This week, Travillian headed to Chicago for The 2026 Deposit Conference, and our usual host found himself on the other side of the mic. Between leading a panel on the rise of the Chief Deposit Officer and catching up with industry leaders, Brian Love, our Head of Banking & Fintech, slipped backstage for an interview with Caleb Stevens of SouthState Bank to answer the questions for once.
Brian spent ten years as a community banker bringing in deposits before moving into executive search, and he draws on both careers here. He talks about what’s behind bank consolidation and why Chief Deposit Officers are becoming more common. He explains how Travillian uses storytelling to bring passive, top-tier candidates to the table. He also covers the qualities that help new executives win over a skeptical organization. It’s a candid look at the work Travillian does with community banks and fintechs across the country, and at the trends Brian sees shaping banking leadership next.
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Episode Breakdown: Talent, Deposits, and the Rise of the Chief Deposit Officer
00:00 – Backstage at The Deposit Conference
Caleb catches Brian backstage in Chicago for an impromptu conversation, with a little Philadelphia-versus-Atlanta ribbing to start. Brian introduces himself as Head of Banking & Fintech at Travillian, where he has worked for almost 11 years. Travillian has been around for nearly 30 years, and its community bank division grew out of its relationships with the investment bankers who serve those banks.
01:03 – From Community Banker to Recruiter
Before recruiting, Brian spent ten years as a community banker, bringing in small business loans, consumer deposits and, for a long stretch, commercial deposits. Landing “white whale” low-cost depositors was part of his day-to-day, and that experience still shapes how he works. Today, Travillian helps banks from $80 million to $30 billion in deposits, along with fintechs and tech-forward banks, find senior leaders, C-suite executives and board members.
02:16 – Aging CEOs and the Consolidation Question
Caleb cites a Travillian article showing that half of bank CEOs are now 65 or older, up from about 30% twenty years ago. Is consolidation driven by outside pressures, or by leaders and boards nearing retirement? Brian sees some of both. Some banks still run like it’s circa 2000, from their compensation structures to their efficiency ratios, and for some, selling feels easier than confronting disruption.
04:03 – Selling at the Top: The Capital Bank Deal
Brian points to a deal announced the day before: Capital Bank in Rockville, Maryland, a Travillian client, agreed to be acquired by Peoples Bank of Marietta, Ohio. With a CEO in their 50s and a CFO in their late 30s, Capital didn’t have a succession problem. It sold at the top of its game, with great metrics. Brian sees shareholder succession as a bigger force than leadership succession right now, with deposits, fee-income business lines and geography driving most M&A.
05:38 – Recruiting Talent That Isn’t Looking
The best bankers usually aren’t job hunting, so how do you get their attention? Brian says it’s all about storytelling. A strong number two who knows they’ll never get past the person above them will listen to a chance to build something, create wealth and shape a new organization’s vision. Travillian trades in passive candidates, because the person handing their résumé to everyone is often doing it for a reason.
08:05 – What Makes Your Bank’s Story Different
Brian says the story has to be airtight. A bank needs to look in the mirror and ask what sets it apart, whether that’s its leadership, technology, long-term vision, investor base or the chance to build wealth as a shareholder. Many candidates now want to join fintech-forward organizations. Finding the right people also means targeting banks with similar asset sizes, lending practices and deposit generation techniques, which is why Travillian invests heavily in research and intake at the start of every search.
09:46 – The Rise of the Chief Deposit Officer
Caleb recalls that five years ago banks were swimming in deposits, and now the script has flipped. Brian previews his panel on the Chief Deposit Officer role with Katie Klug of Bridgewater Bank and Amber Gerstung of Stearns Bank, two very different Minnesota-based community banks. He guesses fewer than 10% of the banks in the room have the title. A Chief Deposit Officer pulls together funding, marketing, products and services, and still has to bring in big deposits personally, which makes the right person a bit of a unicorn.
12:30 – Why Lender Incentives Aren’t Enough
Caleb pushes back: why hire a dedicated executive when lenders are already paid on deposits? Brian suggests checking whether borrowers actually moved their deposits, or just opened an account with a token balance. Drawing on his own banking days, he describes the gap between retail and commercial, and sees treasury management as the bridge between them. Winning a full relationship is a long play, built by planting seeds over time, much like recruiting.
15:11 – How AI Is Changing Executive Search
AI has helped Travillian turn its interview notes into thorough candidate submissions, work that used to take hours. It also speeds up research, like building target lists of commercial and industrial banks in a specific market. What hasn’t changed is the outreach. Brian’s team still calls and emails candidates personally, with no bots or mass emails, because a well-crafted message still matters.
17:33 – Standing Out Through Storytelling
Brian, a self-described creative who once dreamed of being a filmmaker, credits Travillian managing partner Dave Yancoskie with teaching the team the value of standing out. The question candidates care about isn’t how big a bank is or where it’s located. It’s what the role will mean for their life. During the first week of every search, Travillian looks behind the curtain to find the selling points a bank may not see, and to address potential concerns up front.
18:34 – Humility and Hustle: Winning Buy-In as an Outside Hire
How do new executives earn trust when they arrive from the outside? Brian shares a recent search that placed a MidWestOne executive as CEO of Cashmere Valley Bank in Washington State. Some at the bank needed time to buy in, but his character won them over. Brian borrows two words from SouthState CEO John Corbett: humility and hustle. Caleb connects it to Jim Collins’ idea of Level 5 leadership, which pairs personal humility with professional will.
22:04 – Fintech Charters and the Talent Race Ahead
Brian closes on fintechs pursuing their own bank charters, work Travillian is doing a lot of right now. With a more relaxed regulatory environment, he expects the roughly 20 names on a recent list of approved or pending charters to triple by this time next year. His advice for banks: a new wave of disruptors may be coming, so there’s no better time to stock up on good talent and good technology.
Get in Touch with Brian!
Want to talk leadership hiring, succession planning or building your deposit team? Reach out to Brian directly:
📧: blove@travilliangroup.com
📞: (484) 680-6950
