As a part of my series about strong female finance leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ericka Pullin.
Ericka Pullin is a Senior Vice President of Research & Strategy with Frost Bank. She joined Frost in 1999 and has held other positions with the bank, including brand, retail marketing and data analytics manager. In her role as SVP of Research & Strategy, Ericka focuses on acquisition and customer experience initiatives, including corporate brand and positioning, advertising campaigns, consumer behavioral research, geographic market analysis, financial center distribution strategies, deposit products and pricing, voice of customer research and customer experience programs.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the finance field?
When I graduated college and moved to Houston for my first professional job in marketing, I knew I needed to start a relationship with a new bank to deposit my first paycheck. Frost Bank was conveniently located in the lobby of my office building, so I stopped by one morning reluctantly, and acted like I knew what I was doing and what financial products I needed. I’ll never forget the banker who took me in. She recognized my financial immaturity and gently shepherded me through a journey in financial literacy and built my confidence in handling money. Most mornings, when I walked through the building, she would wave me over to her desk to check in on me. Through those interactions, I knew that I would work at Frost someday, because I saw the value in an organization that cared for me as a person beyond the measly balance in my checking account. A couple years later, I found myself working in the financial industry at Frost and have proudly continued to do so for over two decades.
Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or take away you took out of that story?
I was fortunate at the start of my career in marketing to land a job with a big company. With this job came a big office (the biggest office I’ve had yet), and a big title, which was probably more than I deserved to have at such a young age. After a few years in this role, a physical move to a new city provided me with the opportunity to start a new job at Frost Bank, but in a function that I thought was under my credentials and abilities. I found myself as an administrative assistant making copies, taking notes, answering phone calls, and unbeknownst to myself, chipping away at my pride. My manager quickly realized my aspirations and helped me to find a position in the Frost Marketing department. The experience taught me humility — how to do what appeared to be the smallest things with grace and gratitude. I learned the value of conducting daily activities with charity to help the people around you.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I lead Frost’s multi-year Opt for Optimism initiative. Frost has always strives to be a force for good, and this initiative focuses on unlocking the power of optimism to improve financial well-being. As part of this project, I coordinated and helped facilitate research that uncovered the statistically-proven relationship between optimism and financial well-being and continue to explore new ways to improve consumers’ financial health — such as understanding the way people talk about money. With Opt for Optimism, Frost seeks to improve peoples’ lives by taking the taboo out of money and proving that optimism can help even the most trying financial situations. Next year, we’re taking it one step further by conducting biometric research to explore the human body’s response, such as rising stress levels, when having financial conversations. I’m excited to continue efforts sharing this research and look forward to seeing optimism’s impact when applied to real financial discussions.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
I would shout this from the rooftops: the people! The people at Frost are its greatest asset, where we all strive to make peoples’ lives better daily. Books couldn’t hold all of the great customer stories about what Frost bankers have done for our customers and communities. The most recent story, however, comes out of our response to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which sought to provide financial assistance to America’s businesses during these trying economic times. The people of our company came together, all working long hours from home, to secure more than $3.5B in funds for over 18,000 businesses in Texas. We secured almost 4 times in dollars compared to what would’ve been expected of us for our size. It was incredible to watch how tirelessly our team worked, including employees that were redeployed from our research and marketing divisions and across the company, to process as many applications as fast as possible because we knew these loans were saving peoples’ livelihoods. For a lot of these small businesses, it was the difference between staying in business or not. The time, energy and heart our team poured into the PPP work is just one example of many of how Frost goes to bat for our customers.
Ok. Thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. Wall Street and Finance used to be an “all white boys club”. This has changed a lot recently. In your opinion, what caused this change?
You may have heard of the term “feminine genius.” To me, this means that women have unique abilities both socially and emotionally. There is a social and ethical dimension to women that guides interpersonal interactions, which are vital in the workplace. Women innately acknowledge others and see them with their hearts, which greatly contributes to any corporate culture. I believe the industry is realizing this now more than ever before. It’s important to remember that women and men are complementary counterparts in the workforce. We can build off each other and work together to strengthen the workplace and society.
