Listener Favorite Rebroadcast: Rita Lowman on TBOL Episode #299

Episode #299!

The Business of Life Master Class Podcast
https://www.facebook.com/TheBusinessOfLifeMasterClass
Instagram: @thebusinessoflifemasterclass
Twitter/X: @ClassTBOL

Hosts: Debbie Lundberg & Barbara Zant
www.debbielundberg.com - Presenting Powerfully - 813-494-4438

Facebook/Twitter/X/Instagram: @debbielundberg
TikTok: @DebbieLundbergCoach
Instagram for Barb Zant: @thestayatworkmom

Rita Lowman

Linkedin/Facebook/Twitter/@RitaLowmanRita

Digital Engineer: Brianna Connolly
Music: www.bensound.com
Music by AlexiAction from Pixabay - License code: CBKCX3HKZL8FJ2CM

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Hello, hello, everyone. It's positively the perfect day for another inspiring episode of the Business of Life Masterclass podcast, the show for people who thrive on opportunities, drive to get results, and seek input and ideas to quickly incorporate in life and in business. And with that, hello again. It's Debbie Lundberg, author and founder and CEO of Presenting Powerfully, a Tampa, Florida-based national firm providing individuals and organizations with four things: keynotes and talks, strategy and facilitation, teaming and training, and executive presence coaching.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Hi there, Barb Zant here, media sales leader, founder of the Lifestyle Brand and blog, the Stay at Work Mom and Fashion Stylist. So, Debbie, it's quite intriguing to know that we have a new guest on our show today. That means a lot to you. And I look forward to getting to know her too. Yes, you know it, Barb.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Thanks. This is one of my friends. My friend. My mentor. Isn't that great? Well, this that's who she is. And she comes to us as the president of Pilot Bank. She began leaving her footprint on the banking industry in the mid-1970s, working tirelessly to champion her colleagues in the banking industry. And champion is a great word for her. Our guest has been the president of the Florida Bankers Association. She has rung the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Can you imagine? I've seen the pictures. That's amazing. Even with all of that excitement, she's proud that so many she's guided are now leaders in several banks throughout Florida and right here in Tampa, where we are today. She's an author, she's a speaker, she's a farmer, and she has so much more too, Barb. So get ready to learn from the one and only Rita Lohmann. Oh, thank you, Debbie.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

We're so excited.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Welcome, Rita. Thank you for being here. Before Debbie gets started today, there are a few things that we would like our listeners to hear. Something that is special and unique and that our listeners might not otherwise know. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Well, there's a lot of things that I could share with you. And if you've read my book From the Farm to the Boardroom, you probably know pretty much everything about me. However, I do do do enjoy embracing change, and I think that's so important as we go forward. And I'll tell you a little bit more about that as we get into it, but change is part of my middle name.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

Well, is that is that a little plan word change banker? I don't know, or even but I even wore a bracelet and necklace with dimes on it today. You know, with our banking experts. Okay, so more to follow, it sounds like. We're moving on, Rita, to what we call the Business of Life Masterclass Podcast 4. These are four questions we ask each and every guest to please answer for insight and inspiration. Are you ready? I am. Okay. Number one, what time do you get up in the morning and what's your daily routine that you believe set your day off right?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Okay. Yeah, I learned a long time ago that I do enjoy getting up early, getting to work. I love that hour or so before anybody gets in. It helps me a lot. But when I first wake up in the morning, I first turn on music. And a friend of mine shared this unique tip with me a few years ago that if you put yourself in an exciting and upbeat mood, then you're gonna have a great day. And hey Debbie, who better than you to always be so positive? I always love being around you. And now I always I do not ever listen to the news in the morning. Now I'm sharing that because I just don't enjoy listening to the news in the morning. However, I do read publications on banking, so I want to know what's happening with the interest rate changes, with the yield curves, those types of things that are going on. So anything in my industry, I will read in the morning when I first get into my office. But I will tell you the other thing I do, and I'm sure many people do this, I do find that breakfast is important also, and I always like to give that a little bit of tip because it gets my mind going, it gives me the energy I need. And if I don't eat the rest of the day, at least I've had that one meal in the morning so I can keep my energy.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

Especially if it's oatmeal and blueberries. Absolutely. I remember correctly.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Oatmeal and raisin.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Alright, so I love it with the music. So, Rita, what's something else other than that morning routine that gets you in a good positive mood that you believe if other people were to do, it would set them up for additional success. Barb and I like to call this this that extra umph that you do.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Right. Well, I believe that you have to have a passion and something that you really embrace, and you're not overextending yourself, but you're doing the passion that's important to you. And as both of you know, I have several passions. Um, I embrace change every day. However, that's not the only thing that you do. What is it that you love? For instance, like me, I love giving back. I don't need anything else in my resume, so what I do is what I really want to do, and that happens to be two of my big passions, as y'all know. It's of course my industry is extremely important to me, the banking industry. I'm in DC a lot, and then of course, I love both making strides, which is through the American Cancer Society. I said on their board, and then I also am now getting involved thanks to Debbie and others with the Heart Association, which both uh both of those have touched my family, so they are important to me. But again, make sure it's something that you have a passion about. One of the things that I love also, and I've got to share this, is the CEO camp for Girl Scouts. We just finished up a STEM this past uh week before last, and of course I have the pleasure of sponsoring that, but I love seeing emerging leaders and young ladies like that growing.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

