Join host Meredith Lowry In this episode of the Women Run podcast, you will learn about the multi-faceted life and career of Shamim Okolloh, a Little Rock-based banker, author, and community advocate.

What You Will Learn in This Episode

• The Intersection of Banking and Community Outreach: How Shamim serves as an access point for underserved communities in Arkansas, focusing on first-time homebuyers and small businesses.
• The Gender Gap in Commercial Lending: Why women represent a high percentage of banking employees but remain significantly underrepresented in commercial lending and C-suite leadership roles.
• Early Financial Education for Children: The importance of teaching children about money habits before age seven and how Shamim co-authored the Ella the Banker children's book series with her son, Liam.
• Building a Family Business: How Shamim uses her book series and her children's side businesses (lawn care and jewelry making) to teach real-world financial concepts like revenue, expenses, and compound interest.
• Resilience and Transparency: Shamim’s personal journey through public service, past reliance on government aid, and her recent diagnosis and recovery from Stage 2 breast cancer.

Highlights and Key Takeaways

• From Lab Scientist to Community Banker: Shamim began her career as a scientist working on bioremediation before pivoting to public service and banking to engage more directly with people.
• Changing the Narrative on Banking: The Ella the Banker series was born from a desire to show children that banking is a career option beyond the "bank robbery" tropes often seen in media.
• The "Bank of Mom": Liam learned the burden of debt firsthand by taking a commercial loan from his mother for his lawn care business, complete with a 5% interest rate and monthly statements.
• Cultural Representation: Shamim intentionally incorporated her Kenyan roots into her books, using Swahili names like Pesa Bank (Money Bank) and Nuru (Light), and ensuring diverse characters are represented.
• Destigmatizing Public Aid: Shamim openly discusses her past use of WIC, Medicaid, and downpayment assistance to show that these programs are temporary "stepping stones" toward stability and success.

Key Quotes

• On the lack of women in leadership: "Even if the industry does have a lot of women, we tend to be support staff or in the retail role, we're not the people driving the engine of banks, and that's the commercial side."
• On teaching children about debt: "He did not like paying $17 interest more than the minimum payment... and he was like, 'You know what, I'm a work hard and pay this off,' and he paid it off in two months."
• On life after a cancer diagnosis: "I'm more cognizant of my time... I've really slowed down a lot and I just put my energy into things that matter to me the most."
• On her personal journey: "A decade ago, I was on welfare... so to be on the other side of building my own story... and knowing what's possible for other people in the community... I really try to be vulnerable and transparent."