Ten Years Later: A Journey of Loss, Purpose, and Impact

Ten years ago today — on June 30, 2015 — I walked out of Valley Bank for the last time. The legal close of the sale was the next day, July 1, but for many of us, that chapter ended the day before. Most of my colleagues had already found new roles. I hadn’t. I didn’t yet know what was next.

What I did know was that I was heartbroken.

As CFO, I’d had nearly 10 months to come to terms with the bank’s sale, and I had worked tirelessly to help make the transaction successful. But nothing prepared me for the personal loss that followed. I loved that job — deeply. I “drank the Kool-Aid” every single day. I believed wholeheartedly in the work we were doing. I loved our team. I loved our mission. I loved the impact we made by working side-by-side with small business owners and lending directly into the community to help it grow and thrive.

That experience shaped me. And I wasn’t ready to completely say goodbye to it.

So, when I was displaced, I didn’t walk away from banking — I leaned in. I launched a consulting firm focused on the financial institution space and was blessed to hire many of the same teammates I had worked with at the bank. We set out to help community banks navigate the rapid change and disruption in our industry.

But the deeper we went, the clearer it became: nearly every bank — regardless of size, system, or talent — was paralyzed by the same thing. Data.

Banks were drowning in data but starving for insight. The tools didn’t exist to unify that data and make it actionable in real time. And as a former banker, I knew just how critical that kind of intelligence could be.

So we pivoted. We set out to solve that challenge. And from that effort, KlariVis was born.

Our vision was ambitious: to build an intuitive, transformational analytics platform that empowers community banks to compete with the big guys. Our edge was simple but powerful: We are bankers. We understand the pain because we lived it.

Today, I look back on these past 10 years and I’m overwhelmed — with gratitude, pride, and a deep sense of purpose. The team we’ve built at KlariVis is nothing short of extraordinary. We launched our platform in Q1 of 2020 — just weeks before a global pandemic. While the world shut down, community banks stepped up. PPP loans became lifelines, and we had to fight to keep our young company alive. We raised capital, navigated uncertainty, and supported our clients in the trenches.

There have been personal battles, too. In 2023, I lost my brother to cancer. It brought me to my knees. But even in those darkest moments, our incredible team and our mission kept me moving.

And we’ve had wins — many of them. We’ve been honored with awards. We’ve attracted incredible investors. We’ve grown to a team of nearly 70, partnering with banks and credit unions across the country to harness the power of their data.  But more importantly, we’re helping financial institutions make better decisions, faster — driving real impact in the communities they serve. I feel it every time I talk to one of our clients: We’re helping them become better banks.  Banks that endure.  Banks that lead.

Because here’s what I know to be true: Our country cannot afford to be left with five mega-banks. Community banks are the heartbeat of Main Street. I see it every time I travel. It’s easy to spot the difference between a community with a strong local bank — and one without.

This journey has been anything but linear. It’s been hard and humbling. But it’s also been deeply rewarding. And while I’ve ended up far beyond where I imagined when I walked out of Valley Bank’s doors for the final time, still, I know without a doubt we’re just getting started.

So, here’s to the next 10 years. More innovation. More community impact. More Kool-Aid. Let’s go.