Welcome to Season 2 of the Building Interest Podcast! In this week’s episode, we are joined by Leader Bank’s President Jay Tuli to reflect on this past year, look ahead to what to expect in 2023, and discuss what qualities make for a good leader.

Season 2 will focus on the leadership journeys of leaders within our communities, the industry, and Leader Bank. Subscribe to be notified of each new episode! 

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Episode Transcript

Greg Farber:
Welcome to the Building Interest Podcast presented by Leader Bank. In season two of our podcast we will be exploring what it means to be a leader through conversations with leaders from Leader Bank from within the communities we serve, and from across the banking and technology industries. Each conversation will focus on our guests’ personal leadership journey and provide some insights into what it means to be a good leader. To get things started today, we’ll walk down memory lane with Leader Bank President, Jay Tuli and discuss some highlights from season one of our podcasts and more of what to expect in season two. I’m your host, Greg Farber. Let’s jump right in. Welcome back to the Building Interest Podcast. I am excited to be joined today by Jay Tuli, President of Leader Bank. I think we’re gonna have some fun with today’s episode. And since you were last on for our opening episode, we’ve had a variety of different guest topics conversations throughout the year. So I thought it might be fun if we did a little bit of a look back and talked about some of our favorite moments and takeaways from this past season. Even as folks who live and breathe Leader Bank on a daily basis, I think both you and I learned some things from our own episodes. So Jay, welcome back.

Jay Tuli:
Thanks, Greg. Yeah, I’m excited to be back. Good first season. Lot of interesting tidbits and learning. So excited to have a chat with you.

Greg Farber:
Yeah, how was it to kind of step back and enjoy our first season as a listener and not just as a participant?

Jay Tuli:
It was cool. I mean, I, was actually surprised and learned a lot of new things about different folks on the team, their journeys. And you know, the way they do their business that I didn’t necessarily know, so that was definitely cool.

Greg Farber:
I agree with that. One thing that I noticed a lot, and we talked about in different episodes was kind of how COVID-19 changed the way we do business, and really gave us an opportunity to step back and focus on what we do best. We talked a lot about our customer service, we talked about educating our clients, and our customers kind of advising folks not to get lost in bad press about the economy and stuff. I just feel like that was a really cool message that we were able to get out in a lot of these episodes. What are some of your thoughts on that, Jay?

Jay Tuli:
Yeah, no. So I think you’re right, Greg, that COVID affected you know, the entire bank, the entire industry, I mean, the entire world. And in some ways, it left a permanent effect to where I don’t think some things will ever go back to the way they were even if COVID completely disappears. And so to that point, I mean, digitization has been pushed forward in a way that I don’t think we had seen before, like it was, every year, everything was a little more digital. And then this did like 10 years worth of movement for it in one year. I think the way the Bank operates, especially when it comes to team, and culture and workforce, are going to be forever different. So yeah, there’s a lot of things. There’s a lot of things as a result of COVID.

Greg Farber:
Yeah, that really touches on a couple other episodes, too, that we had. You mentioned our, you know, we had an episode on innovation, that was a favorite of mine, how we really put innovation and innovative thinking right at the forefront of what we’re doing. And we always thought that way. But I think that yes, the business changing really kind of pushed that. And for me, that episode highlighted our commitment to technology not as like an ancillary product, but really as a core business approach. That passion, that energy, that excitement that our tech technology innovators bring to our banking experience.

Jay Tuli:
Yeah, it was fun. For me, that episode is just how passionate and excited Lindsey and Eric are to, you know, just to be doing what they’re doing and like improving the tech stack and our offerings every day. I mean, you can really hear it in themselves. That was really cool to listen to.

Greg Farber:
Yeah, they talked about how they would go out of their way to ask other departments kind of where the pain points were can we innovate and do something better than we’ve done before?

Jay Tuli:
Let me ask you a question, Greg. Well, obviously, when we started the podcast, as an experiment. Like we do a lot of things a Leader Bank, you try it out and see where it goes. And we actually brought you in mid-year to host the podcast and this was something you had never probably even thought about before. So what’s your journey been like? You know, from joining this kind of wacky idea to sort of, you know, finishing a whole season of podcasts and different people.

