When the wider business world thinks of Arkansas success stories, it most generally defaults to global corporate behemoths Walmart, J.B. Hunt and Tyson Foods. In most circles, Cathy Owen does not reside top of mind but in the banking world, she is a unicorn of the highest order and a beacon for women in any industry.
Owen is chairman of Eagle Bank, as well as chairman, president and CEO of State Holding Co., which owns Eagle Bank. She is chair-elect of the American Bankers Association’s board of directors and is still the only woman to have served as chairman of the board of the Arkansas Bankers Association in its 136-year history. In 2022, she was named one of the “75 Most Powerful Women” by American Banker.
Cathy Owen
With all that, Owen is the ultimate authority on the challenges that face women in banking, especially as they seek to ascend the ranks of management, executive leadership and board seats. She said while the industry has a long way to go, there is a lot to like about what is changing in the industry as far as parity of opportunity.
“There are more women in the C-suite and on boards. I continue to see improvement in that,” she said. “I wish it were faster, but unfortunately, it’s not.”
Owen credited the new prominence of women in upper leadership roles to the self-seeding effect achieved when a few pioneers proliferate followers over time through inspiration and mentorship.
“I’m seeing more women that are helping elevate other women and encouraging other women to seek those higher opportunities,” Owen said. “They’re serving as mentors, which I think is extremely important. I also think that it’s helped with women seeing other women achieving these roles and serving on boards because they realize it is possible and they can do it.”
Owen’s assessment of the industry in Arkansas reflects a wider trend across the country in which the progress has been undeniable even if the pace has been below par. According to a 2022 piece by Deloitte Insights, women held about 21 percent of C-suite and senior leadership positions in the U.S. financial services industry, on par with the global percentage.
Those included positions within the C-suite tier, such as CEO, chief financial officer and chief marketing officer, as well as senior leadership roles such as line-of-business leaders, division chiefs or regional leaders, executive vice presidents, senior vice president, or equivalents.
A separate analysis of the 107 largest U.S. public financial services institutions was even more encouraging, showing women in 32 percent and 23 percent of C-suite and senior leadership roles, respectively.
The report went on to predict U.S. women in the industry’s C-suites would grow 7 percent by 2030 but only fractionally among senior leadership positions. However, a category of women identified as “next gen” leaders made up almost a third of employees, suggesting the bench strength is higher than it has ever been.
Owen said banks that actively support employee development, including, in some cases, specifically for women, will be at the forefront of the continued march of women to realize their full potential in the industry.
“We try to work with all newer employees as individuals. Their supervisor meets with them to discuss their goals and their aspirations, and then we help build the career path from there,” Owen said. “We believe it’s important to hear from them and their aspirations, but we also offer some direction on some things, opportunities that we think their personality and their work style may be perfect for or appropriate for that they may not have thought about.”
The effort has also been carried out at the professional association level. The Arkansas Bankers Association has hosted its Women in Banking Conference for more than a decade, an educational and networking event that has seen steady growth in participation, this year selling out at 200 attendees.
Lorrie Trogden, ABA president and CEO, said she has seen a lot more opportunity for women to excel in banking in the state, particularly outside of the larger population centers.
Lorrie Trogden
“I’ve been here now for eight years, and I have definitely witnessed more women moving into CEO, market presidents, SVPs, EVPs and other management positions over time,” she said. “I know at least one person who started as a teller, and over her career, she grew into the CEO of the bank. I tell young people all the time it doesn’t really matter what role you start in; there are absolutely ways to grow your career into whatever position you want to be in the bank.
“I’ll also say that as far as growing your career in smaller banks, your career growth can actually be pretty rapid if you’re willing to live in a small town and work for the local bank there. Most of our banks are not in Little Rock; they are across the state in small towns. Looking across the board, there’s this generation of people in their 40s, probably more than you’d think, who have moved into CEO positions, or they’re right there underneath in those executive management positions [and] could move up.”
Trogden said while the breakdown of CEOs in Arkansas banking is not 50/50 women to men, a part of that is baked into the fact there are fewer such jobs to begin with compared to other states and that turnover in those roles happens more slowly.
“We do definitely still have more men in the CEO roles, but when you start talking about those positions, I think it’s important to know there are basically 78 openings; we have other banks that do business in this state, but their CEOs aren’t here,” she said. “One other thing that affects us is across the country, we’re seeing lots of mergers and acquisitions, and every time a bank merges, if they keep the individual charters, they’ll keep the CEO, but if they don’t, if they move to just one CEO or CEO/president, that’s one less opportunity.”
“People also tend to stay in those roles for a long time, although I think there will be several here locally over the next couple years that may be looking at retirement. We do have the bench strength that we’re seeing grow at the market president, SVP level, which will facilitate more women moving into those roles.”
