John Sanchez

Story by: Jacki Donaldson

John Sanchez does not give up. The Miami born and raised Vice President at Capital City Bank in Gainesville has been pushing boundaries his entire life.

His grit and determination have earned him several notable successes: He founded the first Hispanic fraternity at the University of Florida (UF), swiftly rose through the management ranks at Walmart, and has made a name for himself as a skilled relationship builder in banking.

John, a husband and father of five, names work-family balance as one of his most significant accomplishments.

John attended UF at the urging of his high school accounting teacher who knew John would excel in Gainesville. John, a big-city kid and die-hard Hurricanes and Dolphins fan, was not so sure. “I came to UF but did not have any school spirit,” John said.

Small-town Gainesville was a culture shock for John, and as he tried to engage in the campus community, specifically by joining a fraternity, he found himself feeling out of place as a Hispanic student. “I was sold on the idea of a fraternity,” John said. “Most of my friends joined traditional African-American fraternities, and I entertained joining one. The other alternative was a white fraternity. One night, I sat in my dorm room thinking, ‘Why do I have to choose?’ I have been choosing black or white my entire life. How many other students have felt like me?” John set out on a mission to find a Hispanic fraternity at UF, and when his efforts failed, he decided to start one.

John, 18 at the time, learned that although he could start an organization, seeing the project through would take longer than the four years he would spend attending college. His other option was to find a nationally recognized Latino fraternity and start a chapter at UF, which is what he did.

Lambda Theta Phi arrived on campus in 1995, and John graduated in 1997 after helping launch chapters at Florida State University (FSU) and the University of Central Florida (UCF). John, the first president of Lambda Theta Phi and one of nine founding members, is still involved with the fraternity; he speaks, offers workshops, and supports the organization that espouses “Chivalry Above Self.”

After college, with a degree in business management, John began working for Walmart, and he completed a six-month management training program in three months. Impressed by his achievement, John’s managers asked him about his goals, and John shared that he planned to be a store manager in two years and a district manager in five. The managers told John that his goals were unrealistic, but John disagreed.

In 18 months, John received a promotion to store manager, and just as he was on track to becoming a district manager, he was staring down a life change. John was headed to a high-executive position when his now-wife, Lisa told him in 2005 that she would not marry him if he did not slow down. “In 2004, I worked from October to January and never took a day off. I opened my eyes and looked at the events of the past two years,” John said. “Maybe becoming a CEO was too much.”

A conversation with Lisa sealed the deal. The battle between John the CEO and John the Family Man was over. John transitioned to a new career in banking for a better work-life balance. John’s first banking job was at Bank of America in New Jersey, where within six months he turned the worst-performing store into a top three store. John later moved to Gainesville to be near Lisa’s family and has spent the past nine years building strong relationships with business owners and community members and works hard to make a difference.