The tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast continues with a conversation between host Frances Johnson and Becky Kearns, Director of Community and Business Development at Zions Bank.
Becky and Frances talk about mentoring as a way to share knowledge, help students find direction and passion, and expand access to professional networks. Becky highlights student adaptability but notes they often need guidance in clarifying career paths. She also describes why corporate partnerships with higher education and community involvement matter, including employee engagement and “goodwill,” and how banks can design programs to meet unmet community needs.
Becky explains the economic and cultural impact of sports events in Utah and discusses the future challenges of sustainability, water, and housing, urging collaboration and responsible growth.
Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm.
Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts.
Episode Quotes:
The influence behind Becky's commitment to give back
[06:22] Frances Johnson: Why was it important to you to be a mentor, to give back in that way?
[06:39] Becky Kearns: Well, I think my parents both were two individuals who taught the four of us to always leave a community better than you found it. Now, how we define community is up to us. But that could be being very involved in the, you know, not-for-profit world and helping with boards, et cetera. But my parents were very clear that share the knowledge that you have with those that need it. And so that's why it was important to me because I also am not quite sure where I would have gone without the direction I had from both my father and the dean of the College of Business because I was going off in a total different direction than where they were. And they saw my strengths there, but they also saw the big pitfalls that came with that. So I think having the comfort... And sometimes it isn't always what you want to hear. In my case, it wasn't always what I wanted to hear. However, you know, it's just information that someone can use to help guide them along the way.
The key skill for success in financial services today
[09:38] Frances Johnson: What are some skills that students need to succeed today in the financial services industry, but also more generally, and how have those maybe changed or evolved over time from when you started your career?
[09:52] Becky Kearns: I think being adaptable. The students today need to be adaptable with all the information that's coming at them from different directions, you know, where do they want to go? But being able to see there might be different avenues for them to pursue, whether today or throughout their career. Because when I started, especially in financial services, people would pick a specific genre that might be retail banking, commercial banking, investments, and they stayed plugged in, so to speak, to that specific area. In my case, I had the opportunity, and mainly through my husband's transfers across the country, I was pulled out of everything that was familiar to me and being plugged back into something I didn't know. In most cases, I was moving to cities I didn't know anyone. And so being adaptable to those changes and being able to find what would fit best for me really opened up a wealth of opportunity for me.
What Becky wishes she had done earlier in her career.
[38:18] We had four kids in my family. We were all going to school at the same time. God loves my parents, but they couldn't afford to put us all through. So, you know, we had to help. So I had to have a paycheck. And so, I stayed pretty risk-averse for a while. But when I started to be willing to take risks is when I found my greatest success but most importantly, my greatest joy. If I could give advice to myself and to others, be flexible, be adaptable. You know, be willing to bank on yourself, so to speak, that some of the skills I didn't think I had, I very much had. It just took me a long time to find them. And so, believe in yourself and believe in what you can provide. And I wish I had done that a little earlier.
Show Links:
