Charlotte Parsons

Assistant Vice President, Regions Business Capital

40 Under 40 Category: Underwriting

Biography:

Charlotte is currently an assistant vice president of Regions Business Capital.  Working in the underwriting group, Charlotte focuses on evaluating new business opportunities for the platform, which includes historical financial analysis, collateral analysis, financial modeling as well as identifying transaction strengths and weaknesses.  Since joining Regions in 2012, she has had the opportunity to work on many unique transactions across various industries, originally serving as an analyst before being promoted to an associate and then to her current role.

Charlotte received her Bachelor degree in economics from Auburn University and MBA in finance from the University of Alabama.  She currently resides in Birmingham, AL with her husband, Jon Michael, and their daughter, Julia.

What is the best professional advice you have been given and how have you implemented it?

The best advice I have received is that one of the most important things you can develop in your career is your reputation.  Once that has been established, it is hard to change.  As a result, my reputation has always been of the utmost importance to me, and I constantly work to ensure that my colleagues and clients never question my reliability by giving all my energy, efforts, and ability in every situation.  Additionally, given how interconnected our industry is, your reputation has the potential to follow you across organizations.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started your career?

It is vital that you communicate with your team members and senior leaders in your organization. It is okay to make mistakes early in your career, but don’t be afraid to ask for help and leverage the experience of senior members of your team. It is important to form your own thoughts and try to work through difficult issues, but if you reach the point of counter-productivity, you are better off asking for help rather than continuing down the wrong path.  Don’t be afraid to reach out for help if you are in a situation where you feel you are over your head. You are not expected to know everything starting out and, in my experience, people are happy to share their knowledge.

How do you think the commercial finance industry can attract more young professionals?

I think one way the commercial finance industry could attract more young professionals is to implement a more transparent career track.  Every organization seems to have a different name for different roles that serve the same function.  It can be very confusing for a young person to understand their career path, and I think our industry would benefit from a system that more clearly defines roles and promotion standards.  I think a better-defined promotion system would also allow more opportunities for young professionals to manage junior members of their team and gain managerial experience early on.  It would also be easier to communicate to young talent different paths they could take by more clearly defining roles and opportunities in the industry across organizations.

Is there a piece of professional advice that you would give yourself if you could go back in time?

If I could go back in time, I would encourage myself to work with as many people as possible early in my career.  I have learned that everybody has their own unique approach to their work, depending on what field they began their career in and different things they have picked up along the way.  By working with people across the organization, you can develop your own set of best practices by getting exposed to a variety of different work styles.  I would also encourage myself to pursue new/different assignments, even if they weren’t in a field I was particularly interested in at the time, because they can help you find your strengths and be a good way to guide you early in your career.