How Young Is Too Young to Talk About Banking? Apparently, Not Third Grade.
One of the things I love most about marketing is that it constantly reminds us to pay attention—not just to numbers, but to people. And sometimes the most significant insights come from the most unexpected places. Yesterday, I was invited to speak at a local public elementary school’s Mathfest . My topic was simple: How my job in marketing uses math. Marketing isn’t just creativity—it’s analysis. We use math every day to evaluate data, spot trends, understand customer behavior, and make smarter decisions about how we communicate, what we offer, and how we serve our communities. Before the event, my marketing associate and I smiled, thinking back to what we were doing in third grade—learning cursive, tackling multiplication, and trying our best to stay focused long enough to finish a worksheet. But once I got into the classroom, I wanted to make “real-world math” feel relatable, so I brought one simple prop: A large debit card. I expected it would lead to a short conve...