VE minutes with... FIVE Chris Johnson

Q. HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN BANKING?

A.I was honestly at cross-roads in my young, professional career. I had graduated college and moved back to Little Rock to work for my family. My older brother was running a few retail golf stores, so I helped him out for a year. My father and other brother were in the beginning stages of redevelopment of a warehouse in downtown Little Rock in a newly created entertainment district, the River Market. Having recently graduated college, my dad thought who better to run the day-to-day operations…my brothers and I owned/operated The Pour House Bar & Grill for about 4 years. I met my soon to be fiancé there, and well, let’s just say being a bar owner wasn’t in her long-term plans for her husband. My father’s private banker at the time offered me a role as a management trainee and off I went to start my banking career.

Q. TELL US ABOUT YOUR EARLY CAREER... LOOKING BACK, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

A.Inquisitive- when I started as a teller, I wanted to know everything there was to know about banking. What is deposit insurance? When do I get to count all the money in the vault? How do I know when the drive through teller drawer is all the way out? Why can’t I hear the customer in the drive through lane talking to me? When do I get to present something to the Board of Directors? Fortunately, I had some understanding and great mentors as bosses: Chris Roberts, John Olaimey, John O. Moore, Blake Miller, and David Straessle really took the time to invest in me personally and professionally. To this day, I can reach out to them via phone and ask their guidance, or more importantly, I can ask them for their help, and they will always deliver.

Q. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BOSS AND A LEADER?

A. A boss is simply the individual you strive to placate every day. You are merely checking the box to make sure something is completed, and you move on with your day. A leader inspires. A leader invests in his/her people both personally and professionally. A leader appreciates every individual’s time, effort, and energy that they put forth daily and is vocal about it. A leader surrounds himself/herself with people they trust to get the job done. A leader knows that empathy is his/her greatest attribute – he or she understands each of their team members’ best attributes, and how best to put them in a place to be successful.

Q. WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF BEING A HOMETOWN BANKER?

Whether that be on the forefront of a new fast-casual restaurant concept launching in Little Rock, or a long-time corporate executive leaping off into his own small-business ownership role, or just helping a lifelong friend navigate the stress of moving back to town, starting kids in a new school, and starting over in his professional careerI just love being a part of the little things in my friends and peers’ lives. It just means a little bit more when you leave your office every day knowing that you listened, you engaged, you cared.

Q. WHAT IS YOUR BEST KEPT SECRET?

A.

I get to do business with many friends and peers that I have grown up with my entire life. There is something special about knowing that you helped someone start their own business, change their professional career, give honest advice about whether an idea will work. Selfishly, I enjoy being involved in the most minute level of something that is incredibly successful.

A. I love to sing and dance. Specifically, I love to do the centipede/caterpillar (depends on how old you are on what you call it). I busted my chin wide open in high school during Prom in a dance off with one of the co-owners of now famous Nativ apparel company. After graduating college, I made a pact with each of my college roommates that I would perform the centipede at their wedding ceremony- I am glad to say that I accomplished that feat, and I believe have now done it twice for one of my roommates. As for the singing, I have also sung “You’ve Lost the Loving Feeling” (think Top Gun scene, but worse), at all my college roommates’ weddings.