Greg Farber:
It’s really been not only a lot of fun but actually, also kind of eye-opening and you know, We started off by saying that we learned new things about different groups in the Bank that we didn’t necessarily realize before. And my normal role gives me access to lots of different folks in lots of different departments and yet, not to the depth that we talk about in these episodes, and really get to know who our team members are, what relationships they have, what relationships they foster, how they bring on new folks, new team members, or innovation stuff. So for me, that was a really interesting journey to be a part of exploring sort of the behind-the-scenes of what makes us who we are and then getting that message out. I think that’s really cool. Like, you don’t normally think of, oh, yeah, every bank should have a podcast, because it’s just not something that we necessarily associate with banking, and to bring that forward and to show that there is a space for this kind of information and banking. That’s been really fun for me. And you’re right, I had absolutely no idea this was coming. I never thought that I would be part of a podcast. And that’s been really cool.

Jay Tuli:
Has there been any, like key learnings for you a, as someone who’s interviewing someone else? You know, have there been any like key things you’ve picked up that you could share?

Greg Farber:
Yeah, it’s been really interesting to not have that traditional, ask a question. You give an answer-type approach, like a news interview, but really, focus on trying to have a conversation and just steer that conversation in a direction that keeps things interesting and flowing. But to hear from people in a more casual conversation, and just sort of chat about what they’re doing and being able to get a little bit more insight that way, then maybe to have a scripted question and answer session. So that’s really been something interesting and insightful. On my end, it’s something that , yeah, is not a skill, I definitely thought I had.

Jay Tuli:
What were some of your favorite podcasts, whether it was the content or the energy or the people or whatever it might be?

Greg Farber:
Yeah, I mean, I mentioned the innovation one, we talked about that. Another favorite for me was episode 15, where we talked about culture and hiring, and team member happiness. And one of the things that really stood out to me from that was this idea of team member engagement. And, you know, I want to highlight that that was, again showcased this year where we were voted one of the best places to work in Boston. We jumped from, I believe, spot 27, up to 13 among large employers. And that is a vibe that really showed in that episode, how we approach hiring and team members and corporate culture, and transcends into some of those other episodes. What about you, Do you have a favorite that stands out for you that really had like an aha moment where you thought this is a really neat topic that we covered?

Jay Tuli:
I had a lot of favorites. One that really brought me down memory lane, was the one with Jim and Dave. And mainly because that was such a, and I’m trying to remember which episode that was, it was 14. And part of it was because, you know, it was over 13 years ago, so definitely, like, you know, it originated from 13 years ago. And that was a really like, both stressful and exciting time in the history of the bank, where, you know, it was the height of the financial crisis, it was super scary. But in the midst of that, there was just like wonderful opportunities that were also popping up. One of which for us was the ability to recruit the Needham team, which really set us on the path and so hearing Jim and Dave talk about that and just recalling those early days but also listening to how they’ve evolved as leaders to really be like leading this massive mortgage powerhouse team is was really cool. I also while I was in this one, so you know if that’s not the reason I love this episode, but the one with Tom Shen, you know, Toms like a mentor to me, and I just, I just loved how some of the themes he brought up are themes that we think about at the Bank, even though you know, he’s in technology, and we’re in banking, I thought that really was fascinating. And you know, I just love hearing Tom’s stories.

Greg Farber:
You know, going back to the Jim and Dave episode, I like that one too. And I learned some things in there as well. I mean, I came on around the same time as Jim and Dave did. And I worked with them for many years and I knew that they brought a lot of their team with them and stuff but I really didn’t understand how like gelled and how passionate they were as a unit that they have sales folks and operations folks in everyone that was really part of them before the Leader Bank days as well and that they’ve been able to maintain that keep that team together growing expanding. That was pretty exciting. I didn’t even know those things. And I’ve worked with those guys for 13 years. And you know, just, I mean, we are a bank, right? It’s okay to talk about banking topics. I really liked Episode Five, where we talked about business and banking. And that’s a topic that was completely new to me. I know about regular banking, because I’m a client or you know, at a bank checking and savings and things like that. And I know about mortgage loans. And I was in that for many, many years. I had no idea about the complexity of municipal banking and hearing Mark Romvos talk a little bit about how we think differently, and we listened to what those municipalities need to to find out how to do that right. That was really interesting to me to learn about that the whole department, the speaking about culture. Another takeaway for me was how excited all of our guests were to just share what they do. And not just our team members, but other folks that we brought on realtor partners, financial planners, folks from other companies and industries, and just how they got there, and why they do it. And that passion that we can share within how we run our operation. You mentioned Tom Shen, any other thoughts on kind of how we have that cross-industry passion for what we do?

