Jackson, Mississippi, is the biggest city and capital of the Magnolia state. With more than 600,000 people in its surrounding metropolitan area, it’s home to nearly 20% of all Mississippi residents. Known for its major role in the Civil Rights Movement, it’s where the 2011 movie “The Help” was filmed, and it’s home to Jackson State University (JSU), a historically Black college or university (HBCU).
Christian Varnado, a Wells Fargo alum now working at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, is from Jackson - by way of Pike County, Mississippi - and attended JSU. His path from the deep south to a bank headquartered in San Francisco started with a desire to move beyond the city he adores, thanks to a person he loves.
“I’m married to my college sweetheart, Ashley,” Varnado said. “When we were in college she interned in San Francisco and told me how much she enjoyed the west coast. I thought ‘I’d like to do that too.’”
He eventually applied for and accepted an intern role with the Global Correspondent Banking International Group. The role only lasted a few months, but it materially changed the rest of Varnado’s life. The confidence gained from an ability to secure an internship with Wells Fargo is something he carries with him today, nearly two decades later.
“The time there was one of the best experiences of my life,” Varnado said. “It just showed me I belonged. I had a brand-new support system and network to access. Going through the process and getting the internship showed me that a little kid from Jackson, from an HBCU, was in a position to compete at the highest levels of corporate America with students from UCLA, Stanford, (the University of) Minnesota, and the University of California at Berkley. I’ve carried that through every stop of my career.”
After stints at a world-renown business consultancy firm and a large, national healthcare provider system, Varnado rejoined Wells Fargo in 2014 as a quality assurance analyst. In his nearly nine years with the company, he also served as a credit analysis manager, and as a commercial portfolio manager for the Beverage Finance Group.
“I’ve had incredible leaders at every job I’ve ever had,” said Varnado. “Leadership buying into you helps flatten the learning curve. Grace and understanding – and empowering you to be in situations that are learning and growth opportunities – have helped me so much.”
One Wells Fargo leader Varnado is particularly fond of is Bill Vanhoy, a senior manager in Lending Operations. “I learned so much from him,” Varnado said. “He instilled in all his direct reports how to lead and refine the skills you already have. So much of my success was under his leadership, as he allowed us to be aggressive and make decisions on our own. He always challenged us to do our best, and I can still hear him saying, ‘If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist,’ in my head.”
While he enjoyed the work and expanded his skillset at Wells Fargo, Varnado couldn’t help but think about the young college students in Mississippi or Georgia or North Carolina. Was there someone pouring confidence into them the way others helped him so many years ago?
Instead of asking around, Varnado decided to act. With the support of close friends from JSU and other corporate colleagues, he created a grassroots mentoring group in the College of Business at Jackson State which led to some students landing prestigious offers at companies that did not typically recruit out of the university. One of those companies? Wells Fargo.
“I felt a calling,” Varnado said. “Helping young people make their transition from students to professionals is really what I feel like I was supposed to be doing. The cohorts that came from Jackson State and went on to roles at Wells Fargo and other large financial institutions was just confirmation – I needed to answer that call.”
Today, Varnado serves as JCSU’s assistant director for the Smith Institute for Research, Career Development, and Postgraduate Readiness.
He provides leadership and vision to offer coaching, experiential learning opportunities (internships, corporate site visits, research fellowships), and creates internal and external partnerships to further advance JCSU’s goal of having every student take part in an experiential learning opportunity.
“A lot of my students didn’t come from situations or environments conducive to advancing in the corporate world,” Varnado said. “Some of them have rarely traveled outside of their city or neighborhoods, things so many people take for granted. My job is to help them see a different side of everything – their city, themselves, their abilities – and help them do something they’ve never done or didn’t think they were capable of.”
Just like a Wells Fargo team in San Francisco did for him all those years ago.
“I wasn’t that typical 4.0 GPA student,” said Varnado. “Wells Fargo gave me an opportunity, a taste of what I could do in the real world beyond the state of Mississippi. I’ll always be proud to be a Wells Fargo alum.”