Presenting

GRAVITAS MAGAZINE GravitasMag.com | 59 A Rita Lowman Chief Operating Officer, C1 Bank In an industry typically defined by dollars and cents, Lowman has cultivated a successful career built on personal relationships, hard work and the confidence in her abilities as a woman and banker. As one of only two women on the board of directors of the Florida Bankers Association, Lowman's impressive career has managed dozens of banking mergers and transitions, teams of 1,000 employees and $6 billion in assets. But this small town Georgia lady has never forgotten where she came from, and the lessons she learned climbing the ladder of success. Lowman was raised in a middle-class working family in Georgia, and enjoyed exploring her theatrical side growing up, appearing in several local plays in the hometown theater and competed in local pagents. After graduating from Columbus State University with degrees in communications and business, Lowman started laying the foundation to her future success by taking strategic risks. Within a few years, she was named the youngest marketing director for a small bank in Columbus, an impressive position at the time that was featured in the local paper. After the birth of her oldest son, she returned from maternity leave in 11 days, something unheard of at the time for working mothers. "I wouldn't recommend that for anyone," she says chuckling. "It was a very small department and I was fortunate to have my mother help care for my son until I was able to put him in daycare." Lowman later accepted a position with the former NCNB Bank that was based in Charlotte, North Carolina, the second largest banking center in the U.S. outside of New York City. She quickly gained a reputation as the "go to" executive within that company and several other banking institutions, holding positions from Market President to State Administrative Executive. e banking industry was becoming a small niche, once dominant by several big name companies, and Lowman moved with the changes, relocating her family eight times between North Carolina and Florida where she was needed most. Lowman's career wasn't the only one taking off (William, her husband of 43 years, was then a division executive with Kraft Foods based in Chicago). She admits both working parents loved their careers and wanted to continue succeeding up the executive level, but Lowman was faced with a fork-in-the-road decision: join her husband in the Windy City and work for a bank there, or stay in North Carolina and live apart. In a decision that frankly many couples could not endure, let alone survive, Lowman and her husband agreed to keep their respective busy executive level schedules and manage two households, commuting every weekend with their two sons for seven years. Continued page 60 As a leader in Florida's banking industry, Rita Lowman has carved out a trailblazing 35-year career that shows no signs of slowing down.

• Cover