Unknown Speaker 0:00
A large portion of Americans don’t have a bank account. They keep their money cash. I saw how I grew up and how my friends grew up. And I thought there was a huge disconnect between the banks and the communities that they should be reaching what I’m really passionate about helping the unbanked and the underbanked it cost them more not to have a bank account.

Unknown Speaker 0:16
Hey, it’s Nate Disarro, and welcome to Titans of Industry, the podcast where I talk to industry leaders and innovators who are at the top of their game and leading the pack in their fields uncovering some of the best stories in today’s business landscape. In this episode, I sit down with Miguel Lopez the chief community officer at Encore Bank, and a board member of multiple community organizations. Miguel talks about being a first-generation immigrant from Mexico and how education was his ticket to a great life, how serving his community and encouraging diversity has become one of his greatest passions, and how he’s part of a leadership team that has been referred to as the Avengers of banking. I also want to say congratulations to Miguel and being selected in the inaugural class of the future. 50 business leaders in Arkansas, an honor that multiple guests on this podcast have been selected into. Now let’s get to the episode. But before we do, our team at content Titan wants you to know that we understand the challenges business leaders and marketers are facing right now with moving to a more virtual world. We are experts in taking human connections and turning them digital. From virtual Events and Video presentations to promotional content and advertising. We are here to help guide you through the process of staying in front of your audience and making your life a little bit easier. People tell us all the time that they are lost and don’t know what to say or do and we exist to help your business continue to move forward, virtually. So if you’re ready to take your business and content strategy virtual, our Titans are ready to help. Let’s get your business back to business.

Unknown Speaker 1:54
Now here’s my conversation with Miguel Lopez

Unknown Speaker 1:59
Miguel Love that we get the chance to sit down and have this conversation. I’ve known you for a few years now, I think the first time we met was an interview we did a few years back with just communities of Arkansas. And I’ve known ever since then kind of your involvement in the community. And you’ve been a part of a lot of boards and things. And I mean, I gotta admit, you’re not that old to be doing all the things you’re doing. So I’d love to just jump in with you know, give me kind of your, your background. How did you get involved in all these things? And where are you at right now?

Unknown Speaker 2:28
Yeah, so I was actually, I was born in Mexico, as my name will give it away. And my parents had some businesses in there and we’re doing pretty well. And then like, 94, the economy just tanked and my parents were, they just didn’t want to be there anymore. So they literally sold everything they had, and upgraded them our family to go to the US and in search of the coveted American dream. And I was about two or three at the time, and we landed in California at first and parents didn’t really like it. We had an aunt that still lives in Sherwood Arkansas to this day. And you know, always I think in life, we can always pinpoint those moments that were just, you know, pivotal in your life. And for me, that’s one of them. When that answered, you should try Arkansas. You know, we didn’t know where it was, I didn’t have any connections except that and, and we moved here and it was the best thing that my parents could have ever done for us because Central Arkansas has been a dream for us. And moreover, every dream I’ve ever had Central Arkansas has helped realize it for me. And I say all that to say, you know, my my wanting to get involved. That’s kind of my way of giving back. You know, my mom always said our rent in this world is service to others. And you take where I come from and what Central Arkansas has given me, my family. It just almost kind of feels like an indentured servant, right? So I’m always finding ways to kind of plug and play and help out wherever I can. And that’s why I’ve just kind of always been involved because to me, it’s not only fun, but it’s a good way of finding yourself is through service I found and just to give back to this community that’s given us so much.

Unknown Speaker 4:05
That’s awesome. So what’s what’s your career path into this point? How have you kind of made your way to now being, you know, a vice president at a bank?

Unknown Speaker 4:14
Yeah, you know, I can’t, I never thought I’d be in banking at when I first got into banking. I jokingly said, the only qualification I had to be a banker was that I had a bank account. And I just never really didn’t know what I didn’t know any bankers. Um, at the time, I was working for the Chamber of Commerce doing economic development, and I loved it. And I had a friend, friend and now friend that reached out and said, Hey, you know, we’re looking to hire, you know, a guy that could do X, Y, and Z. And I just so happened to fit those molds. And I said, Man, I’ve never thought about banking. And then as you know, learn more about it. I realized that banking is just super rewarding career because you’re helping people with some of the most sensitive issues in their life, right their finances. And once I did it, and I was at first community at first and loved And then had the good fortune of hearing about encore and the work that they’re doing. And I just jumped at the chance to be part of Team encore and kind of help provide a true community kind of boutique bankfield to Central Arkansas and some of the other regions we’re going into.

Unknown Speaker 5:17
Everybody’s got a bank account. And everybody sort of chooses a bank based on certain criteria that maybe it’s the one closest to their house, maybe it’s the one they know somebody that works at or they like the colors of the logo the most. Who knows why people choose

Unknown Speaker 5:29
the toaster, right? That’s right, exactly.

Unknown Speaker 5:30
So talk about your role there and how that helps kind of develop this sense of community banking.

Unknown Speaker 5:38
So my title is a chief community outreach officer. And effectively what that means for me is I’m kind of the guy that’s out in the community, waving the flag for the bank, but more importantly, kind of hearing the needs and the wants of the community, and then relaying those back to the C suite of the bank to say, Hey, here’s some things we can be doing. And a lot of what I’m really passionate about is helping the unbanked and the under Bank, you know, for someone like yourself, I’m sure it’s never dawned on you to not have a bank account, right? Your parents had one, they open your checking account when you’re a little kid, you’ve always had a bank account? Well, there’s a large portion of Americans that don’t have a bank account, they keep their money, cash, or they go to cash checking places. And it’s actually a detriment to them. Because if you ask them why they don’t have a bank account, more often than not, they’ll say I can’t afford it, right? They think it costs money. But in reality, it costs them more not to have a bank account, because every time they get to check cash, they’re paying fees, right? Or every time they go get alone instead of going to their bank, or they go to the payday loan guy, and it’s super expensive. And that’s something that’s really near and dear to my heart. because growing up Hispanic American, my parents really didn’t have a bank account, right? Of course, when we moved here, we didn’t have two nickels to rub together. So we didn’t really need a bank account. But what I realized was, you know, I saw how I grew up and how my friends grew up, and I saw there was a huge disconnect between the banks and the communities that they should be outreaching and that’s kind of been my My rally Kraft for the past couple years to say, Hey, we as a bank, we’re going to make a concerted effort to reach out to this demographic to let them let them know a couple things. One, we want your business, right. We want your trust, and we want to be your partner. And I think you have to do all those three things in unison. And the more I saw it, the key to upward mobility in America is you have to have a strong financial partner, be your bank or your credit union, preferably your bank and preferably encore bank. But you need that strong bank in your corner so that you can come in and say, hey, I want to buy a car. I want to buy a house. And it’s no secret that the easiest and fastest way for Americans to build generational wealth is through homeownership. Well, if you don’t have a bank account, or if you’re not monitoring your credit, it’s gonna be really hard for you to do that. And unfortunately, that disproportionately affects communities of color, black and brown. So in my role as to answer your question more directly, that’s kind of what my role is right to help and kind of be the eyes and ears for the bank and go out in the community and kind of be a bridge More so than anything between both communities.

Unknown Speaker 8:03
I love that. And I think for you personally, you’ve taken it on as a mission to sort of blend that professional career and your personal agenda of service to others. And how do you do that in the community? And so, like I said, You’re on several boards that I know of, and and that comes from your dedication to being a servant, and a servant leader. And so how do you kind of mix the two into your everyday world?

Unknown Speaker 8:30
It’s a great question. You know, part of part of me being in this role is to be out in the community and letting them know that, you know, encore bank is here to help and we want to be a partner. And, you know, I love serving on those boards because it allows me to do two things, right allows me to give back to the community but it also allows me to be out there and in pressing flesh with some of the most influential people in the city. Which, you know, doesn’t help doesn’t hurt rather from a business development standpoint. So that’s kind of the way I do it, but also it’s just, you know, I think In order for if you look at any community in America, right, I think they have a couple things, right? They have other big university public university, they’ve got hospitals, and they’ve got a strong bank. If a community doesn’t have either of those three things, they’re going to be in real trouble real soon. And I think the good thing about literati is we’ve got tons of really good banks, right? And I think encore is at the top of that list. So how do we continue to be top of mind for people so that when they have a question or a concern, they can reach out to us, and we can start building some true meaningful relationships.

Unknown Speaker 9:31
I love it. I think the first time we met was through this project with just communities of Arkansas, which, you know, I think right now, in 2020, we’ve got a lot of things to talk about. One of the biggest ones is diversity and inclusion. And we did a project a few years ago that talked about all the all the same things, and that’s something you’ve been passionate about. So talk me through sort of what that looks like for you as a Hispanic American and someone who has made it there. job to include people who are oftentimes, unfortunately left out of the conversation. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 10:06
I’ll start with a real quick story on why I like to do what I do and be as visible as I can. You know, I get asked to go speak at high schools quite often for Career Day, and something I relish. Now, one particular day. This was actually a middle school, I was there, and I’m talking about career day. And that day, of course, is pre COVID. So I had a suit and tie and the whole, the whole jazz. And I’m talking about you know, why I love banking. And my job in this Hispanic kid in the front row just shoots his hand up in here. And he goes, where are you from? I said, Well, you know, I live and share with relevant West litter og, but you know, Mexican, which is what he was getting that what he asked, and he looked at me like I was lying. He’s like, No, you’re not. Yeah. And he starts talking to me in Spanish as if to catch me in some elaborate lie. So boom, I hit him with my Spanish and he’s just like, whoa. And I said, Why don’t you believe that I’m Mexican. And he said, Mexicans don’t wear suits to work. And man that that hit me hard. And I just looked at him and said, you get a good education. You can wear whatever you want to work, lab coat, hardhat, suit tie, whatever said your limitations are only the ones you said to yourself. And as I was driving home, it just hit me how just you can’t be what you can’t see. And maybe that kid never thought he could be a banger because he never saw himself wearing a suit, or he probably never seen anyone in his family worse, you know, that he did. I’d like to think that maybe he’s, you know, his horizons have broadened a little bit. And for a lot of people, candidly, I’m the only Hispanic they know. So it’s kind of like a pressure that I put on myself to always put my best foot forward. Because especially now, it’s no secret that, you know, hate crimes towards Hispanic Americans have increased substantially over the past couple years. For for reasons I think we all know. So that’s something that I’m always cognizant of, you know, found the only Hispanic person that Nate knows, I have to talk you know, really well and I have to dress really Well, and I have to be on my best behavior. It’s probably an unfair pressure that I put on myself, but I do it anyway. Because I think that’s how you change hearts and minds of folks. Especially but but I say all that living in, you know, in the deep south and saying earlier that it’s been, you know, the best thing for my family. And I think that’s somewhat of a cognitive dissonance here in the last couple years on on that, but that’s why I’m so passionate about it, because I know firsthand that it’s just important for people to to see and moreover, you know, being on all these boards, I think one of the reasons that I get asked to be on them is because I’ve provided a different lens and a lot of them right, I’m a first generation American, I’m an immigrant. English is my second language. I just bring so many different lenses that candidly make us a stronger board because if you have 12 people in the room from the exact same background, same college, you kind of get stale ideas, right. And there’s no there’s tons of data that shows that the more different the room different the ideas you can be in I think we live in a world where we want different ideas, we want different perspectives, because that’s what provides, you know, really deep and meaningful conversations.

