Christie Boutain

Guiding conversations with community leaders.

In this podcast, we'll explore the human journey of leaders, their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks and lessons learned. Come join us as we journey together and uncover the questions you've always wanted to know. This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, providing resources, connections and belonging for business professionals and modern moments.

An event and meeting venue in the heart of Gilbert. Sarah, we have a special guest with us today who is with us.

Yes, today we have a Minnesota girl. This guest celebrates an incredible career in finance and banking. She's married to her husband Brian, and considers her marriage of 23 years as one of her greatest successes. She is also the very proud mom to two teenagers. And for those who know her, including myself, we can tell you she is a professional and a dynamic leader with a heart for small businesses and nonprofits. She continues to blaze her own path and set records as the Vice president.

Commercial Loan Officer for Meadows Bank.

Please help me welcome my friend, the.

One and only Christy Botain.

And welcome.

Thank you.

We're glad you're here.

I'm glad to be here.

I've never had a bank person in here, have we?

I think we have.

We have. Okay, well, then we're good.

But we've never had to start talking.

About bank things, right? Okay, the memorable one.

Well, let's start with rapid fire then, shall we?

All right, let's do this.

You go first.

Fill in the blank. Happiness is sunshine.

What is your hidden talent?

Making people feel special?

A concert you will never forget?

I'm gonna say two. So I got to see Michael Buble this year. Lifetime for me. And actually on Monday, got to see Reese the Wallflowers.

Oh, wow. Have you ever lived abroad?

No.

What is something people get wrong about you?

That I'm a goody two shoes.

I would have never thought that. What makes you hopeful?

My kids.

Are you a thinker or a doer?

I'm gonna go with both because I. I think a lot, but I also act and do.

Okay, I like this one. If someone were to play you in a movie, who would that be?

Reese Witherspoon.

Reese, what is your favorite pastime or hobby?

I read all the time.

All right, what's one thing you're grateful for?

My family, my husband and my kids. Yay.

I'm so excited to have you here, and I feel like I know you pretty well. I could have probably guessed all of your answers to that.

Yes, absolutely.

Even the Reese one. You would have guessed that.

I think actually it was asked. Yeah. So Gilbert leadership stole that question.

Okay, well, we'll have to get some new material then. Dang it.

Yeah, maybe. Stinking Gilbert leadership.

You guys are just so good. People want to be like you, I guess.

Yes.

All these questions, that's not.

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All right, here we go.

I want to talk about the beginnings. You know, we already. Before this started recording, we were talking about the Minnesota life and all those things there. So I assume that's where all this began.

Yeah.

So let's talk about that school and family. You go first.

Yeah. So again, born and raised, 40 years in Minnesota. You know, I traveled a little bit, but I'd never been to Arizona, so I just had no idea. So growing up in Minnesota, to try and think of some things that come to mind is so summers for me. Again, back to the reading thing. I know this will sound so nerdy, but I would get on my bike, my banana seat bike.

That's all they had then.

Yeah. And write it down to the library on a very regular basis. And I would grab the next volume of the Sweet Valley High series, which there was probably, what, 30 or more books. I'd come home, it'd be a sunny day, I'd go outside and I'd read.

These are good memories.

That is a fantastic memory. I actually wrote a little short story about it while I was on vacation. And it's just a great memory that I have of coming up to the building and walking alongside it and going into the building, and just the smell. And that's why I love bookstores. And again, kind of nerdy about that. The other thing about growing up in Minnesota, for me, in a small community, about 3,000 people was playing night games. So again, on that bike, going a few blocks, be it six, eight blocks or more, to a friend's house and playing night games, flashlight, tag, kick the can, and all that stuff in the dark. Just some good memories for me. Going to school. I walk to school every day.

Fall both ways, uphill in the snow. All that.

I can add that. Yeah, please. So, you know, that's very much the elementary years, maybe in high school for me was. I was actively involved. I was a good student. I was the one the teachers called on. I was the one that, you know, raised my hand for everything. I wouldn't say that I went as far as. What was it actually? Reese Witherspoon in election. Yeah, you know, it probably wasn't that far, but getting involved in sports and then getting a job and, you know, just always doing something, hanging out with friends.

What was the mascot?

Actually, I love this because it changed when I was a freshman. So up until that time, we were called the Granite Falls Campus Kilowatts because we had an energy nsp, I think it was in town Kilowatts. It wasn't a little Electric Man.

If only.

Yeah, I feel like that's my nickname. Just kidding.

