“I’ve transitioned fom being the quiet one in the room to being the one now asking the questions.”
he learned about banking from ground zero and soon realized that “banking is far less about Xs and Os and financing … it’s just about people.”
“It gave me my roots to be hungry, and I wanted do more than what I was doing,” Everett said. “I just had to keep working hard.”
Everett credits the six years at UMB —three as a teller and three in loan operations and credit — for establishing his banking roots. In 1997, he joined The Bank, one of three de novos established in Springfield within six weeks. It also provided Everett an opportunity to work with his dad.
“My dad came out of retirement to serve on the board and help establish the bank,” Everett said. “From the excitement of getting our charter and the excitement of opening
day, it was an incredible experience I’ll never forget.”
Everett was part of The Bank’s consumer lending/ small business loan operations and credit analysis. With only 11 people on staff, it was “all hands on deck.” Everett managed IT for the bank and learned to file call reports when the operations officer took maternity leave. The bank grew fast, and soon more lenders with more experience and books of business than Everett joined The Bank. That’s when Everett decided to change course.
He started working on budgets and projections on his own time and took his findings to management, outlining his theories and strategies for funding and capital. Given his accounting experience, Everett decided his career would be better served if he switched to operations.
That decision would set the wheels in motion for future endeavors.
Everett was The Bank’s chief financial officer in 2004 when it merged with Signature Bank, another de novo that was established during the same time as The Bank. That same year, John and Chris Harlin with Century Bank of the Ozarks in Gainesville approached Everett about a potential opportunity. John, the bank’s board chairman, and Chris, the bank’s president, recently established a new bank, Legacy Bank and Trust, in Rogersville just outside of Springfield. The Harlin family needed a CFO for both Century Bank and Legacy Bank. Everett jumped at the opportunity to work the Harlin family.
“John and Chris knew my dad and had worked with him,” Everett said, “and they thought I would be a good fit.
“John told me it wasn’t until after they hired me that they were severely disappointed,” he joked.
For the second time in his career, Everett was involved with growing a new bank. His intentions were to “come in here and really show them how we run this bank.”
“I realized within the first 12 months that I didn’t know anything and they knew everything,” Everett said. “I needed to quit talking and start listening more.”
It was through this new relationship with the Harlin family that Everett learned more about MBA. He was familiar with MBA education programs and had attended one MBA convention before joining Legacy Bank. Encouraged by Chris to attend MBA executive programs, Everett attended his first convention representing Legacy Bank in 2005 and hasn’t missed one since.
“I’m not that smart, but I can learn from those who are and mimic what they do,” Everett said. “When I can walk up to someone and talk to them to get a feel for what they do at their bank and how they do it, the value of that is enormous.”
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