Meet Tim Sopalski from The Bank of Commerce

EastIdahoNews.com highlights hard-working people who make our local businesses thrive. Every Sunday we get to know YOU!

1. Name, job title and company: Tim Sopalski, Vice President & Trust Department Manager at The Bank of Commerce

2. What does your company do and what are your tasks? The Bank of Commerce is a local community bank offering a variety of financial services in the East Idaho area. The Escrow Department is an independent, full-service escrow provider specializing in escrow, estate management, self-administering IRAs, and agency accounts.

I set the direction, budget, policies and goals for the Trustee Department. I have the privilege of working with a team of experienced professionals where we manage and manage the overall function and activities related to our accounts. One of my favorite jobs is working with clients and their advisors to create an estate plan that is unique and specific to their family culture, beliefs, and values.

3. Where were you born and when is your birthday (year does not have to be stated)? I was born on March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida.

4. How long have you lived in east Idaho and what city are you in now? It will be five years this February. My family and I live in the Ririe area.

5. Tell us about your first job after high school. During my senior year of high school, I held three jobs. I was a tumbling coach, a supervisor at Chick-fil-A and I cleaned a daycare in the mornings before school. After graduation, I became a warehouse manager at MonaVie (a now-defunct multilevel marketing company that manufactured and distributed blended fruit juice products). During my seven years at MonaVie, I moved to Utah and eventually worked my way up to Executive Account Manager. I learned so much from that first job right out of high school.

6. What was the best business decision you ever made? Get a job at the Bank of Commerce. Moving my family from Vancouver, Washington and here to eastern Idaho has been a daunting adventure. We had a 1 year old at the time and just moved to Washington from Utah a year before. I’ve only been to Idaho Falls once before and didn’t know what to expect. It was amazing! We fell in love with the area and the people straight away and are excited to be raising our boys here. I love my job and see significant opportunities for my career.

7. Tell us about your family. I am married to a very kind and loving woman who is patient with me and supports me in my ongoing endeavors. We are the proud parents of three little boys who are just that – boys! Our house is a beautiful mess of chaos most days and our boys lead the charge. Even though they have infinite energy in their mischievous way, I’m proud of them. They resemble their mother in being kind and thoughtful. I am thankful for their teachers, church leaders and our neighbors who support them. I enjoy watching them grow into amazing young men.

8. Tell us about a movie or book that has inspired you the most in your life. One book that has really changed my life is The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff `. The book addresses some key aspects of economics and management that really made sense to me when I was young. I was able to visualize the concepts of constraints and see how to improve upon and build upon those constraints. It helps me to think through certain situations in my career and resolve conflicts or avoid problems and limitations.

9. Tell us about a lesson you learned from a mistake you made in your career/business. I was involved in an acquisition of a previous company a few years ago. During the acquisition, I was so focused on correcting and cleaning up the existing accounts that I got stuck on defense and not playing offensively. My growth suffered tremendously and I wasn’t able to get the results I expected this year. I’ve learned that you have to do both. It may not be the same amount of time or a balanced formula, but you must decide what better aligns with your organization’s goals and set yourself expectations that align with your organization’s goals.

10. What goal would you like to achieve in the next 12 months? My biggest goal is to start a non-profit organization to support families with children who have port wine stains (a type of birthmark that looks like wine has been spilled on the skin because it’s maroon). Our middle child was born with port stains and covers about 30% of his body. We were blessed with amazing insurance that helped with his laser surgery. This surgery requires us to travel to Salt Lake City every quarter and during this process we have found other families doing the same. We hope to help families with medical expenses and travel expenses.

The ultimate goal would be to establish a dermatologist or plastic surgeon in eastern Idaho so that these families would not have to travel for this treatment. We would also like to have a family support system to help them cope with the situation when their baby is born. It can be very overwhelming as port wine can lead to vision problems, large extremities and Sturge-Weber syndrome. We are lucky and had no further concerns with our son but it was a scary concept to digest and understand at first.

11. What advice do you have for someone who wants to do what you do? Use your resources and gain a mentor. The best lessons I’ve learned come from my mentors’ mistakes because I didn’t have to feel their sting. I just had to have the humility to ask and seek advice. There are a lot of laws, regulations and policies that can be intertwined and very complex. At first it may seem a little daunting and overwhelming. If you dive in and get to work, you will grow and start learning.

12. If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? No thing. I’ve had some interesting challenges and humbling experiences, but without them I wouldn’t know what I know now. I would not be able to empathize with the people around me going through a similar business or personal life experience.

13. Where is your favorite place to eat in East Idaho? I really love The SnakeBite

14. Tell us something surprising about yourself. In my freshman year of high school, I played soccer and was a cheerleader. I gave up football and focused on cheerleading for the rest of my high school career. I placed second in the Nationals for partner stunting (the base of a cheerleading pyramid) my senior year at Disney World and was on ESPN for a very brief moment.

15. How do you like your potatoes? I love mashed potatoes with brown sauce. Simple and yet so good!