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April 2, 2024 52 mins
In this episode, we welcome Chris Giammo, the Executive Vice President of TD Bank Group and Head of Commercial Banking. Chris shares his remarkable journey from his humble beginnings in North Jersey, through the pivotal moments that shaped his career in banking, to his current role leading TD Bank's commercial banking ventures across the United States. Throughout the episode, Chris offers insights into his leadership philosophy, emphasizing the importance of hard work, integrity, and the ability to embrace failure as a stepping stone to success. He recounts his early years of manual labor, which instilled in him a strong work ethic and a foundation for his future achievements. Chris's story is a testament to the power of perseverance, intellectual curiosity, and the willingness to adapt and learn from every situation. Listeners will also gain an understanding of how Chris navigated through various career transitions, from significant mergers and acquisitions to spearheading TD Bank's commercial banking sector. His journey underscores the importance of authentic leadership, teamwork, and the role of technology in the evolving banking landscape. Chris also passionately discusses his involvement with TD Bank's Individual with Diverse Abilities Initiative, highlighting his commitment to diversity and inclusion within the workplace. His advocacy for recognizing and harnessing the unique talents of individuals with disabilities is a powerful reminder of the value of inclusivity in fostering a thriving and adaptive work environment. Join us for a captivating conversation with Chris Giammo, whose journey inspires those in the banking sector and anyone striving to make a meaningful impact in their professional life. This episode is a powerful reminder of the value of staying true to oneself, embracing change, and the difference one individual can make through leadership and compassion.
00:00 - Introduction and Background 1:23 - Early Life and Influences 3:23 - Role Models and Challenges 8:34 - Career Aspirations and Journey 19:06 - Transition to Commerce Bank 25:20 - Acquisition by TD Bank 32;11 - Growth and Challenges at TD Bank 44:28 Impact of Technology Trends on Banking 47:13 - TD Bank’s Individual with Diversability Initiative
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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
Every successful person got there by goingthrough tough times. Success is a hard
ass teacher who likes to knock youaround along that journey. You know,
it takes real guts to not giveup and keep going. Well, here's
stories about failures and how these leadersflip the script to create success. I'm

(00:32):
John Schultz. Join me and let'sdiscover how success is never really overnight.
So welcome to the John Schultz Podcast. Very excited today. I have a
great guest, a friend, agolfing body, all sorts of good things.

(00:53):
His name is Chris Giamo, andhe is currently the executive vice president
of TD BANKRUP and serves as headof Commercial Banking, So he leads TD
banks commercial banking businesses throughout the US, including small business through middle market segments.
He's responsible for TD's treasury management systemand products and leads what I think

(01:15):
is so important today, the internaltechnology and innovation programs. Everything's changing so
rapidly. I'm sure your head spendsfrom time to time. But welcome Chris,
thanks for being here. No,thank you, John. It's great
to get spend some time with youtoday. Absolutely, yeah, this is
good. So listen, Your careerhas been amazing. But it always starts

(01:38):
back when we're really young, andyou know, all of our creativity is
coming out, and you know,we form as we're a young child.
So my first question to you is, you know, where'd your originally grow
up, and like, how wouldyou describe yourself growing up as a young
Chris. Yeah, well that's agreat question. You know, yeah,

(02:00):
I know you're a Jersey guy.So I grew up in North Jersey in
a small town called Hasburg Heights.You know, I don't know how creative
I was as a kid, butyou know, I grew up in a
kind of a traditional Irish Italian household. You know, I had one younger
brother, and I would say,you know, some of the things at

(02:23):
a young age that really formed me. I was I always played sports,
I was an athlete. You know, kind of grew up in somewhat of
a strict household. You know,you had to do your homework, you
had to do your chores. Youweren't staying in bed on the weekends.
You were going to get up.You were going to help, you know,

(02:43):
help dad with some chores out inthe yard or in the house.
And you had to do that really, so it was a lot about you
know, hard work and family andfriends, and was that type of environment
So did you rebel against that orwas that something that actually you learned with,
something you took to I'm sure Ialways rebelled, you know, rebellion

(03:04):
wasn't so tolerated, so I wouldsay, you know, you learned how
to live with it, and youknow, at the end, I think
it's like anything in life, youknow. And I have two sons now
that are twenty four and twenty one. I don't know when, but at
some point in my life I probablylook back and appreciated that type of environment

(03:27):
much more than I did when Iwas a kid. And I would say,
you know, and I talk alot, you know, to executives
and leaders and people. I reallythink that work, ethic and discipline and
routine really helped form you know,who I am today and how I you
know, embody some of that evenin even you know, thirty three years

(03:53):
later in my banking career, Itotally agree. It is funny like when
you're going through things, you don'treally how you're being molded, right,
and you know, a lot ofthe things that we do rebel against usually
are the things that our greatest youknow attributes because we had to get through
it and it was a challenge andit wasn't something we really wanted to do,
but we felt and got confident fromit. So who who? I

