Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Stepp Lowery.
Hi Courtney, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
Like most things in life, where I am today, professionally and personally, has been a dynamic path. My college education did not include plans of working in the banking industry or formal business training. I initially went to Appalachian State University with my sights set on a degree in psychology, in what I now know was an effort to find myself. When that didn’t happen in the first 6 months of that endeavor at the ripe age of 19, I decided to add political science into the mix with the thought that I might pursue a career in the legal field. Through that process, I had the opportunity to intern with the Van Winkle Law Firm, which is the firm that represented George Vanderbilt in his purchase of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. As a part of my increasingly eclectic educational journey, I also added a minor in dance because why not? I like dance; it’s fun and a lifelong passion that will surely help light the way.
So, where do you end up with a degree in psychology and political science, a minor in dance, along with a healthy dose of burnout and mounting unaddressed mental health concerns? The answer for me was real estate school, naturally. My family had been in real estate for many decades. My mother was a successful broker, and my parents were seasoned investors. They owned a well-established firm then, so I decided to try my hand at the family business until 2011, in the aftermath of the recession. The economic collapse and a fire that destroyed the business location led me to seek a new career path.
By this time, I had my son, who was a year old. I was a single mom then and needed more consistency and stability. Where did I seek this elusive stability in an uncertain economic environment? Banking… pause for reaction. In fairness, the role I was hired to do was created as a function of increased regulation and oversight in the banking industry. I was hired by a community bank fighting to survive the times and tighten up its internal processes and controls. To that end, they created a department called Centralized Document Processing that was responsible for generating all the commercial loan documents for the bank to ensure regulatory compliance in their commercial lending. And so began my banking career at a very entry level.
I was able to apply some of my pre-professional legal education and real estate knowledge to the role, but when it came to formal education in business and banking, that all came from on-the-job experience. I was grateful to have consistent pay and benefits in an uncertain economic time and was thankful to learn. Through gratitude, I continued to work hard and was given various opportunities to advance and learn new skill sets. I was promoted to Loan Reporting Specialist, working for the CFO to prepare administrative and regulatory reports on the bank’s commercial loan portfolio. Ultimately, this bank was acquired by a large national bank, as is prevalent in the industry. So, I decided to seek other options where I could stay true to my community banking roots. I always knew community banking was where I found purpose in my career because it’s more personal, and I always found that I had a work family. I found a position with another community bank as a loan assistant. I worked my way to becoming a credit analyst, which consisted of preparing cash flow models and underwriting presentations for commercial loan requests. This position had the greatest learning curve, but my 7 years as a credit analyst were some of the most valuable years of my career to date. I had great mentors who took a genuine interest in teaching me and helping me build my commercial banking skill sets and knowledge base.
However, I suffered some of my most devastating personal setbacks during this time as well. I went through a 5-year season of loss in which I experienced the loss of my grandfather, the sudden and tragic loss of both of my parents, and an uncle who was also a parental figure in my life. I was in unspeakable pain and struggled to cope. I found myself falling into a destructive pattern of using substances to deal with trauma and grief. When I reached my breaking point and bottom in this spiral, I went to my bank family and told them I would resign from my position, but they did something I truly did not expect. They told me if I wanted to be there, they wanted me to stay and would support me in whatever it took to find my way to healing. They kept their promise and never left my side as I found recovery and discovered my pathway to well-being. They saw value in me when I didn’t see value in myself, which was a pivotal point in my life. I was at a crossroads, and they offered me a helping hand that changed my course in a significant way. They supported me as I continued to heal and grow, and as I used my story and voice through civic service. Not everyone can say that their employer stands by them in such a bold way when they have every reason to walk away. My experience with community banks is that they don’t just care for customers and the communities they serve; they care of their own.
Community banks are special, so I devote my career to those institutions. With the contraction in the banking industry, community and regional banks have a decreasing presence in the industry as they merge with bigger and bigger banks, which is unfortunate. There is value in large and small organizations. There is a place and a need for both. There should be more awareness around the value that smaller banking organizations bring to individual communities so that they can be well supported and maintain a presence. They are worth preserving, particularly in rural communities. Unfortunately, that was not the outcome for the particular bank that supported me through such a crucial time in my life. It was another case of a small community bank acquired by a bank with a much larger national presence.
