Lora Fishman, CFP®
Lora Fishman gets more out of a 24-hour day than seems humanly possible. She plans her work and works her plan, making sure nothing is overlooked, including her family, private banking clients, and favorite charitable organizations.
Hometown: Johnson City, TN
Education: The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Current Position: SVP, Private Banking
Lora Fishman meets ends and fills gaps. Whether she’s working, volunteering, or parenting, she doesn’t skip a beat and refuses to miss a moment. She arms herself with two calendars—paper and digital—a multitude of bags, and a healthy dose of grit to meet each day.
Lora is a private banker and a certified financial planner with a background in retail banking and wealth management. She has over 30 years of experience in banking and a lifetime of experience helping others.
Meet Lora Fishman: she’s a woman and she leads.
How would you describe what you do every day?
I create banking solutions for high-net-worth individuals, small business owners, and family offices. As a private banker, I get to know my clients quite well because they rely on me for everyday banking needs. I handle everything from helping them finance a home renovation project to wiring money internationally. If it involves money, I’m ready to make sure they have what they need. The opportunity to build lasting relationships with my clients is the biggest reason I was attracted to private banking.
How did you choose finance as a career?
It started in high school when I had a summer job at a bank. From that point, I always knew I wanted to be in banking. In college, I majored in finance and pursued banking internships. Since then, I’ve only worked two jobs: I was at Wachovia for 20 years, and I’ve been at Atlantic Capital for 10. I can’t imagine another career that would match with my skill set and personal ethos so well. There are two things I love: talking to people and helping them. I couldn’t work a job without customer interaction. Helping people is what drives me—it’s at my core.
Tell us more about your passion for helping people.
As a kid, my parents included me whenever they volunteered and now, I take my kids with me when I volunteer. I volunteer the whole family! For 25 years, I’ve been involved with the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation center for individuals who suffer catastrophic brain and spinal cord injuries. My involvement at the Center has actually come full circle, as I now have two very close friends who are patients.
We have a family tradition of our kids collecting donations in place of presents at their birthday parties. I believe even the smallest gifts matter, whether we are collecting DVDs for the Shepherd Center or cereal boxes for the Ronald McDonald House. Every minute I can spare, I enjoy visiting patients at Shepherd, collecting food donations, helping with my daughters’ Girl Scout troop projects or volunteering at the kid’s schools. I know they are small things, but I choose to weave them into my family’s schedule. Helping people ultimately attracted me to the banking industry.
How do you balance it all?
Typically, the busier I am, the more efficient I am. I still keep an old-school paper calendar for my personal life. My work responsibilities are all handled from my phone. With three kids, you can imagine things get a little crazy. It’s a lot.
Balance is teamwork. I’m lucky to have a great husband who does just as much or more than I do at home. We tag team constantly. My husband does a lot of the grocery shopping, lunch packing and the dinner cooking. I stay organized with lots of lists and try not to miss anything. It’s a challenge, and I love it.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
I’m proud of my designations, such as becoming a Certified Financial Planner®, but especially the fact that I earned my Series 7 License even while on maternity leave. I’m proud that over the last 10 years at Atlantic Capital, I’ve been a part of building a great bank in our community. I’m proud that I chose to leave my previous job for Atlantic Capital because a fresh start is probably one of the greatest risks I’ve ever taken. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished as a private banker. I get to care for a small group of clients and provide them with the responsiveness they need when it comes to their banking needs.
What do you wish someone had told you starting out?
I’ve always preferred the status quo. I wish someone had told me to take more risks. Secondly, I wish I had known to thank the people who helped develop me professionally before I lost touch with them. Many of my managers have been women, and I wish now that I could put them all in a room and thank them. They influenced me quite a bit looking back.
Where do you see yourself going?
I think we get on these treadmills of life and forget to reflect and breathe. I’m not sure what’s in my future once my kids are grown. But I think I need to take some time for introspection. In the meantime, I’ll keep busy because it’s what drives my productivity.
Lora Fishman loves to serve her family, clients, and community. She has built a legacy of service by dividing her time where she’s needed. Lora’s devotion to providing high touch care to her customers and charities is only rivaled by her care for her family. Because women like Lora take the lead, Atlantic Capital is able to help clients bank in the right direction. If you’re interested in working with Lora, contact her at lora.fishman@atlcapbank.com.