Dave Bohrer / The Meridian StarThe Meridian Star Readers Choice Man of the Year Hampton Thames.

Hampton Thames was chosen as this year’s Meridian Star Readers’ Choice Man of the Year. He is the president of the statewide franchise of Citizen’s National Bank in Mississippi. He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in banking and finance. Outside of work, Thames serves as treasurer and annual program chairman of the Distinguished Young Women of Mississippi program and is also president of the Alliance Futbol Club and vice president of the Meridian Youth Soccer Organization. He and his wife, Michele, are members of Central United Methodist Church in Meridian. They are the proud parents of two sons, Davis and Will.

How do you feel about receiving the Readers’ Choice Award?

I’m very honored. It was a total surprise, because I have been more involved in the community at earlier times, and that’s kind of what I see this award as. I see it as someone who has been successful and gives back to the community. After I was named president of the corporate bank, I slowly started concentrating more and more on my job, so that’s why I was surprised.

What led you into your career?

I was a sophomore at Ole Miss, back in the early ’80s, and I was struggling to figure out which degree I would pursue. I was a business major. I had a part-time job at United Southern Bank. They had just started to deregulate banking. It seemed like there was a lot of growth going on, and I was able to see firsthand how things were changing. That’s when I began to pursue my banking and finance degree.

To what do you attribute your success?

I’m a very driven person. When I take on a job or a task, I work hard. I put the hours necessary in to see it through to completion. It’s one of the things I have learned through banking and finance. I also worked while I went through school, and it taught me that you have to be driven.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

From day one, in this business, it’s the joy and the pride you feel when you make a customer’s dream come true. Doesn’t matter if it’s their first car, family’s first home, or giving that business owner that much-needed offering line of credit. I think it is a local community bank’s job to be the economic engine of the region. Our goal is to earn the right to be Mississippi’s community bank. After 29 years at Citizen’s National Bank, I still get joy out of making someone’s dream come true.

What do you like most about Meridian and Lauderdale County?

I think that every community, if it’s a good place to live like I think Meridian is, it has to do with the people. It’s the people that have kept me in Meridian for 29 years. This is a great place to live and raise a family. We do have our warts, but I guarantee you everywhere else has them as well. But my wife and I are very happy in this community.

What is your biggest challenge?

My biggest challenge in my new role as president of the bank is that there are still a lot of things I don’t know, and I’m learning that on the job. But I feel my biggest job is to ensure we get the best people across every department that we can possibly have. We need that to be successful for our customers, and to provide that consistent, superior experience that they feel. We’ve had a lot of really good people retire over the last five or six years. But across the board today, I don’t think that we’ve ever had a group of employees as good as the ones we have now, and I think it shows.

What do you like to do in your free time?

My wife and I are very fortunate that we can watch a lot of sports. We have a rising senior, my son, Davis. He’s kicker for the Lamar School football team. He also plays midfielder for the school soccer team. They’re very good at those sports. My youngest son, Will, is a rising seventh grader, and he does everything; soccer, baseball, golf, and we do a lot of that. When it’s football season and the boys aren’t playing, we go up to a lot of Ole Miss football games.

What do you see in your future?

In my work life, I want to be able to continue to grow in my new role as president of the bank. I have huge shoes to fill, because our current CEO, Archie McDonnell, has done a tremendous job navigating our bank to where it is today. I want to be able to continue that. As a father, I want to raise my two boys and help them find what they love to do, and I pray that they can make a living doing it! I think you have to be happy with what you do.

What does your schedule look like?

I wake up every day at 5 o’clock. I get to work between 6:30 and 7. We start our day, every day, with a huddle where we tell everybody what our positives from the day before were. Then we tell the group what the one thing that we want to accomplish that day is. I think it sets the tone for all of our executive team, and it’s a lot of fun. Then it’s communicating with all of our regions. We have four regions… and I try help move those regions forward. It’s a lot of meetings, every day, trying to set the tone for what everyone needs to do. Then the next day I wake up. It seems like it’s instantaneous, and it’s 5 o’clock.

If you could say something to the people of Meridian and Lauderdale County, what would it be?

I would ask everybody, that as we try and turn our community into what we want it to be, that everybody look at the positives rather than talking and screaming at the negatives.

Describe yourself in one word:

Passionate. Without passion, life is a terrible waste.