Jay Tuli:
Yeah, no, I agree. I thought the, you know, the Mike King episode and Kathy Wentworth, where, you know, they’re both loan officers for Leader Bank, and they brought on strong realtor partners. What was really cool to see in those is just how strong the relationships are in how, like, they can almost like finish each other sentences like, you know, they, there’s so much trust that’s built into those relationships, that that kind of sets the stage for that client referral. And so like, we know, we work with realtors, we know that that is a big, huge part of our business. But actually seeing an example of a realtor and a loan officer together and how they, how they form that relationship was super cool.

Greg Farber:
That was it. I agree. They were just about finishing each other’s sentences, weren’t they that was that was kind of neat to see that they had that real good rapport.

Jay Tuli:
So Greg, based on our first season, and all the different ways in which we kind of moved and pivoted topics, and the learnings we had, what do you think we can expect for season two?

Greg Farber:
Right. We have been talking about this, and three sort of keywords came to mind. And they’re not the fanciest words in the dictionary. We try stuff, we pivot, and we learn. And we do that in our banking operation. But we’re also in the midst of doing that here in this in this podcast. And I feel exactly that. We tried stuff, we said, what are some interesting folks and some interesting departments that we can we can bring in, we can learn about different products. And as you and I said, we learned a lot of interesting things. But there’s only so much that we can talk about a checking account or a loan product. And at some point that becomes kind of stale. But we all have a leader within, we may not recognize it, it may or may not be something we do at work, it may be subconscious, we may be put in a situation where we’re in a meeting, and it just needs to get sort of pushed along. Or it may be something at home and maybe coaching a kid’s softball team or something like that, where we have leadership qualities within us. And I think it would be really fascinating to try to really dig into that and find out all the different kinds of leadership qualities that folks have and highlight those. We are Leader Bank might as well focus on leadership.

Jay Tuli:
Yeah, no, I agree. And, you know, I think I’ve mentioned this to you and others on the team, that the podcasts I’ve really gotten most excited about are, we really get to like the inner workings of what makes someone special, what makes someone that top performer, what, what allows someone to have that gift that they have. So the irony in ways that although we’re a bank, you know, I think the value, the more interesting podcasts would actually not be about banking-specific items. But more about, like you said, the superpowers behind whatever guest we have and, and I think through that journey of highlighting different people on our team that also gives folks a window in or a culture or how we think or how we operate, which helps build those relationships, which you know, at the end of the day, that’s that’s how we’ve grown.

Greg Farber:
I kind of want to pivot at this point. There’s that word again. And also look back a little bit on 20 years of Leader Bank and this has been a monumental year for us. The bank turned 20 years old. And you know, our listeners know you as the president of the Bank, but many may not know that you grew up living and breathing the Leader brand pretty much from the day you were born. For background, your father first started what was then Leader Mortgage in 1986. Most recently, the Bank in 2002. And a lot of kids swear they’ll never do what their parents do. I’m one of those. I was like, No way am I doing what my parents do, and others can’t wait to take over the family business. And so you’re now President of Leader Bank, but you are not a carbon copy of your dad. And I was just curious to hear if you could talk a little bit about how you became a leader in your own right, and what does leadership mean to you personally?

Jay Tuli:
Hmm. Great, great question. So I mean, you know, there wasn’t any grand plan. With this new way, though, there was an inkling that maybe one day we’ll work together.

Greg Farber:
It was an organic thing that just sort of happened?