Okay, we're going with the Watts Kilowatts.

Right. Sometimes it does take me a few seconds.

It's okay.

I'm surprised she came up with it. Let's keep going.

Yeah. And then that changed when we joined with another community and then they just had both of our mascots, so. But. But the Kilowatts are pretty special.

So the official one then was after Kilowatts, or that was.

Oh, we were called the Kilo Cards. So it was the Kilowatts and the Cardinals.

So it was like a Cardinal bird with like a bolt in his hand.

Just had an Electric man in one corner and a bird in the other corner.

It's gonna take a while to explain it to him.

It's all right.

So mine was the Trailblazers. I won't even go there. But that was a tough one to create logos for.

Yeah, right, exactly. Yeah. So, you know, that was growing up in a small community and it was, you know, I was on the path to go to college and I set that path and didn't look back.

And so you knew pretty early on that you, although you loved your small town, that you had plans for something bigger or to leave the small town behind. Is that.

Yeah, yeah. I'm not going to say love this small town. That's where I grew up. That was my experience. But the idea of something bigger, something more really is what just kind of probably drove me. I didn't know it at the time. I was just like, okay, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go to college. Go to college. I'm gonna get a job, Get a job. You know, all those steps, you don't really know the long term impact that those decisions that you make have.

So you have an older sister?

Yes.

I didn't realize, though, until I read.

About this, the age difference between the two of you, There's a little bit of a gap there.

Yeah, we're about six years apart. So when I entered seventh grade, she was actually starting her first year in college. So for me, what I look back now is really is an experience of growing up as an only child, not the entirety of it. I certainly had my fair share share of years where I was the annoying little sister, looking at her, put on her makeup with her friends, listening to all the great music of the 80s, which I still love to this day. And different personalities, as you and I both know, children and you as well have different personalities, are almost complete opposites in every way. So.

Yeah. Does she, reflecting on your childhood, does she feel like she had a different experience in her childhood than you did?

I would answer that for her and we haven't necessarily talked about that, but absolutely, she had a different experience than I did.

Almost inevitable parents figure everything out with her and then they, you know. Different time with you.

Yeah, absolutely.

I'm just reflecting on my own kids.

And I certainly learned from mistakes of rebellious ways what I could and should do.

What did your parents do?

So back then. So my mom had a job with the sheriff's department, so she was a secretary for the sheriff for the county that we lived in. And her office was where I walked by every single day when I went to school. So. So sometimes I'd stop in either before school or after school. And I remember sitting in her office and it was in an old house. And so at one time her office was the front living room and then it was the dining room.

Was the jail in the basement.

So. No, it wasn't. It was in the back area. I don't even know what you would have called it even if it was an addition, but they had two cells in there and so. Yeah, so she was very much administrative based. And if you are a part of a sheriff family, it's. The uniform is quite fantastic. Brown, brown and brown.

There's a little tan.

Oh, you're right. A little tan. A little tan, yeah, yeah.

It's a brush.

Shake it up a little bit tan.

Yeah. And super fun squishy shoes. I just remember those shoes. And then my dad was very much a laborer, so he worked for a company in town and they manufactured grease guns and some other things. I'm not quite sure. So who was the reader?

Who was the reader? Mom or dad?

My dad. Yeah, I would say he Read more if I recall.

Your passion for that usually comes from somewhere.

Somewhere.

Yeah.

Yeah, I was absolutely the reader in the family books all the time. And still to this day.

So you had shared as you were growing up that sometimes you found yourself.

Being like the peacekeeper and being involved.

In just some balance within your house, which is something that I find interesting in my observations of you, because even as a leader, I see you being the convener, the one to sort of bridge conversations and bridge balance to them in your leadership. So just wondering, you know, throughout your life, how have you. How have you sort of honed that.

And brought balance to that?

Yeah, that's an interesting perspective, and I certainly didn't look at it that way, but I think one thing stands out for me, and it was an individual that had shared a compliment with my husband about how I had handled a couple of meetings that he had participated in. This is back in our former community that we lived in before we moved here. And his observation of me, it has stuck with me since then. And it kind of relates to what you're saying is just that ability or that desire, that internal desire for whatever might have been going on growing up, you know, I wanted peace and calm. And even to this day, I pray for peace and calm every single day. And so I probably drive towards that in conversations, especially with groups of people. And just recognizing that philosophy I have is everybody in the room, everybody at the table has a voice and needs to be heard. And it's really important that I give space for that. And I want to make sure that they're able to speak and say what they need to say. But also driving towards consensus, especially if it's that type of gathering or meeting, is that we're meeting for a reason. We have a job to do, whatever that job is. Let's get to that point. Let's hit that goal.

