What are you reading?
“Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion.” It’s the true story of Anthony Robles, a gentleman who was born with one leg. He got into wrestling and ultimately earned a scholarship at Arizona State. He went on to win the NCAA championship in his weight class. It’s an incredibly powerful story. I actually met him, and he’s such an inspirational young man.
What is your favorite restaurant? Where do you take clients to dinner?
Our family lives in Henderson and Bratalian is a go-to. It’s more of a small, family-run Italian place. On the client side, I do more client lunches than dinners. I like places where we can get work done. Some of my top places are the Country Club at the Wynn. And, if I’m downtown, Triple George is great. And, on the southside, I like Panevino.
Where do you work out or play your favorite sport?
I enjoy being outside — hiking, running or playing golf.
How do you decompress after a hard week?
I like to be with my family. We’re all big sports fans, specifically Texas A&M football fans. Locally, we like to cheer on UNLV basketball. And given our Texas roots, the National Finals Rodeo here in Vegas in December is always a highlight for our family.
What is the biggest challenge facing Las Vegas in the next five years?
First and foremost, the city is making positive strides toward closing the gap around education, health care and infrastructure. There are so many great things going on across our valley. We have numerous advancements at UNLV, we have a new NHL team to call our very own and there’s an NFL team on the horizon. An ongoing challenge facing Las Vegas is attracting and retaining quality workforce talent. Work-life balance, meaningful benefits and company culture can go a long way here. One of the bank’s operating principles is to be a great place to work with the intention that every employee can get the help they need to reach their goals, both personally and professionally. We are fortunate here in Las Vegas to have great places to recruit new talent, like from UNLV, CSN and, of course, the incredible community of military veterans returning to civilian life. Las Vegas has been one of our company’s leading markets in recruiting military talent and we have numerous veterans and their family members working for us here.
The robust workplace benefits we provide employees, such as increasing our minimum pay to $15 per hour, 16 weeks of parental leave, an inclusive workplace environment and continuing education resources are some ways to demonstrate gratitude and support. Employees also made it known just how important volunteerism and serving their community are to them, so one of our most popular benefits continues to be the two hours of paid time off each week we offer to volunteer with a cause of their choice. Residents of Las Vegas should be able to afford to live here and be equipped to help make the community and the economy thrive.