(04:15):
mean obviously had a great family upbringing, but who were some of your role
models? Were there certain people thatyou know shaped you you played sports?
Was it a coach? Was ityour parents? You know, I think
it was a lot of people atdifferent stages. I would have to say,
you know, my parents, youknow, I you know, we
didn't grow up with a lot,but they were very committed to my brother

(04:40):
and I and our whether it wasschool sports. So I felt like I
always had that support and I thinkthat discipline early early on. You know,
my dad said something to me whenI was really young. He said,
listen, I don't care what youdo in life, but truly look
in the mirror and say, didyou give it your all? And if

(05:01):
you got a job, get thereearly, be the first to get there,
in the last to leave. Andit sounds kind of simple, but
I would say, no matter whatyou do, you could probably outwork fifty
percent of everybody. I mean,that's where the bar kind of starts,
and as long as you try yourbest, you're focused and disciplined, you

(05:26):
know, the other stuff kind ofcomes right, and you'll make some mistakes
along the way, but you'll learnfrom those mistakes. And that's where that
passion kind of comes in, andit ducktails just that basic approach and it
goes into sports too. Right,it's an athlete's mentality. But I don't
think you need to be an athleteto have that type of discipline and focus

(05:50):
and work ethic either. No,I agree. What do you feel like,
what were some of the challenges youhad growing up? Right? Because
listen, yeah, you had avery support a family. You know,
sports gives you a unique experience asa young person, you know, accountability,
camaraderie, a feeling of being partof something. But what would you

(06:10):
say were some of the challenges thathelped mold you and strengthen you when you
were younger? Yeah, you know, I don't know if they were as
much challenges as well as may maybeobjectives and kind of goals, you know,
And you know, I would say, you know, I knew at
an early age I grew up ina small town, and you know that

(06:34):
was great. But you really wentfrom kindergarten through high school with almost the
same eighty to one hundred kids.Yeah, so it was a small town
and I went to public school fromkindergarten through eighth grade and still have friends
to this day that are my dearestfriends from that And that was I think
some of the real formative years.You know, this is back in the

(06:55):
late seventies and eighties, where youknow, you rode a bike to school,
you got home from school, youwent to practice, you played in
the yard with your friends, youhad to get home before dark, You
ate dinner, you did your homework, and you got up and did it
all over again. So, youknow, I think one thing, and
I don't know if it was achallenge, but you know, something triggered.

(07:18):
And there was some Catholic schools thatwere larger in the area, and
I was a wrestler, and youknow, I was interested in wrestling and
I was okay at it, andI wanted to challenge myself and said,
hey, I love my formative years, but I think there's more out there.

(07:39):
And what if I went to alarger school and met different people.
So I would think, you know, deciding to do that, and my
parents supporting me. I went toPramuse Catholic High School in Burden County,
which really for me. Again,going from the same eighty kids that I
went from kindergarten through eighth grade andthen getting into to a classed with five

(08:01):
hundred kids, four hundred kids fromall different areas, right and walks of
life, that was a little bitdaunting, Like, okay, all right,
now I'm here, you know,and you have to make new friends
and find your own way and stuff. So I don't know if that was
a challenge as much as an experience, but I think it was a good
experience. Yeah, listen, mostpeople will not do that, right,

(08:24):
I mean you literally uprooted yourself andput yourself in a situation that you had
to culminate new friends and new experiences. That's that's And what year did you
do that? That was nineteen eightyfour? Wow, Wow, good for
you. I don't know many peoplethat would do that. I know that
I would have trouble with that.So all right, so here you are,

(08:46):
you're going, you know, sportsschool. Seems I got a great
you know, early years. Whatyou know here you are Titan of banking
now, right, But what weresome of your career aspirations growing up and
how did they evolved and you know, are you doing what you thought you
wanted to be doing. You know, I tell, you know a funny

(09:07):
story, but I think it goesback to you know, just work and
work ethics. So you know,I was probably eleven when I got my
first job sweeping the sidewalk in frontof a veterinarian clinic that was up the
block, you know, and Iturned that into sweeping for the funeral paller
that was down the block, andyou know, making some money. And

(09:28):
then whenever it snowed, we shoveledand we raked leaves, and you know,
that's just what we did at thatpoint in time, and we turned
it into a little bit of abusiness and we would pair up and you
would have to pick somebody that youknow, could shovel and shovel well,
because you made more money the morehouses that you could do. But I

(09:48):
think it was like I was ineighth grade and you know, I was
starting to cut my father's one thehouse I lived in, and then I
cut the neighbors on and he hadsaid, hey, you know it's time
you probably get a more full timejob in the summer, and you know
there's a landscaper down the block.You know you can cut lawns. Why
don't you go knock on his doorand see if he needs any summer help.

