Angela Slay
Chair, 2018-2019 GBA Security Committee
Chief Security Officer
United Community Bank
Blairsville
Q: How did you get into banking as a career?
A: When I was 19 years old, I needed a job and decided to go into banking until I decided what I wanted to do with my life full time. Now, 34 years later, I'm still here!
Q: What advice would you give someone considering a career in banking?
Banking, and in my opinion security specifically, is a very worthwhile and fulfilling career. However, it can also be stressful as we typically are charged with wearing many hats. The best advice I can give a new banker is to exercise self-care in their personal life to minimize stress, and professionally to always remember your goal of helping your customer. Ultimately that should be our main goal.
Q: If you could thank one person for helping you become the person you are today, who would it be and why?
A: Personally, I credit my parents for helping me become the person I am today, which I believe I can say includes humility, loyalty and concern for others. Professionally, I credit my predecessor as chief security officer. She always stressed that our main goals as security officers should be to ensure that our bankers were safe "on our watch" and that they see us as approachable and helpful and not as a "policing" department.
Q: If you weren't working in banking, what would you be doing instead, or what would your life be like?
A: I would get my social work degree and go into counseling, most likely helping victims of domestic abuse or the elderly as victims of exploitation.
Q: What might someone be surprised to know about you?
A: I write a blog of devotions and everyday life experiences.