Then & Now: Caring for people the key to Shook’s career

In her 30-year career with Arvest Bank, Julie Shook has tried to live out Theodore Roosevelt’s adage: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

“I love people,” she said. “There isn’t anything I enjoy more than helping others grow in their careers and seeing them succeed. I also love helping our customers meet their financial goals.”

Now executive vice president, sales manager at Arvest in Springdale, Shook was born in Berryville and began her career with Arvest in 1994 while in high school. Three years later she became a teller at Arvest in Springdale, working her way up to branch manager before she was 21, vice president at age 25 and senior vice president by 30.

Named to the 2011 Northwest Arkansas Business Journal Forty Under 40 class, Shook was promoted to her current position in 2012. Today she’s responsible for more than 100 employees and nine branches, developing and executing strategies primarily on the sales side of the bank.

“I have anything from marketing, properties, security, branch administration, consumer lending – all of that is under my umbrella,” she said.

Shook owes her longevity to trust and collaboration within her team; to the bank’s leadership, especially owner, Jim Walton; and to the commitment to the bank’s mission of “being people helping people find financial solutions for life.”

“A culture leader and customer advocate,” Shook credits her team for the growth of Arvest’s Springdale market, now more than a billion dollars in assets. “There are six on my core team with a total of 117 years of service. We’ve been together for a long time and will do whatever is needed for each other.”

Shook’s advice for success is to “surround yourself with good people. Hire tough. It might be time-consuming in the beginning but well worth it in the end.”

“I was always raised to do the right thing and work hard, not for others to notice you, but just for the good of your heart. And with my team, I believe I lead by example, and I expect the same from them,” she said. “But there is no bad day. I come to work with a smile on my face, regardless of what’s going on in my life. And I hope I go home with that smile on my face.”

Creating an enjoyable work culture means “we work hard, and we play even harder,” she said.

“I like to have fun at work,” adding that might include asking her associates to dress up or put on a red nose.

Shook’s greatest accomplishment is balancing a full-time, demanding job while being a full-time mom and wife to Jimmy, her husband of almost 25 years. She felt mom guilt, but she “learned early on to give myself grace and not try to do it all.”

A 2007 graduate of the Walton Institute, Shook has completed numerous banking and management programs. She plans to complete the college degree she left when her career took off.

“It’s still on my bucket list, even though I’m 47 years old.”

Shook is heavily involved with the Springdale Chamber of Commerce “because we are growing leaps and bounds in Springdale, and I absolutely love watching our community develop.”
She enjoys the city’s diversity, noting the range of people from those born there to those who’ve migrated in, including Hispanics and Marshallese.

“We’re unique,” she said. “We’re not Bentonville. We’re not Fayetteville. We’re just Springdale right in the middle of all of it. A lot of good happens here. … There are great people in this community.”

She’s a past and will soon again be a Rotary board member and a Downtown Springdale Alliance board member. For 15 years, she was involved in Springdale schools through PTA, booster clubs and Patron Shelf, working with Marshallese parents. Shook is also passionate about advocating and volunteering with For the Love NWA food truck.

Spare time finds Shook at the beach with family, reading or with her golden doodle, Ruby Jane.