During this One Take CEO Interview presented by Platinum Group, Aleesha Webb, vice chair and president of Blaine, MN-based Village Bank, advises business owners to take advantage of low interest rates if they haven’t done so already, and to be strategic while thinking outside the box. Her second-generation family owned community bank has 69 employees, about $390 million in assets under management and offices in Blaine, East Bethel, Ramsey and St. Francis, MN.
Among her clients, “there’s this 70-plus year-old man that’s been in investment real estate forever and this budding entrepreneur a woman that decided to be an entrepreneur in her 50s, and… [with Covid-19’s impact on the economy], “they flipped the situation and said, ‘how am I going to take on this opportunity.’ These two are really nice examples of what people are doing and to what I mean when I say there’s a silver lining to everything.” [She explains what each is doing during the interview.]
Webb also discusses other topics including the importance of allowing oneself to feel stressed when something adversely affects employees and there’s no readily apparent solution. “The things that stress me out are never the things that most people think would stress me out. I actually have appreciated the time where I can’t go anywhere because I get to be with my children and my husband,” she says. “When I see our retail team struggling with having to be at the bank after one of our employees had Covid, and how worried they are about their families, that was the part that was hard for me. It’s the soft side of business, the soft side of culture, that if you lose, if it doesn’t shake you a little, you’re not a good president. You need to be shaken, and sometimes you need to not be able to fix things and really care.”
- Tastefully Simple founder and CEO Jill Blashack Strahan, watch or listen
- Diedrich RPM founder and CEO Liz Diedrich, watch or listen
- Henningson & Snoxell CEO Jim Snoxell, watch or listen
- Mathnasium franchise owner Bobby Tarnowski, watch or listen
- Nesbit Agencies CEO Chad Nesbit, watch or listen
- Pivotal Advisors CEO Gary Braun, watch or listen
- Reviva Corp. Chairman and CEO Dave Goodwin watch or listen
- Indigo Signworks CEO Eric Gibson or watch or listen
- Manny Villafana, Medtech Serial Entrepreneur and founder/CEO of Medical 21; watch or listen
- Allina Health President and CEO Penny Wheeler watch or listen
- Mainstreet Bakery COO Stacy Demskie watch or listen
- Summit Brewing Founder and President Mark Stutrud watch or listen
- Restaurant Technologies CEO Jeff Kiesel watch or listen
- Maud Borup owner and CEO Christine Lantinen watch or listen
- Self Esteem Brands Co-Founder and CEO Chuck Runyon watch or listen
- Faribault Woolen Mill Chairman and CEO Paul Grangaard watch or listen
About One Take CEO Interviews: CEOs share how they’re leading during 2020’s pandemic and other challenges in unscripted ‘one take’ interviews with Dale Kurschner, who for 30 years served as one of the Upper Midwest’s leading business journalists including as Editor in Chief of Twin Cities Business magazine 2010-2018. Today he helps business owners and leaders with strategy, strategic marketing and communication, and reputation/crisis management. (Note: No funding or other financial consideration is provided by companies interviewed in this series. Interviews are by invitation only and chosen based upon the relevance of what may be discussed during an interview.)
For sponsorship information and rates, or to suggest a CEO to be interviewed, write to Info@MNperspectives.com.