SVP/Director of Marketing, Stone Bank
In a world of countless fintech apps and platforms competing for consumers’ attention, community banks must be more creative than ever in how they connect with their customers.
Stephanie Alderdice, senior vice president and director of marketing at Stone Bank, brings a background and skill set uniquely suited to help people understand the complexities of the modern financial system.
“I always joke with folks when they refer to me as a banker,” Alderdice said. “I say, ‘I’m not a banker. I’m a creative that got adopted by a bank.’”
Alderdice’s path to the banking sector has been anything but conventional. After spending seven years as a coach for the national championship-winning speech and debate team at Western Kentucky University, she and her husband moved to Hot Springs, where she owned and operated SixtyOne Celsius, a full-service advertising and marketing agency.
It was in that role as a small-business owner that the early seeds for her eventual career shift were planted.
“The funny thing is I got into the advertising and marketing business because I enjoyed the creative communication part of it,” Alderdice said. “Then as it grew, I found myself becoming more interested in the entrepreneurial aspects and business ownership.”
As she developed a new understanding and interest in small-business ownership, Stone Bank, then a client of SixtyOne Celsius, found itself in need of a new full-time marketing leader. The opportunity allowed her to bring her creative and entrepreneurial interests together into a new industry.
Whether in the competitive world of coaching, advertising or, now, bank marketing, clear communication has been the through line of Alderdice’s career. Although stepping into a new industry as complex as banking presented a challenge, her ability to understand and connect with an audience is one that travels across sectors.
“I think what I can bring to the table is an ability to bridge the gap between what your average Arkansan thinks of when it comes to financial wellness and what information banks are able to impart to these individuals,” Alderdice said. “I can translate this very technical financial language into something that’s a little bit more palatable and interesting to individuals who may not have grown up in a home where talking about financial wellness was common for them.”
One example of that ability is You Learn As You Go, a statewide banking report released by the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas and spearheaded by Alderdice and Stone Bank.
Released in April, the study examines women and their financial realities across Arkansas’s rural and metropolitan communities. The report looks at how Arkansas women manage household finances, face structural barriers and often make financial decisions without formal money-management training.
In addition to spotlighting the unique challenges women face, the report reveals an opportunity for community banks to better serve women consumers and business owners. It shows that women value a more personal relationship with their banks and that women-owned businesses represent an underserved commercial banking market.
“Being at a bank that allows me to do those types of partnerships — to help disseminate information and research in a way that shines a light that all banks can act on — has really been valuable to me,” Alderdice said. “I appreciate that [CEO and President] Nick Roach, [CFO] Stephen Ragland, and everyone with the executive team sees the value in making an impact in our communities, in addition to making an impact on our balance sheet, as well.”
For Alderdice, it is the intersection of creativity, communication and community impact that makes her unconventional path into banking so rewarding.
“At a time where the economy is so challenging for so many people,” she said, “I really enjoy being able to find ways to connect and answer questions.”
SEE THE FEATURE BELOW AND IN OUR SEPTEMBER 2026 ISSUE OF ARKANSAS MONEY & POLITICS
READ ALSO: Dodo Coffee Co. Opens Fayetteville Flagship With NFL Star Cooper Kupp
