Personal Bankers of Little Rock: Kaiyashia Blanton
May 12, 2017
Kaiyashia (KayK)) Blanton had that rare experience of being born along with a twin sister, Keiyoshia, who has always claimed that being older by one minute makes here the smarter, more mature twin. KayK just rolls her eyes at that! When asked if KayK looks like her twin sister, she says, “Not at all!” But looking back on it now, she cherishes memories of their mother and how she took the time to do everything twice for KayK and her sister – from birthdays to graduations.
Born and raised here in Little Rock, KayK attended public schools and graduated from Little Rock Central High in 2011. After that, she attended Pulaski Tech while also working at U.S. Bank as a teller and coordinator for customers’ needs. In that role, she helped supervise the teller line in addition to doing other “back office” work to support the bank.
In 2015, Bank of Little Rock was searching for someone with KayK’s experience and, when given the opportunity, KayK jumped at the chance to be part of a community bank, where she could truly deliver personal banking service. Since day one, she has worked at the Bank’s Merrill Drive branch and during these past two + years, has developed great relationships with her customers.
In addition to providing direct customer service, KayK processes teller transactions, works with deposits and withdrawals, prints debit cards, and processes wire transfers (a lot of them, she says). She works hard at, and takes pride in, keeping her teller drawer balanced to the penny – she has never been out of balance since her first day at Bank of Little Rock!
About Bank of Little Rock, KayK says, “I just enjoy coming here so much. I’ve never had a Sunday where I wasn’t looking forward to getting up and going to work on Monday. And, honestly, I have felt some of that in the past.”
KayK is especially fond of her older customers who need help with new banking products and technology. She not only helps teach them about these tools but always encourages them to enjoy learning something new.
KayK married Sam Blanton and the two of them have a precious three-year-old son named Kyrie. KayK loves spending time with Kyrie, taking him to the park and to Chuck E. Cheese’s (his favorite!). Although KayK grew up as a twin, now as a mother, herself, she appreciates the fact that she can focus all of her attention on Kyrie.
She also enjoys working in the community to help the homeless and those less fortunate than she. KayK is a self-described “extreme couponer.” She clips every coupon she can find (in multiple publications, no less) and says that when she goes shopping, she “cleans the shelves.” The nice thing is that she shares these items with homeless members of the community. “I could never use all that I buy and, besides, it makes me feel good to be able to share and provide just a bit to those in need.”
KayK also feels fortunate to work for a company where those in charge actually take the time to get to know her and her co-workers. About President and CEO Pete Maris, KayK says, “I love Mr. Pete. He always comes to our branch to visit and catch up with us. I’ve had jobs before where I never even saw the CEO.”
If you live near our Merrill Road branch, come in and let KayK take care of you. She’ll be glad you did – and so will you.