Unknown Speaker 13:08
I love that. And I know there’s not a, it’s a very complex problem to solve. With some of the things going on in our country, I think we’ve seen a lot of positive movement and progress. But from the chair you sit in, being out in the community, seeing so many different vantage points and having a unique perspective, to speak to. What do you see is a step forward? How do we continue to move towards equality and everything kind of feeling more equal than I think a lot of times, it is,

Unknown Speaker 13:43
you know, I think we’ve made some strong headway in that. And I see that when I’m in boardrooms that are, you know, pale, male and stale, and they look at me and they say, we’ve got a diversity problem. Right. And when they say that, it’s like, wow, if they’re starting to get it, that’s a huge bonus for us. And I think it’s incumbent upon folks like myself that are privileged to be in that room and have that said to him to say, Okay, how can we help them out? How can we help diversify their board? How can we bring different ideas, and diversity isn’t just you know, black and brown, it’s also income. It’s also shared experiences, it’s also demographics. So I think that’s one of the ways that we do that is when when someone reaches out and says, Hey, you know, we’ve got a diversity problem. First, just congratulate them for realizing that because for a lot of folks, it’s a tough pill to swallow. Right. Some people were, you know, as one of my buddies says that they were born on third and thought they hit a triple. And for them, it’s it’s hard to kind of realize that, you know, a lot of what you have is just by virtue of who your parents were. And there’s nothing wrong with that. You should be proud of that. But if you have a position of power, and you’re in a place where you can bring systematic change, I think you should make every effort to do so.

Unknown Speaker 14:56
That’s powerful.

Unknown Speaker 14:58
Sometimes, I evaluate my own circumstances and want to feel like I have a well rounded point of view because I grew up in a town called Plano, Texas, which, on almost every list, it’s one of the top five cities in America to raise a family, you know, gross income, it’s just one of those cities, that just is pretty much where everybody wants to feel like they’re from. And I went to a high school that had a lot of diversity to it. I mean, people of every race, every ethnicity, and, and I felt like I had a good understanding of the world because of the fact that I grew up in that environment. But then, as I’ve obviously become an adult and traveled and done all these things, you realize, well, just because I was around people of a certain race or people that thought differently than me doesn’t mean that I still didn’t have certain privileges that they didn’t, but I didn’t realize that at the time, and it took me a while to even acknowledge that like you were saying that acknowledgement is the first piece of it, especially when it comes to The business world, I think we have a lot of work to do still. When I talk to people, and you know, you have a position to fill, and you’re looking at resumes, I would like to think people aren’t looking for race or age or gender. But I think a lot of times, there’s probably certain positions based on the company culture, the community, the client base, where those things become a factor. How do we eliminate those factors?

Unknown Speaker 16:28
That’s a great question, you know, to to example, on your high school experience, that’s what the huge that’s the main difference between diversity and inclusion, right. And the best example that I can give is you get a glass of milk, right? And you add chocolate syrup, right? That’s diversity, right? But if you don’t start at all the chocolate milk just stays at the bottom, and all the milk stays at the top right. So you’re diverse, but you’re not inclusive. It’s not it’s not chocolate milk until you get the spoon and you stir it up and then you make chocolate milk. That’s where the inclusion comes in. Right. So go into high school. That’s diverse is great, but you know, it’s saying, hey, I want to go make friends with the Hispanic kids, or Hey, I want to go make friends with the African American kids. That’s really where you get the the beauty of it, I think I mean, just imagine, some of my best friendships are with folks that come from different backgrounds. And I, of course, that’s easy for me to say, cuz no one really has a background that I mean, not as many people have the back on that I come from. But in the business community, you’re 100%, right. You know, I’ve had folks that say, well, I’ve, you know, I’ve tried to hire minorities, but I can’t ever get them. Where do you what do you put it at? Well, you know, I tell people, I’m a country club, or I tell them that and I’m like, well, man, you’re in the wrong place. Right? Or, you know, you just have to have more intentionality behind that, right? You have to go to you have too much like in my role, you know, I can’t, I can’t just sit in my office and expect for the Hispanic community to come bank with me just because I’m Hispanic. I’ve got to go out there and pound the pavement and press the flesh and let them know that I won’t do business the same way an employer should do say, hey, I want to hire a more diverse workforce, right? But He’s got to get out of the office and be involved in the community, but also reach out to friends that you know that have those because I think one of the biggest beauties of literary work is that as a city, we’re big enough to be a metropolitan city. But we’re still small enough to have that small hometown feel. And that’s one of the things that I’ve benefited substantially from that is, you know, you do right by one person, and they’ll let their friend know. And the next thing you know, you’ve got more friends than you can ever imagine. And I think that’s how you in the business or that that’s how you do it, you just have to have more intentionality behind it. And I give up the first time, right if you if you have a position and you But to your point, right, you want to make sure you hire the most qualified person, regardless of skin tone and color, but you can’t just get away with it by putting it on LinkedIn, and hoping that you know, you have applicants of color that apply. Knowing that, you know, that might not be the best place for him. I’m not saying it’s not but you just have to try different things.

Unknown Speaker 18:54
All right. So talking about sort of advancement, where things are going what are some Things that you’ve seen sort of shift and change, especially in COVID. Right now, you know, I mean, obviously, we were talking off camera a minute ago about funny little memes that are out there. And the things that change the world faster than anything may not be somebody’s innovative thoughts and ideas. It’s a global pandemic, and it forces us to be more technological. But there’s pros and cons to that, because especially if you’re talking about people who have never banked before, now you add technology to the mix, and they may not have access to that technology. So what are some of the things that you’ve seen from an advancement standpoint, where the industry is going that you are involved in? And then what challenges does that present? On top of it?