(10:11):
So, you know, I'm youknow, I'm a little kid.
I'm in eighth grade. You know, it was a little intimidating and knock
on this stranger's door and say,hey, I live down the block.
You know I could maybe you're lookingto hire anybody, right, you know.
So the first day, you know, the summer, I didn't go.
My dad came home from work andsaid, hey, did you had

(10:33):
it go? Did you go downthe block? I'm my god, I
didn't think he was home. Hegoes, well you should go do that,
you know, you get in frontof it. The summer's here.
Well, you know, next dayI didn't do it. You know,
third day, my mom, youknow knew, said, you know,
I really suggest that you go downthere before your father comes home the third

(10:54):
time and asks you again. Andyou know, I'm not a you know,
it was a five een on agood day. So I was even
smaller back then, and I was, you know, knocked on the door,
very timid, and you know,this burly guy kind of answers the
door and it's like, who areyou? And I'm like, you know,
hey, I lived down the block. I cut grass. You know,

(11:16):
I see you have a landscaping company. You're looking for help. He
looked at me. I'm I guessI was twelve thirteen. I was thirteen
years old. He said, youknow, do your parents know you're here?
And I said, yeah, mydad told me to come. And
he's like, all right, well, listen up, I'll give you a
shot. You know, here's whatI paid beer seven o'clock Saturday morning,

(11:39):
and I was there Saturday morning,worked twelve hours. At the end of
the day, I got paid cashfor the day I worked and he goes,
okay, come back on Monday.And that was it. And I
had that job literally from that eighthgrade summer till I graduated college. Wow.

(12:00):
Worked you know, for literally forten years, every summer, six
days a week for the same guy. So you talk about influence, and
you know, he was. Thisis what he did. He had a
landscaping company. But you know,I spent more time with him than I
spent with most people, and Ithink I learned a lot over those years,
you know, and just understanding discipline, sacrifice, hard work. Sometimes

(12:24):
my friends who didn't have jobs,they were going to camp and they were
going to things. And it wasn'tlike I was ever deprived. But you
know, I worked for the mostsummers for fifty hours sixty hours a week
for most of my childhood, butI always had money. Helped me pay
for college, help me pay forsome other things. And I probably learned

(12:46):
as much if not more, duringthose years about life, work and people
might be part of something. Accountability, especially at a young age, right,
Accountabilities the thing too, because overtime, like if I didn't show
up, he wouldn't be able todo all the yards that he was going

(13:07):
to do because he relied on me. And you know, you say accountability.
I'm glad you said that, becausenot like I couldn't take a day
off, but if we had abig day. You know, when I
went out on a Friday night,I knew I had to be there at
seven am the next day and beready otherwise it impacted him. And I
think I learned, Yeah, Iwas making spending money right for my pocket,

(13:31):
making money to help pay for college, but this guy was supporting a
family, a mortgage, a house, and this was not a you know,
a large scale, you know business, and I think I recognized the
accountability and responsibility I had and thatmeant something to me to this day.
I still talk to him too.What's amazing too, because think about it,

(13:54):
you can't be in the position you'rein without that attitude. Like,
look, how many people that youknow you helped their lives, you know,
flow right from all the different positionsthat you managed. So I think
that's amazing and I love it.I mean I didn't go to camp either.
I used to like push food towncards or i'd work at the track

(14:16):
in vallet. I always enjoyed likemaking my own money as well, and
I sort of did enjoy that accountabilityand you know, I met so many
people through it, so it's good. It's great. It's entrepreneurial, right
because it's not your business, butyou're you're adding to something, which is
great. So you went to college, So when you're in college, and

(14:37):
again getting back to this question,right, like banking finance, like what
drove you there? Like is thatsomething that came natural to you? Yeah?
Not necessarily. You know, mydad was an accountant, so you
know, he was in the businessworld. So you know, I think,
you know, at a young age, at least in high school.

(14:58):
You know, this was in thein the early eighties, right, so
Wall Street was starting to evolve,and there was some sensationalism with you know,
with business careers and whatnot. SoI think I knew I wanted to
be in business. I didn't knowwhat. And you know, so in

(15:18):
college and that was always a focus. My parents were big on education,
so it was you know, Ithink my dad was really the first in
his family to go to college,and you know, he went to school
you know, days and nights locally, and I was one of the first
in my family go away to college. And wow, that's great, you

(15:39):
know. So I definitely I wasin economics and finance, you know major.
So I knew I wanted to bein business. And when I graduated,
you know, this was in nineteenninety two. You know, the
economy wasn't that great back then,and it was kind of you know,
hey, let's get a job.My resume really consisted of landscaping, so

(16:00):
it wasn't like I had a lotof practical experience, and I ended up
getting a job with a bank inNew York, which was in a management
training program. But that wasn't untiland this is an interesting story too.
You took about life, how thingsformed you, right. You know,
the first couple interviews I went on, I got the interviews, and you

(16:23):
know, I went to University ofRhode Island, which is a good school.
You know, it's not an IvyLeague school. And you know,
I didn't have an MBA. Youknow, I wasn't able to have the
time or afford that at the time. And the first couple of interviews I
went to, you know, theylooked at my grade, they looked at
my experience, and pretty much unceremoniouslysaid, I don't think this is for

(16:45):
you. You know, I don'tthink we're the right fit for you.
And it was a couple of banks, a couple of financial services firms.
And then I did get an interview, you know, and one of the
jan that was interviewing me was kindof an older school guy, the Italian
guy who had kind of made hisway up to the top, so to

