The Great Recession may be a memory for some, but for Brett Anderson it serves as a daily reminder of just how far he has come. At 25, Anderson and his family have lived through some of the uglier times the financial meltdown caused. But if it was not for those experiences, Anderson wages he would not be where he is today.
“It was a tough couple of years,” Anderson said. “I think we learned that family is more important than anything.”
Anderson, a Corcoran native and 2013 St. Cloud State University business administration graduate, is no stranger to overcoming difficulties.
Today, Anderson manages the St. Joseph-based Sentry Bank’s 120 Fourth Ave. S branch location in St. Cloud where he oversees nine people. He also serves on Sentry Bank’s strategic planning and marketing committees.
Anderson started as branch manager Jan. 1.
“Banking is definitely not regarded as the most interesting of industries to enter right out of college,” Anderson said.
But it is an industry where Anderson has spent a lot of hours and staked a lot of faith.
Question: How did you end up in this industry?
Answer: I get that question a lot. It’s not an industry that’s real popular with millennials. But I would say I’m a product of the Great Recession. In my formative years, when I was just graduating high school and trying to figure things out, the Great Recession hit. And when that hit, it hit my family pretty hard. My dad owned a business for probably 26 years, built it from the ground up. He co-owned it. And when the Great Recession hit he had to shut the doors. One of the reasons was that he had a banking relationship as business owners do, and the bank closed (its) the doors. So the bank either sold or closed, I’m not sure what happened. But that relationship went with it. When the banks switched hands, they called his note due, his outstanding debt in the company. And he had to shut the doors to the building and all that. So it was tough.
Q: So you were about 17 or 18 when that happened?
A: Yeah. I was just trying to get started on my own. And that hit, and it was really hard on our family. So I went to college and paid my way through, which was pretty challenging because (I took) a big course load. I ended up in low-income housing during college. And the housing that I was at had cockroaches. I had a roommate and so we slept on the floor of this apartment complex and we had so many roaches that when you would turn the light on, they would scatter. Even when you were sleeping in your room. I mean they were everywhere. That lasted about 18 months. We got out of that and I started researching more about the economy just because I wanted to figure out more about what caused (the Great Recession). And it always went back to banking. The more I researched it, the more I liked it. So I started as a teller. And I never looked back. I often dwell on my experience of having nothing. And that’s, I think, helped me more than my banking experience in the past. I like to think of that as my best banking experience. When I wasn’t a banker. When it was just tough.
Q: I don’t know about you, but personally, if it was me in that situation, seeing how the banking industry negatively affected my family, that would be something I would want to shy away from.
Q: I take it that was a real definitive moment for you?
A: Definitely. No question. I looked back and just researching what banks were all about, just trying to figure out what I would love to do. And that hit home.
Q: So how did you end up rising through the ranks of being in that entry-level teller position to now being branch manager?
A: A lot of hours. I have a mentor. His name is Terry Kurash. I’ve known him for a number of years. And also my dad (Ric Anderson), obviously he’s been my mentor for I don’t even know how long. My dad always told me, you always have to be working and practicing when others aren’t. He always said practice when no one else is practicing and you’ll get better. And that’s kind of what I took to banking as well.
Q: So who has had the biggest impact or influence on your and your career path? Has it been Terry and your dad?
A: Both.
Q: What makes them so special to you?
A: I view them both as very successful. Both are entrepreneurs, actually. They have made their businesses out of nothing. And they have the same core values as me. If we drew up our mission statements right next to each other I think that they would line up pretty equally. They both hold the same faith (and the) things they hold closest to their heart are probably the same things that I would.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge for you, being 25 years old and a branch manager of a bank?
A: The biggest challenge at first was getting out into the community. It was early on in my career that I knew I needed a network, but it was hard. I felt like people wouldn’t take me seriously because I was younger. So I tried looking older. I tried the older-looking haircut. …
A: It didn’t work. But slowly I just got more comfortable. I’ll tell you the hardest thing about banking is looking forward, trying to figure out what the economy is going to be in a year, next year, this year, the year after that, that kind of thing.
Q: Do people take you seriously?
A: Yeah, I think so. I mean, it’s something that I was self-conscious about for a little while. But I don’t have a problem with it now.
Q: So what has been the biggest successes for you?
A: I would say, it doesn’t have to do with banking. It would be when my back was against the wall. Getting through that.
Q: What advice would you give to young professionals that are just either starting out or something that you wish you would have known?
A: One thing that I don’t understand is … you could probably find a conference or a speaker every week on how to interact with other generations, how to work with Gen X (and) the baby boomers. It’s usually geared toward the Gen X and the baby boomers (learning) to get along with millennials. I think it should be the other way around. I think millennials, they have to figure out how to interact with baby boomers, Gen X, more so because they’re the ones that are dictating business. They are the ones hiring us. And they have the experience. They know what doesn’t work, what works.