Unknown Speaker 19:38
That’s a great question. You know, harking back to this great quote by Charles Darwin, who said, it’s not the smartest that survived. It’s not the strongest that survived. It’s the ones that are most willing to that. And I think that is still true today, even more so back then. And especially as it relates to, you know, to COVID. Right. And I say that being a banker in an industry that historically moves at The speed of smell, right? I mean, we’re, we’re risk averse by nature. We’re conservative. We, you know, I’ve got customers, it’s still balanced their checkbook and God love them. And I think that’s one of the beauties of being at encore right now is you know when we all kind of got together and as we hire, we are intentional about hiring folks that don’t say things like we’ve always done it this way, or that’s how I’ve learned to do it. We’re intentional on hiring folks that want to think outside the box and want to genuinely provide something that isn’t out there. And you know, our slogan is, you know, building something better and we genuinely believe that we can and I think COVID was a prime example of that right? I think it it was a stress test to our model to see you know, if it worked, but that was one of the beauties of it is here comes this pandemic came out of nowhere, and now we’ve got it respond to it. And I think one of the best examples I can give you is PPP, right? We were able to fund 100% The applications we received on from PPP, which kept about 1100 Arkansans on the payroll. And that’s what gets me excited every morning as being able to be there for for our customers and our community. It genuinely felt at the beginning of it like we were economic first responders, right? You had businesses calling you saying, Hey, what’s this PPP do? How do I apply? Do I have to pay it back? I’m about to layoff these people. If I can get this loan. It’s a lot of pressure on a banker, right? Which historically, everything moves slow and you dot your i’s and cross your T’s. And then this happened and like, we’ve got to learn about it. We’ve got to inform our customers, and then we got to give them the funding. But I think our team handled it exceptionally well by the by the metrics that I’ve stated. And that to me, is what banking is all about is you know, I always tell folks, you know, as a as a smaller, more boutique bank, we’re not going to be in every corner. We don’t want to be but we’re going to be in your corner if you call us and I think we During the pandemic, that we were able to prove that to a lot of folks,

Unknown Speaker 22:04
that’s great. And 100% funded is monumental. I mean, I know that early on, there were a lot of complaints from business owners saying we can’t get the funding, we need to be able to continue, you know, paying our people, which is most important. But I know a lot of banks did a great job of really fighting for their customers. But it was it was such a challenging situation, because again, nobody had ever faced it. And I think the the people that really rose to the top were the ones who had great leadership behind them. So from a leadership perspective, you know, being in the C suite of the bank yourself and and having strong leaders around you, what are some of the things that stand out as far as how you guys really move ahead and take care of your customers?

Unknown Speaker 22:49
Yeah, you know, I think one of those is just being open to new ideas. Right? If you look at Bank, I would venture to say banking in the last five years has changed more than it did in the last hundred years. Like I said, You have to have leadership’s that are okay with saying I don’t know, right? Or, I don’t know. But let’s hire someone that can help us implement that. And that was one of the beauties of us at encore is our C suite. I mean, you’ve got three of the sharpest bankers in the state and Chris Roberts, Philip Jett and Bert Hicks. And, you know, I was super comfortable where I was prior, but it wasn’t until I met with him and sat down and they kind of shared with me their vision and mission for the bank and what encore could be that I was like, sign me up, you know, let’s, let’s let’s do some good for the community and grow. But I think some of the characteristics is, you know, being open to new ideas, not being not being scared to take risk, right, which is counterintuitive to everything a banker does, because what I always tell people is Yeah, bankers are risk averse. But we’re not never going to take risk because that’s what a loan is. It’s always a risk. You just have to know, monitor safe and soundly. And I think we just have to apply those same principles to adapt New technologies, right? One of the things that we’re focusing on now is online account openings, right? You know that I think the days of folks going over to your corner branch and you know, opening a bank account and getting a coaster or a toaster or whatever, those days are long gone. I think folks want just quick instant account access. And we’re doing everything we can to make sure that we provide that for the customer that wanted

Unknown Speaker 24:23
my single business monitor is just be easy to do business with. And I think especially now, more than ever before, that means don’t put a bunch of paperwork in front of me, don’t make me come do something at a certain time. Don’t call him one 800 number. Exactly. I

Unknown Speaker 24:37
was talking with a customer or a potential customer at the time. And he said, What’s your customer service? Like? That’s what his main concern was. And I said, Man, you’re looking at it. You got my cell phone, you call me. And that’s when he was kinda like, Whoa, you know, because he’d come from a big bank that you know, he didn’t have a relationship and he called him one 800 number. And this is a big time guy and For me to just say to him, call me What takes What do you need? We’ll do it for you. I think that was kind of a wow factor for him.

Unknown Speaker 25:07
That’s awesome. When you think about your own growth and development, what are some things you do to stay sharp and kind of improve yourself?

Unknown Speaker 25:17
That’s a good question. You know, I think there’s kind of a dual pronged, there’s a professional and the personal and I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. But personally, I make sure that I take care of my body. And that sounds stupid, but I think it’s so important to exercise daily to have a good diet, to meditate and to sleep well. You want to be physically there every day, right? Every day you wake up, you know, I like feeling good. I like being alert. I like being attentive. I also like to just stay stay up to date with you know, with anything that’s going on in the banking world, right. So I read, there’s a great website for all the bankers out there called the financial brand and it just has these current up to date banking articles. I’m also constant Reading a book because to me it’s it’s kind of a I think overall well being is a three legged stool right? your spiritual well being whatever that is for someone whether it’s you know, religious or not, your mental well being right wouldn’t be mentally healthy and your physical well being right and i think at least I personally try to everyday exercise those three whether it’s praying in the morning, morning workout reading a book at night, you’re constantly exercising those things because one of the things that I think a lot of folks don’t realize is that success isn’t a big you know, big aha moment I think success is is boring. It really is. It’s incremental, good habits that you do daily. And that’s not going to sell a lot of books. It’s not going to be sexy to say hey, all you have to do is do this every single day of the rest of your life where people want I’ve seen is they want you know, the magic pill. Hey, if you do this one thing, they this one thing only you’re going to be successful. That’s what they’re looking for. In high school. My high school football coach was my son was my history teacher because he No, it’s the south and that’s how that works. And he said, Lopez swears he said, Lopez, you’re Mexican, right? And I said, Yes. And he goes, can you kick? And I said, is the pope Catholic? He said, You’re such a smartass come out for the kick the football team, we need to kick our kicker had just graduated. I’ve never I’ve never touched the football at this point, right? I’m Mexican. I play soccer. But I to his point, as as stereotypical as it was, he was right. I could kick and I should have been practicing. I wasn’t great. And I told him, I said, coach, I’m no good. I’m not great. He said, I don’t need you to be good. I need you to be consistent. And for whatever reason, that stuck with me, because I was never a great kicker, but I was consistent. I would. I couldn’t kick a 50 yard field goal, but I could hit it down the uprights every time from for the extra point. That’s what he was wanting. And I say that to say in life, that’s what people value the most is consistency, right? I don’t care if you can do one good podcast now. I want you to do 50 good podcasts. And I think that’s one of the things in life that’s helped me is just you have to be consistent, right? You always have to be, you know, even if it’s a bad day, or even if I don’t want to work out, or even if I don’t want to read, just have to be consistent, because as the old quote goes, water cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its consistency. And I think that’s kind of my main takeaway.

