Contact: Sameera Jordan
Media Relations Manager
Sameera.Jordan@BankWithUnited.com

A Conversation with Emily Bartram, United Bank’s Huntington Market President

Leadership, Growth, and the Power of Showing Up

Emily Bartram became United Bank’s new Huntington Market President in January 2025. After a year in the role, we sat down with her to learn more about her nearly 20-year career journey, the lessons she’s learned along the way, and the perspective she hopes to share with others forging their own paths in banking.

You had a productive first year as Market President – from being named one of The State Journal’s Generation Next: 40 Under 40 honorees to joining the Huntington Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors. What accomplishment are you most proud of in your first year in the role?

Looking back on my first year as Market President, the accomplishment I’m most proud of isn’t tied to titles or recognition. While I’m incredibly honored to have been named one of The State Journal’s Generation Next honorees and to serve on several outstanding boards, what brings me the greatest pride is the transformation happening across the Huntington Market and the way our team has rallied around our customers.

We’ve truly built what I call “a wall around our customers” – a culture of protection, partnership, and proactive problem solving that ensures they feel supported at every stage of their journey. That commitment has strengthened long standing relationships while sparking new ones across our teams and throughout the community.

One standout moment this year was completing one of the largest deals to come through the Huntington Market for our largest customer just before the end of the year. It was a remarkable team effort and a defining example of what happens when teams work with urgency, alignment, and a shared sense of purpose. Seeing our people, our customers, and our community thrive together is what I’m most proud of in my first year.

You’ve previously said that United Bank played an important role in your career success. Can you tell us more about that?

What’s unique about United is that company leaders are truly cheerleaders for employees’ success. That is something that you don’t find everywhere. In my case specifically, United really took a gamble on me. As I mentioned, I have a very diverse background in banking – including experience in Mortgage, Retail, and Credit sides of the business – with a lot of different skills to offer, but I definitely didn’t have the typical path to becoming Market President that you might expect. For that reason, I never expected to find myself in this position. I never would have even admitted to aspiring to achieve such a high title in the past!

I’ve been very fortunate to work at a place like United; the Bank saw potential in me that I didn’t see in myself. I know that not every company would take a chance on its employees like United has done for me, so I can’t imagine a better place to have established and grown my career over the years.

What would you say has been the biggest obstacle stepping into the role of Market President?

Stepping into this role required me to overcome a few personal obstacles, particularly building confidence and trusting myself to do the job well. As a woman in business, you often feel like you have to prove you have what it takes to lead, which can be intimidating – especially in a traditionally male-dominated industry. And for someone like me, a self-proclaimed introvert who has to be an extrovert for my job, that confidence to speak up and make yourself heard doesn’t come naturally.

The other component was making the move from the Mortgage side of the business. After spending more than a decade in a role that I thrived in, suddenly shifting to Market President was unfamiliar territory for me – and I could feel the doubt creeping in. Being in this position where I am surrounded by leadership and other talented professionals who have been in the industry for a long time, one of my biggest personal obstacles was finding that confidence and resilience to continue coming back to the table and performing.

But, as my dad always told my sisters and me, 99% of the battle is just showing up. Yes, you have to know your craft, and you have to have the skills to succeed, but often the first step is just having the courage to try. It’s times like these that fuel your determination and turn you into a better leader.

You are one of only a handful of women to serve as Market President in the Bank’s history. What does this achievement mean to you?

When I first became Market President, I was very excited about this role and confident that I would do well, but I also felt that failure wasn’t an option. On one hand, I’d tell myself that there are too many other women coming up behind me with aspirations like mine of one day doing more, and that I couldn’t let them down. Then, on the other hand, I looked up to United Bank President Julie Gurtis and Chief Human Resources Officer Ami Shaver, the trailblazers who set the tone for women at the Bank, and I felt like I had very big shoes to fill.

I want to one day join the ranks of women who broke barriers and opened doors, just like the women I looked up to as I was coming up in my career. And I hope that the women coming up behind me can look at where I started in the organization and see how far I’ve come and find inspiration in my journey too. Hopefully it will inspire them to think differently about their own career opportunities and aim higher than what might have seemed possible in the past.

Do you have any advice for the next generation of women leaders?

If I had to give the next generation one piece of advice, it would be to embrace change and to never let a challenge intimidate you. Challenging yourself is scary, but it’s also important that you do it.

As a mother of three, I also think this is one of the most important lessons we can pass down as parents. While we teach our children that they can accomplish anything they put their mind to, it’s equally important to remind them that success requires effort and resilience. I don’t want my kids to shy away from obstacles or give up when things get tough. I want them to approach new opportunities with confidence – and I hope that by seeing positive examples of women doing just that, they will carry that lesson with them throughout their lives.

I hope that through my own career progression my children and other future leaders, men and women, will learn that it’s OK to take risks and to want more for themselves. It’s easy to stay on a path that feels comfortable simply because we don’t know what else is out there. But I’ve learned through each role in my career journey that change revitalizes something in you – there’s this spark when change happens. Taking a risk can be both rewarding and a much-needed breath of fresh air.