McIntyre makes transition form center stage to lender's desk

Northwestern Financial Review, Jan 24, 1998 by Mattson, Beth

After more than 15 years in the banking industry, Vicki McIntyre has had her share of accomplishments. But none is more rewarding than her own climb into the banking world after a somewhat untraditional beginning.

McIntyre's role as a vice president with Norwest Bank Minnesota in Minneapolis and nine years of active involvement with Financial Women International have certainly been rewarding. However, banking is a far cry from Broadway. McIntyre earned an undergraduate degree in English and Speech in 1969 from Iowa State University, and went on to get a masters in theater from the University of Minnesota. "I just joke and say I made that natural transition from theater to banking," McIntyre said.

McIntyre was freelancing in Chicago as a stage director and doing some commercial work as an actress in the early 1970s when she decided to return to Minneapolis to consider finishing her Ph.D. It was while she was exploring that possibility that she signed up as a temp and got sent in as a secretary at Norwest.

Norwest was one of many parttime jobs that McIntyre had held over the years. Originally, she learned how to type to support herself. "It's just interesting how that little skill I developed to put me through school actually got me into banking," she said. Ironically, McIntyre also started work at Norwest the day before the fateful fire in 1982 that virtually destroyed the bank's building in downtown Minneapolis. Fortunately, she didn't take the catastrophe as a bad omen to her future with Norwest.

Banking wasn't a novelty to McIntyre. She had actually started college as a math major, and over the years had held part-time jobs that were math and finance oriented. "What I like about banking is that it is both right-brained and left-brained because it combines both math and interpersonal skills," McIntyre says. "It's a perfect fit because you really need both skills," she said. That has become more apparent as the industry has moved away from the days of "order taking" to become more of a sales profession, she added.

McIntyre's journey up Norwest's corporate ladder was aided by the fact that few people at the secretarial level had a Ph.D. on their resume. "Once I made a commitment to staying here, then I looked at what was required to move up in the organization," McIntyre said. McIntyre also was fortunate in that she had good mentors, and a manager that sponsored her in the Norwest Commercial Credit Training Program. Armed with that support, she went on to become a bit of a pioneer at Norwest.

McIntyre became the first employee to go through the training program without giving up her existing job. Up until that point, the training program had been reserved for new people coming into Norwest. Since then, Norwest has created programs specifically aimed at advancing the skills of existing employees.

After completing the training program, McIntyre also took ground breaking strides as the bank's first credit analyst. The position was created specifically to deal with a large number of annual credit renewals. Although it was a significant portfolio of customers, the majority required the same "cookie cutter" analysis. Other Norwest divisions caught on to that efficient idea, and now all of the lending divisions have analyst positions that are used as a training position for lending officers.

"At the time that I came into Norwest, it was more difficult than it would be today to move out of the (secretarial) position and move up to other positions. I had to work very hard at that," McIntyre said. In addition to going through the training program, she also went to school nights to get a commercial lending diploma from the American Institute of Banking. "It was a matter of really dedicating myself to it. rather intensely for a number of years," she said. "I really admire now the people who go to school and work full-time. I know how hard that is, but it's very rewarding," she said.

Currently, McIntyre works as a corporate lender and a relationship manager at Norwest. In addition, McIntyre has been an FWI member for nine years where she has held leadership positions such as international committee chair, national directorNorth Central region, Minneapolis District Council member and most leadership positions in the Twin Cities group. McIntyre also is the 1997-98 Treasurer for FWI and its foundation.