Unknown Speaker 28:23
Yeah. And it goes to the same mantra of everything is a marathon, not a sprint, right? I mean, you think about somebody running a marathon, if they hit mile 15 success to them, maybe mile 16, but they haven’t crossed the finish line. They’re just looking at that one next thing, whereas a sprinter, I mean, 10 seconds, three races over. And now what, you know,

Unknown Speaker 28:44
I did a half Ironman two years ago, and I just randomly woke up when I was trying to set like goals for myself and I had just graduated from my undergrad I was about to start grad school. And I wanted something to keep me hot and bothered in between because that’s just how I operate. You know, people say I will On a one month vacation I’m like, Man after like four days I need something stressed me out. I don’t know what it is. So I signed up for this Ironman. And I get to Chattanooga. And literally the moment I jumped in that river I wanted to get out. I mean, it’s like that Mike Tyson quote, everyone’s got a plan, they get punched in the mouth, Wham. I mean, it hit me. And I was like, I didn’t drive eight hours to just get out of river so I swam and almost died in the river but got out the bike was fine cuz I’m a cyclist and I love that and then when I but I got a little too aggressive on the bike and when I started doing the running portion, the half marathon literally the moment I got off my bike, both my hamstrings just gave out I mean, I had cramp and I was on my knees and some volunteer comes up behind me and throws table salt in my mouth. And literally just pushed me and I’m surprised I didn’t just fall on my face. And I just walk I mean, I you know, my would frustrating thing. My cardio was great. I could have ran it, my legs and given that I literally walked half marathon, which is the most embarrassing thing But didn’t give up. And what I loved about that is, you know, I think anyone people people get impressed when I said it a half half Ironman. And to me, it’s really not impressive because anybody could do it. I mean, if your life depended on it, Nate, you would find a way. But it’s doing it when your life doesn’t depend on it, that I think it’s impressive, right? When you have no reason to do it, but the fact that you’ve set that goal, and I thought about that every step of those 13 miles like, man, I should just quit and I’m like, you’re not gonna quit.

Unknown Speaker 30:28
When it goes back to the interconnectedness you mentioned, the mental, the physical and the spiritual, because, you know, your physicals done, right. I mean, literally, your body didn’t want to go any further. But the mind you trained your mind, strong enough to say, you know what, we’re gonna make this body do what we want it to do.

Unknown Speaker 30:44
I never thought about it that way. But yeah, you’re 100%, right, because you know, those three things are, I like to think well balanced on my end. And one of those gears gave out but the other two are still there. And that’s a

Unknown Speaker 30:53
good way to look at Yeah, well, and we just had Brian Mears on the podcast CEO of Allegiant health centers, and he talks about, you know, the the interconnectedness of those three things and how a lot of times when it comes to people going through mental health treatment, kind of the, the old way of doing it is we’re just going to prescribe you a pill. And you might talk to somebody and we’re just going to treat that mental piece. But we’re going to forget about the physical and spiritual even though it’s all connected. So we’ve got to look at all three in order to fix the one man

Unknown Speaker 31:19
that’s so important right now, you know, run out with COVID It’s no secret, you know, the media tells you you need to wear a mask, which is great. And you should the media tells you need to socially distance, which is great, and you should, but what’s frustrating for me is they’re not telling you, you need to exercise more, you need to eat better, you need to get outside get some vitamin D, they’re not telling you those three things and not to sound like a conspiracy theorist or anything, but there’s no there’s the data shows that if your BMI is like 42% or higher, and you get COVID it’s not gonna be good, right? So if you know that, why don’t you rectify that right? And it’s easy for me to say because I love to work out but that’s one of the things that I’ve started doing in light of COVID. I went vegan about three months ago. Just because there’s tons of research that shows that your immune systems better your metabolism systems better. And if you got this disease that debilitates those three things, why not get on the on the on the attack and boost it up so that if and when I do get COVID, right, hopefully I’m either asymptomatic or I just get them out head sore, and I’m fine. And I’m not I’m not on a breathalyzer. Now, I could get it and die from it. Right? But so Can anybody least I’m going to do is do what I can, on my end. And I think if you look at in America versus other countries, 42% of Americans are overweight, versus China. 6% of Chinese are overweight. So that’s something that I think that’s why unfortunately, it’s hit us so bad is because as a country, we’re just so unhealthy. And I always pride people in that take good care of their health because, you know, your body is your vessel. It’s so important. It’s the one body you get, you know, take care of it. But also a few expect, you know, to do a lot of things To be high producer, you’ve got to have a well oiled machine. It’s like a race car right? If you want to win that race, well you better get the oil change, you better gas it up, but keep the tires nice and threaded. Same with your body.

Unknown Speaker 33:12
Yeah and all back to that same point. Oftentimes our weight our health, our physical well being is directly related to our mental well being, you know, if we want to be in shape, we just have to do the things to make it happen. It’s it’s not a physical thing as much as it is a mental thing.

Unknown Speaker 33:32
Well, and you know, it’s funny, especially with COVID you know, they shut down the gyms for a while, and I’m a guy that goes to the gym just about every day. And then I started thinking I was like, I don’t need the gym, right? You know, do 50 air squats and see if that’s not a workout or do 100 push ups at the house? And I think one of the one of the good things I think a lot of one of the silver linings rather of all this is I think a lot of people are starting to get out right? I mean, if you go ask any bike shop in town, they can’t keep them on the shelves because I think Folks are just craving social interaction in a socially distant way. But also they’re just craving to get out of the house and stretch their legs. And I think it means more bike sales and more people using the bike trails. And that’s a silver lining for sure.

