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On a Sunday night, Wendy Carlson, a senior vice president at Associated Bank, got a call from a client who had been out for a drive and spotted a house she loved. She asked Carlson if she could afford to buy it. The next morning, Carlson checked with her team, ran the numbers, and determined that yes, her client could. A few hours later, the client had an accepted offer on her new second home. That was just one moment of many in her career that Carlson remembers fondly. “In my job, you help people make important life choices,” she says. “It’s very rewarding to know that we were able to guide her through that decision.” Carlson has been with Associated Bank for over 14 years. As the manager of the Milwaukee private banking group, she oversees a team of private bankers. Outside of her career, she’s an avid volunteer. A breast cancer survivor herself, she’s spent years raising money for Wisconsin’s chapter of the Susan G. Komen foundation, and in 2018, she won the Todd Wehr Volunteer Award for her efforts.
“Don’t wait for someone to ask you what you want – be your own best advocate.”
-Wendy Carlson
Q&A
What advice do you have for women who’d like to pursue a career in finance?
Don’t be afraid to reach out to people who hold positions that you might be interested in, because most people are very open and welcoming and supportive. If you see something that looks interesting to you, pursue it and ask questions and make sure people know that you’re interested in that. If you can be your own advocate, that goes a long way. And if you can find someone that is willing to mentor you, take advantage of that. Don’t wait for somebody to come to you and ask if you’re interested in something. Go after what interests you.
Outside of your career, you’ve done a lot of volunteering. What inspires that?
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer back in the ’90s. In the early 2000s, Melanie Wilson brought the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure to Milwaukee and she also started After Breast Care Diagnosis (ABCD) in Milwaukee. At that time, my mom was one of her first volunteers for ABCD. Melodie was looking for volunteers to help with the race so she asked me, which I did, to support my mom. After a few years, I ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer and had to step away from volunteering for a few years. But then I came back and talked to the executive director and said that I wanted to get involved, and she asked me to be the race chair, which I was for four years, and I sat on Komen’s board for six years. I’m very proud that I won the Todd Wehr award in 2018 for my volunteering efforts.
