First People put People First

Amanda Alexander

Amanda Alexander WEEKENDS ARE FOR HORSING AROUND

Amanda Alexander is all business when it comes to mastering the myriad of responsibilities that go with being a Personal Banker at the First National Bank & Trust Co. of Broken Arrow.

But weekends are a different story. That’s when she gets to horse around.

Alexander has been hooked on show riding since she got her first pony at the age of seven. Just about every other weekend finds her decked out in fancy Western attire competing in some arena across Oklahoma.

“I don’t just like horses, I love horses,” she noted with enthusiasm. “I have two now and expect I will always have at least one horse so my husband and I are looking for a home with some land we can buy.”

Alexander came to Broken Arrow to attend Rhema Bible College. When a Teller position opened at First National’s County Line Road location, she jumped at the chance to have direct contact with the public. That led to a promotion to Customer Service and then to her current position.

“I love it because no two days are ever the same,” she said. “For that matter, no two hours are alike.”

Another of Alexander’s passions is eliminating the “junk” people put in and on their bodies – but she has gone beyond the exercise and diet dictates shared by many people by mastering the art of making her own skin care line.

“The Internet is a beautiful thing,” she said with a grin. “You just acquire the basic components you need and begin experimenting until you find the combination that works best for you.”

To a large degree, that describes the approach she takes to her job.

By blending the bank’s products and services with a legitimate desire to help people, she said her goal is to do whatever she can to make sure every customer that walks out of the bank has a smile on his or her face.

And if they want to stop by to chat about the horse book on her desk, that makes the day even more special.

Angie Johns

Angie Johns LONG ROAD LEADS HER “HOME”

Angie Johns leads two lives. By day, she is the soft-spoken Bank Services Supervisor at First National of Broken Arrow, devoting herself to helping other employees perfect the skills they need to achieve maximum career fulfillment. On Sundays during the fall, however, she is transformed into ”Super Fan,” a popcorn–munching cheering machine who can’t get enough of her beloved Kansas City Chiefs in their quest to win National Football League championships.

Johns was born in Iola, Kansas, but because her family relocated so often she couldn’t call it home until they returned in time for her to begin seventh grade. After graduating from high school she hit the road again, this time to Tulsa to attend Oral Roberts University.

Her co-ed days were interrupted by a chance to return to Iola as Youth Pastor at her church. It seemed to be an ideal position for someone with a deep-seeded love of helping others, but then the people at Wendy’s Hamburgers came calling with an offer she simply couldn’t refuse.

Over the next few years, Johns got married and again became a vagabond, moving often to take charge of Wendy’s locations in Kansas, Texas, Iowa and, finally, back to Tulsa. That last stop was a life-changer, she says, because the unsettled life of a fast food manager which conflicted with the needs of a young daughter forced a re-evaluation of her life. That’s when First National came into the picture.

“I was in the bank so often handling Wendy’s business I got to know the people and often joked that they should open an office for me,” she recalls. As things turned out, that’s exactly what they did.

Today, she has responsibility for the bank’s tellers, facilities and security which allows her to devote herself to the thing she loves most – working with and helping people.

“Once I stepped foot inside these doors, I knew I never wanted to leave,” Johns says. “The commitment this bank has for what’s best for its customers and employees is simply astounding. I am blown away by being part of it.”

Derek Steeley

Derek Steeley RIGHT PLACE. RIGHT TIME

Growing up in Wagoner, Okla., Derek Steeley had more than a passing interest in the old saying, “whether it’s cold or whether it’s hot, we’ll have weather, whether or not.”

“I was fascinated by the weather. “Who wouldn't be?” he asks. “This is Oklahoma, after all; tornado alley; a state with four decidedly different seasons – sometimes all of them occurring in one day.”

Following high school, Steeley enrolled in a school noted for its meteorology program, but his focus at the University of Oklahoma was on the “hot” area of computer science. A class in economics changed all that and led him toward a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and what is now a quarter-century career in the financial services industry. On his resume is an array of accomplishments with institutions in Texas and Oklahoma.

The secret of his success then as now, he said, is an unshakable people orientation and commitment to service.

After joining First National as Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending, Steeley “dove head first” into community involvement by becoming a member of Leadership Broken Arrow. That led to an invitation by Broken Arrow Seniors to serve on its board of directors.

“It’s so impressive to see how the Rose District has taken off and all the good things happening in Broken Arrow,” he said. “This is an entirely different community than when I joined the bank. I’m blessed to be in the right place at the right time.”

Steeley and his wife of 23 years, Valerie, have three children: Dylan, 19, a freshman at Tulsa Community College; Paige, 16, and Cole, 11, both students at Mingo Valley Christian School. A 14-year Rotarian, he is an active member of Grace Bible Church, a leader in Broken Arrow’s Trail Life USA Troop 316 and coaches his son’s basketball team.