Unknown Speaker 34:16
Remembering to be to another point, and that is the people we surround ourselves with. Help us be who we want to be, you know, they say you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you’ve mentioned a lot about the things you do to take care yourself physically, you know, the people you’re around on a professional level. So talk to me a little bit about some of the people in your life, some of the Titans in your world that, you know, you kind of look up to and help influence your day to day,

Unknown Speaker 34:42
man. The first and foremost at the top of any list is my mom. I’m a huge mama’s boy. But but to her credit, she is the best mom in the world. And she would always tell me this grown up in Spanish, she would say the Macomb Kenan does direct kinetise which in English translates to tell me who you’re hanging out with and I’ll tell you who you really are. And I’ve always thought about that right in high school and I had friends that started getting into drugs or starting doing stupid stuff I just kind of out of my life, because that’s not who I am. That’s not who I wanted to be. And to my mom’s point, that’s not who I want to be associated with. But to answer your question more directly, I realized really early in life, growing up as an immigrant with no social capital, that it’s really important to know people and to pick a good mentor. And I’ll give you one really funny example the very first time I got to meet President Clinton was at a fundraiser here in town and I for whatever dumb luck on my end, I knew the guy who was hosting the fundraiser so I got to be invited but as a as a volunteer. And you know, they’re giving out the volunteer task and I’m no idiot, I want to I want to connect with these people, right? I’m a nobody I know that but I don’t want to die, nobody. And they were given out the task and I wanted it the one that would give me the most face time with somebody. And they’re like, who wants to drop the gun? cart. Boom, I shot my hand. Oh, right. My God, my job that day was to drive this golf cart in this huge house and drive the the guests. Right. So to me I get face time with these movers and shakers. I was like 18. And as fate would have it, one of those was President Bill Clinton. So here is one of those pinch me moments, right. Here’s an immigrant from Mexico that had no reason to be here driving one of the presidents of the former president knighted states to this event. And I guess by virtue of where I was that night, he thought, you know, I was somebody and he shakes my hand. And he goes through your parents. And I was just, I was starstruck. I was like, there. Nobody said, I didn’t know what to say to him, because, you know, he was expecting me to sell there. Jimmy Bob, who ran your gubernatorial campaign at four. I was like there nobody. And he was like, Huh, and I was like, I’m an immigrant. I’m just volunteer. I got super nervous. I don’t even know what I said. But something along the lines of you would known and he said, will tell I said what it was that day when I left and I was like, Man, it’s super important in life to be around people that can mentor you and can value you and can help guide you and a lot of the a lot of the biggest breaks I’ve had in my life are bar or by virtue of people that I knew. So to answer your question, my mom is the first one right because she she’s my North Star. She talked to her four times a day and she’s just really gave me a sound foundation for my life and kind of help keep me keep the train between the tracks. But also I’ve got a two really good close friends of mine, Wei rakhee, who is a mentor and a friend and and Sam karski, young. interior point we know all three of us come from very diverse upbringings, three of us are brown, the three of us, they’re entrepreneurs. I’m a banker. So I do a lot with small businesses and entrepreneurs. And I just love the bond and fellowship that we have because we constantly push each other right? They push me to the make better, you know, business ideas and push them to make better health ideas. I mean, we all kind of just feed off each other. And it’s a beautiful thing to have someone that, you know, you’re not related to. There’s really nothing connecting you there. But that but that fellowship in that bond. And the those are folks that just kind of keep me grounded, but also lift me up when I needed. And in the banking world, I just think the world of you know, my colleagues at encore bank, and the team we’re building is just really impressive. I when I first joined encore bank, I got a call from one of my friends. And she said, Are you just doing encore? And I said, Yeah, they made a mistake and hired me. And she said, You guys are building the Avengers of banking is what she said. And I think it’s before I joined that she thought that, but I kind of was taken aback and I was like, you’re right. We are because we’re literally picking the ones we think are going to do the best job as opposed to just fill in a position right. And we’ve got a couple positions that we just haven’t failed because we haven’t found the person that we’re like, yes, take that ball and run with it. So those are some of the times in my life but more than anything my mom for sure because she’s just the best person ever.

Unknown Speaker 39:07
I love it. So what do you guys see coming next? what’s what’s on the big to do list? What goals do you have personally that you want to achieve that, you know, you’ve kind of set for yourself.

Unknown Speaker 39:16
So I think professionally, the goal was, you know, we’re getting ready to expand into some newer markets, bigger markets, we’re going to be in Fort Worth here soon. So professionally, I want to make sure I do right and earn my keep and can do good in those markets. And then Personally, I’m always just setting new goals. I want to do another Iron Man, which is sounds stupid, but I just I’m always I need something to work towards. I’m in banking school right now, which I got two more years of that. So I hope to finish that and graduate with honors. And a lot of that is just continue doing what I’m doing. Just continue to be involved in the community continue to be active and invest in my personal and professional health. We’ve talked a little bit about you know, the fact that you’re on some boards around town, talk to me about that. Some of those boards, what do you what are you doing to help with those organizations? So I’ll start and I’ll preface by saying that when I picked the zoning board, it really has to be something that’s really near and dear to my heart. I’m not I want to get on board just because, you know, it’s a good board to be on if I’m not passionate about it, I’m not really going to be a good board member. And when I take on the board member responsibility, I take it full on I mean, I, I live, eat and breathe it and drink the Kool Aid, because that’s just who I am as a person, right? I like to wave the flag. And I’ll start with the one that we’re at right now, which is Arkansas Repertory Theater. I love the arts. I know I think of all the art platforms, I think theater is most impactful. I think it’s the most deep. I think the reason we as humans gravitate to arts is because it helps us answer that age old question, right? Of what is it to be human? Why am I here? And I think when you’re in the theater, you see those, you know incredible professionals on stage, acting out, it almost transcends you like no other medium has. Right and, and it helps you for one that one incident time make you feel the most human right because the stage isn’t big, right? It’s not big at all, but the trip they take you on is right. It’s impossible to quantify. And I don’t think there’s a lot of platforms that allow you to do that. And when I was asked to join the rat board, I was tickled to death to do it because I believe so much in the theater. But also, we talked about no big cities, and I think every major city has to have a strong theater to really be proud of itself, right? If you’re, if your community can support and keep a theater alive, it says a lot about your community says that you guys care about the arts, and then it’s a pretty cultured city.

