40 Under 40 — Shari Male

Note: This content was originally published in print in 2005. It appears on the web for the first time today, leading up to the 2013 40 Under 40 awards. ^[1]

Living in a small town allows Male to get involved in the community

BY JESSICA LINDSEY

Prairie State Bank^[2] President and CEO Shari Male^[3] is passionate about her customers and employees.

Male, 38, took over the bank in 2003 after serving on the board of directors when it was under the direction of her father, Newton Male^[4].

Shari Male^[5] went to college in Texas and took a job with IBM^[6] directly out of school. She moved to Dallas and worked her way up in the company, eventually becoming a senior manager.

When her father died, Male moved back to Kansas and became more involved with the bank her father had run since 1960.

“I literally grew up in the bank,” says Male. “I really loved the organization. But I wanted to be successful on my own terms, on my own right, without my father, and I had proved to myself that I could be.”

Male learned by watching her parents’ lives — and through her father’s death — that working to help other people makes it more than a job.

“I try to instill that in all of our employees,” says Male. “Helping make customers successful helps our community be successful and makes them successful, whether it means spending more time with family or getting to a management level or having less stress on the job, whatever defines success.”

Mary Faulkner, vice president of human resources for the bank, says Male has made it clear what her priorities are and customers and employees recognize and respect that.

References

1. ^{^} Wichita 40 Under 40 (www.bizjournals.com)
2. ^{^} Prairie State Bank (www.bizjournals.com)
3. ^{^} Shari Male (feeds.bizjournals.com)
4. ^{^} Newton Male (feeds.bizjournals.com)
5. ^{^} Shari Male (feeds.bizjournals.com)
6. ^{^} IBM (www.bizjournals.com)