(17:08):
speak. And he looked at myresume and he's like, landscaping, huh
you did that? It must havebeen hot in this summer when you were
pushing that motor, what did youthink about? And he really gravitated to
that and then asked more about thefamily and the commitment to work. And
his view was I liked that youworked hard, and he goes, if

(17:30):
you take that approach to this trainingprogram, the sky will be the limit.
So he really I got a chance, I think because the guy I
was interviewing with ultimately was making thedecision kind of had a similar maybe upbringing
your childhood and appreciated the qualitative partsthat I had rather than the academic and

(17:55):
the practical experience. And it goesback to the early things I learned,
getting there early and leaving late.And that's how I approached that job.
And I would say I did wellin the program based on hard work,
people's skills, you know, workingwell with teams, and that was really

(18:18):
the catalyst. It was the onlyjob I got offered and I did well
in it, But it was reallybecause of all the attributes and the things
experiences I had that were really Nowwhat company was that? That was at
Bank in New York. That's amazing. It's like it's hilarious, right,
Like we think, like there's thisplan on how things happen, Like everyone

(18:41):
thinks, how do you get tothat level? It's got to be this
perfect plan and everything's set up properly, and there's this roadmap where you almost
didn't get a job, right,Like you almost weren't in banking. If
he didn't and you didn't show upto this person, you may have been
in a whole other industry. Butand I will say, and I'm not
vindictive in this way, but Iwill say that the one bank that dismissed

(19:04):
me so quickly, you know,is an inferior competitor of ours today.
The world's round, that's what ippedround, all right. So so you
get this first job and now you'rein banking, and you know, obviously
any new job we're trying it.We don't always know why we're you know,

(19:26):
if we're gonna like it. Whatwhat got you gravitated towards not only
being in this job, but stayingin banking, And then give us a
little background of like what happened fromthere and how did you get to your
next level? Yeah, you know, I would say that training program was
fairly comprehensive. It was like youknow, back when you know banks and

(19:47):
other firms had these holistic training programs. They were twelve fifteen month programs which
really took you know, college graduatesand put them in various areas of the
bank all around, so you hada little bit more of a holistic view
of the industry. Is that stilltoday? Is that how it works today?
You know, these programs are fewerand further between now, you know,

(20:11):
just because they are, but yes, that's fundamentally that's how these programs
kind of still work. And youknow, and I cleared more on the
credit side of things, you know, being a credit analyst underwriting within commercial
banking, you know of business loansthat you would make to you know,
I know you're in the real estateworld, whether they are real estate companies

(20:33):
or operating companies, small businesses andeverything in between. So you know,
when I went and I was doingthat, I was really intrigued and interested
in saying, Okay, here's thisentrepreneur, right and they have this company,
and I'm analyzing the financial statements tosee if we can lend them money
or capital so they can grow andrun their business. And at times I

(20:57):
was able, even as a younganalyst, to join a relationship manager or
somebody that was managing a relationship ona customer visit or a call. And
I was fascinated how you learned aboutthe business kind of from front to back,
whether it was a manufacturing company,a servicing company, of you know

(21:19):
anything of like, okay, Iknow what this end product looks like in
the store, but wow, thisis how this is manufactured or made.
And I gravitated to it and theclient side of things. And I did
well at it, I would say, and made relationships and someone that I
was working with, and you know, you talk about the world is round,

(21:42):
this is interesting too. It's probablymaybe ten years older than I was.
So if I was twenty three,he was thirty three, and he
was a relationship manager and we hada good relationship. And he had left
bank in New York and went toanother firm, and like a year later
he called me and said, hey, you know there's an opening at this

(22:04):
new bank. On that it wasCore States Financial Group out of Philadelphia in
South Jersey, and he goes,I think you'd be great for this.
I think it's a promotion from whereyou are today. You should really go
on this interview. And he wasreally pushing me on it. So I
said, hey, you know,I've been at Banker New York for a
few years now, and maybe itwas time. At that young age,

(22:26):
sometimes you move around a bit toget to the next level. And I
went on the interview and the gentlemanwas running that group. Interestingly, you
talk about mentors, is one ofmy mentors, and to this day,
and that was nineteen ninety four,to this day, he's one of my

(22:47):
best friends. I don't think aweek goes by that we don't talk to
each other. And I was onthat interview, and you talk about being
authentic, I tell this story too. You know. He started like with
a lot of formality, and hesaid, you know, listen, I
want to ask some questions, sometechnical questions, and see how you respond.

(23:10):
I said, okay, And hesaid, you know, how would
you approach looking at a capitalized leaseversus an operating lease? And you know,
according to Fasby one nine or somethinglike that. So I kind of
looked at him. I tilted myhead. I had no idea what Fasby
one nine was. And I said, well, I said, to be

(23:30):
candid with you, I never heardof that before. But I said,
I'm very resourceful and I'm the typeof person who I'm not afraid to say
what I don't know, and I'lldo the research. I would find out
and then do the work. Andif I couldn't, then I would raise
my hand and ask for help.And he looked at me and he smirked,

(23:52):
and he says, good answer,because there's no such thing as fast.
I want to see how you.Oh, I love that. I
love that if you would give mesome BS answer. So he goes,
you're gonna be hired. Let's enjoythe lunch and get to know each other,
so let's not worry. Put thataside, and he hired me.

