Career and Leadership Development Academy Cohort One, Digital Technologies Day Blog (Class of 2024)

Throughout the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s Career and Leadership Development Academy ten month program, each of the eight middle schools are assigned a day to write about their experiences. 49 students from across all eight New Hanover County middle schools participated in the first industry exploration day in Cohort One, Digital Technologies, on September 6 at Live Oak Bank. In addition to learning about their careers at Live Oak Bank, they had the opportunity to hear from Grover Gaming and Suzy, two other local companies in the digital technologies space. Below is the first blog write up from Cohort One of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s Career and Leadership Academy experience.

Have you ever wondered what really goes on in a bank?  Other than getting your money. When you usually think of a bank you probably think of only a few people, but there is so much more. We had the opportunity to visit Live Oak Bank and learn about all the different job titles and where they were located on the premises.  We really wanted to call it a campus because it’s really huge like a college campus.  In the paragraphs to follow, we will be highlighting a few of those presentations from the visit.

The Meeting Room:  We first met in Building #1 which was a large room that was set up as if it were a senate forum of important people.  We were sitting around half circle tables located on platforms, similar to stadium seats.  As we focused our attention in front of the forum, we were welcomed by a group of people who acted as our tour guides.

The Tour:  The tour consisted of us walking, walking, walking and walking (not kidding), to meet with the different Live Oak team members and their positions.  We met with Madison and Claire and they were the communications directors of Live Oak Bank. They told us about how they tell the story of Live Oak Bank and write the blogs that are on their website.  They are housed in building #3  with the videographers, the technology and financial crew.  The technology crew do all the coding and digitalization, the finance team keeps account of all the money spent and travels they take.
 

We also got to tour building #2 the investigating area.  We met with Brad who is the chief compliance officer.  His job is to investigate fraud and make sure all of the regulations are in place.  Brad stated that the bank was originated to focus on veterinarians.  He told the story of when the CEO was walking his dog, he ended up passing a bunch of open land, he said “Hmmm, this is where I should build a bank”.  As mentioned, Live Oak Bank was specifically for veterinarians because statistically proven, they pay back their loans.  This was a fun fact that he stated that really stood out to us!! 

We then walked over to building #1 and met with another gentleman who we believe   was the financial officer.  He spoke to us about how they loan money to businesses and the relationship managers usually do a follow up for a year to see how the businesses are going.  They only loan money to businesses that they think will be successful.  During the pandemic Live Oak Bak went crazy because many people wanted to start small businesses.

After we had lunch, we learned about the Grover Gaming company. Ms. Dotty Hale's personality was very bubbly and she was very compassionate about what she was presenting.  She talked about the ‘life cycle’ of gaming, Their vision is to build a strong foundation.   The company has a production team of people which first entails the team composition, then they hand it over to 3 or 4 art leads, afterwards, they pass it to an animator.  The animator then hands it to the game development composer/ audio and lastly they hand it over to the QA (Quality Analysts/testers).  After the office in downtown Wilmington finishes the game, they give it to QA in Greenville.  The bottom line, Grover Gaming in Wilmington doesn't own the game anymore.  As you can see it’s an ongoing process and it’s definitely a collaborative effort.  

The next presenter we would like to highlight was the Literary Finance person.  His name was Tim Bridgers and he spoke about finances and how to keep your money safe.  Some of the questions and responses he addressed were Why do we need money? To support your daily life and provide for a home system.  No money, no economy.    How do we get money?  Any form of labor. How do we control your money? Open a bank account and understand it.  Where do you store your money?  In a bank. How do you stay out of trouble? Pay your taxes. How do you reach your goals?  Push yourself and be disciplined. Mr. Bridgers was quite the character and we enjoyed his sense of humor. 

Finally, we would like to highlight the person who discussed the 50/ 30/ 20 Rule her name was Brandy Keck. She was also very bubbly and enthusiastic.  She stated that the breakdown of the 50/30/20 is: The 50%, need for food, clothes, houses, water and clothing. The 30%, our wants; for example, toys, shoes, phones, and starbucks. The 20% is the savings; so trips, cars, bills, car loans, and college. We discussed the term interest, and that it was money growing while stored in a bank. It is good to have an emergency fund and to save. 

We want to mention that Live Oak Bank is really keen on making sure that the people working for them are healthy, mentally and physically.  They have a fitness gym right on their campus called the Zen Den and also access to a therapist twice a week.  The place just seems so tranquil and appears to be a great place to work.

In conclusion, although it was hot, we really enjoyed our visit at the Live Oak Bank. We were exposed to so many new ideas and experiences.  We learned so much about how a business works and even more about literary financing.  This trip had so many twists and turns because everywhere we went we kept learning something new.  We are all so excited to visit our next location and learn all about the wonderful world of logistics!