After eight years in high-stress positions of loan officer and banking center president at Landmark Bank, Linda James was looking to make a change. She loved Landmark and she loved banking, so luckily the perfect position of Club Director was available. She says, "It is hard to believe that was 10 years ago. It is amazing how quickly time flies when you love your job and have 735 great friends you can spend time with traveling." She says she enjoys her members almost as much as she enjoys her two great grandchildren! Her club is primarily a travel club, though she does plan two annual Christmas parties with dinner and entertainment for the bank's seven locations.

One of her most memorable trips was a fourteen-night Mediterranean cruise with Islands in the Sun. She loved learning about the history and culture of Italy, Greece and Turkey, and their significance in the early Church. It was overwhelming, but rewarding to learn all the information that they took in on each excursion.

Her favorite destination is Alaska, which she has visited three times. "It always sells well," she says. She loves the variety of scenery of this stunning state, from the snow and glaciers to the wildlife to the mountains reflected in the lakes. Alaska never disappoints!

Though she has been an HCI member for years, she had not been able to attend Peer Group until this year. She was excited to join us in Branson at the 2018 conference and found it to be a very good experience from an educational perspective. The knowledge that she gained about using liability waivers to protect the bank, as well as how to negotiate, was "great and very helpful." Additionally, she enjoyed meeting people and making new friends. She likes that it was a smaller group of people, which allowed some great one-on-one exposure. She said everyone was everyone was extremely friendly.