Area branch manager Mickey Adams marks 35 years with the bank this month.

Mickey Adams is different from a lot of people: When she began her banking career 35 years ago, she knew it was pretty much just what she wanted to do.

“I wanted to do something with money or numbers,” says Mickey, who started as the receptionist for our Allouez branch, back when it was the corporate office for Frontier Savings. She was told about the position by a friend she’d worked with at her first job, at Arby’s. “I really wanted to be in more of a teller role, handling money, but this was my in.”

Now, of course, Mickey is still at Allouez — as area branch manager, also overseeing our Green Bay East office. She remained there through Frontier’s transition to Sunrise Savings, and Sunrise’s acquisition by North Shore Bank, and has been named the bank’s Manager of the Year three times.

“Over the past 35 years, Mickey has been dedicated to helping her customers reach their financial goals,” district manager Kerri Collins says. “In addition, she has been very successful in developing her employees to achieve their career goals. Mickey has a can-do attitude and is very accepting of change, and she welcomes new opportunities to help her teams grow.”

Mickey attributes her success in part to her parents, who taught her by example. “They always worked hard, never quit, and showed that good things come from that,” she says.

She’s also grateful to the bank for accommodating her as her life changed, in particular when she had her daughter, Lindsey, in 1989.

At the North Region manager meeting on July 5, Mickey’s colleagues celebrated her anniversary with Mickey Mouse ears, a cookie cake, and a personalized rendition of “Mickey” by Toni Basil. From left are branch managers Deb Cumming and Sharon Hack, Kerri, Mickey, and Becky Kolstad, Heather Starr, and Katie Presser.

“They allowed me to go part-time for three years before she started school,” Mickey says. A “head teller,” as they were called at the time, she stepped down to a regular teller role because she didn’t want to leave the bank. “The bank was awesome. I’ve found that North Shore is flexible when it comes to family time and will allow schedules to be adjusted if needed. When my daughter entered school, I scooted right back into my full-time teller role and from there moved up the ladder.”

Among her favorite memories of the years since are the trips the bank sent her on for her Manager of the Year wins. Her first was a Disney cruise. “Back then, they planned your trip,” she says. “Now they provide travel vouchers and let you choose.”

Her second trip, an all-inclusive vacation to Riviera Maya in Mexico, was also planned by the bank. But Mickey and her family enjoyed it so much, they chose to go back for her third trip.

“We try to head to Mexico every year now,” she says. “We usually don’t go to Riviera Maya anymore” — it has a few too many tourists — “but we like to get down there. It’s hot and sunny and there’s a beach. I don’t need to do anything else.”

So, other than the possibility of future Mexican excursions, what else lies ahead for Mickey, now that she’s three and a half decades in and manages two branches?

“I think it’s really the top for me,” she says. “I definitely enjoy what I’m doing, and I haven’t had two branches a long time, so that’s still a work in progress. It’s still exciting and engaging — every day’s different.”