When Jeremy Davis, President of Mortgage at Southern Bancorp, talks about community lending, he doesn’t start with CRMs — he starts with barbershops, corner stores and churches. In this conversation with Diego Sanchez, Davis lays out how institutions can take cues from the everyday places where trust already lives. His core message? “Get into the community, don’t just speak to it.”
This interview breaks down why trust can’t be scaled, and marketing can’t replace meaningful connection. Davis dives into the core of what lenders get wrong — and what Southern Bancorp is doing differently. From listening first to firing within, this isn’t a feel-good initiative. It’s a strategy rooted in long-term impact and equity.
