Name:  Rachel Tierce Pechacek
Age:  33
Title:  Assistant Vice President, Commercial Banker
Company:  Extraco Banks
Location:  1700 Valley Mills Drive, Waco, Texas 76710
About Company:  Our Mission: To touch lives building secure financial futures and long-term profitable relationships.™
Exporters and Traders Compress & Warehouse Company began its cotton compress and warehousing business in Waco on July 12, 1902. Today, the company has evolved into the largest and most comprehensive independent financial institution headquartered in Central Texas. Extraco (an acronym for Exporters and Traders Compress) exceeds $1 billion in assets, enjoys 150,000 customers in 26 locations, participates in hundreds of volunteer community leadership roles and, most importantly, employs more than 400 Central Texans.
In the industry since:  2004
In your position since:  2008

What do you enjoy about your job?
I enjoy assisting my customers with bringing their ideas and goals to fruition and then sharing and celebrating in their successes. Working within a family-owned, community bank whose mission is relationship-centric fosters the development of interactions deeper than just closing loans and collecting payments. I take pleasure in serving a broad spectrum of roles for my customers including those as financial counselor, a sounding-board for ideas, a business plan editor, a referral source for everything from a good insurance provider to a good tailor and sometimes as a near-miracle worker when it comes to aligning the right external resources (whether it be grants, the SBA, Community Development Corp. support or others) to make what may seem to be an un-bankable deal bankable. I have had customers joke that I know everything about them from their bank account balances to their kids’ birthdays to their shoe size. At the end of the day, we have formed a mutually beneficial relationship with vested interests in each other’s accomplishments, which is very rewarding.

Are you involved in any industry or community associations?
Yes, I currently serve as treasurer on the Board of the Waco Family Abuse Center and recently rolled off the Board of Compassion Ministries, both of which I was introduced to through my involvement in the Chamber’s Leadership Waco Program (Class XXV). I am very passionate about the missions of both of these organizations and felt compelled to become involved in whatever capacity I could to support their cause. I have taught financial literacy and credit courses through the NeighborWorks program and look forward to doing more of that in the near future. I have also served on the Board of the Waco Young Professionals (an ongoing member) and am active in the Chamber’s Total Resource Campaign.

Does your social life take a toll in a leadership position?
I would be lying if I said no altogether, but it has not been a detrimental impact. I may not spend as much time with my friends as I used to, get out to the golf course as frequently as I would like or make it to every barn dance at my children’s school, but I think I have found a nice balance between everything. I am blessed with a good support system at home and within my extended family. My husband and children understand that if I am away from them at a board meeting, a banquet or another function, it is either to maintain or enhance our family’s well being or for a cause that is near and dear to my heart.

What does leadership (in your company and the community) mean to you?
In my opinion, leadership will make or break a company or an organization. Extraco has been around for more than a hundred years, so clearly they have had the right leaders in place. I think it also means creating a culture conducive to building future leaders by providing opportunities for ongoing training, education and investing in its people so that the organization remains innovative and its practices do not become obsolete.

What advice would you give to young individuals planning to enter your industry?
I would advise those interested in joining the banking industry to be prepared for change. Not all deals are cookie-cutter and, even if they are, they may not be tomorrow. Customers’ financial positions and goals are continuously changing, the regulatory environment is in a constant state of motion and the competitive environment constantly changes to react to these aforementioned movements. You have to take the initiative to study the external environment (i.e. “external mastery”) to determine how these changes will affect your customers or your way of doing business, so that you can be proactive instead of reactive…lead change instead of reacting to it.

How will your generation change this industry?
My generation has already changed the banking industry, just as the following generations will continue to do in the future. As I mentioned above about being prepared for change, the way people bank today is completely different from how they banked 10 years ago or even one year ago for that matter, and to remain relevant in the industry you have to lead that change. Our generation expects things to be done with immediate and real-time service. As such, we can now do our banking 24 hours a day, at home in our pajamas on our laptops or smart phones, at an iTM (intelligent teller machine) or a dozen different ways without ever coming in contact with an individual.

How can the community attract and retain young professionals?
I think the community could attract and retain young professionals by providing more opportunities for them to get involved or to connect with a cause through programs such as Leadership Waco and the Waco Young Professionals. Furthermore, the Chamber does a great job of promoting a variety of industries and businesses with its Work in Waco Expo every year, and the continued development of the downtown area and riverfront creates a more attractive social environment for them.

What advice do you have for people seeking leadership opportunities in this community?
Make sure you are passionate about the cause you are committing to lead. Just because the opportunity is available and you have been asked to serve does not mean that you have to accept it, or that it is the right fit for your skill sets. Your heart has to be in it in order to be successful in fulfilling a leadership role, and it is not fair to you or the organization if you are not 100% committed to the cause. An abundance of organizations in our community that you can choose from need good leaders and you can make a difference within.

This article originally appeared in the third quarter 2012 Waco Chamber & Business Quarterly Magazine. Click to view the full issue online.