If you know Justine Peebles, then you can imagine a bunch of driven, do-it-yourself, results-oriented types staffing the new Ankeny branch of Lincoln Savings Bank.

“I try to hire people who are like me,” Peebles said.

She is has been in on the ground floor of the bank opening. Participating in design discussions, watching the building through construction, making staffing decisions, rushing into her new office to fix a broken heel on her shoe.

“I love coming to work, even with a broken heel,” Peebles said.

She is pretty darn enthusiastic about the bank, which has gained a reputation as a lender that is willing to take on deals that other banks might avoid.

“If it makes sense for us to do, (the loan) doesn’t have to fit inside a box,” she said.

Peebles has been in the banking business since she was 18, starting out with Wells Fargo & Co. in Seattle.

“I was working five retail jobs and going to school full time and I was just burned out,” Peebles said. “A bank manager came into one of the stores where I was working and said I provided such exceptional customer service that she wanted to interview me.”

Peebles didn’t get that job, but the Wells Fargo job was the next up and it’s been banking ever since.

Peebles, who grew up in Marshalltown and Seattle, settled in Greater Des Moines in 2006, and in addition to her professional career, became involved in volunteer work.

Her belief that she can make a difference played out in 2013 when she ran for the Ankeny School Board, the only non-incumbent to enter the campaign.

Though she lost the election, it didn’t dampen her enthusiasm for public service. 

She plans to run for school board again.

“I plan to do it this time based more on a life of service, not because I want to be a bull in the china shop,” Peebles said.

Reasons she’s a forty:

• She spearheaded a project called Feeding the Future that supplies a warm meal every night for children in Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Iowa and a bag of groceries every Friday for a family of four.
• She volunteers at Youth Emergency Services & Shelter.
• She’s a member of the Ankeny Service Center board of directors.
• She serves on the Ankeny Economic Development Corp. workforce development committee.