(24:15):
And he was probably one of thebest bosses I ever worked for. And
you talk about that moment because Iwent there and then First Union acquired Course
Stage, which was at the timea very large bank. Now it's Wells
Fargo, and you know, Iwas in their corporate group at that point.
You know, I've learned a lotmore. I'm now dealing with more

(24:36):
sophisticated middle market and large corporate typedeals. And I grew and then I
ended up getting on the relationship coverageside versus underwriting, and that same boss
who was running the broader division wasn't. My immediate boss ended up leaving and
going to a small entrepreneurial bank inSouth Jersey that was very small time to

(25:00):
create kind of a middle market group, and he was able to take one
person and he recruited me to gowhen I followed him, and what bang
was that? And that was CommerceBank? That was it. That's the
change of banking on its face,right, And that's what TD ended up

(25:21):
acquiring. And that was nineteen ninetyeight, so that was twenty six years
ago. I made that change andthat bank, and you know, we
could talk more about some of thoseexperiences, but from nineteen ninety eight to
two thousand and eight, that bankwent from five billion in assets to fifty
so it literally was you know,a tsunami of organic growth and probably you

(25:48):
know, a ten year experience thatyou couldn't get anywhere. Listen, I
mean with Commerce Bank for people listening. Was the first bank that made retail
banking like other retail establishments that youwould walk into from a food McDonald to
any before, you didn't want towalk into a back like it was like

(26:08):
you know, it's like they hadyour money and you almost were scared to
ask for your money. Right,the service level wasn't there. I remember
they had to change machines, likethey made a bank branch sort of fun
right for like, which was unusualat the time. So you know,
you look back and your piece thesethings together, right, And you know,
every career life, you know,has these seminal moments. But if

(26:33):
it wasn't for my hard work andhonesty of not of being not afraid to
not know the answer to a question, I maybe wouldn't have gotten that job.
That person turned out to be oneof my you know, most important
mentors and now friends in my career. And if it wasn't there, I
wouldn't be where I am today.I'm sure it would have taken a different

(26:56):
turn one way or the other,but it wouldn't be you know what it
is today, And you know itwas an interesting run. I love it.
You know what's interesting is you knowyou seem like you were never afraid
to make that move. It's almostlike going back to your parents forcing you

(27:18):
to go ask the landscape person fora job, right like you were.
You had this inner strength as ayoung person to carry it through your career,
and you weren't afraid to make amove and you know, if you
look at commerce, I mean,I can't imagine it was hypergrowth, right,
so you know, using all yourskills for managing people and growth.

(27:40):
So talk about some of the challengesthere, how many people were there when
you got there, and what positionwere you in. Yeah, so you
know, you talk about you know, confidence or willingness to you know,
take a chance, right and dothat because at this point, and you

(28:00):
know this was now moving to commerce, was nineteen ninety eight, So in
that mid nineties, there was alot of consolidation within banking and there was
this view that you know that there'sonly going to be a handful of large
banks in the country and these smallbanks couldn't survive. And at that time
First Union was one of the strongerones. So making a move from there

(28:26):
where I was gainfully employed on agreat career path with kind of a plum
desired type job, to take thatrisk and follow somebody to a small micro
bank in South Jersey that at thetime had less than one hundred bank branches
five billion in assets was a bigrisk, but at the time it was

(28:51):
more about I trusted the leader whowas going there, and you know,
and said to myself, Hey,I think we can do what they're asking
us to do. It may bea challenge, but I'd rather do that
with someone I like and trust,and if it doesn't work out, maybe
I can always come back. Andat the end of the day, if

(29:14):
they get taken over and we're good, you know that bank will want to
keep us as well. So wedid it, and you know, I
don't think we I think we underestimatedat the time of where they were in
their journey, particularly for what ourmandate was to build the middle market bank.
And you know, you talk aboutsetbacks and perseverance, and you know

(29:37):
something I always say to people likeI always say, you know, grit
is more important than IQ, youknow, and and if you look at
grit, it's really I think thecombination of perseverance and passion. There's a
great book by Angela Duckworth called Grit, and if you haven't read it,
people should read it. I thinkit tells a lot about out successful people

(30:02):
and people who could kind of moveforward in that inner fortitude. But the
first loan we were going to close, you know, the bank didn't even
have an automated way to track interestrates on certain indices. Middle market loans
at that time were being priced offa library which was a published rate.