So you must be a high D in that whole disc profile thing, I'm guessing.

I don't remember. I've taken so many. I forget what I am half the time.

I'm there with you, I think, because that's mine, too.

Yeah. Yeah.

So school goes into college, and that's when you venture into what.

So college for me was. It was set up, like, as a requirement, but it wasn't a requirement that I didn't disagree with. I knew that going to college would get me to that next step. And so in all of the stuff you do in high school, trying to figure out what's your path, where should you go? I had initially started in seventh grade, and I took a drafting class, and I loved it. So I thought, oh, I'm going to be an architect. But actually I have a hereditary tremor. That's what I call it self diagnosis. My dad had it too. And so I thought, there's no way I can be an architect. I'm going to have to draw everything. So I scrapped that idea and then ended up getting into some business classes in high school. And certainly loved the idea of just pushing papers, whatever that meant to me at the time. So also recognizing that I had a love for math, I was really good at it. And that just led me down the path of, okay, at college, you've got two choices, accounting or finance. I looked at accounting and I thought, that is super hard. So I'm going to take the easier path was finance. Don't know if it was easy or not. I graduated from college, so that's a good thing.

Ding, ding, winner, right?

And going through that experience, I absolutely loved college. The independent nature of it, being able to forge my own path, and then from there just focused on the next step. So as I was getting closer and I knew I'd be graduating was okay, now what? And somebody, a company had come onto campus and they were recruiting for four spots. I couldn't tell you at the time if anybody else was recruiting on campus, but it was like I zeroed in on that opportunity and just said, I'm going to get one of those seats. And I got one of those seats. And so then right after graduation, I graduated on a Friday. Ceremony was on a Friday, and I started with a company on Monday.

Boom.

And was college close to home?

So, no, college was probably 3ish hours away, something like that. So going back home, definitely for the holidays, but not a lot. And then while in college, again, that independent nature of me, I went off campus my second year, had a job as a teller at a community bank. And if I wasn't going to class, I was studying or I was working, you know, or hanging out and doing what you do as a college.

Oh, what is that? I don't remember that.

Right Downtown Fargo. Yep.

Yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah, Crazy Fargo. Good times, middle of winter.

It's actually a pretty cool place. Yeah, I would argue so true.

Yeah, absolutely. I completely derailed the conversation.

I remember what I was saying. So I'm looking for the passion for the accounting and finance side there. So, I mean, it seems like you had that built into you all along. But was there anybody along the path that you can remember that you think of that stands out? Like, hey, this person really helped influence me in that way, or is it just always something you've known?

So, you know, picking that space was really just trying to assemble what I believed at the time I was good at. And then in college, does anyone in particular stand out? To me? Not necessarily. Other than working for a good bank with great managers, that showed me at the time I didn't know what community banking was. But looking back, I now see what it was and what a great environment it was, especially as a college student. And really just people taking chances on me, you know, not having a lot of experience, really just having a good work ethic.

Yeah.

Which I know Ben is going to ask, well, where did that come from? And I'm going to say that came from my dad primarily and my mom as well. You know, you work hard, you go to work, you have responsibilities.

They kind of tag team on that, probably, I'm sure.

Right. Yeah. And so to move past college into those first jobs, you know, definitely some bosses that stand out for me in regards to just how they led, you know, with a calmness, with support, with empowerment, engagement. One job, the first job that I had, one of their, I don't know, requirements for a new employee was connecting them with an existing employee, a mentor. And although I don't talk to that person anymore, that relationship or that structure in that environment was really important. I lived in a community that I didn't know anybody else, and just having somebody that you could go to as a new employee fresh out of college, that kind of could teach you the ropes. So those first few managers were really good at just kind of teaching me how to go about things and also providing me opportunities. The next job that I had, I was given an opportunity to lead some people. And looking back at that, you know, I made a few mistakes, but it was a good environment where you could make some mistakes. And it was really the foundation that then I've been able to build on in my other opportunities that have presented with leading people or managing people.

I'm curious. Often when I think of a librarian profile, not that that's what you were, but book reader, kind of like, that's one of the things you really resonated with. That seemed like an introverted type of personality, but yet you're talking about the opposite. So.

Yes.

Where's the real. Where's this fall?