Again, I went in search of my next community bank home. I found that home at First Bank, where I work today. I have been there for 4 and a half years now. I began as a regional credit analyst, and as they have continued to grow to scale with the communities they serve in North and South Carolina, I have advanced my career in other roles, including Portfolio Manager and my current role as Commercial Banker. I have also earned the title of Vice President, serving as an officer of my organization. As a Commercial Banker, I can combine all the skills from my education, real estate background, and 13 years of varied banking experience. First Bank has now grown to a regional classification and is the largest bank I have worked with to date, but they maintain their roots of helping communities on a local level. They have offered me a platform for significant career growth in a relatively short time. It has been a challenging and rewarding experience. With them, I continue to navigate my career growth and personal development while being able to stay connected and involved with my community passions. It is an opportunity that I am profoundly grateful for. I look forward to what the future holds as the journey unfolds.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My personal and professional journeys have been anything but easy, but what I have learned along the way is that resilience is key. The challenges are inevitable, and they have certainly been abundant for me, but I have refused to let them define me and stand in the way of my long-term, bigger-picture growth. I always look for the lessons in the things that went wrong or the things that did not turn out as expected. I have learned that challenge and heartbreak cannot be in vain for me. These things must serve a purpose in my life, and I use them for a growth pathway. I use the missteps to inform a better plan moving forward. I try to use the challenging experiences and my voice to help others in their journeys. Most importantly, I continually look to do the next right thing.
As part of my process, I have taken on some big healing adventures and journeys to help me realize my strength and power and remind myself that I can conquer hard things. To that end, I have run 3 marathons (Asheville, New York City, and Chicago), countless half marathons, numerous team relay events, three sprint triathlons, traversed on a hiking trek through the Dolomites in Italy, hiked Machu Picchu in Peru, immersed myself in a yoga retreat in Croatia and climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest peak in Africa. These experiences have been profound metaphors for what I can accomplish daily by putting one for in front of the other and not giving up. I have learned that each step, the intentional strides and the stumbles, matters along the way.
At this phase in my life, I can face most challenges by telling myself, “I have been through worse,” and I rarely find an exception as I press forward. I am learning to embrace the journey rather than getting too far ahead of myself by being fixated on a destination that is miles ahead or at the top of the mountain. Goals are essential, but so is the process of achieving them. I have learned to be accepting of progress, not perfection. We are all works in progress, and that’s more than ok; it is how it should be.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to become more familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
When asked what I do by trade or my professional role, the short answer is that I am a Commercial Banker. I have a B.S. degree in psychology and political science from Appalachian State University and a background in real estate with licenses in North and South Carolina. My official title with First Bank is VP, Business Development Officer. The answer to what I do is fairly simple. I advise and assist business clients with lending, deposit, treasury, and other solutions to support their business. The directive of my job is relatively straightforward on the surface, but on the contrary, a deep dive into what my job entails can become a bit of a rabbit hole for me. What I mean by that is what I do is much bigger than numbers, dollar signs, and financial products. It is about relationships. I am always mindful of the human element that is a part of everything I do. It’s about stories that are wonderful, complicated, and unique. It’s about people who are beautiful, complicated, and unique. It’s passions, dreams, and so many things, but relationships and community are at the heart of it all. It can be so easy in our world to separate the job from the real stuff that truly matters. I have enough lived experience, professionally and personally, to know that the businesses and the stories driving them are not mutually exclusive. That awareness brings authenticity to how I approach my work and how I help my clients. It also helps me bring financial solutions that fit the stories.
I am passionate about my community, and for me, community is many things. My community is my family and my extended family, my amazing friends and support system; it’s my professional network, the people I serve with in civic organizations, the clients I help, the people I live among geographically, the relationships and bonds formed within these groups and so on. I have lived in Western North Carolina and am a multigenerational native. My family has spent many generations finding new ways to explore and love WNC and Upstate SC. I love the landscape, the people, the culture, the energy, and the inevitable ongoing evolution. I am personally invested in seeing it thrive.
