Joel Booth ’09

Please describe your position and what you enjoy most about it.

It is my responsibility to foster commercial and residential relationships with potential customers through a concentrated professional calling program. In addition, I maintain a portfolio of commercial loans and a suite of commercial lending products.

What aspects of your HLGU experience helped you prepare for your career?

My degree preparation classes such as the basic accounting, marketing, finance, and computer classes helped me prepare for my career. The general knowledge gained allowed for me to be a well rounded employee that participates in many areas of the running and daily operation of a small business.

What have you enjoyed most about your career?

Establishing relationships with business owners and becoming an integral part of the success of their business.

Have you or are you currently continuing your education? If so, please list the institution(s) and degree(s) you earned or are working toward.

I have a number of professional banking certificates through the American Bankers Association and the Missouri Bankers Association. Most notable are my certificates of School of Bank management and School of Commercial Lending.

How did HLGU shape you as a person?

My father always told me that the most important subject I would study in school would be my teachers. He was right. The interactions with students and faculty at HLGU allowed me to build soft skills necessary for daily life, that are also invaluable in the work place.

Please share a specific example from your career or life when the skills you gained at HLGU helped you most.

In one of my business courses we had outside judges grade our project. That experience allowed me to realize that in my professional career “outside people” will always be judging and grading my performance. That experience taught me to bring my best to each interaction.

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

I was an integral part of saving my bank. After the bank was stabilized, I was an integral part of building the bank back. That is probably the single most difficult thing I have been a part of. During that time we had to put our head down and work. We had to drown out the noise of the chatter from critics and keep going even when it seemed impossible. A number of years later I was a part of a group fending off a hostile takeover by a few of our shareholders. I was able to put back into practice the skills developed during the “hard times”. The feeling of winning after a hard fought battle is indescribable.

Please list any scholarships, honors, or awards you received as an undergraduate or graduate.

Freshman Homecoming Court ( I peaked early)
Phi Beta Delta highest grossing date auction participant
Quincy Herald Whig 30 under 40

Do you have any tips to share with students interested in this field?

Do not be afraid of commission only sales.
Live on the income you made last year.

What are some of your favorite HLGU memories?

Putting the school up for sale with Devan Carty:)
Midnight Breakfast shenanigans
The relationships and friendships developed outside of class

What on-campus activities were you involved in at HLGU?

Praise Song
Hannibal Hooligans

HLGU’s motto is “knowledge for service.” What roles have these values played in your life?

The simple acts of service to one’s coworkers and customers set HLGU graduates apart in the workplace. The knowledge about people that I learned in the classroom and dorm rooms at HLGU have allowed for me to look at people differently. Which in turn has paved the way for success. “Remember no man is a failure who has friends.” – Clarence, Its a wonderful Life.

What is one thing you know now that you wish you’d known when you started in the field?

That I was not the smartest person in every room.

 

Find Joel on LinkedIn