It's interesting that you bring up the word librarian, because when people ask, so, you know, what job would you do? And I'm like, I would absolutely be a librarian. I was a librarian in college. Okay, so am I doing My calling? I'm a banker librarian.

Well, you work with people, there's a counter.

You're doing stuff, you know, so. Yeah, so I'll transition to how I consider myself an extroverted introvert. And that would have been the job that I got with a large national bank in Fargo. And I moved from behind the scenes as a credit analyst with a couple of leasing companies. You know, you're on the phone, computer, etc. You're not front facing with customers. Was. It was that role that I entered into the space of needing to explore being more extroverted versus shy and being more involved in the community. And it was that job with that national bank and that regional president for a stint of about 14 months that really set the stage for a couple of things. It was the stage for me with how I progressed through my career in working with small businesses. It was the stage for me to understand what it meant to be a part of a chamber, as well as what it meant to support my community through the nonprofit efforts. So it's amazing in a 14 month time frame how much that individual, by hiring me for that job, really set the path of where I am today.

Well, they just. The seed was planted and boom, you sprouted.

It sounds like he just knew. He's like, there she is.

I will say you talk about the individuals who've developed you, but I also know that you have a passion for developing others. I assume some of that comes from all of those who have invested in you, but what is it that you enjoy doing to grow other people?

Yeah, it's definitely a core passion of mine. So when I have the opportunity, I just am all in and I embrace it. It is one of my top five strengths. So that's just proof for me that I'm in the right space when I have that opportunity. And I think in those opportunities, I bring forward not only compassion for who they are and where they're at and what they've experienced and maybe even where they want to go, but also the humility in that relationship. So really just working hard at having conversations, the good conversations, the developing conversations, even the difficult conversations with people. I have had more success when sitting down and having difficult conversations, when I take on, you know, the responsibility for how hard we're gonna have to talk about something. And it just, it kind of diffuses any emotions. I'm okay with emotions. Definitely take that on.

Ben, do you want to say that I'm okay with emotions?

Will that do something for you? If I say that.

It'S okay we.

Won'T make you do it today.

Okay, thanks. Yeah, we'll pass.

Ye. So there's just that comfortableness that I put myself where they're at and that goes with customers too. I try very hard. I'm not always successful, but try very hard just to be on the same field. And I want that for the entirety of the room that I might be in.

Yeah, but I think part of your success rate though is the you really do care and invest. I mean, you're not just going through the motions of it. And I think that authentic approach is what makes you somebody that people seek out for support and development and advice, myself included.

Sure, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

She needs a lot of advice.

She's got a lot of great people that surround you.

Yeah, she does. Thank you for that.

And then the banking world is here.

Too, so that's helpful.

The banking world has changed so much. I mean, I look back from when I was young and grew up and I remember walking into the bank and everybody knew you and that's how you know. And then it's now it's not like that at all. What's that like on your side?

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, when I, when I take the time to dream a little or reminisce a little, you know, my favorite place to be is in that banking environment the way it used to be that I knew walking into that local community bank was like. And I've had experiences like that even as of late. And it's just, it's about being a part of a family, it's about belonging. And you can't be the solution for everybody, but you can definitely do your very best to help in every possible way. And so, yes, banking has changed. And in my opinion, it's much harder than it was five, ten plus years ago. And so to balance that, I think I really drive towards the relationships. And so it's almost like controlling. What you can control is. I can control how I develop those relationships, how I serve customers, how I work with people, how I engage in the community. And we all have challenges in what we do every day and it makes it easier to work through those challenges when you have those passions to kind of balance it out.

Yeah, that's great.

That's actually something I haven't reflected on, the change in that industry specifically and how like when we were growing up.

You did, you went to the bank.

With your parents and it was a place where you felt like something important was happening and people cared. And that's something that my kids probably, I Mean, I don't think I've ever.

I can't recall taking them to a bank.

Inside a bank.

Yeah.

Interesting.

Those still exist. I know. Small towns, we were talking about them.

That's.

There's still that environment. Right. But it's when you get to where we live town, larger towns like Gilbert and things like that, where it changes. There's a lot more people, right?

Yeah, it does change. And so if that is something that you desire. It's something I desire. It's the environment that, you know, we've created for where I'm at today. And I will continue to push and strive for that ideal. And so, yes, it's not on every corner, but it is out there. Yeah, for sure.

All right. So how did you get from Minnesota to Arizona?

