Las Vegas Business Press :: Rising Stars : Nikki Giroux

Nikki Giroux

After just a few months in an entry-level, mainly clerical position at entry-level pay, Nikki Giroux went into her boss' office at Nevada Commerce Bank and asked for a promotion.

"I said, 'Hey, I want to get into lending,' " she recalled telling Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer Jeff Nicholl more than four years ago. "I want to be president of a bank some day, and lending is where it's at."

Somewhat to her surprise, Nicholl didn't laugh, roll his eyes or quietly thank her for her interest and forget the meeting.

MIKE STOTTS | BUSINESS PRESS
Nikki Giroux, assistant vice president and loan officer, Nevada Commerce Bank

"He just said, 'OK,' " she recalled.

A few weeks later she was transferred from the note department, where she had been drafting the nuts-and-bolts language of loan documents, to the business development office.

Since then, the 27-year-old has moved up the ranks to assistant vice president and loan officer. She still wants to become a community bank president. Even though she is dealing with borrowers during the worst lending market in decades, Giroux considers joining a community bank her "best decision ever."

But her path has not exactly been the one career coaches normally preach. The native of Rochester, Mich., had made up her mind to move to Nevada, with or without a job, after graduating from Michigan State University in 2004 as an economics major. With the help of an uncle who lives in Las Vegas, she landed an interview with bank CEO Kathy Phillips. That led to the position in the note department at a time when the mantra among several of her classmates was "big company, big paycheck."

"When people are coming out of college, nine times out of 10 they don't want entry level," Giroux said. "I just wanted to get my foot in the door," heeding her uncle's counsel to start at the bottom and work her way up.

Help arrived from other sources. She credits senior bank managers with living up to their espoused open-door policy, starting early on with Phillips giving Giroux her cell and direct office numbers. Once Giroux moved into business development, Phillips began inviting her to business social functions so she could learn how to work a crowd.

She also completed a master's of business administration degree at the University of Phoenix in 2007, even though more studying was the last thing she wanted.

"I wish I had a better story but I did it because of my mom," she said.

Her mom had advised her to get the degree in hand before having children rather than afterwards, when the stress would multiply exponentially.

She has also stuck with a job she likes, building relationships with clients and contacting those clients at least once a month to see how their businesses are faring.

On her own time, she volunteers for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Special Olympics of Southern Nevada.

-- By Tim O'Reiley

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