After only a few days in her new office Downtown, SunTrust Northbank Branch Manager Megan Beatty senses she has found a home.
“It feels like a small town. This is where I want to raise my family,” she said.
Beatty was born in Michigan and her family moved to Atlanta when she was 3 weeks old. She grew up there and later graduated from the University of West Georgia in Carrollton.
“I’m a Georgia peach,” said Beatty.
She took her degree in fine art back home to Atlanta and landed a job at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, fully intending to have a career as a newspaper photographer.
She soon decided her long commute through metropolitan Atlanta to the newspaper wasn’t what she wanted to do every day. That’s when a friend recommended a career change, which led to Beatty taking a job with SunTrust.
“I went from a very artistic and open work environment to a very structured environment,” she said.
Beatty rose quickly in the company, and was a branch manager within three years.
Then, she said, there was another life change and she took some time off to raise a family, but eventally started missing the world of finance.
“Being a stay-at-home parent is the toughest job there is. After two years, I left Barney and Elmo and got back into banking,” said Beatty.
SunTrust transferred Beatty to Jacksonville from its office in downtown Venice, near Sarasota. She said she enjoyed the area and described it as “very laid back, but a financially mature market.”
Beatty said she was interested in relocating to SunTrust’s new retail branch on Laura Street because “Jacksonville has a good mix of people.”
“Sarasota is very seasonal. Jacksonville is more consistent,” she said.
Beatty, who was active on the board of directors of the United Way of South Sarasota County and a member of the Venice-Nokomis Rotary Club, said she plans to become involved in her new neighborhood.
“I think the most important thing is the lasting impression you leave. I want to get involved in the community and make a strong, positive difference,” she said.
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