And that's that friend tour, Barb, that I mentioned that these young women, no matter what their age, Rita is so approachable, and thank you, Rita, for that. Because I bet there could be a 17-year-old girl who says, Rita's my friend, and how great is that that they would likely introduce you that way because they feel so close.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Well, to take that a step further, my intern this summer is a former, well, she is a Girl Scout, she's never a former Girl Scout. She's a Girl Scout, she was a gold star, and she's at USF right now, the best intern that I've ever had, and she's going to be working with me anytime that she's um you know not in school, which I'm excited about, but that's where I found her. I found her through Girl Scouts. I would not necessarily have known her otherwise, so it was great.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

It is great, and Anne is wonderful. So we'll give a plug for Anne.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

And Bauer.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

All right, so who or what has been the biggest influence on your life, your success, and your continued focus on making your life all that it is, and what have you done with that influence?

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Okay, well, that really takes me back, and I must say, to the fourth grade. In the fourth grade, I had a teacher named Miss Calwell. And to give you all an idea, in the fourth grade, I was over five feet tall. I was a really big girl, tall and lean. I wore glasses, and that self-confidence wasn't necessarily there. And she embraced me and said, you know, I want you to be a part of 4-H. And then my mom was my Girl Scout leader. So, so these two organizations with Miss Calwell started me on to the path of knowing that I could do things outside of what I thought I was capable of. She stretched me. Then as I moved into my career, I realized I needed mentors, friends, people that I could bounce ideas off of. And a gentleman named Bill Click has been my mentor for many, many, many years, as has a good friend of mine, Alex Sink. I believe everyone needs a mentor that's also a friend. And you know, mentors come in many shapes and forms, and sometimes they're advisors more than they truly are mentors. However, with Bill, I have never made a decision without calling him and saying, as far as work goes, without saying, Bill, does this make sense? And I will give you an example. I've shared this sometime with people. Many years ago, I called him and said, Bill, this particular bank has offered me a really large position within their company, and this is what it is. And he shared, Rita, your values will not match with their values. Best piece of advice he's given me that particular bank's no longer in business now. So that was another piece, but he was absolutely right. As I continue to delve into it, I realized that my values were different, and I'm very, very much of a believer that you have core values for your company and you have core values for yourself, and ethics are top of my list. Honesty and integrity is absolutely number one. Well, you live it and breathe it, that's that's for sure.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

All right, last question of our four. Our series does focus on the positive. Absolutely, and ultimately our classes will too. At the same time, we like to know is there something in a different vein, Rita, something that you wish you hadn't done, or you wish, as you see others doing, that they wouldn't because you think it may be holding them back?

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Well, I think one of the things that I had wanted to share as a piece of advice is don't think it's selfish to create time for yourself. And early on, I was the type that felt like I needed to do it all. I came from a very modest family. All of a sudden I was on this trajectory that I was working extremely hard to be on, and so I wanted to be everything to everybody. You know, I had the husband, the family, the work schedule, and there was no read of time. And it's really important, and I share with people you need time for yourself. And Debbie, as you know, I actually go to my farm once a quarter, and what I do is I decompress. That's my time. Now I might only be there for three days a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but I do make an effort to do that. So I feel like that people really need to create that time. People often say, Oh, I feel guilty if I do this or that. Don't feel guilty. Feel good. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Um, so make sure you do something along that. And then remember that fear of the unknown is natural. Um, my family and I moved, at least my boys and I, my husband and I, just so you don't know, we lived apart for seven years because we both had careers. My children and I moved eight times during their first eight years of school. Do I recommend that for everybody? Absolutely not. However, do what's right for you and your family. And remember, you know, your your spouse and your family, that's part of that that unit. And if it feels right, if it's good for y'all, it's okay to do it. It's okay to do it. And that's your business, right? Like that's her business, not everybody else's. Right. And you know, I often will have people say, Oh man, I can never do that. You may not, you may not be able to do it, and that's why I never say do this. What I say is look at opportunities, and if there's an opportunity you want out there, ask for it, go and grab it. Because again, you know what you're good at.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

