Velvet Tillman started working at BancorpSouth in Bruce on Nov. 7, 1994. She credits the 25-year run with Mattye Ruth, who interviewed and hired her.
“I was actually working at the elementary school in Calhoun City (as a teacher assistant) at the time when she called me,” Velvet said.
“I was supposed to start and I called her back and said I’ve changed my mind,” Velvet said. “I just wasn’t sure about the change but she talked to me about it and I agreed to give it a try. She’s definitely the reason I’m there.”
Velvet would start as a teller and then move up to head teller. From there she was promoted to Customer Service Representative (CSR) and following Ann Snellings’ retirement Velvet was put into her coordinator position.
That position involves supervising teller row and staying on top of the operations side of the bank making certain everything is exactly as it is supposed to be for auditors.
“You’re primarily making sure bank policy is being followed in every area on the deposit side,” Velvet said.
That position was eliminated from the local banks and made a regional post when BancorpSouth went through a restructuring several years ago. Velvet was moved back to her former CSR post.
“What I love about it is assisting our customers,” she said. “In a small town like Bruce you know everybody and establish close relationships with them. People become comfortable talking to you not just about their banking needs but everything. I enjoy being that listening ear. I think people appreciate that relationship when you’re handling business for them.”
Velvet is especially partial to her elder customers at the bank.
“I’ve always believed that’s a very important part of serving the community, looking after our elderly,” she said. “The banking business has changed so much sometimes everybody doesn’t understand all the new procedures and that presents an opportunity to really help our customers and make them feel comfortable and know we’re looking out for their best interests.”
Velvet grew up the youngest of 11 children of Velma and Roy J. Stovall.
“I was raised on a farm,” she said with a smile. “We worked hard. We had cows, pigs, guineas, goats and everything.”
She dreamed of being a nurse as a child but life took her in a different direction.
“I learned growing up and through my school experiences to be tough and be very straight forward with people,” Velvet said.
She graduated from Calhoun City High School and then after earning her college degree returned home to work different stints at Jitney Jungle and the nursing home before going to work for the school district. Then the call from Mattye Ruth came.
Velvet’s 25-year career at the bank was nearly cut short with Ruth’s retirement several years ago.
“When she retired I told her I was leaving too,” Velvet said. “I was just so upset she wouldn’t be there, but she told me, ‘No, you’re not.’”
“She insisted I stay but I couldn’t see staying there without her,” Velvet said. “She made me promise I would stay and because I respected her so much I did. She is a woman of such dignity and has such a genuine heart and concern for people. I feel like she saw something in me that was in her and I couldn’t let her down.”
“I think about that in keeping service to community a priority, not just through the bank but in all aspects,” Velvet said. “That’s what my job means to me, service to the community. I get so much from that opportunity to serve our customers and our community as a whole.”