Thasunda Brown Duckett of Chase: ‘People Need to Know Who You Are’

I don't know her, but I love her.

Thank you, NYT for this wonderful, inspiring and motivating piece. I shared it with my (African American) son, who recently became an Agent with NY Life, to inspire him in his similar quest to help millennials become more financially savvy. We need more examples of people bringing their authentic selves to work. We need more examples of women in charge. We need more examples of African Americans in jobs where we may not expect to see them. Keep em’ coming!

Terrific short piece. So glad to get to know this person. If people want to know more, maybe they should look for other pieces about her and her work. If people want to run her down or say she isn’t legitimately able, maybe they should ask themselves why that’s the question bubbling in them. Resentment? Envy? Why? This is a very tough job and if she is in it, it’s because she knows what she’s doing.

Inspiring. Great leader.

Gawd, what a contrast! T versus Trump—vision, authenticity, proficiency, and balance versus mindlessness, lies, incompetency, and unhinged-ness. I want a “T”-shirt with her a picture of her face on it. Somebody at Chase really knows how to pick ‘em. Whoever you are, good job! I wish you were in change of picking cabinet members.

How do I get a person like this as a boss? How do I become a boss like this person?

T is an enlightened, wise, and strong person. Go T!

Yipppppppeeee. Corner Office is the best column. I love the backstory on leadership and would cut them out for my daughter. She is now an Assistant Principal in a Brooklyn middle school. I would also make copies for my managers. I retired from Executive Assistant in a verrrry large Nurse Home on the Upper West Side. They all appreciated these stories. We need to support each other in our work lives. I spent more time with my work family than my blood family. In this age of fake integrity it helps so much. Thank you for these new “Profiles In Courage”. God bless.

Terrific interview. She sounds fantastic.

I really enjoyed this interview. She seems so down-to-earth and really gets it as far as creating a human connection. Very inspiring story as well. Congrats to her for all her achievements.

This interview made me cry,

I can relate to her parents advice “You need to be two times better. You need to be so good that you can’t be denied.” Unlike DeBlasio frames it, many Asian immigrant kids, grow up with this advice from parents. The parents don’t speak or have time and money to learn English because they work at groceries, laundromat, nail salons, and others. They work without any vacation and teach their kids the only thing they know about surviving in America: work hard, no complaints whatsoever. Her parents’ emphasis on the character and work ethic remind me of my own childhood in a way.

One of the most shameful failings of the mainstream media is an inability to hold corporations and corporate executives accountable for predatory, unethical and often criminal behavior. Interviews are only granted in the expectation that the journalist is so pathetically grateful for access that they will restrict themselves to softball questioning. Would have liked to see the following topics covered: student loan debt, corporate tax avoidance, banking sector lobbying and watering down of regulatory oversight, skyrocketing executive compensation vs stagnant worker compensation, why huge fines don’t seem to deter patterns of financial sector criminality, why banks too big to fail in 2008 have grown larger since, Citizens United and corporate dark money, etc. but that would have required real journalistic effort and likely refusal of her bank to cooperate.

I was a NY banker for 21 years when we had savings passbooks and Christmas clubs!!. Banks were opened from 9-3, and maybe 9-1 on Saturdays. There were no 24Hour ATM's, so we were forced to manage our money. We now live in a spend-spend society, so very few people think about saving. When was the last time you saw a banking ad that focused on opening a savings account? Yes, interest rates are horrible on savings products (use to get at least 5% on savings accounts),so we need to focus on financial institutions that offer the best return on your dollar. Minimum interest should be at least 5% that might encourage people to start saving again.

The transparency is welcome by this reader. There's a connection with "T" that upcoming millennials need to get in touch with... Thanks NYT for this week's high-lighted interview with T. Duckett.

“You need to be two times better. You need to be so good that you can’t be denied.” I guess this was before affirmative action started really ramping up? I'm curious what advice she's giving to her children today, who are undoubtedly socioeconomically privileged but will regardless be playing the admissions/hiring game on easy mode solely because of the color of their skin (not the content of their character)?

“I’m an angry black woman today. I am mad that I have to have conversations that you don’t have to have. I am tired.” Please remember that we all have conversations that someone else doesn't have. We're all tired. That includes Sikks wearing turbans. Or Orthodox Jews earing sidecurls and strings hanging outside their pants. Or gay people. Or transgender people. Or white working moms. Even white males. We all feel under siege. I appreciate your feeling tired and, were I working at Chase, would support you 100%. But don't think other people don't have issues too.

Thank you for sharing this article, it personally meant a lot to me. I can't believe there are not more comments.

I was expecting to not really be impressed by this interview, as a woman in the banking industry (we all should remember 2008) does not a feminist make...BUT, I am happy to be wrong. This was a refreshing and inspiring interview. I loved her emphasis on saving and budgeting.

Thank you -- a great interview.