Ann Lobdell Hudson of Exchange Bank wins North Bay Women in Business award

Ann Lobdell Hudson of Exchange Bank in Santa Rosa wins a North Bay Business Journal Women in Business award.

Professional background: I have 25-plus years of banking experience in retail banking, mortgage and consumer lending, product sales, marketing, sales and talent development. I have held a variety of positions at financial institutions including leadership positions with Washington Mutual and JPMChase. I started my career as a community bank teller during college and grew up in banking.

My career has brought me from the Pacific Northwest to California. I have been fortunate for the last 18 years to call Sonoma County home. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve with several nonprofits, most recently on the board of Becoming Independent.

Education: Portland State University and Willamette University

Staff: 170

Tell us about yourself and your company

I joined Exchange Bank in 2014 as vice president and director of Learning and Development. In 2015, I was promoted to senior vice president, head of the Retail Banking Group leading Exchange Bank's retail delivery channels, which includes our branch locations, Customer Care Center, Merchant Services, and Digital Product Management.

I also am fortunate to oversee the bank's marketing, product management, and customer experience efforts.

Exchange Bank is headquartered in Sonoma County. Founded in 1890 with current assets of $2.6 billion, Exchange Bank is a community bank with deep roots in the North Bay; with 18 branches in Sonoma County and offices in Roseville and Marin. The Doyle Trust receives 51 percent of all cash dividends paid by the bank which funds the Frank P. Doyle and Polly O'Meara Doyle Scholarships at the Santa Rosa Junior College. The bank's legacy of financial leadership and community support is grounded in our core values of Commitment, Respect, Integrity, and Teamwork.

What is the achievement you are most proud of?

The accomplishment I am most proud of is our team's caring, compassion and willingness to always pull together and help our community whenever there is a need. 2017 was an extraordinary time for our community and extraordinary time for Exchange Bank.

We faced circumstances unseen by our community since the 1906 earthquake and our employees rose to the occasion supporting our customers and fellow employees.

Our teams worked together to ensure the business continuity and the following business day after the fires were able to open 10 of our 18 Sonoma branch locations along with our Customer Care Center.

It was important to our teams to ensure our communities had access to our bank. In some areas, Exchange Bank was the only financial service provider open in a given neighborhood. We opened our doors to customers and non-customers providing personal care and empathy for those who had shared with us their stories and took care of their needs.

Our teams proactively reached out to customers to see if they needed help and created programs and procedures to help with financial assistance.

Our employees felt the impact of this tragedy on a very personal level, and even with the loss of homes, displacement, needing to support family members, our employees put that aside to continue to support and encourage our customers and each other.

I am proud and grateful for Exchange Bank and their commitment to the community.

Words that best describe you: Caring, strong work-ethic, resilient

As a successful female professional, what were the biggest obstacles you faced and how did you overcome them?

I have been fortunate to have mentors and employers who supported me and my career development. I would encourage folks to find a mentor and proactively ask for feedback on your performance. Feedback is a gift and can help you grow personally and professionally.

How do you think your profession will change in the next five years?

Technology is driving change from inside and outside the financial services industry. We need to continue to embrace these changes and make investments that will make it easier for our customer to do business with us. As a result, how we serve our customers will continue to evolve and bankers need to understand banking and technology.

Who was your most important mentor?

My paternal grandfather, James Lobdell. Although I was too young to remember him before he passed away, his acts of courage and kindness to people in need shaped my view of life and instilled the responsibility of taking care of people who need our help.

As a young person, I met people who knew him and they would go out of their way to tell me stories of how he helped them during difficult times. As they would conclude their story of my grandfather's act of kindness, they would thank me for his help and let me know how important he was to them.

Although he passed away without two pennies to rub together, he left a richness of goodwill in the folks who knew him, and they paid his kindness forward to others in need.

What advice would you give to a young woman entering your profession or the work world today?

I have a quote on a plaque that I have on the desk that was a gift to me early in my career; it says, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”

When facing a challenge or presented with an opportunity, do not limit yourself. Pursue opportunities, and be resilient.

A typical day at the office: Is there such a thing as a typical day?

Best place to work outside of your office: My back yard

Current reading: “The Extraordinary Coach, How the Best Leaders Help Others Grow,” Joseph Zenger

Favorite hobbies: Spending time with family and friends, reading and exercising.