There exists an unmistakable thread that weaves its way through Melissa Glenn’s life. The SBA relationship manager at Core Bank and co-host of “The Core Experience” podcast has made personal and professional choices that are tied with the same theme: respectful, genuine, long-lasting relationships. 

Glenn isn’t one to step ankle-deep into any given opportunity. Instead, this Nebraska native has invested her whole self with each and every “yes.” 

“For all of the bad things [in our world], there are more people who want to make it better and ways to make it happen,” said Glenn, who falls into this category. 

Her relationship roots run deep, beginning with her close-knit family and memorable childhood. Glenn grew up outside North Platte, in rural Lincoln County. While a freshman at North Platte High School, Glenn quickly discovered her passion for people. Her goal was to meet and get to know as many of her classmates as possible before graduating.

“I was friends with a lot of different groups,” Glenn recalled. “It’s much how I am now.”

Another pivotal experience for Glenn was her participation in VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America) while in high school. The competitions proved to spark her interest in teamwork and partnerships, as a student and in the future.

After graduating from high school in 2001, Glenn packed her belongings and headed east to Lincoln. “I always knew I wanted to be a Husker,” she said with a smile.

She lived on campus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and described the first few weeks as a “real eye-opener.” Within a few short days she transitioned from living in a much smaller, more rural community to living in a dorm with other college students from around the state and
the country.

What little longing she held for home dissipated as she met new people and began attending classes. It was a business education that Glenn was after—not just the dollars and cents of a business career but also the puzzle pieces that required assembly; and the relationships that made it all possible.

“I love how everything comes together with a business,” she explained. “You have to have a product, service knowledge, experience, and know-how to put a team together. You have to work with others. It takes a bunch of different specialties and putting it all together into one organization.”

This understanding of teamwork and appreciation of community struck home for Glenn, quite literally, on June 25, 1989, when a summertime tornado damaged her house. No one was seriously injured or killed, but Glenn, who was 6 years old at the time, recalled the life lessons that followed—and remain even today.

“You can have plans, but life may not turn out the way you thought it would,” she said. “It taught me the importance of friends, family, your community. People checked on us, neighbors came over to see what we might need. Something like this highlights the importance of people around you. We were lucky to be alive.”

Glenn holds close the value of community. It’s reflective in her professional achievements since college, evident by a simple scan of her past titles: relationship manager, team manager, and innovative strategy and retention manager. Her board and community involvement strike the same tone, serving organizations such as Project4Kids, YMCA, Friends of Nebraska Children, Women’s Fund of Greater Omaha, and SkillsUSA, to name a few.

“Friends and family are vitally important to Melissa,” explained Michelle Foley, vice president of transplant software operations for CareDX and a former classmate of Glenn’s in the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Executive MBA program. “Everything she does revolves around her family and friends. I’m not sure if Melissa has ever met a person she doesn’t like. She is inclusive and others-centered. The fact that Melissa treats every person as a family member speaks volumes about her.”

Visit corebank.com/podcast to hear the podcast that has connection to community and business.

This letter was in the February/March 2021 issue of B2B.