(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Citizens Bank Vice President of Deposit and Loan Operations Ben Stewart.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Houston, Texas, Jan. 8, 1980.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I went to elementary school in Houston, then we moved to Meridian in 1988 and I graduated from Northeast Lauderdale High School. I’m an alumni of East Mississippi Community College and Southern Miss.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I’m the vice president of deposit and loan operations for Citizens Bank. It could also be described as special projects because I get my hands in different areas of the bank, any deposit or loan related projects mostly. I have worked at Citizens Bank since 2016.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: What led me into banking was I was interested in the stock market my senior year of high school, and that kind of led into finance. I was interested in the intangible piece of business.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: I enjoy the variety and that I don’t come in and do the same thing every day. I get to juggle different projects every day, and those projects change all the time. As one rolls off, more roll on.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: Probably the same thing I like about my job. I’m confronted with projects that I haven’t been exposed to in the past and don’t have as much experience in.
Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
A: Be flexible and have an open mind.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I didn’t really have one certain aspiration. I really liked to be outside.
Q: What was your first job?
A: The first job I had was cleaning up and maintenance of the Mack dealership in Meridian. It was a dirty job.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your life?
A: Definitely my uncle, Jim Martin, has been a big influence on me both personally and professionally. And of course my parents, Charles and Kay Stewart, which I’m sure is true of everyone, but to see the way they conducted themselves was also a very big influence.
Q: What is your spouse’s name?
A: Jennifer Stewart. She’s a nurse practitioner in urology at Hattiesburg Clinic.
Q: Do you have children?
A: We have a 4-year-old, Shepard.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: Definitely a good cheeseburger with French fries and a milkshake.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: If I could travel and know that I’d be safe, I want to go to Israel to Jerusalem. I’d also like to travel to Washington D.C. I’d want to go to Israel for my faith, and I think it would be really cool and have heard it’s really pretty. In the same sense sort of, I’d want to go to D.C. because of the historical aspect.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I really like to camp, canoe, hike and do outdoor stuff when I get the chance. I also enjoy being on the beach.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: I like the small-town aspect. I like the people that I’ve met. In a way I’m also fond of the history of Columbia with it being one of the older cities in Mississippi.
Q: What clubs or organizations are you involved with? Where do you go to church?
A: I’m a member of the Rotary Club. For the Rotary year starting in July and ending June 2021, I’ll be the president. I’m looking forward to the honor. I go to Venture Church in Hattiesburg.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: Aside from Jesus Christ — I know him — probably James Madison. I like his political viewpoint.
Q: What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
A: I actually enjoy planting flowers when I get the chance. I only have five of them growing in my yard that I’ve planted, but I like doing it.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: Becoming a father because that definitely changes your perspective. You now realize that there are other people who really depend on you aside from your wife, who could probably make it on her own. Now you have a child that has to depend on you and really both of them. Just the responsibility of teaching him the right way shapes you.
Q: What is one thing you want to do that you’ve never tried?
A: I think it would be really cool to go surfing, not on like a small wave but on some really big waves.
Q: Using one word for each, what are your top three morals?
A: Love, positivity and graciousness.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I would just like to be remembered as someone who left things better than they found them.
— Joshua Campbell