Another illustration of Arkansas’ performance at scale can be seen in its number of women-owned banks. Arkansas has one, First National Bank of Izard County in Calico Rock, with a second, Commercial National Bank of Texarkana in Texas, doing business on both sides of the state line. That may not sound like much until one considers there are only 17 women-owned institutions in the country, chartered in 12 states, as identified by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Only Texas has more than one such institution. California, Alaska, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Minnesota also have just one each. Seen through that lens, Arkansas is way out in front of most states on that measurement.
One can also see progress in banking using a wider perspective, to include such things as seats on boards and committees at the state and national level or heads of state banking associations, such as Trogden herself. In all these areas, she said she has seen many more women take their seats around the table than when she started.
“I’ll say on our board, I am definitely seeing a lot more women. Our vice chairman, who will take over in two years, is a female market president,” she said. “The American Bankers Association holds a conference every year for state executives and their chairmen and vice chairmen, and I am seeing more women than ever before showing up to that conference as chairman and chairman-elect. That’s probably the best litmus test I would have without knowing any actual numbers, but I am personally witnessing there are more women showing up to these conferences.
“I would say for most of the boards I’m on, I’m not the only woman in the room, but I’m typically a minority. The tide is turning, though; I’m seeing more women in those roles, and I have recently joined several new committees at the American Bankers Association. There have been times when I first started in this job that I may have only been the only female in the room, but that’s not the case anymore.”
Susannah Marshall, commissioner of both the Arkansas State Bank Department and the separate Arkansas Securities Department, is another living symbol of the progress women have made in banking and the entities related to the industry. As a 31-year veteran of the Arkansas State Bank Department, the past six as only the second woman to occupy the role, she has seen tremendous changes in the makeup of her department and of the industry at large both in-state and nationwide.
Susannah Marshall
“When I first started going to our national association meetings, even as a deputy commissioner, there would be 100 people in the room, 100 regulators, and very few women in a senior leadership role,” she said. “Over the last 10 years, I’ll say, the number of female bank commissioners has grown significantly. Now, when I sit in that room, I can easily count how many more female bank commissioners there are in this country. I’m energized by that. I’m thrilled to see that change, and I’m proud to be part of that.
“As I look around our industry in the state, I remember 31 years ago, when I started my career, I knew and worked with very few female bank presidents. I have seen the evolution of many more women holding executive leadership roles in Arkansas banks. I am thrilled to see that trajectory.”
Marshall said while she typically sees more male applicants for job vacancies within her agency than female, the ratio is closer than in the past. She said that may have less to do with the number of opportunities than with the demands of the job itself.
“I don’t know that we’ve ever really thought exactly why our applicants are still largely male applicants,” she said. “It may be that as we post the job description and talk to potential candidates, we are quick to point out that this is a travel job. That may be a deterrent on the front end. Over my career, there have been very few female bank examiners that have been able to make a career out of it, with the demands of travel probably the biggest impact. That’s a challenge, even though there’s plenty of opportunities for advancement in the agency. It is still an area where I can see improvement to be made.”
Marshall also said while turnover among her bank examiners is high, it does not mean those individuals are leaving the banking industry for other jobs — quite the opposite, since their expertise and training are often highly coveted by private sector banking institutions.
“Bank examiner positions are mainly entry level, and we’re looking for people that have a business educational background, something in lines of finance, economics or accounting. When our examiners come in they go through rigorous on-the-job training and off-site external training where they gain proficiencies in the industry,” she said. “Some folks even come to us with experience, having worked at a bank part time or over summers during college.
“Put all that together, and they very often catch the attention of bankers, and often that’s what examiners want to do, and they see an opportunity. I’m constantly having to compete with banks to keep my talent.”
All in all, Marshall said, many of the limits women face are ones they impose on themselves, something she preaches regularly to those coming up who she goes out of her way to mentor.
“If there is an opportunity provided, take that opportunity. Don’t doubt yourself on whether or not you can succeed at that or whether or not you may be chosen,” she said. “Every one of my advancements in my career was an opportunity to put my name in the hat. Even if I thought I wasn’t the most senior, the most qualified or had the most tenure, I always put my name in the hat to show that I was interested and wanted to advance and wanted to express my willingness to do more. That paid off so many times.
“I tell people even if it’s not something you think you’re ready for right now, that’s all right; I will remember that you raised your hand or were interested in advancement. You keep doing that enough and you continue to be steadfast in thinking about the future, people do notice that. For the young women especially, I often try to share with them as a mentor to use your voice, that you are smart. You’re talented. We’ve selected you to fill a position because we believe in you, and I want you to believe in yourself.”
SEE THE FEATURE BELOW AND IN OUR SEPTEMBER 2026 ISSUE OF ARKANSAS MONEY & POLITICS