Of course, despite the progress, we still have a lot more work to do to achieve parity. According to this report in CNBC, less than 17 percent of senior positions in investment banks are held by women. In your opinion or experience, what 3 things can be done by a) individuals b) companies and/or c) society to support this movement going forward?
I am fortunate to work for an organization that has gotten it right for many years, valuing men and women equally in the workplace, and offering other institutions an example of leading with integrity, care and excellence. Lessons I’ve learned at Frost, which are imperative to the growth and success of any organization, include:
- Treat everyone with significance, and understand the unique value that women bring
- Extend grace and empathy to others who may not share your same values
- Be an optimistic leader in society who leads with hope, not fear
Let’s now turn to a slightly new topic. According to this report in Fortune, nearly two-thirds of Americans can’t pass a basic test of financial literacy. In your opinion or experience what is the cause of these unfortunate numbers? If you had the power to make a change, what 3 things would you recommend to improve these numbers?
I believe the cause of these unfortunate numbers is the lack of conversations Americans are having about money. Talking about money has actually been proven to improve financial literacy and well-being. In fact, Frost’s research found people who talk about their finances are 2x more likely to have better financial health. If I had the power to make a change, I would recommend practicing these three behaviors:
- Set aside time to discuss money on a regular basis
- Find perspective from others
- Seek progress, not perfection
You are a “finance insider”. If you had to advise your adult child about 5 non intuitive things one should do to become more financially literate, what would you say? Can you please give a story or example for each?
- Strike up conversations with your friends about money, specifically those who have about the same amount of money as you. This puts you on a more level-playing field where you can relate to each other’s financial situations. I personally have a few trusted friends with whom I can be open and honest with about finances. We talk about our income, debt and aspirations, and share ideas on how to achieve desired outcomes.
- Open multiple savings accounts –one of course for emergency savings, but also as many as you need for each major short- or long-term goal. This way you can set up recurring transfers to each account at your specified amount and watch the balance grow until you reach your goal. It’s much easier to visualize your progress this way compared to lumping everything into one savings account.
- Don’t be afraid to talk with a financial advisor now. Most people feel that they can’t speak with an advisor until they have achieved more financial knowledge or wealth. In reality, talking with a financial advisor earlier in life can provide you the confidence you need to build your unique personal financial vision, even if you are starting small.
- Regain emotional control after a bad financial experience. Everyone experiences financial setbacks — our research shows even optimists face an average of four in their lives — but it’s important to learn from those setbacks. Take time to identify what led to the situation, grade how you handled it and think about what you could do better next time. An attitude of resilience and grit in times of difficulty, paired with the belief that your mindset and behaviors matter in determining your outcomes, will help you be better prepared for the future.
- Distinguish between your needs and wants. Contemplate the reason behind a purchase you want to make vs. those you need to make, and often times, you’ll realize that you can do without the “want.” If it’s not part of your savings plan, wait a few days before you make the purchase to think through it.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My grandfather had an unusual influence on my life that surprised me as I got older. He taught me to laugh, enjoy the moment and not take things so seriously. When you smile, you automatically feel better, and you make other people feel better, too. There are very few moments in life that can’t be made better with a wise crack of a joke said at just the right moment.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Hanging on the fridge in my kitchen is the phrase, “The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness.” It reminds me that the world often shuns the value of sacrifice and promotes life choices that are easy, convenient and self-pleasing. And, greatness is not about being wealthy, powerful and popular. After a long day when I am tired and stretched to my perceived limits, I have to remember the value in sacrifice and work to stretch my heart to its fullest.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would love to start a challenge requiring each person to say absolutely nothing for 24 hours. Of course, I have never done that, but have always wanted to. I think it would help people to gain a wider perspective of the world and individual people. We just might learn to think more before we speak, avoid words that hurt other people and grow in empathy. It would teach us to concentrate more and hear our conscious trying to talk to us in the silence. I can’t help but think we’d grow in wisdom that would have a profound impact on the world. But when the challenge is over, the first thing I’d encourage people to talk about is money! 😊