Unknown Speaker 41:49
And the rep is you know, the the main theater as I see it, right. And there’s some other great local theaters. But to me, the bell cow of Little Rock is this beautiful facility that we’re in with you know, We’ll try set the helm who I mentioned who introduced you earlier? And he’s one three Tony’s I mean, how lucky are we to have a local guy run our theater that happens to have, you know, three to three Tony’s if you need it. So that’s one and then another one that I’m super passionate about right now is goodwill of Arkansas. We recently this about three years ago started the first and only adult High School and this is huge. It’s not a GED program. It’s an actual High School. Our students range from 19 to 67 years old. And I’ll show you one story. The very first graduation we did, we had six graduates, it was at Philander Smith College. And we were you know, I’d kind of gotten to know the students because of you know, I’m on the board and they give us an update. And as one of the graduates was walking across the stage, she’s a single mom of three kids. And by happenstance, her three kids are right behind me. And as she’s walking across the stage, man, those three kids got up and started yelling, go, mommy super proud, and Xenon bawling. I mean, I don’t know her well, I don’t know these kids, but I’m crying because the generational impact that we just had on this family, right, those kids because they saw their mom graduate are more likely than ever to graduate from high school because their mom did. In fact, there’s data to back that up. And now she can go and get a higher paying job to then provide for these kids. And that’s when I became some sort of a zealot about this program. Because about one that thing, it’s like 15% of our Kansans don’t have a high school diploma. Right. And if you look at your earning capacity, versus having one and not having one is huge, and we already live in a pretty, pretty poor state. So we’ve had three graduations so far, one of our students went from making $9 an hour to making $20 an hour like that, just because she had a high school diploma. She bought a house. So I’m super proud of the work that we’re doing at Goodwill because we also have a reentry program where we hire folks that are Coming out of prison coming out of jail, giving them a second shot I live because I think one of the most humane things we can do is give people another chance, right? We all make mistakes. And then when you listen to their stories on how they ended up in jail, and how they ended up from dropping out of high school, now that could have been you and man, I mean, just dumb luck, the water broke in our favor, and we didn’t have the upbringing they did. Or we didn’t get caught with a knucklehead friend that ended up having a bunch of cocaine on him. That wasn’t our story, their story, but just because that’s the story they came from. I mean, that’s how they’re gonna end up. And we’re working right now to get some money from the state to expand. Our goal is to hopefully have about four to six of these schools across the state. We’ve got one in Little Rock. We’ve got we went open one in Northwest Arkansas, South Arkansas, and that’s kind of my my next big project is do everything I can to make sure that I’m being a good board member. I happen to be the chair this year. So it’s got a lot more pressure, but I’m just You’re so passionate about that, because I wouldn’t be where I’m at today, Nate, if it wasn’t for the education that I got, right. I mean, it was just dumb luck that I happen to go to a really good High School, Seven Hills High School. And that ualr was a stone’s throw from where I grew up. Just dumb luck. I mean, I just I’d like to say it’s because I’m smart, and I deserve it. No, I just dumb luck that my parents moved to that city. And when it was time to go to college, I just went to the closest one because I didn’t want to leave home. I couldn’t, I was helping support my family. And I just went to a world class University, right, and I got a great education met some good folks in the capital city. And that’s why I’m so passionate about it. And my goal is to make sure that I can do everything in my power to help help them out as much as I can. Awesome. I love

Unknown Speaker 45:43
it. Well keep up the good work. You’re definitely making a huge difference. Want to move into some quick hit rapid fire questions? First is one that I asked the governor last week. Netflix or the news?

Unknown Speaker 45:57
I’m a big news guy. Yeah, I just to a fault, right, I should turn it off. And just what I do is I put the news on and I mute it and then I read a book. So then I’m flipping pages, I just look up and see how the world’s falling apart.

Unknown Speaker 46:11
That leads us to our next one. What is the best or latest book you’ve read?

Unknown Speaker 46:15
The best one that I’ve read lately. It’s kind of an old book by now, but I just can’t put it down. It’s called leadership by during Doris Kearns Goodwin. She’s a phenomenal historian. And she profiles for great presidents, LBJ, FDR, Lincoln, and I can’t think of the other one, and how they were just how they dealt with very turbulent times, and how leadership helped us get through that. And I think we’re in a world now where we were desperately dying for sound and stable leadership at any level, whether it’s the highest or the city level. And one of my favorite stories in that is Abraham Lincoln, who just has an amazing, amazing life story. And, you know, he grew up poor he grew up not, you know, son Have a lager. But he knew that education was his ticket. And anytime I read books, I tried to find someone that I connect with. And he knew that education was his ticket. And his English wasn’t good because he was, he was poor. And he found out this is in the book, he found out that one of his neighbors five miles down the road had the source. And he walked five miles to borrow that book, so that he could better his English, and then walk five miles back and gave it back. Now Nate, I know some friends that have access to every book in the world on their phone, and won’t read in a blink and walk 10 miles there and back to get one book. And I just love that story. Because I’m a big I’m a big reader. But it just shows that you know, as my mom always said, you know, those that can will always find a way and he’s definitely got it found a way. That’s awesome.

Unknown Speaker 47:51
What is part of your daily routine? What do you have to do every single day,

Unknown Speaker 47:56
man, I’m a creature of habit to a fault. I need to be more sporadic. Every Now again, but typically wake up around five. And if the weather’s good, I’ll wake up and go ride my bike in the morning. If it’s not, then I’ll go to the gym and workout. Have a nice protein shake by like, seven 730. I’m at the office by eight work. And then after work I usually go do something fun whether it’s tennis or golf, or just you know, riding my bike again in the morning. It’s not necessarily a workout, it’s more of a mental workout, right? I don’t have much time so I just kind of I just if you workout first thing in the morning, your day starts on a whole nother level right you just ahead of the game. And then at night, it’s more kind of Alright, let’s actually get some, some good cardiovascular activity. And around nine o’clock, I usually turn off, you know, the TV, light a candle and just read until I pass out and sometimes it’s not 30 sometimes it’s one in the morning. It just depends on what I’m reading and what’s on my mind.