An avid reader, he says he wouldn’t be surprised to someday find himself sitting behind a word processor trying his hand at becoming an author. While a subject has yet to be determined, it’s a good bet it will have something to do with people.

Elyse Mullins

Elyse Mullins Part of Two Close-Knit Families

Elyse Mullins joined First National of Broken Arrow as Commercial Client Services Coordinator in January of 2015 after helping initiate and grow a similar position at Tulsa's F&M Bank. The move was a perfect one for this hometown girl because it allows her to be part of two large, close-knit families - one created by nature, the other by occupation.

Mullins points with pride to the fact she is a product of Broken Arrow Public Schools. She went to elementary school at Wolf Creek, was in the first 8th grade class at the newly opened Oliver Middle School, held down the fort at South Intermediate and graduated from Broken Arrow High School.

Today, she is working with many of the "kids" she attended classes with by helping introduce them to an array of new commercial products and services that First National of Broken Arrow continues to roll out.

"As a youngster, I dreamed of entering the business world and having a job that I loved going to every morning. That's exactly what I have here," she says. "The best part is I am part of a family of employees who feel exactly the same way. I just love working in a smaller bank because of the first name type relationships we enjoy with our customers and the opportunities I have to help them take advantage of all the new technology that is available today."

Come summer, however, time with her "other family" takes center stage. A long-standing tradition is for her along with daughter Katelyn and 18 other members of the Mullins clan to make an annual trek to the beaches of South Florida.

"We just love the sand and sun," she says. "My daughter has already told me when she graduates from college - and she will graduate from college - she intends to live there operate her own events planning company specializing in parties, weddings and other such happenings. Who knows, when I retire here, I might just ask her for a job."

Genia Hendon

Genia Hendon FIRST NATIONAL’S ‘GO-TO GAL’

Don’t let that youthful appearance fool you. Genia Hendon is a 28-years-and-counting veteran of the financial services industry who thrives on the challenges that seem to naturally come to her as First National’s “go-to gal.”

Be it organizing records for the Board of Directors, coordinating a special event or overseeing the operating side of the bank’s trust accounts, the words “Genia can do it” are often heard.

Maybe that’s because Hendon has quite literally grown up in the financial services world, launching her career at the age of 18 with a finance company in her home state of Texas. When her husband’s job brought the family to Oklahoma 15 years ago, it just seemed natural that she would join Broken Arrow’s premier community bank, first as administrative assistant to its Senior Commercial Lender, then its President and now its Board Chairman.

A self-described homebody, Hendon takes special pride in her husband of 27 years, Steve; their married daughter Jordan (the mother of their first grandchild), and 17-year-old Morgan, a student at Broken Arrow High School and trumpet player for the Pride of Broken Arrow Marching Band.

“My family has always been my priority which is why I appreciate the family orientation of this organization so much,” she said. “I know the Graham family truly cares about each employee as well as our families.”

Looking ahead, she said she has two adventures on the drawing board. The first is an outing to “Jerry’s World,” the home of her beloved Dallas Cowboys football team. The other may well take her back to her childhood.

Growing up, Hendon said she learned the fine art of angling from her dad who agreed to make her his fishing buddy only if she was able to bait her own hook and land her catch without help. So when retirement time reaches high tide, she dreams of taking up residence on a beach or the bank of a lake where she can spend time on the water proving again this go-to gal is still fully capable of landing a big‘un.

Paige Miller

Paige Miller “SILLY” COLLEGE CLASS PAYS OFF

As an incoming freshman at the University of Central Oklahoma, Paige Miller said she had absolutely no idea what the future held for her.

A class she first considered silly but was required to take changed all that.

“I started out as a Computer Science major and am still kind of a techie at heart,” she said. “I didn’t know why I was required to take accounting, but I liked it.”

Her career in the financial services industry began while still a part-time night student at Rose State College as a bank switchboard operator and the one responsible for giving customers access to their safe deposit boxes. Fast forward 30 years to 2014 and the announcement that M. Paige Miller, CPA had joined the First National Bank & Trust Co. of Broken Arrow as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Making that move unique is the fact Miller is the first person in the bank’s 112-year history to hold the CFO title. Most recently, those duties were woven into the job description of bank President John Herndon who recently retired.

Miller brings 21 years of banking experience, including 12 years as a CFO, to her new job. She also has 11 years of public accounting experience, including service as an auditor for a number of financial institutions – including First of Broken Arrow.

While accounting is the central focus of her job, Miller said she intends for the “people person” side of her personality to be heard. In past years, she has served on the allocation committee of the Tulsa Area United Way, was treasurer of the PTA and a soccer mom when her children – brother-sister twins who are now students at the University of Oklahoma – were in school.

Away from the bank, Miller is first and foremost a wife and mother who loves to play tennis and travel – especially to exotic areas like St. John and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“I’ve seen this bank as an auditor and now as an employee. I really like it from both perspectives. It is a pretty special place,” she said.

