Cindy Wolfe

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Cindy Wolfe is a financial market leader in a city known for great banks.

As president of the Bank of the Ozarks Charlotte metro market, Wolfe seven years ago pioneered the bank’s entry into Charlotte as a loan-production center.

Despite the recent recession, she has been able to shepherd the bank through tough economic times while rocketing to the top job as president of the Charlotte operation.

If you asked Wolfe though, “rocketed” may not be the word she would use to describe her career trajectory Wolfe, who grew up in Mooresville, has spent 26 years in banking, starting as a management trainee at First Union Bank.

In 1992, she moved to Little Rock, Ark., and worked in a variety of banking positions before joining Bank of the Ozarks and returning to North Carolina in 2001.

When Wolfe moved back home, she did not waste time, jumping into the community by working for the Girl Scouts, the Charlotte Rotary and CREW Charlotte.

Today, she sits on the boards of all three organizations. She also serves on the Alumna Board of Directors at Queens University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in business administration in 1988.

She credits her husband, Gary, with helping boost her career.

“Before I met him, I was successful, but not as inclined to take risks,” she says.

She also reads “Daily Word” to find daily wisdom and encouragement.

And if all else fails, she resorts to her sense of humor.

She believes being too serious drags her down and keeps her from being happy.

“There are plenty of serious things that happen to you in life, and opportunities to be serious,” she says.

Wolfe takes pleasure in the everyday, lighthearted aspects of life.

She is hooked on the interactive Internet game Words With Friends and admits to sometimes falling asleep holding her iPad.

Salads are the last meals she eats, she often eats chocolate cake for breakfast, and she acknowledges that at the age of 45, she took up jogging to compensate for the extra calories.

She loves to fish too.

“My husband and I always compete for the biggest one,” she says.

And for driving to her favorite fishing hole, she has a special vehicle in mind.

“I dream of owning a jeep with big tires, and am waiting for my midlife crisis to have an excuse to purchase one,” she says.

She admits the best criticism she has ever received was her wake-up call.

“Once when I was complaining about being too busy,” she said, “I was told I have a broken, ‘No.’”

Wolfe believes her dog, a Corgi, has a lot in common with her.

“He’s stubborn, but loving, with a good sense of humor,” she says. “He’s protective, energetic, and likes to herd everybody. And he’s very short, but that has never stopped him from preferring to run around with the big dogs.”

Wolfe, in a town ruled by the mega-banks, prefers to run with the big dogs too.