Tough Times Never Last…A Message from our CEO Tom Stumb

Thomas S. Stumb
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

In 1988, I was a commercial lender at one of the big banks in Nashville. It was a scary time. The real estate market had crashed and every bank in town had adopted extreme measures to survive the serious economic recession that would linger for 3-4 more years. A client of mine gave me a book to read called Tough Times Never Last but Tough People Do. It’s still on my bookshelf, and I’ll likely give it to someone else one day soon. These are suddenly tough times, and a quite scary time for many in our community.

In 2008, another severe recession ensued. Many banks around the country needed government assistance (i.e. TARP) in order to survive. Truxton didn’t. The FDIC raised limits insuring individual bank deposits and provided temporary unlimited guarantees for commercial deposits. If you googled What is the safest bank in Nashville to deposit my money?.. Truxton’s name was the first to pop up. The 2008-2012 recession was also a very scary time. We helped make it less so, for many of our clients. People still stop me often, saying things like: Y’all were there for me when I needed you. Thank you.

Peace of Mind is a high value state for many people. It goes without saying that a pandemic is a big disruptor to such an anxiety free existence. Coronavirus is frightening, especially the novelty, and the uncertainty. Even if somehow adequately anticipated, the uniqueness itself makes preparation very difficult. That said, this pandemic is not the first set of circumstances that has highlighted the fact that many of us function with little thought of the what-ifs. Sure, preparation or lack there-of is sometimes merely a product of personality. Some worry and plan for every eventuality while others live care-free in the moment. Suddenly a rapidly increasing percentage of us have become focused on acquiring hand sanitizer and toilet paper, or calling our pharmacist to see if our essential prescription medication(s) is in stock, or calling our doctor to see if/how/where can we get tested? Rationally, most of us have a calming sense that we’ll be ok, unless you’re in a high risk group. And all of us have someone we love in a high risk group…

So…suddenly, people have become intensely focused on the relationships that matter most to them: your parents, your children, your friends, your co-workers. Somewhere along the way, many of us deliberately or unwittingly decided that professional relationships weren’t all that important. Maybe the traditional family internist and lawyer was replaced by the rotating doc in the box and Legal Zoom. Maybe the trusted banker was replaced by the cheaper Lending Tree website. Maybe the financial advisor your parents and grandparents trusted was jettisoned for the robo-advisor/online brokerage site. When the unexpected happens, it is huge to know someone who knows you. You have their mobile number and they have yours.

Here at Truxton Trust Company, we take great pride in coming through for our clients in the clutch. In tough times such as these, we implore you to call on us for help. We are financially safe and sound and strong; and, our people are just a phone call away. We haven’t run out of toilet paper, hand sanitizer or money. These tough times won’t last, but this will never change: We are here for you. You and your family are precious to us. And we are eager to know: what can we do to help make these tough times easier on you and your family?