Q&A: ‘Accidental banker' Orvin Kimbrough on leadership, the Fed and sharing his life story

Orvin T. Kimbrough, chairman CEO of Midwest BankCentre, likes to call himself an “accidental banker.”

He was named chief executive of Midwest BankCentre, the second-largest privately held community bank in the St. Louis region, in 2019 after almost two decades in the nonprofit world.

Kimbrough, of Creve Coeur, spent most of his childhood in the foster care system. He has degrees in social work and theology, plus an MBA. Prior to the bank, Kimbrough worked at United Way of Greater St. Louis for over a decade, including six years as president and CEO.

“I went from being a young person, really dependent upon lots of institutions and charitable organizations, to leading an institution that's capable of opening doors for others and I couldn't be more grateful,” Kimbrough said.

Since 2023 Kimbrough has served on the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council at the Eighth Federal Reserve District, headquartered in St. Louis. The group informs the St. Louis Fed president on local economic, lending and credit conditions. He was recently selected to chair that group, which places him on the national level of the board, working with the Fed's Board of Governors.

He attended his first national meeting of the Fed in Washington, D.C., in April.

Orvin T. Kimbrough, 51, recently sat down with the Post-Dispatch. The following is an excerpt of that conversation, edited for length and clarity.

Q: Was the transition into banking very difficult? Banking and nonprofit work seem like two very different sectors.

It was difficult because I wasn’t trained in banking. Banking, at the core, it's a relationship and a trust business. Because I was 'accidental,' I had to learn the language of banking.

I jumped into anything quantitative related to bank performance. I jumped into classes and tried to learn it — and I did a lot of listening.

If you look at our performance, we tripled our income in the last five or six years, and that's in large part to the listening, to doing the work, to building relationships across the leadership team and challenging us to (reach) the next level. I have had such an incredible journey. But yes, it was hard and every day I'm learning.

Q: Throughout all these positions you've held, is there one that is a favorite or one that sticks out to you? A lesson that you learned at one that follows you to your position now?

I would say United Way holds a special place for me. As a foster kid, I would see United Way's logo on buildings. When I was in college and finishing up my social work degree, I remember looking in this textbook and it talked about the top nonprofit organizations in the world. United Way was at the top. Not only did I get a job there, I went in at entry level and I became CEO and got a shot to do it at the national level.

And boy, it was such a great experience for me. It allowed me to see St. Louis, its strengths and generosity, the interconnected challenges. I think the biggest thing that I learned at United Way is no single organization, not one, can transform a region.

If we're going to have progress, it requires business, it requires government, it requires philanthropy, it requires that three-legged stool and a foundation of people at the tabletop working in alignment.

Q: Tell me about your involvement with the St. Louis Federal Reserve and what it entails. You were recently selected to serve on the Federal Reserve Board’s Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council but you’ve been with the Fed for a few years, right?

I was named CEO of Midwest BankCentre in January 2019 and immediately after I started, I got summoned to the Federal Reserve. It felt like I was being called to the principal's office. I was like, 'OK, what is it that they want with me? I'm new. I don't really know a whole lot.' So I went down and the first thing, if you ever go to the Fed building, it's imposing.

I walk in and then I'm ushered down this little hallway into this small room and it felt like 30 Fed people filed in. So think about a congressional hearing. That's what it felt like. Everybody in suits. Everybody buttoned down and intimidating, for sure. They asked me a bunch of probing questions. They asked me about my background. They asked me what were some initial changes or things that I'm thinking about. In other words, is the posture of the bank going to change?

And what I said is, 'At this point, I'm in learning mode. Banking is a small business and my job is to help the institution be stronger.' I did not get into banking lingo. I just talked leadership. I talked about what it was I knew.

Fast forward a few years, they reach out and they ask me if I would serve on the local Eighth District Commission, the Federal Reserve Commission. Again, senior and seasoned bankers are on that commission, and I was not that. I was three years into the job, still learning, still green and they invited me in.

The Eighth District essentially pulls (information) from all of its markets. You talk about banking conditions and you literally run down the list of all asset classes and what's happening in the economy, what are stories that bring data to life, what's happening on the balance sheet. This is all about informing the Fed president. It took me two years to get comfortable.

I realized that bankers are just like you and me. I used to think that they stood around and the only thing they talked about over cocktails was interest rates. They’re not that. They’re human beings that talk about normal stuff, not just about monetary policy.

Q: You've kind of hinted at this throughout our conversation, but I'm curious, do you ever feel imposter syndrome? How do you combat that?

I have it, but I still show up. The key is do the work. One of the ways that I combat it is I just do the work. You can be smart, but I’m going to outwork you. I have the capacity and I have the personal agency to do it.

I stay in my lane. I don't try to go in and be like a Fed governor. I don't try to go in and be an economist. I don't try to go in and be somebody who's been in banking for 30 years. I just go in as Orvin Kimbrough.

The economy is driven largely by you and me, ordinary people. I try to understand how you, as an ordinary person, are feeling.

Q: What kinds of economic observations have you made about the St. Louis market?

One of the things from a St. Louis standpoint is, and this is actually true across the country, is housing affordability is one of our biggest challenges. We're still trying to overcome what happened a year or so ago with the tornado. There's a lot going on in St. Louis.

Q: The Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council meets twice a year. You just met in April. How will you prepare for your next meeting? What do you do in between?

You meet twice a year at the local level and twice a year at the national level. The way that you prepare is you go back to ‘What are the questions that they're asking?’ (The Fed leaders are) asking you, ‘How is business lending?’ They're asking you, ‘How is commercial real estate lending?’ They're asking you, ‘How is construction lending?’ They're asking you, ‘What's going on with home mortgages?’ They're asking you, ‘What's going on with consumer living?’ They're asking you, ‘What's happening with agriculture?’ They're asking you, ‘What's happening related to deposits?’ They are asking you, ‘What's happening related to mergers and acquisitions?’ They're asking you, ‘What is happening in terms of overall economic conditions, inflation, labor market?’

What I will do in between now and then is what I'm doing now. I'm spending time with businesses, and I'm asking questions. I'm literally building my knowledge base, and then before I actually go to the local meeting, I do a survey. I survey 20 to 30 businesses. I ask them some standard questions just about what's happening in their environment. ... I'm asking them to put stories with this.

Q: You’ve published a memoir about your life’s path. It seems like a vulnerable thing, to continually share your story of being in foster care as a child. How are you able to do that over and over again?

At a certain point, your story is no longer about you. It is what it unleashes in other people.

I went into social work to try to find answers about my condition, like why did I grow up the way that I did? Why did I experience the trauma? That's why I went into it. What I learned is you can't understand a person without understanding their context and their environment. ... You do a lot of probing about yourself and trying to understand where you are in the world. You realize, 'Wait a minute, a lot happened to me, and I can say why did that happen to me or I can say what was I supposed to learn from that?'

Q: It sounds like you're super busy all the time, so I'm curious, if you have free time, what do you like to do?

I write, I read. I value my quiet time. This past weekend I was in a course on coaching.

Q: That still sounds like work to me, and on the weekend too.

It's fun for me. I lead a $3 billion financial institution. Do you know what I spend most of my time on? People. Well, what do my people need? Coaching.

Because your success at a certain level is not about you. It's about what you empower in others. I spend time learning how to be a better leader, so that it shows up no matter what room I'm in. If I'm in this Fortune 500 corporate room, this private corporate room, this federal room, I show up and try to unleash human and organizational potential.

I love it. I love to learn. It’s gamification for me. I'm learning one more thing than you. I got to stay one step ahead.

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