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A Conversation with LeVar Crooms, United Bank’s Arlington and Alexandria Market President

LeVar Crooms joined United Bank in 2024 as the new Arlington and Alexandria Market President. After almost a year in his new role, we sat down with him to learn a bit more about his background and what he’s learned about himself and life along his almost two-decades-long career journey.

Meet LeVar Crooms

How would you describe your childhood?

I grew up in a small town called Beaufort, NC. That environment really shaped me into the man I am today – it’s where I got my core values from. It was the ‘everybody knows everybody’ and ‘everybody loves everybody’ type of town. My dad was a pastor and a community leader, and I attribute my outgoing personality to him. I am also the second youngest of five boys, so we had a pretty big family and grew up middle class. We certainly felt the impact of living paycheck to paycheck from time to time, but there was always enough love in the household to cover that. So, although we were closer to poor than rich, we never really felt like it. We always had just enough.

When I was 14 years old, we moved to Raleigh. I went from a town of a couple thousand residents to the state capital with a population of a couple hundred thousand. To say I was shell-shocked would be an understatement. Back in Beaufort, I had the comfort of my dad, who was a very recognizable community leader, and a large family. You couldn’t go a mile without seeing someone you were related to. But in Raleigh, I didn’t know anyone. I’d spent that summer training with the Beaufort High School football team, preparing to join the team in the Fall, just to wind up moving to Raleigh the day before the start of my freshman year. With the last-minute move, I probably wouldn’t have even been able to play football that year if it weren’t for my old coach calling ahead to request a spot for me on my new team. But it was in Raleigh that I had to begin my journey of going out into the world on my own.

What was it like transitioning from a small town to a big city?

I had no idea what I was doing that year. I felt lost and confused, and I owe it all to my teammates for helping me settle into my new environment and to my coaches for always looking out for me. My parents were gone a lot when I was in high school, so I was a bit of a latch-key kid. But my JV football coach took me under his wing. He’d personally train me, give me rides to and from games, and would invite me over to his home for dinner and to study with his family. Similarly, my track coach would take me to get haircuts or new shoes when I needed them. I always thought I would not have made it through high school without their support. Now, as an adult, I recognize the importance and benefit of playing team sports, and I’m grateful to have been given the opportunity to play as long as I did, all the way to college.

Did you always want to work in banking?

I definitely hadn’t planned on working in banking. When I was younger, my grandfather worked at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and would take me to airshows to see the Blue Angels. So, I grew up wanting to be an Air Force pilot. However, I did not realize that you needed to be a slimmer fella to be a pilot, something I certainly was not! So, I put those dreams to rest and instead decided I would pursue law school with the goal of one day becoming a judge. But once again, after learning more about the requirements – specifically the amount of reading and writing that a career in law required – I realized it just wasn’t the right path for me.

When you got into banking, were there any challenges you had to overcome on your career journey?

I started my banking career right on the cusp of the 2008 financial crisis. So very early on, I had to make tough decisions about what I wanted to do and what I could do for work. Originally, I thought I’d transition from a credit analyst to eventually a commercial lender. But after stalling in that role and seeing the layoffs in the lending space, I decided to compromise. Leadership knew I was a high performer, so when I proposed a hybrid, quarter lending and three quarters analyst training opportunity, they agreed to let me pursue it.

I felt confident, and when I was paired with a great lender, his first lesson was showing me the truth of the matter. He gave me a deal and asked me to write it up. I never even stopped to consider the fact that I had no idea how to underwrite real deals, I just went on and pulled something together for him and turned it in. He asked how I felt about the project, and I told him, ‘Can I be honest, because I don’t feel very good about it.’ And he agreed. He said he couldn’t use any of it, but he gave me this assignment so that I would realize that I still had a lot more to learn.

How did you respond to this interaction?

That instantly put me in my place! I was a high performer, but he was working in a completely different language. So, I went on to support him for the next six months and just tried to learn from him. He became good counsel for me, and I am still in contact with him today.

But I pushed through with my career, relocated to the headquarters, took on a team lead role overseeing 12 other analysts, and began supporting regional leadership on bigger deals. But the analyst role, which initially was only supposed to be six months, had now lasted three and a half years. So, I said, ‘I think I need to do something else,’ and requested a move to Washington, D.C., kickstarting the career path that brought me here today.

Were there any defining moments that helped shape you into the leader you are today?

I would say when I became student body president at Johnson C. Smith University. Most past leadership roles I’ve held were peer-nominated, like captain of the football team in high school. But running for student body president was the one time that I had to actively decide to pursue a leadership role. Stepping into that role made me come out of my shell to some extent. I always preferred to do the behind-the-scenes work, but with this opportunity, I was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. I was speaking at press conferences and trustee meetings and giving welcome addresses to incoming freshmen and their families. I had to tap into a skillset that I hadn’t utilized before, and it was pretty daunting.

I also think this opportunity helped me hone my decision-making skills and feel more confident in having the last say on ideas. For the first time, I was that person who everyone turned to solve their problems. Probably the best example was when we had a string of dorm break-ins that resulted in several students being burglarized. The university policy prohibited the building from having exterior locks, so there was a general feeling of hopelessness among the student body – everyone pretty much just accepted that there was nothing more we could do to stop this. But I didn’t want to let everyone down by giving up without even trying. A member of my cabinet’s dorm was also burglarized, so this was personal for him. He was passionate about the cause and fought hard to make change, so I fought right alongside him. I researched our options and pleaded our case to the fire marshal, and in the end, we were able to get locks put on! It may seem trivial, but this was a big win for the students and for me personally.

What was the significance of this experience for you?

I really learned a lot about myself in this role. Specifically, being class president showed me that I can trust myself with power and not abuse it for my own benefit. More so, I felt the satisfaction of having used my position to help champion the ideas of my peers and advocate for their needs.

That is what leadership is all about – inspiring people. A leader isn’t just responsible for creating a vision and goals. They must also use their position to push forward initiatives that benefit everyone, using every bit of power you have in your leadership position to make it happen.

What drives you?

No one thing drives me. Different phases of my life trigger different mindsets. At the start of my career, former BB&T CEO John Allison challenged everyone to be lifelong learners, and that was a huge driver for me. I decided that I was going to push myself to learn as much as I could and constantly look for opportunities to gain more knowledge from those around me.

Then, as a junior-level employee during the financial crisis, I wholeheartedly believed I was going to lose my job. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but it scared me enough to light a fire under me. I started working even harder, staying after hours, and even working weekends. It’s not that this was a necessity either. I had just spent all day helping others, ensuring that I would become an indispensable member of the team, so I was forced to spend nights catching up on my own work. And everyone thought I made it look easy! But I was putting in the work behind the scenes and working a lot of hours. Others just didn’t see it. So, I’ve always had this mindset of going above and beyond to be the best that I can be. On every team I’ve been on – sports or business – I always wanted to be the most integral player. But now, as a husband and a father, the work I do is for my family. I love the responsibility and impact I’m able to make on our community in this role. It’s so weird to say that my son is a Virginian – especially as a North Carolina boy myself – so I want to impact this area for the better and work to build an even better Arlington and Alexandria for my son to grow up in.

Do you have any regrets or is there anything in the past that you would change?

I subscribe to the philosophy that what’s meant to happen in your life is going to happen regardless. The only thing you can change is what path you take to get there. Sure, there are parts of my journey that I didn’t have to take, which might have veered right or left and created a more winding path for me. For example, I could have focused more academically, or maybe I could have worked harder in high school. But I firmly believe that no matter what I’d done, I am exactly where I am supposed to be. So, would I do anything differently? No.