This feature is in our weekly Monday Morning Report newsletter, which showcases our highest-level members. Leaders You Should Know highlights community leaders who are making a notable impact in the Nashville region.
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Tell us about yourself.
Nashville has been my home for over 10 years, and I have loved building my family and career here. I have spent most of my time in Nashville working in the healthcare banking industry, though I took a short break to pursue an MBA at Vanderbilt. At Hancock Whitney, I am responsible for managing our large corporate healthcare relationships, certain healthcare PE firm relationships, and middle market/real estate relationships in parts of our footprint.
I have had the privilege of engaging with our Nashville community as part of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Nashville Health Care Council, and as Board Chair at Justice Industries. Outside of professional and community interests, I enjoy spending time with my lovely wife Julie and our two daughters, June and Lily.
Tell us about your business/industry.
Since the late 1800s, Hancock Whitney has embodied core values of Honor & Integrity, Strength & Stability, and Commitment to Service, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility. Hancock Whitney primarily operates in the Gulf South region, with 182 banking locations and 225 ATMs across the footprint and combined loan and deposit production offices in Nashville and Atlanta.
I had the privilege of being part of the original team that established Hancock Whitney’s specialized healthcare banking group in Nashville in 2015. Since we started up, we have grown to a nearly $2.0 billion portfolio of healthcare loans with best-in-class operators, PE sponsors, and developers located across the country. We have built out a first-class group of clients and a team of about a dozen specialized healthcare banking professionals over our nearly 10 years in business here.
What should we know about you?
I love networking and consider the most fulfilling part of my job to be when I can connect two people who will benefit from meeting each other. I will have coffee or lunch with anyone!
How did you get to your current position?
My first job in Nashville was with Brentwood Capital Advisors, who really gave me my foundation in healthcare finance. From there, I was offered a unique opportunity to help establish the healthcare banking vertical at Hancock Whitney as a Portfolio Manager and moved up to become a Director on the relationship management side once I obtained my MBA from Vanderbilt.
What value do you see in Chamber involvement?
I love the opportunities provided by the Chamber to hear directly from other business leaders in the region about their businesses and what they see happening in our market. The knowledge gained and relationships built through regular interaction with other community leaders are extremely valuable.
What or who has inspired you professionally?
My daughters. I know the type of person that I want them to have as a boss or a colleague, and I strive to be that type of person.
What local non-profit has a mission that resonates with you?
Justice Industries. I have been involved with the organization for several years and have been the Board Chair for almost a year and a half. We are all about second chances and providing employment to people who find it difficult to find and keep work because of barriers, such as criminal history, addiction recovery, mental illness, domestic abuse, and generational poverty. We support our mission by operating multiple small businesses, including residential and commercial glass recycling, mobile car washes, and commercial cleaning services.
I love that we’ve discovered a way to take mission-driven work and make it more sustainable through income-generating businesses that create stability of employment and second chances for those we serve.
How would you describe the Nashville healthcare community?
Nashville’s healthcare community is entirely unique. There is a gravity in our industry that has been built here over 5+ decades that would be impossible to replace or replicate. The best operators, investors, developers, and service providers all want to be here because this is simply the healthcare capital of our country, with the best talent and the best ideas in the industry. The flywheel effects that have developed over time with the constant efforts of those who have built the ecosystem here have resulted in $68 billion of local economic impact, 330,000+ local jobs, 500 healthcare companies with local operations, and 400 professional service firms with local healthcare expertise.
What was the first concert you ever attended? What is the best live show you’ve seen in Nashville?
The best live show I’ve seen in Nashville was a Greta Van Fleet concert, which was the first ticketed event at FirstBank Amphitheater in Thompson Station. The venue was incredible, the weather was perfect for an outdoor show, and those guys absolutely rocked it. Hopefully they will come back soon!
