Meet Arturo Gutierrez | Commercial Risk Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Arturo Gutierrez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Arturo, what do you attribute your success to?
Execution of great ideas takes persistence, collaboration, and some risk. If you cant motivate other people to want to help you execute your vision, then it will remain a great idea.

Persistence, for me, comes from how rooted my belief that the idea I have will change other people’s lives for the better. If it truly matters, then you will continue that journey no matter how long it takes.

Larger risks require more collaboration, but risk, nonetheless, is inevitable. With risk may come failure, but failure should be encouraged so that its something to build on/learn from.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Im a commercial risk manager for Regions Financial Institution and have been in banking for close to 20 years. It certainly wasn’t easy navigating through my career, but i had great mentors along the way, Diane Duplichan & Sallye Cielenski to name a few.

I think for me, what has driven me is the desire to help people who if given a chance can excel. I’m very blessed to be doing what I’m doing. Yes, it took a lot of work to get to this point, but someone, outside of your control, regardless of how hard you are working, has to give you that chance to have a voice.

The longevity I’ve had in this career is due to my strong work ethic, honesty with people, and a desire to continuously improve.

The road to my profession started when i was 12 years old. At the time, my parents were court ordered to perform community service, and my mom chose a local bank to do community service on the weekends. She took me with her because she couldn’t afford someone to watch me. So I sat in the corner of this bank and watched the interactions of people, bankers, and tellers. That experience had a lasting impact on me.

I’m the first in my family to graduate college, i did my undergrad at UHD (Major: Finance / Minor: Marketing) and did my MBA at Rice University.

So, my dad used to work as a fabricator at a local steel company in the Heights, used to be called Mosher Steel Company, then Trinity Steel Company. Employees there would buy there own tools to work. We had little money so one of the things my dad did was look for used tools at flea markets that would help him with his job. To this day, i recall my dad sifting through milk crates full of tools to find the right one he thought would work. One day, he came home very upset, we lived in a small house as most houses in the heights were back then, and i could overhear what he was saying to my mom. When he showed up for work, with the used tools he had, he noticed other workers were using different tools that allowed them to do their job more efficiently. The more efficient you were at your job, the more production you made which then led to better incentives for yourself. When my dad asked them what tools they were using, none of them wanted to help him know what they were using. Overhearing this, it left such an impression on me as to why someone wouldn’t want to help someone else. It wasn’t until i was an adult, as I reflected on this memory that i understood. It was all about self preservation. Those people who didn’t want to help, felt that by helping someone else, they wouldn’t be as valuable.

I think you find this sort of mentality in all types of professions to some degree. For me, i like to pour everything i know to an individual that is willing to learn it. Knowledge /skillsets/tools should be shared. I have found that the more you do this, the more that ideas flourish, the more that new processes and improvements to old ideas start to arise. This creates a whole new, better model, an organizational team that’s more collaborative.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Hopefully they are visiting in the fall. I would say:

Hermann Park
Miller Outdoor Theatre
Centennial Gardens
Japenese Gardens
Houston Zoo
Menil
Brasil Cafe Montrose
Agora Cafe – catch it when they have live dancers
Houston Heights 19th Street (shopping)
Get some Mexican pastries at El Bollio and eat at Houston Farmers Market
Dinner at Alice Blue
Drinking at Johnnie Goldbrick

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Montie Beach Civic Club, Amy Gutierrez, Kristin Condon, and Peggy Robinson. Asakura Robinson, Keiji Asakura, Hugo Colon, Houston Parks & Recreation Department, and Karla Cisneros.

Website: www.montiebeach.org

Instagram: diadelosmuertosintheheights

Facebook: day of the dead in the heights