JENNIFER KOONDEL Personal Banker Citibank N.A.
DENISE SLETTENE-SHARPE VP/Retail Experience Leader for the Atlantic & Capital Regions Key Bank
How did you get into this field? What keeps you motivated to stay? In the fall of 2001 I applied for a teller position. In the upcoming years I was promoted to head teller and then assistant operations manager. Throughout my career with Citi I have worked in departments and different positions. This has giving me the knowledge to broaden my knowledge. In 2017 I became a personal banker. I work daily with clients that that need help and guidance. It is rewarding to be able to help people in making financial decisions and helping them get through everyday life.
How did you get into this field? What keeps you motivated to stay? I began my career in banking as a part-time teller at Anchor Savings Bank in Orangeburg while attending Dominican College of Blauvelt. From my first day I loved it! I felt an immediate connection to so many clients, some of which I still stay in contact with today. In my current role, my primary focus is the client experience and delivering financial wellness to our clients. Being able to watch people thrive and achieve their goals is really what continues to keep me excited about retail banking.
Have you had any great female mentors? What is the importance of mentoring and is this something that you focus on? In the 19 years with Citi most of my mentors have been women. Looking back from when I started as a teller to my current position my mentors have all affected my career by providing knowledge, encouragement and motivation. All the women mentors left a mark in who I have become as a personal banker. I now mentor many of my colleagues. I like to use the same mentoring I received to help them succeed.
Have you had any great female mentors? I have! When I became an area retail leader, I was struggling and my manager suggested I form a mentor relationship with our current capital regional retail leader, Ruth Mahoney. It was a game changer! Our weekly conversations made a huge impact and helped me find the success I was looking for. Eight years later our paths have once again crossed and we are back to weekly conversations, as partners now. I truly value Ruth’s opinion, expertise and insights and still consider her a mentor.
LUVLEEN SIDHU
Co-Founder and CEO BankMobile
ALYSON L. STONE
Principal Attion Consulting LLC
How did you get into this field? After graduating Harvard, I joined Lehman Brothers. On my first day, the firm filed for bankruptcy. I then worked at Neuberger Berman and subsequently at Customers Bank, where I was looking into digital banking. While earning my MBA at Wharton, I was a summer associate at Booz & Company, where I helped develop a strategy for a financial services firm to launch a digital bank. After graduating, with the research I had and desire to start my own company, I launched BankMobile in 2015 with the mission to provide a financially empowering and simple banking experience for millennials, the unbanked and underbanked, and middle-income Americans.
How did you get into this field? What keeps you motivated to stay? After college, I interviewed at Republic National Bank for a role in business planning and I knew it was the right job for me. It gave me a broad view into the business of banking.
What do you consider your greatest success?
Early in my time at Republic National Bank, Elizabeth Rabbi Cribbs, now executive director family advisory and philanthropy services at UBS, took an interest in my career. She was a powerful advocate for me when HSBC acquired Republic and the deck chairs were being rearranged. I chose to join the effort to launch Signature Bank rather than stay with HSBC, but to this day I am grateful for everything she did for me.
My greatest success is launching BankMobile and overseeing its significant growth since 2015. Today we are among the largest mobile-first banks in the country. I was truly delighted that by the second half of 2019, BankMobile, a division of Customers Bank, turned profitable and that 2019 revenues for BankMobile were $86 million. We are also collaborating with technology giants T-Mobile and Google. I look forward to our continued growth and to providing more Americans with our innovative and fun banking solution.
My transition to the business line was mainly driven by business bankers, first at Republic and later at Signature Bank. They were a tough crowd to impress at the outset, but once I earned their trust, they became relentless advocates for my advancement. Those relationships are what motivate me to stay. Have you had any great female mentors?
What do you consider your greatest success? Yesterday’s successes only have so much value; what we do today is more important.
