Becky Sullivan, recently promoted to vice president at Peoples Bank, will celebrate a 19 year career in the banking industry in April 2026. She continues to serve as branch manager and lender at the Magee office
After working in the bank’s mailroom between 1999 and 2000 as a high school senior, Sullivan began her banking career with Peoples in earnest in 2007, working first in the loan department.
Her mother-in-law was working at Peoples as a loan assistant when the first position opened. “She talked to the boss and they called me in for an interview, and that’s how I got my job – through my mother-in-law,” Sullivan said with a smile.
“I took care of insurance, filing deeds of trust, titles, the backup internet banking individual,” she explained. At the time she and one other employee made up the loan department. That number has now grown to eight.
After she had been there for 18 months, Dennis Ammann was promoted to CEO and was in need of an assistant. Sullivan applied and was moved to that position, where she remained until 2020. “I loved working for Dennis. The best boss you could ask for. He’s understanding; he’s a Christian man. And he understands that life happens. He taught me so much. I would not be where I am today without him.”
In 2020 the branch manager position opened at the Richland office and it was a lending position. With her knowledge of loan processing and her love for people Sullivan decided to apply. Ammann’s original thought was “no” as he did not want to lose his very able assistant. However, he knew she would be a good fit for the job.
Sullivan left the branch manager position in Richland in March 2022 and took over as Magee office branch manager. “Dennis came to me for that one. I’m from Simpson County. That drive is pretty rough. Even though it’s just Richland it makes a difference.”
Magee is a much larger branch with significantly more responsibility but Sullivan was ready to be home. She supervised four employees in Richland out of a total of eight. In Magee Sullivan now supervises 12 with 25 employees in house at Magee.
The move proved to be very beneficial to her career.
Between assistant vice and vice president she says there is not a lot of difference except one. “I joined Management Committee. We look at the financials of the bank. We make the decisions. We look at employee things. You hear everything there.”
Sullivan now sees the whole picture of the bank, which is a major responsibility that comes with more confidentiality issues. The committee meets monthly.
“I love my job; I really do. I’ve reached the point too where ‘you’re too old to start over anyway.’ Even if I could, I wouldn’t. I love the organization, my employees, the people I work with and I love what I do.”
Sullivan continued, “Maybe this is a school girl view, but the way I see it is whenever I make someone a construction loan to build their house I get to make their dreams come true. I get to be a part of their lives. To me that’s important. I want to be more than just a loan officer to someone. I want to befriend them and help them in any way that I can. That’s important for me.”
She feels the same about small business loans, making those dreams happen. “That’s insane to me that I get to be a part of that. I just love it.”
Banking was the furthest from her mind when Sullivan went to college. She chose the field of child psychology for study but came home before completing the work. Sullivan was newly married and her mother died unexpectedly. At that point she gave up the college track because she really did not know what she wanted to do.
“Something I tell my employees – keep your horizons open. I would have never expected a career in banking. Even five years into my career here I was like ‘what am I going to do the rest of my life? Is this something I can do?’ because I was being close minded.
“Allow God to work what He wants for your life,” she continued “not what necessarily you want because that sometimes is two different things. It was for me. God showed me where I needed to be. He has given me everything I need and abundantly more. That’s what I cling to, letting God guide me. That’s what I hope I can instill by the way I live, by the way I manage. Let God guide you and see what He’s got in store for you.”