Jay Tuli:
In a way it was, it’s, I feel like, you know, you always have a general plan one day, you could do something, and maybe not a specific plan of how to get there until opportunities start to rise, and you can jump on them. Anyways, I was doing investment banking, and I worked for a small boutique investment bank in Boston. And it was in the tech, it was a software mergers and acquisitions investment bank. So prior to Leader, I was definitely at like the intersection of tech and finance a bit. And I always thought that was pretty cool. Anyways, that was just a little burnt out and overwhelmed from the hours that I was working. And we’re having a casual dinner conversation, my dad, the Bank was three years old at that time. He sort of said, Hey, why don’t you join me? And let’s see where this goes, you know? And so that’s all it was, it was just sort of another little experiment, you know, hey, I’ll work. Let’s see how this goes. And we really haven’t looked back. You know, of course, like working with a parent is not necessarily an intuitive thing, like right off the bat. But I think after the first six to nine months, we got our groove pretty well. And we’ve maintained that I mean, I’m actually surprised how well we work together. And I think it’s a very deliberate commitment on both sides. But going to your part about becoming my own leader. You know, I just think as the bank continued to grow, I gain more confidence. I definitely had a chip on my shoulder in the beginning, where it was like, okay, yeah, I, I work at this bank, because my dad’s a CEO, and, you know, am I worthy, and all that other type of stuff. You know, those are like natural things, probably, for one second, and I definitely did. And I think as the bank grew, and we tried different things, some of those things really being definitely an imprint of my efforts or my team’s efforts. And we started seeing the Bank go in slightly different ways. You know, you build confidence and you get excited and all that type of stuff. And but I would say a lot of the values of the Bank are really rooted in my dad’s founding philosophy, which I wholeheartedly love and agree with all all the things in our brand Bible, you know, roll up your sleeves with dedication, teamwork, continuous improvement, humility, community. I mean, these are things like one word to describe Sushil Tuli. I think a lot of people would just use these words, yet they make sense too, for operating a great business. And so I think that’s kind of cool.

Greg Farber:
So a lot of the same fundamental vision and values and ethics and all that, but then just two different styles to communicate that same vision forward. Yeah, totally. That’s really neat. Any specific moments or milestones along the way, that kind of stand out to you as being instrumental in whether it’s the bank’s growth or even your own success? That really where maybe it’s something stands out to you that got us to where we are to be here 20 years later? Or is it really just the overall success? That’s the totality of a bunch of smaller successes.

Jay Tuli:
There were a few pivotal moments.

Greg Farber:
And you don’t have to share them all, but maybe just know, what stands out to you.

Jay Tuli:
As it pertains to your question about me becoming more comfortable in my own role. One pivotal moment was the creation of the Zeugma rewards account. Okay. And to back up, you know, we were a small bank, doing huge amount of mortgage volume, because as we just referenced, we were able to bring on the Needham team, which I was part of that effort. But, you know, that was definitely in the wheelhouse of stuff we were already doing. And so the challenge always is deposits. How do we grow deposits, because we have more than enough loans. And so we really trying to get creative. And we looked at a bunch of other interesting programs that we could maybe, you know, look at our partner with vendors offer an innovative checking account. And ultimately, we decided they’re too expensive. Let’s try it ourselves. So Zeugma was created, what’s interesting about this is, it was the first product, I would say Leader Bank created from scratch, i.e., you know, wasn’t something we just use from our core provider. It wasn’t just like a fintech. We just partnered with like, we actually built something for the first time.

Greg Farber:
So it was the birth of that innovative spirit that we talked about earlier.

Jay Tuli:
It was birth of that, and it wasn’t, you know, what we had was, how the product would work to the client. We had that sketched out. How we would do it behind the scenes was was sort of like, not fully sketched out. And we sort of said, okay, like, like, let’s, let’s, let’s figure it out. And anyways, we launched it. And obviously, as a product grew and grew and grew, we automated more of the backend and all that stuff. But what was exciting about it is pretty quickly, we exceeded like, 1500 clients. And so that was the first time, and a significant amount of balances. And that was the first time we said, wow, if we develop products that clients really like this is a source of growth. And so many people may not see a Zeugma rewards account as having that much impact on Leader Bank. But as far as like a first stepping stone, that was it.