Toby Denton

Toby Denton Here Comes The Judge.

Toby Denton can be excused if he is overheard muttering the famous gag line from the old Rowen & Martin's Laugh-in television program - "Here comes the judge. Here comes the judge."

In Denton's case, "the judge" is a 1970 Pontiac GTO that has been lovingly restored and is shown with pride at car shows across the region. "It really is a special automobile," he says. There were 3,625 of the 400-horsepower Judges made and only 214 are listed on a national registry. The one year you could get it in Orbit Orange was 1970.

Coworkers say it id no surprise Denton owns such a unique vehicle since it reflects his unique personality.

After graduating from high school and trying his hand at college life, Denton began writing a diverse resume that includes service with a Ponca City finance company, a mortgage company in Blackwell, saving and loan associations in Muskogee and Little Rock, and a bank in Claremore. And that doesn't count the countless hours he spent behind a microphone as a singer for a regional band.

Fast forwarding 15 years to today's Toby Denton, an avid fisherman, devoted father to daughter Tara Bowker, loving grandpa focused on "spoiling the britches off of granddaughter Blaklely" and a mainstay of Broken Arrow's First National Bank family. Perhaps the biggest reason this bond is so enduring, he says, is a basic philosophy that he and his colleagues share.

"I was brought up to believe that people may not remember your name, but they will always remember how you made them feel. It is important to treat everybody with respect and help them anyway you can."

Denton, who was recently promoted to Vice President, says "this is an attitude that permeates every aspect of this bank and the reason I enjoy being part of it. It is something we live by every day."

Mary Fogleman

Mary Fogleman 3 Best Jobs On Earth

Mary Fogleman says she has the three best jobs on earth – wife, mother, and Personal Banker at the First National Bank & Trust Co. of Broken Arrow.

Her story began the day her husband, Rick, accepted a position with the Broken Arrow Fire Department. Even while launching her own career at the bank, she devoted considerable time to the Tigettes, softball, soccer and golf activities of daughters Heather, Ashley and Rachel as well as the varied duties expected of the wife of a fireman.

It was a time she said when she learned the value of time management and how important the ability to help people was in her life.

Her first assignment was as a Teller at the bank’s South Elm Place location. From there she relocated to the downtown site before stepping down for a short period to try her hand at operating her own day care center. It was an experience she wouldn’t trade for anything, but she said it underscored how much the relationships she had built with the bank’s employees and customers meant to her.

So in 2005 she returned “home” where she also serves as the bank’s internal United Way campaign chairman and as president of her beloved Broken Arrow Noon Lion’s Club.

“I really care a lot about people,” she said. “I’ve met so many folks around town and through my kids’ school activities, every chance I get to help someone is a very personal thing with me.”

While a student at Tulsa’s Edison High School, Fogleman discovered a hidden talent for painting. One of her first treasures was a portrait she did of actor Tom Selleck using a technique of dots to create the finished image. One of her proudest accomplishments is a portrait she painted of her three daughters.

“I may take painting back up when I get more time,” she said. But right now she is simply too busy using her people skills to create a positive image of the bank she loves.

Sandra Williams

Sandra Williams Customer Contact Is A Treat

Take all the dog treats and suckers Sandra Williams has handed out in her 18 years-and-counting career as a Teller at the First National Bank & Trust Co. of Broken Arrow, lay them end to end and chances are they would stretch all the way to her hometown of Pasadena,Texas.

"The kids look forward to getting a treat every time their mom or dad comes to the drive-thru," she says , "but I really believe the pets get even more excited."

Williams became a Okie in 1981 when her husband, Jim, accepted a position with CITGO in Tulsa. For 14 years, she worked as a cashier with Broken Arrow Public Schools, but when her youngest son headed off to college, she knew the time had come to get a 12-month-a-year job.

She says First National of Broken Arrow was high on her priority list, but getting hired was far from easy. "There is such a strong family atmosphere in this bank very few people leave," she notes. "I was very fortunate that they gave me a chance."

Williams says about two-thirds of the customers she serves at the Kenosha and County Line Road location she helped open in 1998 take advantage of the drive-thru convenience. A number, however, still prefer to come inside for face-to-face contact. Either way, they are assured of receiving a friendly greeting, warm smile and a commitment to providing the kind of service they expect and deserve.

"I really believe that's what sets us apart from some of the big banks," she says. "Our customers are not just numbers, they are friends and neighbors. I've dealt with so many of them over the years we are on a first-name basis."

Away from the bank, Williams is "mom" to three adult children, "grandma" to three - soon to be five -grandchildren, and an active member and pianist at Gloryland Baptist Church.

When asked which pop song best describes what it's like to know and work with this unassuming keyboard artist, colleagues smile and begin humming the Louis Armstrong classic "What a Wonderful World."