Kristin Hanlon
Vice President, Credit Administration
OneSouth Bank
Macon, GA
Q: What was your first job, and was there a lesson you learned there that you still use today?
A: I started babysitting at the age of 11, but my first “real” job was as a cashier at Winn-Dixie. I worked there for two years during high school, and then summers and holidays all the way through college. I learned the value of work there, being part of a team, showing up to get a job done and getting paid for it. On a side note, I didn’t eat fried chicken for over 20 years, as they started frying it up in the deli every night, and over time I couldn’t stand the smell.
Q: What drew you to banking and what has kept you there?
A: I was drawn to banking through my second “real” job, as an accountant with KPMG in Miami. The auditing practice at that time was weighted toward financial services, and I worked on audits for several types of financial services companies: state, national and international banks, mortgage companies and savings & loans. My husband and I married and moved to Georgia, and I went to work for a regional accounting firm that audited community banks. Going to work for a bank was a natural progression. Several factors have turned banking into a 30+ year career for me: 1) Professionally, the ability to use the knowledge of accounting in a proactive and forward-looking way, analyzing the operations of businesses to create a capital structure and financing arrangement to move their businesses forward. 2) Banking is a service occupation. Through our career lives as community bankers, we are able to serve others both through assisting our customers in achieving their dreams, but also by engaging in a long record of giving back to our communities through charitable and community service.
Q: You were recently elected to the Bibb County Board of Education. What inspired you to run for office, and what do you hope to accomplish through public service?
A: I was inspired to run for office as part of a history of volunteerism with the BCBOE; I started reading to and tutoring students in Bibb County Schools over 30 years ago. I volunteered in various capacities throughout the time my children were in school, and after they graduated, I was recruited by my district representative to serve on the ESPLOST Advisory Committee for two years. It almost seems like an adjunct of my banking career; service to my community. Community schools bind communities together, and a community is only as strong as its public school system. I hope to be part of a leadership team that brings the broader community together to deliver an educational experience to the students of Bibb County that allows them to be college- or career-ready.
Q: If you could thank someone for becoming a banker or person you are today, who would it be and why?
A: So many people have contributed to shaping me into the person I am today, both personally and professionally, but I look first to my earliest and greatest role models, my parents. Both of them were born during the Great Depression and came of age during the years of World War II and the Korean War. They came from working class backgrounds and began working themselves while still in elementary school. Both were the first in their families to attend college; my dad through the GI Bill and my mom through receiving a scholarship. They both displayed the highest levels of integrity. My parents taught my siblings and me the value of work, the need to save for our futures, the importance of education, and they provided the best example of marital and family life. They were together nearly 60 years before my father passed two years ago (Mom still lives in Florida).
Q: What would someone be surprised to learn about you?
A: I think someone might be surprised to learn that I am a Pure Barre exercise instructor. I joined the local studio as a client several years ago and developed a passion for the exercise technique, driven by improvements in my personal health and fitness and the supportive community, and then completed the teacher certification process just over a year ago.