(30:25):
We were at the closing table andthe back office. We don't have a
librar index. We can't do that. I said, well, we have
to figure a way to do it. So we actually had somebody in the
back office that looked at the WallStreet Journal in the beginning and literally pulled
the library rate and manually input itinto the operational system. Oh my god,

(30:48):
So we had to actually look atfrom end to end, front to
back of what we really needed toserve some of these more uprand commercial middle
market clients. So it didn't deterus. It actually motivated us to say,
Okay, we got a lot morework to do. How are we
going to do this? And wedid it, and we were successful,

(31:11):
and the bank was incredibly successful,and it was growing at a rapid pace
brick by brick, customer by customer, and and so you know, throughout
that journey, there was always somestep back that you were kind of like,
oh my god, like how amI going to get up tomorrow and

(31:33):
go do this again? But Ithink it was that perseverance, that resiliency
that will to succeed. And thatreally drove us. And I always said,
at least for me, I wasnever afraid of hard work and the
reward of the positive outcome of thathard work is what drives certain people.

(32:00):
Really drove me that we can workcollaboratively, have a goal in mind,
have all the support, and thatorganization did provide the support. We knew
what our objectives were, We gotthe support we needed, and you just
had to perform. That was anenvironment that made it easy, right,

(32:20):
because that's that's the way you win. When you have the real estate footprint
right, the deposits, you know, making it a friendly place to want
to put your money, a happyplace actually want to put your money.
It was amazing. So you gotit all the way to fifty billion,
right, and then I guess tedeventually bought commerce. Right. How long

(32:43):
ago was that now? Yeah?Now it's you know, it's two thousand
and eight. You know that commercethat, as I said, literally grew
from five billion to fifty billion.I used to say it was like trying
to change the tire on a movingcar. Yeah, that's how upid,
you know. You know, thegrowth was and at that time, TD

(33:04):
Bank, you know, was oneof the largest banks in Canada and a
year or two earlier made a verydeliberate effort that was going to grow in
the US, and that's where theywere going to grow. You know,
in Canada there's only four or fivemajor banks, you know, so if
you're really going to have exponential growth, you're going to then move into Europe,

(33:27):
the Caribbean or the United States.And TD made a very deliberate strategic
objective to grow in the US.And prior to Commerce, they had bought
about another fifty billion dollar bank inNew England called Bank North and that was
their entree into the US marketplace,and that was about two thousand and six.

(33:49):
So fast forward to two thousand andeight, they made a deal and
acquired Commerce and that's where those twoorganizations came together for the US footprint.
And at that time I was anexecutive, you know, a regional president
running kind of the metropolitan New Yorkarea for Commerce, and that's the role

(34:10):
I had or kept, you know, when TD came in and and that
was a great experience as well asintegrating. Really it was almost a trip
party merger because the Bank North dealwas relatively new. Bank North or TD
Bank North at the time, andthen Commerce Bank had to come together as

(34:32):
one and then we had the parentcompany in Canada. So you know what
was smart about that is the organizationdidn't try and force one model onto any
one area. They really took thebest of everything that Bank North, Commerce
and TD Bank Group had to offerand bring it in to one culture.

(34:59):
So there wasn't a lot of didn'tsay or was there. There was some,
but it was really a revenue synergisticdeal rather than a cost cut because
I think if I look at ouroverlap, you know, Bank North had
the New England market, really northernConnecticut up through Maine, and Commerce had
more of a mid Atlantic southern Connecticutdown the Florida with some gaps in the

(35:22):
southeast, but really you know,mid Atlantic. So it gave a foundation,
really a main the Florida East CoastBank, which at the time probably
had close to one thousand retailed brancheswe call them stores, and one hundred
billion dollar asset foundation to build offof. And from that, you know,

(35:46):
the bank continued to deploy an organicgrowth strategy some of the muscle Commerce
had because Commerce really grew organically,very little of any almost no acquisition and
Bank North was the culmination of likesixty seventy bank mergers. So took the

(36:07):
best of an organic and inorganic growthmodel, brought it together and deployed both,
which made it really formidable. Andthat's really if you fast forward sixteen
years later to where we are today, is the you know, seventh largest
bank, let's say, in thecountry, depending how you count of who

(36:29):
we are of you know, buyingbanks, buying you know, portfolios or
capabilities, as well as organically grown. So this seems like the first job
you weren't dragged into something else,Yes, a merger an acquisition, but
did your group stay together? Didthe person that you said you trusted implicitly

(36:52):
also stay And how is that wholetransition for you? Being that this is
a much bigger thing now, Thisis not a yeah as entrepreneurial. Yeah
No, that that one mentor andboss had left a little bit before the
TD came in to do something trulyentrepreneurial. But a lot of the colleagues
and people that we hired along theway all state and are still here today.

(37:15):
And I think you know the onething, you know again, I
went back to what made commerce successful? What makes TD successful. TD was
very focused on building a world classfranchise in the US. So the objective
was real clear, top to bottom, the top of the house, from

(37:36):
the board to the executive team.That was the mandate, that was the
objective. And then they enabled theteams to go execute and go do that.
And and part of the model andthe brand was a customer centric model.
We are going to be and weare our logos America's most convenient bank.

