2017 40 Under 40 Yearbook: Michal Moss Early, 37

Then: Private banking manager and assistant vice president, Arvest Bank
Now: Director of marketing, Springfield Sign

Nine years ago, Michal Moss Early was spearheading the opening of Springfield’s first Arvest Bank. Today, she’s not even in the banking industry.

Then a vice president at the Arkansas-based bank, Early relocated from Joplin to help launch the branch, and following the EF5 tornado, reconnected with her roots leading sales efforts for Morelock-Ross Properties Inc. By 2012, she was back in banking helping Metropolitan National Bank realign and relaunch, but following its sale to Bear State Bank, Early’s position was eliminated and she landed at Springfield Sign.

“It brings together my sales and my marketing backgrounds,” she says of the newly created position. “It really is my dream job.”