by Fred Seely, Editor
When your mother is one of the state’s most influential Realtors, aren’t you destined for a career in real estate?
John Roberts thought he was. That is, until he discovered banking.
“Everything pointed to real estate,” he said. “I took college courses around that for a future.”
His mother is Carolyn Roberts, owner of the powerhouse Roberts Real Estate in Ocala whose lengthy resume includes a term on the Florida Real Estate Commission and past president of the Ocala/Marion County Realtor Association. She served on the Florida Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s higher education system, and on the state’s Board of Education.
So it was a real estate career for young Johnny, eh?
He first got a business degree from Florida. Then an MBA from Rollins. And, to make sure that real estate was his future, a master’s in real estate from Florida.
But there was always a good feeling about banking.
“My father was on the Barnett Bank board in Ocala and he loved it,” said Roberts. “He had sold his business and he really worked hard for Barnett. he talked about it every night at dinner. It was a sad day for him when the bank was sold.”
During summers, Roberts got a job as an intern with AmSouth Bank in Ocala. He worked as a teller and got a look at the inside operation of a bank.
“And I thought it was great,” he said. “Very interesting.”
When he got his second masters, it was time for a decision; real estate in Ocala or banking .. but where?
The road led to Jacksonville, once the center of the state’s banking industry. Oddly, John Roberts, a careful planner throughout his educational career, didn’t plan anything but a trip to Jacksonville.
Jacksonville Bank CEO Gil Pomar was going back to his downtown office after lunch last year and noticed a big young man looking around.
“It seemed a little unusual,” said Pomar. “He was just looking up at buildings.”
The next day, Pomar’s secretary announced that a young man wanted to see him. No appointment, but did he have a few minutes?
“It was this guy,” said Pomar, then CEO of Jacksonville Bank. “He wanted a job.” Roberts, indeed, had been looking at buildings — specifically, the signage on Jacksonville buildings.
Pomar liked him but no jobs were open.
“So I invented a job,” said the banker. “Kind of a trainee position where he would go in all departments.”
Pomar is a big Gator fan but hadn’t made the family connection under Roberts was well into his Jacksonville Bank job.
“Wow!” he said. “I’ve heard of the Roberts family forever.”
When Pomar moved over to start CenterState’s operations here after the Winter Haven-based bank acquired the old First Guaranty, he took Roberts with him.
Today, he’s a vice president working on business development and, this summer, his ties to banking got an addition: he married Molly Haston, daughter of retired Jacksonville banker Hugh Haston. His bachelor days went the way of his condo in Jacksonville’s Five Points and now he’s settled in a home in the city’s Ortega area.
The ties to Ocala remain strong. The Roberts clan is a tight group, going to Gator football games together (almost all pay the freight to be Bull Gators) and Carolyn brought up a foursome when John ran his Rotary Club’s golf tournament.
“My parents taught me to be active in the community,” said Roberts. “It’s good for you, plus it’s good for business.”
The path he chose is banking. He says that’s working out.