Personal Bankers of Little Rock: Lee Swearingen
November 24, 2017
Lee Swearingen started life in Brinkley, Arkansas, and has many fond memories of growing up in what she describes as a wonderful home town full of family and friends.
She began her banking career at First National Bank of Brinkley in 1980. “I wore a lot of different hats while there,” she says of that time. She must have worn them well because she was promoted in 1983 to Assistant Vice President and managed a branch there for two years. According to Lee, “I was always curious, wanted to learn different things, and was never afraid of a challenge.”?
Still at the Brinkley bank, she moved into the Investment Department, working on IRAs, CDs -- more “customer facing” jobs, she says, and her banking experience and expertise continued to build.
In 1988, Lee moved to Little Rock and joined Pulaski Bank for a short stint. She was asked to join the start-up team of First Exchange Bank where she served as Vice President and Cashier.
When she had the opportunity to join the Bank of Little Rock team in 1992, she jumped at the chance. “I knew that my heart was in community banks and I had heard such great things about Bank of Little Rock, I simply couldn’t resist being a part of that team.”
Lee started at Bank of Little Rock as Vice President of Bank Operations. In 1996, she graduated with honors from Texas A&M’s Bank Operations School and now serves the Bank as Senior Vice President of Bank Operations.
Lee says the most challenging part of her job is staying on top of the continually changing regulatory environment. On the other hand, she most enjoys the fact that no two days are alike. “Every day has its own opportunities and challenges and I love the diversity of it all. Boredom isn’t a problem!”
Lee supervises a staff of eight banking professionals in the operations area and says they work hard, but they laugh a lot, too. “At Bank of Little Rock, we genuinely like each other -- we allow people to grow but they bring their valuable past experiences with them.”
In 1995 Lee and her husband Acey moved to Scott, Arkansas to raise their two now grown children, saying, “We were so happy to be back in a small close knit community, again.” Her son Tucker and his wife Taylor live in England, Arkansas and daughter Sara and her husband Caleb live in Homewood, Alabama. She has been blessed with four grandchildren, two boys and two girls all under the age of four. Lee’s family loves both kinds of skiing (water and snow), but now that the grandchildren have arrived they prefer the beach for family vacations.
If you don’t yet know Lee, come by and meet her. She’s the perfect example of Personal Banking at its finest!