Greg Farber:
See, this is exactly what I was talking about. I didn’t know that. I knew that we made it. But I didn’t know that real impact and that history behind it, that’s really cool to learn. I wanted to go a little bit deeper into that personal leadership skill again, too, we kind of teased that we want to talk about that more next season. And when you joined Leader in 06′, and I came on in 09′. And we were both young professionals, we were kind of looking to build our careers. And now in the years that have passed, we’ve started our own families, and we’ve had personal milestones along the way. And I know for me that that, that has really changed in a positive way, my outlook on kind of approaching to business and I was wondering if you know, you had any thoughts on, you know, going from that driven young professional to now being a family, man, and how you approach business.

Jay Tuli:
Productivity, and how you’re spending your time is a huge lesson, I think I’ve learned after having kids, you don’t have as much time. So every moment you spend, like, you know, it better be spent the right way cuz because, you know, you’re potentially taking that way away from a kid. Right? And so, so you just got to, it’s forced me to be, like, a lot more thoughtful on what I’m doing what I’m spending my time on, who I’m spending with, if I’m spending it with someone, like, like, what should the outcome of that time be? Like, you know, like, it’s better if it’s like, a really awesome experience, you know, it’s worthwhile and all that stuff. So yeah, I think productivity is a natural outcome. A lot of people feel probably, but certainly me. I think the other thing is, this whole concept of like, you know, these are little beings that are learning everything they observe. And so I had this big realization, and I don’t know how it came in, it’s an obvious one, probably most, but from reading a book, or seeing a video or somebody that like, I should be the best form of myself during these formative years. Like, obviously, I want to be the best form of myself, but I never really had that impetus to do it, you know, but now I do, because if they’re gonna observe all my habits, so in other words, I will pass on my bad habits potentially. And I may pass on my good habits too.

Greg Farber:
Right. No, those are really insightful. I mean, I really think that what you mentioned about productivity is interesting, too, because we do have to compartmentalize our time, so much more efficiently to make space for work for ourselves, for our kids. And somewhere you get the sense somebody has to take a backseat, but we really still want to be there for all those components of our lives. I learned an interesting lesson kind of along those lines along the way where I saw something that said, when your child comes to you and wants to tell you something or shows you something, act like it’s the most amazing, interesting thing in the world, even if it’s not, because like you’ve mentioned in those formative years, then if they They want to come to you with something big serious later down the road, they know that you are actually paying attention and listening. And I thought that that was actually that really changed my approach to business as well. Because it’s easy if someone comes to you kind of with a small question or something like that to kind of be like, hey, go figure it out. And as you know, not important. But instead, to really take that approach of, hey, wait a minute, that’s a really good question. Or maybe they really do need a little bit of help with this, or they have a new angle or approach to something. I think that that being that family man, I guess, has shown me that it’s important to step back and see where other people are coming from a bit more. Because they don’t have necessarily the same perspective that I have coming into a conversation or meeting or a project, just like you would have that same sort of dynamic at home with a kid.

Jay Tuli:
Yeah, no, that’s, that’s, I love that. I think also, like, you have to practice or at least I’ve had to practice being teacher more with them, you know, because I ask a lot of questions.

Greg Farber:
But in a supportive way, you can’t break them down. By teaching them you have to lift them up,

Jay Tuli:
Right, and breaking down, you know, more complicated concepts into a simple form to explain to someone that’s a skill set. That’s really useful with your kids. It’s also really useful for business concepts or, or whatever. So, I think I think there’s a lot of learning.

Greg Farber:
So just a little wildcard question to make it fun hear, any thoughts on something that, you know, maybe our listeners will be surprised to hear people don’t realize that thinking that something goes on and running the scenes behind the scenes and running a bank? Something that wow, really, they do all that? I have these moments all the time where I learned about a new function that we have, and I never realized that banking required us to do XYZ. I was just curious if you had any kind of thoughts on there’s there’s something that’s just so weird, but we couldn’t run a bank without it.

Jay Tuli:
I think the average client might be surprised with how many vendor partners we had a bank have to manage.

Greg Farber:
That’s really interesting. I’m surprised by that, too. Sometimes.