(37:57):
That's what we're gonna do. We'regonna put the customer the center of
everything we do and operate around that. And I think that's been a lot
of our success and been why we'vebeen able to retain a lot of executives
and the people we've brought along theway, because you know, people want
to work for something, you knowthat that that's clear to them, right,

(38:19):
And we've been a growth company andI think that excites people as well.
It's great, all right. Sofrom not knowing what fasbe forty nine
meant, right and it wasn't evena thing to the head of commercial banking
for TD Bank one hundred billion plusin assets, you know, you're What
I love about you is like I'veknown you for a very long time,

(38:44):
and you are who you are,and you care about people. You care
about people's success, and you genuinelywant to hear about what people are doing,
which you know, I'm HARKing backto where you said, how like
you know you could learn about themanufacturing process and why you like going out
and seeing customers. Right, Sohere you are middle market small business.

(39:07):
What was the challenges of being sobig because it's big, I mean,
like you can't get away from itand still having that commerce, that feel
of like why people loved the bankprior to them acquiring it. Yeah,
you know, I think it's alot of things. You know. I
think you know, from a personalcareer journey, you know, I would

(39:29):
say authentic leadership is incredibly important,you know, And I would say the
big focus is and even when Ilook to executives on my team or people
I've hired and worked with along theway is again strong work ethic, honesty,
integrity, and it's okay to makemistakes. Just own your mistake and

(39:51):
try and get better for it.And I'll roll my dice and take my
chances on those types of individuals andleaders versus somebody who's trying to you know,
snow you over and hide what they'redoing and be individually focused so you
know, teamwork and collaboration, that'simportant. I also think for leaders,

(40:15):
authentic leadership is important. And yousaid you are who you are, and
that's fine. You've got to beself aware, right, You got to
know your strengths, you got toknow your weaknesses. And I also think
showing some level of vulnerability helps bringpeople along and helps followership. So I

(40:35):
think I don't know any other way. I don't know. I've done it
purposefully. That's just who I am. I think that's helped me and maybe
helped me back in some ways.But I'm always willing to learn. And
I would say, and I saythis to people, and I challenge myself
intellectual curiosity, be curious, askquestions, try and learn from people,
colleagues, customers, partners, youknow, anybody in anything. You never

(41:01):
can stop learning and challenging yourself.And I know you too, John,
for a long time. I knowyou're the same way. You're always curious,
you're asking questions, but that's howyou know. You take the best
of what people have and kind ofincorporate it into what you're doing, but
be true to who you are anddon't try and be something you're not.

(41:22):
So I would say that helped alot along the way, and you're right.
You know what I do today isvery different and has a different set
of challenges than you know, whatI used to do. And what I
would say now is, you knowyou have to rely on your team,

(41:43):
and you can't be afraid to havepeople in the room, and I know
I have. I look at myteam. There's many people that are a
lot smarter than I am, orsubject matter experts in certain areas where I'm
not, and you know, Ilearned from them, they learned from me,
and collaboratively, that's how we executeand that's how we win. And

(42:07):
you know what I'm probably most proudof is over the years, the team
I've built, the leadership team Ihave today is probably the best leadership team
that I've had ever that I've workedwith. And I know that there's not
one thing that we face that collectivelywe can't at least go address. We're

(42:30):
not going to get it right everytime, but we're gonna get darn close,
and if we don't get it rightthe first time, we're gonna get
it right the second time. Soit's why you wake up and go to
work. I mean the people right, the it's like, like why do
you like sports? Because you feltyou were part of something. Everyone had
roles that they had to achieve andtogether you you made magic happen. Right,

(42:50):
And I think business is the samething and learning, And I love
the whole intellectual curiosit curiosity because Ithink like, like, if you don't
learn something that day, it's awasted day in my mind. So well,
and you use the sports analogy andI think it's so applicable, and
again, you don't have to bean athlete to understand the analogy. You
know, you look at any sport, right, you have a coach that's

(43:14):
your leader. You have a gameplan, But what do you do in
the off season? You have practice, your focus, You put your game
plan together. So what happens whenyou get into the game. Sometimes your
game plan doesn't work? So whatis there? There's timeouts, there's halftime.
What do you do during those timeoutsand halftime? You adapt to what's

(43:37):
working or what's not working, andthen you have to pivot and you leverage
the entire team and you know youmay have to put different people in at
different points in time in the gameto achieve what you need. And I
think in business same thing. Youknow your best strategy, if you can't
execute against it, it may notwork. And if you don't have the

(43:59):
win to adapt your playbook when it'snot working, you're never going to be
successful. And you have to havethat muscle to be able to go do
that. Yeah, and you haveto failure is good? Right? You
learn what how it's not supposed tobe, then you move on and you
try something else. Like to me, it's the it's the greatest learning lesson
When you actually try something, youjust get closer to where you're supposed to

(44:22):
be. So and talking about adapting, right, like we're in the most
fast paced technological AI revolution whatever youwant to put the name to it.
And we're like tech is in everycompany now. It's not like you're a
tech company. We're all innovation companiesnow. So what are some of the
trends that you think can significantly impactthe future of banking? And like how

(44:46):
are you preparing and you know howyou're going to adapt to customer preferences being
that a whole new generation is justlike we could see it now like they're
used to different things. They're justdifferent than you know, the generations before.
You know, I think it's it'sit's it's a big deal, and

