Associate Spotlight: Mike Wallace

In celebration of our 60th anniversary, we sat down with Chairman Mike Wallace to reflect on the rich history of the Bank and share his personal journey over the past 50 years. The conversation takes us through his origin story within the Bank and offers insights into the importance of strong customer service, explores his current reading list, and revisits key moments like the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Tell us about key moments, in those early days:

Origin Story

I was stationed in Okinawa when Alan Hyman arrived a year later, and we eventually became roommates. Since I was leaving before him, he arranged for me to meet his parents. His mom picked me up in her convertible Mercedes, threw me the keys, and I drove down to Fremont at about 120 miles per hour — after being in Okinawa for 18 months, I was ready to drive fast. Morris was out of town, and Howard, who was around 14 or 15, was with Brad Anderson’s younger brother, Mitch.

I had a great time with Mrs. Hyman, who took me around the Bay Area, showing me places like Stinson Beach and Mount Tamalpais, with Gloria Villasana Fuerniss, Morris's assistant, helping out. It was an unforgettable experience. When Morris returned, we sat down to talk about the future.

Morris, who had been a practicing attorney before getting involved with the bank, asked me what I was going to do with my life. I was set on becoming a corporate attorney, planning to attend either Ohio State or the University of Pittsburgh. Little did I realize that conversation would change the trajectory of my career. He and his ex-law partner who was then a Dean at Hastings College of Law in San Francisco talked me out of becoming a lawyer. After being home in Pennsylvania for a bit, he convinced me to return to the Bay Area, living with my (now) wife, Naomi and the Hyman’s for a stint, learning every single thing I could about the Bank.

At the time, the Bank didn’t have any procedural manuals–no user guides, guidelines, or policies. So I went about going to every department: everything in the operations and the loans, in the back room–everything. I learned, documented, and created those procedures.

To cut a long story short, it wasn't even a year before Mr. Hyman ended up firing nearly all of the executives.  And then the bank sent me to get my MBA at Santa Clara University which I achieved in one year taking classes at night after work.

Enter the Pink Mafia

Morris started calling the women who trained me the "Pink Mafia." They were the ones who had hands-on roles in the bank, while most of the executives were guys — often party animals, not exactly the most serious business people. The Pink Mafia, on the other hand, were no-nonsense and kept everyone in line. So, the real training I got didn’t come from the executives, but from those strong, serious women. Many, who went on to become senior leadership within the Bank.

Gloria Johannsen ran the entire bookkeeping and back-office operations, handling everything from manually processing checks to managing facilities — basically all the grunt work. She was a key player. Sandi  Fava, as VP of Operations, oversaw all the branches and staff, including tellers and new accounts. Artie Xenakis who became a branch manager in Brookvale, brought in one the biggest accounts we still have today.

Probably the biggest rise was Gloria Villasana Fuerniss, She started as Mr. Hyman’s assistant, then became corporate secretary and later led the mortgage servicing department. She transitioned to branch management and was responsible for some of the bank's biggest family-owned accounts, much like Artie. She did this by going door to door. I mean, just cold calling folks — it takes a special person to be able to do that. I’m happy for what they taught me.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

Without a doubt, the customers.

It’s kind of like where I grew up. The people who raised me — my family and the parents of my friends — had all lived through the Depression. They taught me that you help others because, at some point, you’ll need help too. I take that to heart in my work. I really enjoy helping customers succeed and meeting their needs. Honestly, it’s not hard to do a better job than the big banks, because they’ve really lost their way.

When I started in 1973, competing with the big banks was tough. The branch managers at Bank of America and Wells Fargo had all the authority to get things done quickly, without bureaucracy. Back then, there were over 30 banks in our immediate area. But today, branch managers don’t have any authority, and it shows. Just recently, I went into Bank of America across the street to reorder checks for an account I’m a signer on. They wouldn’t do it unless I made an appointment — the soonest was several days away! Practices like that drive customers to our bank.

I get a lot of pleasure out of being able to make a difference in our customers' lives.

The other thing I love about what I do is taking care of our employees.

