As women in banking, it is important that we lift each other up and celebrate each other's accomplishments. The entire purpose of the Girl Banker blog is to do just that! The Girl Banker of the Week series serves as a way to highlight Girl Bankers everywhere by telling their stories and motivating and encouraging other women in banking. It also is a great way for women in banking to connect! Read below about this week's Girl Banker of the Week! Brittany Little | Market President-Huntsville, SVP | Today's Bank In the spring semester of 2002, my naive, freshman self, sat down next to Brittany (Thompson) Little in Accounting I at the University of Arkansas Sam M Walton College of Business. She introduced herself, mentioned she was from Huntsville, then I did the same and said I was from Prairie Grove. We commenced in small talk and then suddenly realized that we both were part-time tellers at community banks. I then sat by her every day for the rest of the semester and then again in Accounting 2. To this day, Brittany and I have stayed connected through our involvement in the Arkansas Bankers Association and other community organizations and continue to share something in common:

our girl banker backgrounds. In 2002, Brittany had just moved to Fayetteville from Huntsville to attend the University of Arkansas and because nothing is sacred in a small town, some of the ladies at First State Bank in Huntsville (now Today's Bank) found out she had moved and thought she should work at their Fayetteville location as a part-time teller. This led to a call from the bank President's wife and suddenly, Brittany was a banker. At that time, however, Brittany was already working part-time in the Target photo lab because she loved the 10% discount. But she realized shortly after joining the bank, that she belonged in banking and hung up her Target khakis and red shirt. This also led to her later changing her degree from General Business to Finance with an emphasis in Banking. She started out as a teller and new accounts representative and volunteered for anything that came her way.  She liked to stay busy so naturally, once other bank employees figured this out, they kept her going with random projects.  At that time, the bank only had a couple of computers that had a word processor program, so before she knew it, she was preparing loan documents. The bank went through management changes during her first year, but this gave her the opportunity to gain multiple mentors as a result of the new bank president and operations officer being former examiners. Then the bank changed their core, new accounts, teller, and loan platforms, which gave Brittany a front row seat as a very young banker to an important and exciting time in the bank's history.  She went to four different conversion trainings and gained a lot of important insight into how things should work well together. While Today's Bank continued to change tremendously throughout the years, Brittany obtained a strong foundation in the fundamentals of how a bank operates. She worked full time while attending school at the University of Arkansas and when she graduated, she batted around applying with the Arkansas State Bank Department. When discussing this with her management team, she was urged to stay and it paid off. Since her college days, Brittany has climbed the ladder of Today's Bank through the loan department, serving as a BSA Officer, CAO, and now holds the title of Market President in Huntsville. She graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at LSU in 2010. Brittany was a member of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class of XXV and still sits on their Leadership Link Committee, was the 2016 Huntsville Chamber of Commerce President and was a member of the Arkansas Bankers Association Emerging Leaders Council. She currently serves on the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas. If all of the above isn't enough to keep Brittany busy, she has her husband, Denver and twin daughters, Ava and Emma. Her hobbies include spending time with her family, reading, cooking up the latest new recipe she pinned and traveling. I love that no matter how much time goes by, Brittany is always the same, sweet person I met in Accounting I so many years ago. It's an honor to highlight her on the Girl Banker and I know she isn't done blazing her trail. MOTIVATION | "I have been so blessed to work with some really great people that inspire and encourage me daily. Working at the same bank for almost sixteen years, I have had the privilege to work under two President/CEO's that have stretched me and helped me grow professionally in different ways. They both have motivated me to think differently and to think outside of the box. Being at a small bank that had two branches and $73 million in assets when you started, and now has ten branches and over $200 million in assets motivates you because you got to be a part of that growth and success. Through those changes, I have also had the opportunity to work closely with some really talented people. Another thing that motivates me, is seeing the bank's customers succeed. Creating a new product that your customer is going to enjoy using, loaning them money to help their business grow, or financing a couple's dream home. That gives me motivation. I have a very strong village that surrounds me and I wouldn't be able to succeed in my career if it wasn't for my supportive husband and family. I wish everyone had a cheerleading section as strong as mine." Join me as we celebrate this week's Girl Banker of the Week, Brittany Little! Know someone who should be the next Girl Banker of the Week? Send nominations to thegirlbanker@gmail.com!