headquartered and originally planned to follow in his father’s footsteps as a schoolteacher — until a pivotal conversation changed his mind. “My dad looked across the dinner table at me one night when I was a junior in high school and said, ‘You better think about something else,’” Cearley recalls. That advice led him to pursue finance in college, where he discovered a passion for numbers and problem-solving. He joined Centera Bank as an intern while still in school and was hired full-time after graduation. Nearly 39 years later, he has never worked anywhere else. “It’s been a fantastic company to work for,” he says. “I’ve never really had an interest in doing anything else because of the way they have treated me.” BALANCING TECHNOLOGY AND TRADITION As Centera Bank plans for the next 18 months and beyond, Cearley is focused on maintaining strong 124 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 10
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