What are your hobbies and relaxations?

My hobby is my family. If I’m not working, I’m involved with my family, be it coaching both my son and daughter’s soccer teams; helping my wife and daughter with her Girl Scout troop (top cookie seller in the San Diego/Imperial region); attending ballet recitals, basketball, football and baseball games. As for relaxation, I never heard of it.

Did you ever have a mentor and what did he/she teach you?

I’ve had several. In addition to my parents, who taught me about values, work ethic and commitment, my father-in-law Peter Q. Davis (retired CEO of Bank of Commerce) has been an invaluable mentor, teaching me many lessons. Throughout his phenomenally successful career, he taught me not only to marry well, but about the importance of integrity, and to never run for political office. I also owe a lot to two previous bosses, Tom King, former CEO at Bank of Southern California, and Mike Perdue, the current president of Pacific Western Bank. I would not be where I am today without both Tom and Mike taking me under their wings and teaching me how banks really work.

Five years from now, community banks will…

…be calling me to buy them. Aside from that, for those of us who are left, we will need to be much more efficient and rely much more heavily on technology to operate profitably. We will need to lower our operating costs in order to remain competitive on pricing, and have the products and services that make our customers more productive. Although we will probably never be "the one stop shop" for all their financial needs, we need to partner with others to provide meaningful solutions for our customers.

What keeps you up at night?

Wondering how to make our bank better, and stay ahead of our competition.