As a child, Taylor Toston loved accompanying her mom and grandma to the bank and playing with computers and cash registers at home.
“I had an obsession with tellers and bankers,” she shares. “I was just fascinated with the whole environment.”
After the Westchester High School graduate had a year of job experience under her belt (working part-time at a retail store in her local mall, she decided to go for it. Taylor applied to various banks but wasn’t successful at landing a position.
“I didn’t have a banker background or cash handling experience,” she recalls. “I had one interview with Bank of America but was not prepared.” She did not end up getting the job.
Broken but not defeated, Taylor continued working in retail.
But, the mall had a job center where she could monitor job postings and receive resume support. She stopped in with a friend one day.
“They had this huge binder with programs, and I saw JVS SoCal’s BankWork$,” Taylor says. “It seemed too good to be true.”
Taylor called the program director who walked her through how to qualify. She started in December 2010 and by March 2011, had graduated. “I never missed a day,” Taylor remembers about the classes. “I gained banking skills and confidence in interviewing.”
At graduation, Taylor met with representatives of Bank of America who were recruiting candidates as part of their partnership with JVS SoCal. This time, she was successfully hired as a teller.
“I was super excited!” says Taylor. “The position allowed me to develop my passion and professionalism. I took it all in and had mentors who saw things in me that I didn’t see in myself at the time and followed their advice.”
After two years, Taylor began making career moves to grow. She accepted another teller position at Western Federal Credit Union (now UNIFY Financial), where she learned about the credit union model with tailored products and a more community-oriented environment. After two years there, she was ready to try her hand at sales as a relationship banker.
From here, Taylor’s journey in banking took her from a financial services position with OneUnited Bank to a branch support representative for First Entertainment Credit Union to a floating banker with Financial Partners Credit Union. After 7 months with Financial Partners, Taylor was promoted to supervisor in their El Segundo branch.
“I was happy there, but I’ll never forget when I was doing my annual performance review,” she tells. “I had a manager who wasn’t fostering my growth. One of the questions was about the role I wanted to be in next and she skipped it.”
Taylor wouldn’t let anyone stand in the way of her dreams, and she began thinking about her next move. While on the job search platform, Indeed, she saw that her previous employer, OneUnited, was opening a branch in Compton. Taylor reached out and was invited to apply to become the branch manager.
“They’re the largest Black-owned bank in the U.S. and serve black and brown inner-city communities, which is important,” says Taylor. “Many people in my community don’t get the same attention, hospitality or professionalism when they walk into a bank, so I’m here to change that.”
In everything she does, Taylor never forgets that JVS SoCal gave her the wings she needed to take off. “I still send people to the JVS SoCal website,” she says. “I also still bring my certificate with me proudly wherever I go. I am a graduate and proof that the program works and helps people!”
If you’d like to help others like Taylor to begin their new career journeys, consider making a gift to fund JVS SoCal’s programs.