Wesley Dan Smith
Senior Vice President, Area Executive
SouthState Bank, Smyrna, GA
Member, Georgia Banking School Board of Directors
Q: What was your first job, and was there a lesson you learned there that you still use today?
A: I had my first “real” job keeping books at Little League baseball games when I was 13. You might not expect that to be very stressful, but parents would get really excited about whether little Bobby’s infield “hit” was scored as a single or an error when the third baseman tripped over his own feet trying to field the ball. Learning how to take incomplete data, form an opinion and defend that position to others is still a skill that I use today.
Q: What drew you to a career in the banking industry?
A: Growing up, bankers were generally viewed as solid, upstanding citizens who were very involved in their local community, and I believe that’s still true today. As bankers, we provide products and services that help individuals and businesses achieve their goals. These are the folks that make up our community and as they succeed and grow, the entire community benefits. That’s the part of my job that I truly enjoy.
Q: When you think about the future of the banking industry, what makes you hopeful and what makes you concerned?
A: There seems to be a continual push to leverage technology so that customers won’t need to come into the branches as often. However, I feel that what really drives a community are those personal interactions. It’s hard to develop relationships over the phone or the internet. While it’s helpful to have these technologies, I don’t want to see our industry lose the personal interactions. I believe this past year of working from home shows both sides of that coin. We can be effective bankers from our house, but we’re missing something. While a Zoom call can be informative, a face-to-face meeting is much more natural. It’s similar to viewing a property with Google Earth versus visiting the property in person. I’m hopeful that as we emerge from this pandemic and push for new and better technologies, we will take the initiative to get back out there and make a difference in our communities by being a part of them.
Q: What drives your involvement with the Georgia Banking School?
A: I really enjoy learning and hearing others perspectives. I attended Georgia Banking School from 2007 to 2009, and I learned a lot about banking from the faculty as well as from my colleagues. Georgia isn’t Atlanta any more than Americus is Athens. Perspective is dependent upon where you stand.
Q: What would someone be surprised to learn about you?
A: I live in Marietta, but grew up in South Georgia, so I can probably take this in several directions. I hunt alligators for fun. I read a lot, but the books I read are mostly science fiction and fantasy novels. I enjoy cutting the grass. I like to make my own sausage. I typically run around 100 miles a month (and ran a 5k last year in 21:06). I love Ted Lasso and if you haven’t watched that show, you really should.