(45:08):
it's something you have to be cognizantof. And we are in a cultural
shift, so I would say inbanking, which is probably accelerating fast now
but a little bit slower to followconsumer preferences. So if you think of
the average consumer, they're really influencedby what I would call maybe big tech

(45:30):
like Amazon and Google and all ofthat type of ability to shop online,
customize something, have it your way, and have it now, you know
whether you're going to start, youknow, anything that you do right.
And there's a generation now even thoughall generations use it because I you know,

(45:53):
I even know my parents are usingsmartphones now and things and that they
would never use. But there's ageneration that doesn't know another way. And
as they become the leaders right ofbusinesses and the consumers that you want,
you have to have those types ofself serve capabilities online, real time abilities

(46:20):
to do things. But you needto have all of it. So I
would say you need your physical structure, a store, a bank, branch,
still matters, but what you doin that store maybe different today than
what it was twenty years ago.It's more advice based, it's more you
driving more complex products or services wherenow on your phone you can accept the

(46:49):
payment, make a payment, transfermoney, move money, invest money literally
at a flick of a thumb ona smart device. So if banks,
in any company, in any industrydoesn't embrace that accelerated consumer preference and change

(47:09):
on how they consume product services,goods do their day to day financial banking,
saving, investing, you know you'regoing to get left behind. Yeah,
I mean, Apple, all ofthese. It really is so easy
to transact today, and the easiersomeone makes it, the harder it's going

(47:30):
to be for you to figure thatout, right, because you're just going
to be challenged constantly on how youhave to deliver services. Two people,
all right, So my last question, So you know your role stands and
extends beyond bank and you're also anexecutive sponsor of the TD Banks Individual with
divers Abilities Initiative, which I thinkis amazing. Could you tell us a

(47:52):
little bit more about this because Iknow you you're like a person that always
wants to do good, so andI you know, this was an amazing
thing that you're doing. Yeah,it's you know, listen, Diversity and
inclusion is an important part of anyorganization, and it's incredibly important to us

(48:12):
at TV Bank. And it's notjust a diversity of thought as well as
diversity, whether it be race,gender, and individuals with disabilities. And
this is something I kind of cameinto. Each executive on the team takes
kind of one of the diverse pillarsand sponsors it and works, you know,
one of the things I learned andit was amazing and until you see

(48:37):
it, I met and I didn'thave anything to do with it, the
bank did. I met this individualat one of our conferences and he's blind
and I think he's been blind sincebirth. He was in his thirties,
lived alone, independently, took abus to work every day with a seeing

(48:59):
eye dog. And interestingly, heI asked where he worked, you know
what he did, and he wasin one of our customer sales areas phone
sales. So I'm saying to myself, okay, you know, how does
that work? And we had investedsignificant dollars in special equipment, computer equipment

(49:22):
that's voice activated because obviously you knowhe's playing and interfaces with a customer by
you know, his voice and hearingand it translating text into into into words.
He's actually one of our best wasone of our best salespeople in that

(49:43):
from a customer service standpoint. Sowhat opened my eyes to is we have
to look at these individuals and seethrough their disabilities. Because on the surface,
you would think, okay, thisrole is typically people onto computer typing,
people on the phone, dialing andcalling, looking at reports, and
obviously that's challenging for somebody who's visionimpaired, but it shows with the right

(50:09):
equipment and technology that exists the bankmaking that investment whatever it was, which
was significant, that individual is ableto excel and there was no limit to
the possibility of what they can do. And you know, and you know,
I've kept the relationship with this executiveand we you know, we chat

(50:30):
from time to time, and he'sactually gone on to do other things within
the organization. So I think it'sthings like that and working with organizations with
people with disabilities that they're comfortable bringingthem their true selves to work and you
know, being able to perform atall different levels despite some of those disabilities

(50:52):
that you would think on the surfacewould hold somebody back, but they really
don't. Yeah, because there's allamazing especially with technology today, right,
the tool you can cobble together tomake lots of things that you didn't think
would would be able to be happeninghappen. It's just tremendous. And there's
roles that these individuals can do becausewhy they may have a disability in one

(51:14):
area, they have an ability inanother, and it's matching those things up
that are critically important and it makesmagic happen, right, it does.
So I love that. I wantto thank you for doing this. I
mean, you're still early in youramazing career to come. Obviously it'll be
interesting to see what happens with youknow, rates this year, and you

(51:36):
know we're all running through another cycle. But that's okay, that's where we
actually you know, pivot, divein, learn new ways to do things,
ask a lot of questions, right, everything that you're saying, and
we get through it and we're better, we're better from it. We learn
a lot. So thank you somuch for being here. Thank you,
John, It was a real pleasuretoday. What a great story. Keep

(51:58):
going man, keep doing it.Thanks my friend, Hi John Schultz here,
Thank you so much for tuning intothis week's episode. Would really appreciate
it. If you would like comments, subscribe and share with your friends.
Looking forward to being with you soon
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