Matthew R. Ashe
Vice President, SBA Lending
Synovus Bank, Alpharetta, GA
Graduate of Distinction, 2024 Class of Georgia Banking School
Published Sept. 12, 2024
Q: What led you to a career in banking?
A: There was no real higher calling or anything overly romantic about my joining the bank. I joined Synovus out of college in 2008. When nearing the end of school, I had a favorite aunt that worked at Synovus (then called Bank of North Georgia) who told me that I had a similar personality to her own and I should look into working for the bank. I took an interview at an entry position and was lucky to secure a place, which in August 2008 – I was happy to get. From there, I’ve tried to see many different areas of the bank and take guidance from folks within the bank that I respected and have made a career out of it. I enjoy that each day is building towards something and it’s cool seeing how various businesses in Atlanta (or Georgia) make money. I’ve not really ever considered making a switch, even early on when I had friends moving up or advancing their own careers by jumping from one employer to next – I kept trying to grind out at Synovus because I believed in the culture and people working at the bank. Once I got into the commercial space within the bank, I took the mindset that each credit presentation I made that didn’t go well or I was caught as having not considered something, as cutting my teeth until one day when I’d be sharper.
Q: What was the most useful piece of advice you received in the early/formative years of your career?
A: That almost everything you do during the course of a normal day in a lending role or maybe banking in general can be un-done or corrected somehow – aside from handing over cash or pressing send on a wire – most actions taken can be reversed if needed. So, take guidance from various areas or circles of influence, use the best information you’ve got at your disposal at the time and make a decision. If it ends up being wrong, almost always it can be corrected, but best to decide and act than become paralyzed by indecision.
Another leader then said something that furthered that mentality – take the current deal or opportunity or issue and own it. Don’t pawn things off on others – own things. I’ve tried to do that with credit opportunities ever since.
Q: What inspired you to enroll in the Georgia Banking School, and how did the experience change your banking career?
A: I saw others who had either gone or were going to banking school that I looked up to in the commercial banking space, so I asked to go to banking school as well. I was told no a couple times, or I needed to ask someone else but kept asking until I finally got to hear a yes.
Q: Can you share a project or challenge from the school that helped you grow as a banker?
A: I felt that, despite the papers being challenging – they were of tremendous benefit. One call to action that resonated with me after the first in-person week, was that, “there are A-B and C players. Choose to be an A player.” I took that challenge in my approach towards working through the home study paper assignments and read as much as I could, researched and discussed the subject matter with a bunch of folks within my organization which I felt would provide solid council and guidance on the material I was tasked with discussing. I felt it greatly broadened my knowledge of my own organization and the banking industry as a whole, to where I can now better speak to the industry and understand how banks go to market, make money and support businesses.
But, overall, the best part of banking school was getting to work in the bank simulation – acting as bank management and steering direction of a bank – in the final year of the school. I found it very fun to work through and then see all the results of those competitors in the fictional economy or community set within the simulation and attempt to create a presentation which describes the decisions made with focus on winning over the judges.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering enrolling in the Georgia Banking School?
A: To go. If you are at an organization in which you have to ask – then ask, but to absolutely go to banking school. I had to ask a few folks and ask a few times, but if you have the opportunity – take it. And if you have to ask, then ask.
I was asked a few times by folks outside of the banking industry what banking school entails. My best analogy was to describe myself and my daily role within the bank as being a piece on a chess board and that attending banking school taught you how to play chess.