knows Your Name
Viewed from Pitt and Barbara Hyde’s office perched on the bluffs of Memphis, the Mississippi River appears to meander lazily on its way. But appearances can deceive. The river’s smooth, muddy surface hides a powerful flow of more than 300,000 cubic feet each second, moving boats along at a rate of up to three miles per hour amid threatening eddies and undercurrents. Barbara and Pitt—winners … Continue reading Making Miracles in Memphis
Early in 2016, while tracing the history of U.S. savings banks for an article I was writing on their bicentennial, I was intrigued by the stories of two of the founders of the savings bank movement: Philadelphian Condy Raguet and Bostonian James Savage. Both were 32 when, in 1816, they founded the first American savings banks in their respective hometowns. In addition to their contributions … Continue reading Nine Young Bankers Who Changed America
Not long after he became chairman and CEO of First Horizon National Corporation in 2008, Bryan Jordan found himself at the doctor. The doctor asked him what he did for a living, and Jordan replied that he was a banker. “Who do you work for?” the physician asked. “I said I work for First Horizon, and I started explaining what I did and he let … Continue reading Eyes on the Horizon
The year was 2011, and Blaine Jackson faced a tough choice. The then-34-year-old and his young family were seeking to relocate from Atlanta’s northwestern suburbs to Charlotte, N.C. Jackson was the chief financial officer at a struggling community bank in Woodstock, right in the “ring of death,” as the circle of failing banks around Atlanta was known in the years shortly after the financial crisis. … Continue reading A Handcrafted Banking Turnaround
Evan Sparks 