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"Some people could not have done that, but we were very fortunate and
made it work extremely well," she admits. "We made a decision to keep
our careers, and we valued the time we had together as a family. We were
together on weekends, either we'd fly to Chicago or my husband came here."
Lowman was a woman in demand. e self-described Type A personality
moved quickly through the whirlwind banking industry changes overseeing
or managing at least 19 mergers and acquisitions, including the largest to
date with Barnett Bank (bought by NationsBank in 1998). Lowman was at
the center of all those historic and somewhat challenging acquisitions that
changed the banking landscape forever.
Today, Lowman is one of the top executives at C1 Bank, who is redefining
the banking experience for consumers and based in St. Petersburg. It
is a small community bank focused on meeting the needs of today's
entrepreneurs and small business owners with commercial lending options.
e bank has offices in Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Miami
and Fort Myers. As Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer,
Lowman is proud of the company's efforts to build true relationships
with customers, not automated, impersonal responses customary at
large institutions.
Photography by David Har t,
Makeup by Stephanie Gimson
Styling by Sandra D
From top left: Rita and her husband William. Ringing the
bell on NYSE. Her favorite singer: Elvis Presley. Rita's
favorite painting of her dogs.
