Heartland associates are proud to tell the Heartland story – how the bank grew from servicing a small farming community, to the Central Ohio area and now the Northern Kentucky market. They are even more excited to explain how their career intertwines with Heartland’s success story dating back nearly 110 years. Michelle Haslinger passionately shares the highlights of her career over the last two years as she looks to the future to tackle even more rewarding projects and challenges.
“I joined Heartland Bank in May of 2019 as a commercial banker. In my role, I spend time marketing the bank to attract new business, along with maintaining strong relationships with current clients. I take the time to understand the client’s or prospect’s business, their industry, and their short-term and long-term strategy, so I can be a trusted advisor and strategic partner for them. I assist with services and products such as loans, cash management, bank accounts, interest rate swaps, construction and development, and investment real estate,” stated Michelle when asked to describe her duties and position at Heartland.
That is her by-the-book description of her day-to-day, but her commitment and pride can really be felt in her description of the bank as a whole. “I love sharing the Heartland story! From where and how the bank started to the growth we have experienced, we are the definition of community banking. Having access to our underwriting team and senior management simply creates a different environment and experience for our clients. All team members are vested to help our clients be successful.”
Michelle’s dedication is evident with the awards she has won. “I am most proud of my Quality and Excellence and Circle of Champions awards.” She earned these through continued commitment to her clients and prospective customers along with ensuring that her coworkers realize that the team effort exemplified daily does not go unnoticed on her part. “Quality and Excellence in my mind, go hand in hand. Excellence implies an internal drive to be the best and/or offer great experiences and positively impact those you encounter - whether that be clients, coworkers, family, friends, or your community. Quality is the degree of excellence of something, the features, the characteristics of how good something is as compared to something else.”
These views are a result of the environment, the culture and the work/life balance supported by Heartland. Michelle shares her desire to provide newer associates with the secret to success at Heartland. “My advice to any new associate would be to ask your manager to introduce and expose you to multiple areas of the bank. I was able to experience this myself, and through that have established great relationships and learned more about the bank in a shorter period.”
Michelle values the connection between family, work and community. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, she moved to West Virginia at a young age, so essentially, she’s a mountaineer with a Buckeye influence. She is a sports fanatic, music lover and workout enthusiast. Michelle volunteers for the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) of Columbus, the Byron Saunders Foundation, and A Night to Shine – the Tim Tebow Foundation. Her family resides in Sunbury where they spend their time at her daughter’s dance events and her son’s baseball games.
Not sure about the dedication of your bankers? Come on over to Heartland, and we’ll introduce you to the people who make us proud!