Joshua Norton is an object lesson in the way plans can change.

“Growing up, I wanted to be an attorney, but I ended up marrying one instead,” he said.

He also knew he wanted to be involved in real estate. He tried the brokerage side of the business, but found out that he “didn’t have the stomach” for the wild financial swings that come with that feast-or-famine business.

“There were some great months, and there were some lean ones,” Norton said.

At the ripe old age of 24, he became a lender for a community bank and has spent the last 14 years in the Greater Des Moines banking community.

He was “pretty green” at the start, but he has gained respect in the industry and the admiration of at least one colleague who said that everything he knows about banking he learned from Norton.

Norton’s banking career has taken some big swings that other bankers might not stomach. He has worked for a troubled bank and spent some time as the intermediary between it and banking regulators.

“Regulators get a bad rap,” he said. “They’re just here as a check and balance. As we’ve seen in the banking industry, the pendulum swings hard.”

His mentors in the banking community can all be found at West Bank.

“Josh’s strength lies in his ability to connect people and move them toward a common goal,” said Dave Nelson, president and CEO of West Bank parent West Bancorporation Inc.

Those strengths also make Norton a valuable part of several Greater Des Moines community organizations, such as Make-A-Wish Iowa and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa, Nelson said.

“I consider Josh one of my go-to individuals in my own network when I need to get things done,” said Chris Voggesser, Make-A-Wish Iowa president and CEO.

Reasons he’s a forty:

• He serves on the Make-A-Wish Iowa board of directors.
• “He took a scared young junior lender … and instilled the leadership qualities that have positively impacted my customers, my family and helped mold my career,” Former Greater Des Moines banker Scott Jarvis, who recently accepted a market president’s position with a regional bank based in Wisconsin.
• He is chairman-elect of the West Des Moines Economic Development Connection.
• He was a board member, West Side Kiwanis Club.