Unknown Speaker 48:55
In the age of COVID people have altered their routines a little bit. Do you have any new Formed habits that you’re either proud of or ashamed of.

Unknown Speaker 49:03
Yeah, well, I told you I went vegan three months ago. So I’m super proud of that, because I never thought I could do that, you know, if you look at the Mexican diet, it is very cheese and meat heavy. And my mom was like, What are you going to eat? And three months into it, I feel great. I don’t have heartburn anymore. I just just an awesome thing. So I’m really proud of that. And I’ve just done a lot more stuff outside, you know, but historically, I would just go to the gym because it’s air conditioned. And I got a bunch of friends there. But now it’s I’m really starting to see just how beautiful our state is right? A mountain biking a lot. So I’m going to these neutrals I’ve never been before. So I’m proud of that.

Unknown Speaker 49:41
Awesome. If you were to write a book, or put a billboard out with a message arm, what would it be?

Unknown Speaker 49:47
Man, I would, I would probably just say it gets better. And just leave it at that. I look back at the life that I have now. In the upbringing that I had. It just it just feels like two different lives. They just, you know, I remember going to kindergarten, remember my mom put me in the bus and just kind of saying no have fun and I didn’t speak any English and I just remember being mortified that you know, I’m going to get to school I’m not gonna be able to communicate and and then I get to school elementary and the door opens and my ESL teachers waiting right there for me. I mean, she did let me get off the bus. And just the the elation that I felt you know that he or she is just for me to help me out. And then she learned English and all that now I think of the life that I live in. It’s just like, man, it just it just feels like two different lives so that I think that’s my message and you know, I got bullied in high school because I was Mexican because I had crooked teeth and all that. And you know, right now bullying is so rampant but I always tell new any chance I get to the kids that are getting bored. I’m like, man, it gets better. Right? You know, don’t don’t confuse that temporary pain for permanent pain. And being bullied by someone that peaks in high school isn’t the worst thing, trust me in 10 years, you’re gonna be better off than. So that would be my message because, you know, and in life we think it’s, I think pain is a is a beautiful thing. And that sounds like I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth. But when you’re feeling pain, whether it’s heartbreak, or whether it’s bullying, whether it’s financial troubles. God, it makes you feel alive, right? It takes away the numbness of monotony, right because if nothing if nothing ever goes wrong, you almost kind of go stale, right? And sometimes it just takes a gut check whether it’s a heart ache or something to let you know, man, as bad as it is, I’m alive. And this is just part of the journey. And it’s easier to say it when you’re not going through it. But, you know, once you get on the other side of whatever that is, you realize that you’re stronger for it. So that’s kind of my, my, my, I’m just my message right was it gets better, whatever that is that you’re going through, it’s gonna get better. But you just have to process the pain. Beautifully said,

Unknown Speaker 52:11
favorite musician favorite artist when concerts come back. Where are you going? Who are you going to see?

Unknown Speaker 52:15
Man? I tell you what. That’s a really good question. My favorite artists of all time are the Beatles. I think music Pete with with with those four guys, in particular Abbey Road or the White Album. And when Paul McCartney came the first go around, I was cheating bought nosebleeds, right? I mean, I say gee, they’re expensive tickets. But man, I haven’t been in a concert so long. If he comes back I’m paying whatever it is to be front row just to see Paul, you know, maybe one last time. Just because the Beatles had it right. Think of all the the hits they had and they never had a curse word in the other songs and all their songs are about you know, love. And I mean, their first song ever was I want to hold your hand. Think about that. I mean, just have it. How naive these guys were. That’s they made a love song about holding someone’s hand and you listen to this stuff nowadays I sound like an old man, but you listen to stuff nowadays it’s like well, we’ve come a long way since those hold your hand is

Unknown Speaker 53:11
over. And now you this answer might have changed over the last few months, but favorite food, favorite restaurant? What do you have?

Unknown Speaker 53:17
Man? That’s a great question. So I recently went to the preacher son in Northwest Arkansas, and had the most amazing vegan dish I ever had. It was a roasted cauliflower with a chimichurri sauce. Quit it and so good. But my favorite local restaurants probably trios, and you know, Kathy’s a dear dear friend of mine. Her lobby is still closer, her restaurants too close, but takeouts good. But man, I just I yearn for the day when I can go back in the restaurant and see hundred people I know, and break bread over some delicious food. And just to give Kathy a big hug so that that’s my favorite restaurant.

Unknown Speaker 53:54
What’s coming soon enough. Any last thoughts, any ways that you in any messages you Want to put out there for anybody?

Unknown Speaker 54:01
No, I just I want to thank you for the service that you’re doing. I love the podcast. I love the guests. I think it’s great how just super broad it is, you know, one day, listen to the governor, and then next year, listen into a dumb banker like myself. So I think you do a good job of keeping it interesting. So just kudos to you and I wish you success and everything you got coming.

Unknown Speaker 54:20
Thank you. I really appreciate that. Keep up the good work. You’re definitely making a difference out there and and people are seeing that So congrats to you on future 50 leaders of Arkansas

Unknown Speaker 54:30
Hey, likewise to you man, for sure that I heard they got to 49 and couldn’t pick a 50 and they call him that’s where my No.

Unknown Speaker 54:38
They reached in the bottom of the balance and Miguel Lopez No, No way.

Unknown Speaker 54:41
No way top of the list for sure. Well, Miguel, thanks so much. I appreciate you being here.

Unknown Speaker 54:44
Thank you.

Unknown Speaker 54:47
If you like this episode of titans of industry, head to content Titan dot CEO slash podcast for more episodes or subscribe on your favorite podcasting app. And if you know of an industry Titan that’s doing amazing things like There’s no one social media or through our website so we can tell their story. Thanks for listening

Transcribed by https://otter.ai