And there's so many things you're good at, and I've read the book, and we'll talk more about that from the farm uh to the boardroom leadership lessons that Rita's written, and I did not know you were that tall in fourth grade. I used that. So boy, that really caught my attention, and what a wonderful thing that your teacher did for him. Sounds wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Thank you, Rita. That was very informative. Here are a couple of outstanding notes that I have. I love the music. I love music, and starting the day, I think that could help me start the day off great. I'm gonna implement some music in my morning, embrace change. I love that. Get involved with um things that uh you're passionate about. I invite you to a circle of writing. Exactly. Fantastic. Create time for yourself. I know I could uh learn from that. And embrace the fear of the unknown. So, Debbie, I'm sure that you have a lot of these you are already doing. Are you willing to try a couple of these? Absolutely, and get back on our follow-through podcast coming up.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

I will. You know what? The music in the morning is I go to Orange Theory in the morning, there's music there, and I could tune in even sooner. Yeah, perhaps some new earbuds since Michael will still be sleeping, and that would be I like that too. I hadn't thought about that little bit of extra time in there. I love that, and also just the it's such a good reminder, match your values with others. I just had a client that it didn't align, and it it is an emotional decision when you feel like, did I do everything and there's something that still doesn't feel right in my gut, and I referred that person out, and I know it's the right thing to do. So thank you for that reminder.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Well, and you know what the thing is, is that do we ever make mistakes? We do, and that's okay. It's okay if you make a mistake, however, learn from that and then be able to move on along those lines.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

Agreed. Well, I'm on it, Barb, I'm in with you. Absolutely. So, was there anything, Rita, that you didn't get to share that our business of life podcast masterclass podcast uh listeners would like to hear about, or you would simply like to share?

SPEAKER_00 13:12

There is one thing. I always love this um phrase of I have a work-life balance. Well, I will share with you personally, and this is my personal ideal, I don't know how you have a work-life balance. What I do know is um I don't, but I work very hard when I am at work, and then when I decide on the weekend that I'm spending that Saturday with Gary, you know, it's going to be quality time that I spend with him. So you work through it that way. Your life's going to be going in many different directions. However, the way that your thought process goes is the way that your life's going to go. And so have that positive thought process going forward so that you can move forward too. If there's something that you've done in the past, leave it behind you. And Debbie, you know, one of my favorite sayings is that if Cinderella had gone back for her slipper, she would not have been a princess. And I believe that's so true. Positivity and enthusiasm are two of my very favorite words. I love enthusiasm. I love to walk into any place. A banking center, I love walking in here, and people are kind and they want to be a part of you and a part of what you're doing. And then the last thing that I just like to share is remember again, as I said earlier, your entire family is part of that nucleus, and when you're making decisions, it's going to affect everyone. So I've always tried to collaborate with my family to make sure that the four of us are in alignment with what we're going to do and making sure that it's going to benefit all four of us as we move forward.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

And you get to see it when we get to be around your family. We see that nucleus, and your family welcomes the rest of us in, which is so nice. There's no exclusion. I mean, there's this is immediately welcoming in. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

And I love the all-in. So whatever you're doing, you're all in. And I know Debbie, you always say life balance. It's not work, it's not life, it's it's all that. And I say harmonizing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Exactly, exactly. Yes. So thank you so much, Rita. Well, certainly our listeners will love the positivity, love the enthusiasm, and all of your tips, Rita. So you're probably all of you out there are gonna want to hear more. So please know that you can stay connected with Rita on LinkedIn. You can follow her on all social media, including Facebook, and you can follow Pilot Bank there. They do a wonderful job demonstrating their commitment to the community and to their clients and friends. She's on Twitter at Rita Lohman Rita because we want two Ritas in there.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Don't want to forget my name.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

Don't want to forget. And you know, and I remember when we first started using Twitter together, and I learned from Rita. No, I learned from Rita. Rita Loman Rita. All right, well, she is certainly committed to connecting with great quotations. She mentioned that, and I wanted to share that too. You'll see Rita will put together a compilation of really inspirational quotations that she shares, photos from around the farm, a lot of these things. So remember, her whole journey, well, not today's, because the book's already published, but From the Farm to the Boardroom, Leadership Lessons by Rita Lohman is available, and it's a fast read, it's an inspirational read, it'll make you think. It's available on Amazon and many other places. So again, thank you, Rita. And similarly, you can follow Barb and me on Instagram and Facebook at the Business of Life Masterclass Podcast, Barb at the Stay at Work Mom and her new blog. She's got a lot of exciting things coming. And for me, Debbie Lundberg. And if you like what you heard, please download, download more, subscribe for future updates, and rate us five stars if we've earned it. If you have any recommendations, we welcome them because we commit to bringing you five-star guests like Rita Lohman and inspiration. So stay tuned with huge appreciation for Rita joining us on this episode of the Business of Life Masterclass. We wish Rita and each of you more of this type of inspiration that you heard today and some music in your morning. We appreciate your spending time with us on our podcast for successful people embracing every chance to accomplish and experience all you can in business and in life. Listen, choose, do