Yeah, so again, I said earlier I didn't do a ton of travel. I did a little. I'd never been to Arizona. And so my husband and I had started taking some time to get away from our kids, and we had done some stints in the Twin Cities, and we had gone to Florida and we thought, oh, yeah, retire somewhere warm, you know, how many years, decades down the road. And then the following year, we chose Arizona. My husband has done a ton of travel, so he's very familiar with the four corners of the United States and more. And so we came here, and there's a couple of things that happened while we were here. It was so much more beautiful than I imagined. It was in March. Again, great time to come. I get it. But I was so surprised at the flowers blooming again. I had just spent the last six months in the typical Minnesota winter. And so you're just like, oh, you know, like the skies opened up completely. Blue skies all the time, every day. So sunshine and warm weather, really. But we were having a conversation with a good friend of my husband's, and he said these words to me, and it was a perspective shift for me. He said since moving here, he'd had an improved quality of life. And I heard those words. I was in that space, like, I want that. And so an opportunity presented itself, and I pursued it, and we were here less than a year later.

That's awesome.

Yeah. And so looking back, you know, for me, I set. I set goals. I don't necessarily know how I'm going to achieve it, but it just kind of comes together. And so going through that process of moving our family, it just kind of all worked. And then it happened, and then we were here. And looking back on it, a couple of things I realized Was that was kind of a big deal. Another family member had moved to another state at the same time. But for the most part, our family stayed in the upper Midwest, you know, a five state radius. And so that was just a significant move. And additionally, what I had hoped it would also do was it would show my children you can do anything and you can go anywhere you're not stuck in one spot.

Yep.

So we'll see if that.

I was gonna say. So now you have teenagers.

Do you.

Do you anticipate that they will go explore? Do you think they'll stay close to home? What do you hope for them?

So what I hope for them is that if they have something they want to do, they will do it. They will find a way to do it. They will ask for the help that they need and they'll just get it done. I would bet that they'll probably stay a little close to home for a little while. But I do hope that they learn how to spread their wings. And I'd like it to be somewhere either warm or exciting.

So you can visit.

Yes.

Maybe they'll go back to Minnesota. You never know.

But I'll deal with that. I'll deal with that. Yeah.

Memories.

Yeah.

I do think that's one of the most important things kids can do is start to travel and see the world and gain some perspective.

So.

Yeah. And although we're not world travelers yet, they have traveled so much more. I mean, my first airplane flight, I think I was 19. So, you know, they've done that multiple times for several years. Yeah. So yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

What about you? Where do you see yourself in the next.

Well, I know you're to some extent, you're a short term goal setter. So let's say in the next two to five years.

Two to five years. So I will still be in banking. I have had that check in probably two or three times in my career where I've thought, is this still what I want to do? And I always come back to the same conclusion. This is still what I want to do. So I'll still be in banking. I will be managing people. I will be celebrating the expansion of the bank on multiple levels. I will still be involved with the Gilbert Chamber, with the community, and balancing what I consider the ambitious side of myself with the just peace and calm and simple side of myself.

I think everybody wants to know, though, will you still put up with Sarah?

Absolutely.

Okay.

Have it right here, folks.

That's right.

An inspiration every day, something like that. Right. And Ben's going to cut that out later.

Yeah.

Oh, he will.

We'll do something with it.

Right?

Well, that's fantastic. I love the vision you have there, and that's very. I heard you say I will. All those not I'm thinking about. So I love that directness.

Yeah. And that's help from other people that I've surrounded myself with.

Amazing. Well, this has been a great conversation. I love learning about your story and your journey. This has been very inspirational. So thank you for sharing.

Thank you for the opportunity.

I'm always honored to have time with you. So thank you for sharing and being here today.

Yeah. Super fun.

Fantastic. You want to say yours?

Christmas.

Oh, there it went. Christmas. Okay. So if you enjoyed this show like I know you did, please join our tribe, sign up, and you can get all these great episodes coming right to you when we launch these out. So thank you for joining us today, and thanks for being part of our community. Guiding conversations with community leaders.

Ben, let me ask you a question. How do you see other community members being involved in this podcast?

This is going to be a great opportunity for so many people in the community to have a chance to be heard if they want to tell their story or if they just want to be part of this journey with us and help sponsor it in a way that helps bring more people to the table with us. So I think there's many opportunities at hand. Whether you want to again be on the show. Reach out to us, let us know what your story is and how you think you could be part of it. We'd love to hear from you. Reach out, let us know, and we'll see if we can make that connection.

Sam.