As a commercial banker, I love being a part of the fabric of the community by helping businesses, owners and management teams. Supporting local owners as a financial partner in realizing their dreams breathes life into what I do in the financial industry. Working for a regional bank allows me to be hands-on in my walk with clients and support them on a micro level. I can bring local solutions to local issues.
I work with First Bank to do what I love because our mission’s foundation is simple: to do right by the communities we serve. We give our best to our communities and are good stewards of their trust. One of the most heart-warming aspects of those values is carried out by our commitment to corporate citizenship. This initiative is known as our Power of Good campaign, which is about positively impacting people and communities. We invest our money and time in this effort, but more importantly, we invest our hearts.
Working for an organization that supports my passion for non-profit work and advocacy in the community is always of utmost importance to me in my professional walk. My passion is advocating for trauma awareness and resilience, mental health, and issues involving substance misuse. These are areas of relevance to me because they are part of me. I speak openly and publicly about my personal experience dealing with these issues. This is not an easy part of my story, but it is a genuine part. It is part of what has shaped me into who I am today. It also allows me to be the authentic and compassionate professional I am today, and it has taught me that stories matter in all that we do; the whole story, not just the good and pleasing parts. Anyone with entrepreneurial experience knows that the whole story may not be pretty. The pathway to success is rarely linear. There are ups and downs and twists and turns, and the hard parts are just as important, if not more important at times, than the feel-good, happy-go-lucky moments.
My story and ability to share it have allowed me to connect with my community in many unexpected and profound ways. In 2017, it brought me to serve as a volunteer and advocate with the Hope Coalition of Henderson County. They are a local organization dedicated to preventing substance misuse among youth and supporting anyone impacted by substance misuse and addiction. I completed a speaking circuit in the local school and told my personal story to thousands of youths in the community to bring awareness and hope to their journeys because stories matter. Our stories tell people that they are not alone in their struggles, and they build community. My involvement with the Hope Coalition has continued to evolve through the years as I have navigated my near decade of continuous sobriety. I have served on the board of directors since 2021. First Bank has been very gracious in supporting my involvement with Hope Coalition and generous in their financial support of the cause.
First Bank has also allowed me to serve the community through several other organizations. I have had the opportunity to become connected with All Souls Counseling Center in Asheville, where I have used my background to support their fantastic work in the community. I serve on Hendersonville’s Pardee Hospital Foundation Women Helping Women committee, with First Bank as a generous sponsor, to help make critical medical care accessible to women in our community. I am a member of the local Rotary International chapter and an active member of the local Chamber of Commerce. I devote myself to various other organizations and causes as I can. I believe nothing is more impactful than people helping people and lifting communities.
An area that I am also passionate about is advocating for the unique challenges that women face in society and business. Women often encounter difficult and complex narratives and expectations. We’ve come a long way in challenging these issues on a pathway toward equity, but work still needs to be done. My passion to be a part of that ongoing work is driven by personal experience with these issues. I believe strongly in the empowerment of women and their voices. One of the requests my supervisor made of me when I was promoted to my current position at First Bank was that he “wanted to hear my voice.” That is an important message for women to receive and reflect to others that our voices matter and are powerful.
So yes, all of that is to say, I am a Commercial Banker, but there is a much bigger story that informs the Commercial Banker I am. I am an unapologetically strong woman, a survivor, a mom, a wife, a caregiver, a seeker, a reader, a life learner, a dancer, a runner, an adventure traveler, a thrill seeker, and so much more. I am a story, a voice, and so are the people I help. I’m a person helping people by building relationships.
Before we go, can you talk to us about how people can work, collaborate, or support you?
Call or e-mail me to discuss your business banking needs or for business planning.
Courtney Stepp Lowery, VP, Business Development Officer
Office 828-232-2905 | Mobile 828-606-5093
clowery@localfirstbank.com
www.localfirstbank.com
Please support your local banks! First Bank Serves North and South Carolina from the mountains to the seas with nearly 120 branches.
Contact Info:
- Website: localfirstbank.com
- Instagram: CourtneyLeigh2626
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/courtney.l.stepp
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-stepp-lowery-413702a/
Image Credits
Juls Buckman of Buckman Studios (Headshots)