Jay Tuli:
Yeah. Like, I think we sort of mapped out that a loan from application. No, sorry, from pre-approval, pre-approval letter, all the way to closing. There might be 50 vendors touching that loan. So I think for, because everything is in, you know, the way the tech stack is presented, is this cohesive. Ideally, it’s this cohesive view. But I think clients are sometimes surprised that behind the scenes, it’s like managing a whole swarm of different vendors and getting them to work together and all that stuff.

Greg Farber:
I definitely agree with that. And just having seen, we’re going back to the innovation episode with Eric and Lindsey, the sheer number of interesting opportunities they have uncovered, where we can improve our services through different vendors and different available products in the marketplace. That is, in fact, your right, you would have no idea what goes on behind the scenes.

Jay Tuli:
I think also another thing, sometimes people are surprised with the Bank is, you know, it really requires a big sales organization to run it. So sometimes when I talk to folks, the assumption is like, oh, people just like walk in and like, this is how it works. And it’s like, no, no, no one just like, randomly shows at your door. There’s, there’s people working hard, whether it’s branch managers, or loan officers or bankers, or like whatever it is, you know, getting clients is like not an easy task. It’s not an obvious thing. And our sales organization is a really big piece of it. And I think in financial services, that’s usually not the first thing you think about. Usually, people think about it, it’s more like risk management and compliance, like that type of stuff. But that’s another thing.

Greg Farber:
I like that that is really neat insight. So we’ve done a lot of looking back in this episode. Let’s turn around and briefly look forward. Anything exciting, we should expect coming, what do we got coming up at Leader Bank in 2023?

Jay Tuli:
Well, one thing I’m really pumped about, and we’ve been working on this for a year is Leader Insurance. So we’ve been we’ve been thinking about an insurance offering for like, probably a decade, just not something we prioritized on. And finally 2022 We decided okay, this is going to come up the priority list. We really want to launch this and it’s been a super fun process everything from the ideation to the forecasting and modeling, recruiting the team, thinking through the tech stack and the integration to the launch. And so I think I think it’s going to do great. And I’m really excited about it.

Greg Farber:
So how does insurance overlap with banking? What kind of insurance are we talking about here?

Jay Tuli:
Yeah, so we’re talking about, basically consumer lines, homeowners insurance, auto insurance, and personal umbrella lines. And the reason that’s relevant, like, you know, I always talk about how we need to be focused, we can’t do like all sorts of random products, because it will kind of dilute our efforts. But the reason this is relevant is because we have such a large mortgage business. So we’re financing so many people who are buying their homes every day. And in every transaction, you need insurance to insure that home. And often what happens is, while we’re helping someone buy their home with the lending, they have to then go off in a separate track, and find an insurance provider and get a quote and get the binder and, you know, get all the information to them, and then come back to us. And so what we’re trying to do is use the data we already have for that client, help streamline the process, make it really simple and easy. And get them a great quote.

Greg Farber:
Awesome. I mean, that is, in fact exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing that rollout myself. Jay, any other thoughts on the year we’ve wrapped up here?

Jay Tuli:
I think it’s been a lot of fun, I think. You know, it’s just been great to have people on both internal and external. I frequently hear folks, who listen to our podcast, and I can sense they can, they can feel like the energy and the excitement and the passion. And I think if that’s what people take, you know, in many ways, we’ve accomplished what we’re trying to do, which is to really, you know, open up a taste of what Leader Bank is to everyone else.

Greg Farber:
This has been an awful lot of fun. I think this was an interesting episode. And it was really fun to look back at at the Banks history and a little bit at the podcast’s one year history, and I’m really excited to see what we do. So I really want to thank you for making the time coming on today and onto an exciting 2023

Jay Tuli:
Likewise, thank you for hosting Greg, thank you, Sydney and Ryan on the production side and all the planning that goes into this. Really appreciate it. And to all of our listeners, we are very excited. Stay tuned for some really fun episodes.

Greg Farber:
For more information on today’s subject visit leaderbank.com. In addition to past episodes, you can also find our corresponding blog entries for more insights. This podcast is a production of Leader Bank N.A. equal housing lender. Member FDIC. NMLS number 449250.