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With over 40 years of trust and investment experience, Susan Martore-Baker is recognized throughout New Hampshire for her work with individuals, families and nonprofits to help them identify and achieve their financial goals. Prior to joining Cambridge Trust in 2011, Latore-Baker was SVP at Citizens Bank and held administrative and business development positions at Shawmut Bank, First New Hampshire Investment Services, U.S. Trust (formerly State Street Global Advisors) and CFX Bank.
What was your career journey like in the beginning?
I began my career in 1979, so you can be sure it was male dominated at that point in the trust department of a bank down in Greenville, South Carolina.
I was still in college and started in the trust department and employee benefit administration and gradually took on a whole book of accounts.
Photo by Greg Cooper
My husband and I had an opportunity to relocate to New England, and we chose New Hampshire and have been here ever since. I felt that New England offered a better opportunity for a woman in banking. I’ve been in the wealth management division now for over 40 years, and I’ve seen so many changes throughout, and especially here at Eastern Bank and Cambridge Trust, a lot more opportunity for women. There are a lot of senior women in management positions on the board — I know Cambridge Trust was recognized at one point for having the most women on a board in New England.
What I value most in my journey is learning from others and really having an opportunity to expand my experience.
I meet the best people. I talk with executive directors of nonprofit organizations and hear their passion for the work that they’re doing. And for me, every day is something new. So that’s why I’ve been doing it for so many years.
Eastern Bank recently merged with Cambridge Trust Wealth Management. What challenges did the transition bring?
Prior to the merger, we were all a little bit concerned about how things would change. But since Eastern Bank kept Cambridge Trust Wealth Management pretty much untouched, it really wasn’t a challenge ultimately. We’ve all adjusted to Eastern Bank’s procedures and policies. But for the most part, Cambridge Trust Wealth Management hasn’t changed. The staff remains the same, and we do have more resources. We have many more branches that we coordinate financial issues for our clients. We have many more fiduciary professionals, and our investment team has expanded. So, for Cambridge Trust Wealth Management, there were very few challenges.
I’ve been through mergers and acquisitions before, having worked for some small banks and some larger banks, but this one was pretty seamless for us.
Can you discuss the importance of mentorship? How do you pass that down as a leader?
It is important, because you always have to broaden your experience and what you’re learning, and you do that by attaching yourself to someone who is more experienced and knowledgeable. Throughout my career, I’ve learned from some very intelligent, very experienced individuals. You can’t learn enough or know enough. You always have to continue to broaden your knowledge.
What advice would you give to future female business leaders?
Always expand your learning. You want to make yourself invaluable, not only to your company or your profession but to the community at large. Keep learning throughout your career; don’t stop. Learn from those experienced professionals that are in your field, regardless of whether they’re competitors or people that you work with, board members. You might find that, in questioning things, there may be a better way to do what you have to do, or accomplish what you’re trying to accomplish. And the only way to know that for sure is to keep challenging the more experienced individuals, the more experienced ways of doing things, and see if you do come up with a better way to accomplish that goal.
The most important thing is to work hard and focus on the work you’re doing. Be willing to help your colleagues be successful. In the end, everybody wins.
When I was getting married back in 1979, my dad decided that we were going to drive from South Carolina, where we lived, up to Boston where I was getting married. So, we started out and there was the worst thunderstorm and rain. You couldn’t even see where you were going. I happened to be driving through D.C., and we saw everybody else had pulled over. They were waiting it out, and my dad just kept saying to me, “Keep going. You’ll make it. Keep going. You’ll get there.” So, throughout my life, that has been my inspiration: to just keep going. Take one day at a time, just keep your focus. And it seems to have worked.
