Debbi Himpelmann

When Illinois State Bank CSR Debbi Himpelmann attended Northland College in Ashland, Wis., she stuck around the Northwoods during summers to work as a counselor at nearby Camp Roundelay, which serves Girl Scouts from Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“All ages of Girl Scouts came to the camp, but I was a group leader mostly for fifth-grade Brownie troops,” she says. “We went swimming, kayaking, hiking and horseback riding, and we took some canoe trips.”

The outdoorsy job was a good fit for Debbi’s interest in earth science and her major in outdoor education.

The only job-related time Debbi spends outdoors now is when she travels between our McHenry and Lake in the Hills branches. “I found a CSR position online and started part time in July 2010 at McHenry,” she says. “I went full time last July when another part-time CSR position opened up at Lake in the Hills.”

Regardless of the location, Debbi likes her role helping people. She began learning about customer service in her first high school job as a cashier at Ace Hardware. Now she is studying human resources through Columbia College of Missouri. She cites from her reading what she considers straightforward advice: Good service keeps customers coming back.

Debbi is still working on her referral skills. Because our ISB branches offer vehicle license-plate renewals as a community service, staff there have greater-than-usual exposure to people who are not bank customers. “But we don’t have information about what services they now have, so learning what might help them takes more effort and a deeper conversation,” she says.

When Debbi’s workday ends, she likes to ride her bike, work in her garden, do yoga, watch movies — The Muppet Movie is her favorite (“I love the characters and have a collection of Muppets,” she says) — and spend time with her parents and two sisters. Debbi’s boyfriend, Steve, is director of software development with DLS Internet Services.

Debbi’s favorite vacation — a three-week trip to Japan that helped her earn college philosophy credits — broadened her view of the world and its diversity. “In Kyoto, Japan’s, cultural center, we learned a lot about Eastern philosophy, culture and people,” she recalls.