Check Out Solomon Muwanga’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Solomon Muwanga.

Hi Solomon, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I moved to the US from Uganda a couple of years after finishing college back in 1992. My goal then was simply to enroll in a graduate school, complete an MBA program with an emphasis on International Business or Marketing (because I had worked in a sales job for International Courier Company in Uganda right after college), and go from there. Back in Uganda, I was one of 16 siblings, so a college education was important and perceived as the path to success.

At that time, beyond this, I really didn’t have specific plans after that but hoped to maybe land a job with a multinational global organization (World Bank, IMF). Of course, the biggest challenge was I had only $200 to my name when I arrived in Denver and I didn’t know then that those organizations mostly hire exclusively graduates of Ivy league schools.

At any rate, quite a few people back home in Uganda told me that this was really just a pipe dream and I was crazy given the prohibitive cost of graduate school coupled with my lack of the necessary financial resources or sponsorship. But although I knew it would be very hard, I was undeterred and single-minded on achieving my goal.

I initially arrived on a business visitor visa as most colleges required an international student to either prepay for a year or demonstrate financial resources before they would assist you in getting a student visa. I quickly applied to various colleges around Denver. These all had varying costs and programs, which were all fairly expensive for me. I realized that I would have to attend evening classes as opposed to a regular full-time program, which would allow me to work in order to pay for the cost of school. I ended up being accepted to Regis University with a requirement of completing several undergraduate classes deemed necessary prerequisites for the MBA program. As a recently arrived immigrant, coupled with the fact that legally, being an international student, I was not allowed to work off-campus (and on-campus it very limited hours), I could only menial labor jobs paying minimum wage. I ended up working two at times three menial labor jobs (you name it, I probably had done it) while going to school full time. It was a grueling schedule, but I really had no choice. In order to maintain my visa status, I was required to be enrolled full-time in school and to afford this, I needed all three jobs. Things got financially even tighter when my sister had to move suddenly out of state, and I had to find an apartment hence adding rent to my expenses. This was in addition to supporting two younger siblings’ education back in Uganda, where I sent $50 monthly to help with these costs.

It was slow, hard work. After about three years (including a summer off to save money), I got a break when I got an entry-level position with a local bank. This happened when I applied through a job placement agency service that was run by the City and County of Denver. To my great surprise, I got the job and apparently, this was mainly because of disclosing that I was currently enrolled and almost completed with my MBA program. I started as a Personal Bank and gradually moved into first a Business Specialist then eventually a Commercial Lender. I have now been in banking for the last 25 years.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Going to school full time and working several jobs was really a challenge for me overall. However one incident in particular sticks out in my memory. This happened right before getting my not planned for first job in bank and embarking on my “accidental” career in banking. In the summer of 1995, I had finally been able to get a full-time job working for a small privately held company (a Wholesale Distributor) and was also almost finished with my MBA graduate school program. At this time, I had started to feel like I had accomplished something when I unexpectedly got fired from this job. This particular job involved me taking on multiple tasks i.e. writing marketing plans, phone sales, delivery driver, warehouse order fulfillment and loading trucks in the yard. One of the long-time employees at this company had taken an intense dislike of me since my hiring, most likely because he felt threatened for some reason or another in case I succeeded at this job. As a result, one day, whilst the owner of the company was out of town on a business trip, I made a client delivery and left in a big rush (trying to making my evening class on time). Well this client called our office and complained about my reckless driving. As a result, I was fired on the spot with no recourse by this employee who had been left in charge while the owner was travelling.

Needless to say, it was a devastating setback financially, given the fact that I was practically living paycheck to paycheck. When I lost this job, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pay my bills and finish school and so it felt like another huge setback in the moment. Shortly after that, I started driving a cab part-time at night after classes and picked up other temporary part-time weekend jobs on make ends meet.

Luckily, a few months later, I was able to find my first job as a banker. It was not smooth sailing after that either since I had no experience, the starting pay was very low for the first few years, so I continued moonlighting on weekends as a cab driver. The cab job could be really challenging on weekends. There were several instances when I picked up drunk clients and got insulted or abused since I obviously spoke with an accent. Things gradually improved financially, allowing my to focus fully on my career in banking.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have now been in banking for about 24 years, working for several leading national and regional banks all in the Denver area. Presently I work for MidwestOne Bank as Vice President, Commercial Banker since May of 2018. My work involves with privately-held businesses on their various transactions, which range from commercial real estate lending, credit needs, treasury and portfolio management.

My specialty is commercial lending with focus on industrial, commercial real estate lending and credit analysis for existing and new clients. My responsibility as a commercial lender involves originating commercial loans and operating capital lines of credit for these small to medium size companies. (Typically $5 to $50 million dollar in revenue range). The loan transaction sizes are wide-ranging but typically from $500,000 to $25,000 million. I have clients in a wide array of industries but most fall in these categories: Healthcare, Real Estate Developers/Investors, Property Management, Professional Services, Contractors, Manufacturers or Wholesale Distributors.

Taking great care of my clients and those who should be with dedication, integrity and professional courtesy is what sets me apart from other Commercial Bankers.

How do you define success?
My primary measure of success is when I work with prospects and my clients, ensuring the growth and overall success of their business’s financial health and helping them achieve their financial goals. Professionally, I take great pride in proactively partnering with my clients in order to gain a full understanding of their business’s needs/goals. I find that this type of approach allows me to provide the best advice and expertise to help them succeed. The ability to accomplish this while maintaining a healthy balance between my personal and professional life is an important measure of success for me.

Contact Info:

• Email: smuwanga@midwestone.com
• Website: https://www.midwestone.bank/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soloman19_/