One of the biggest things that helped both the bank and its employees was the ESOP — Employee Stock Ownership Plan. We actually copied it from Safeway in the mid-1970s. Mr. Hyman had a buddy who worked for Orrick, Harrington & Sutcliff in San Francisco, and they were talking about how to increase employee ownership. His friend suggested we just follow Safeway's plan, so we did. The original ESOP was exactly like theirs, and it worked great until Congress changed the laws in 1986, making it tough to keep going. We had to suspend it for a while, but when we became a subchapter S in 2004, we brought it back. This time, it really worked in employees' favor, creating a lot of cash that would’ve normally gone to taxes, but instead stayed in the trust and in employees' accounts, allowing them to buy more shares.

I enjoy working with the employees, even the ones that drive me crazy, like Ron Wagner or Andy [wink].

What’s your greatest strength as a leader?

My greatest strength as a leader is not putting up with any BS. I’m direct, and while that can sometimes be perceived as abrasive, I don't mean to be hurtful to people. My intention is always to drive clarity and progress. Underneath it all, I care deeply about my team. I believe in tough love — sometimes I have to be a 'jerk' to get things right, but it’s about making sure we’re all on the same page and working towards the same goal. I’m also open to changing my mind. Sometimes people will say, “Well, you're saying exactly the opposite of what you said,” you know, in the past, not really understanding that. Well, things have changed since I said what I said. I see that as a good indicator of growth. Because we're all in this together, and a bad call hurts all of us. And even if I'm wrong, and often I am, if it leads to people really slowing down and trying to investigate what's really happening we can reach some kind of agreement.

As an avid reader: What’s on your current bookshelf?

Nate Silver is getting a lot of attention now for his election predictions. His former company, 538, is named after the number of electoral votes in the U.S. His recent book is about risk-taking, not just in gambling, but in business too. I’ve just started reading it, but it's pretty interesting. I also recently read a book about Billy Walters, a lifelong gambler who ended up in jail for helping Phil Mickelson make money through some questionable, possibly illegal, trading. Even so, he’s still out there, writing books, gambling, and making a lot of money. It got me thinking — some might say investment bankers are gamblers too.

But you know, I’m kind of a softy. I love Nicholas Sparks. I go back and forth between fiction and nonfiction. I’m a big fan of Louise Penny — her work is all fiction, and I can’t get enough of it. James Patterson’s great too, along with Ian McEwan and Michael Lewis. The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson about the life of Winston Churchill is an excellent read. Of course, I read a lot of John Grisham as well. And one of my all-time favorites is The Road to Character by David Brooks. If you want to read something about what separates good people from bad, of course I’d always read Mitch Albom. But my absolute favorite short story  is The Snows of Kilimanjaro and favorite book is For Whom the Bell Tolls both by Ernest Hemingway.  My favorite poet is Rudyard Kipling and my favorite poem is “If”.

Gotta get some variety in there, right?

What's your superpower?

I’ve never really thought about it. But if I had to pick one trait that’s helped me succeed, I’d say it’s my memory. It probably comes from reading a lot, but I’ve had a good memory since I was a kid. I remember, even in elementary school, my dad would have me memorize the capitals of every U.S. state, then every country in the world. I was in second or third grade, doing all these memory exercises.

My dad only had an eighth-grade education before he had to work in the steel mill, but he was always learning. My mother was also very smart, I think inherited some good genes from her. As a result, college was easy for me because I’d already developed that muscle of learning and retaining information early on. You have to understand what you’re learning in order to really retain it. But I’ll tell you this — if something’s broken, you can ask my wife — I can’t fix anything!

What’s one moment that sticks out in your memory at the bank?

It was 1989. Morris and I went to the World Series when the A's played the Giants. The first two games were in Oakland, and we had a skybox plus a bunch of other tickets. So, we sat with our group of 25 customers in right field, a little above first base. I don’t remember who else was in the skybox, but we were seated right in front of Herb Caen, who was a famous columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle which made for some great banter. But for the third game, we didn’t have tickets at Candlestick, so we watched from the boardroom in the old Main building.

Morris and I were sitting in the boardroom, along with about 100 customers, a big-screen set up, hot dogs, and all the usual snacks, ready to enjoy the game. Then, the earthquake hit. Morris always said, “This building will be the last one to fall in Fremont because Jim Griffin built it.” Well, it was shaking back and forth like crazy. People were bolting out of there, but I just sat there with Morris, and we watched it all unfold.

The whole experience — the games, the customers, and then the earthquake — was unforgettable. Watching the destruction at Candlestick, the bridge collapse, and the aftermath in San Francisco, it’s something I’ll never forget.

Favorite Quote

“There’s a crack in everything, and that’s how the light gets in.”

- Leonard Cohen