Today we’d like to introduce you to David Cutting.
Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born and grew up in the Caribbean Island Barbados… I moved to Brooklyn New York in 1970 at age of 18 to join my parents who had settled there in 1966. I had completed my secondary school education at Harrison College which was established in 1733 during the British Colonial administration which ended with our Independence in 1966. I started work as a Teller at the Flatbush Savings Bank in Brooklyn in November of 1970 and while it was not evident at the time, it was the beginning of what became a 41-year career in the banking industry.
I enrolled as an evening student at Brooklyn College to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Economics in the Spring of 1971 and graduated in February 1976. I had joined the New York headquartered commercial bank Manufacturers Hanover in 1972 and my graduation from college presented the opportunity pursue a position in the bank’s Credit Analysis Department. I learned quickly and made good progress with great mentorship and in 1979 was asked to do a short training assignment in the bank’s branch in Cairo Egypt. That assignment led to a three-year assignment as Regional Head of Credit in the Singapore Branch in 1980… I was beginning to see the value that comes from taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves and how at the end of the day, doing your very best often leads to success and recognition.
Towards the end of my Singapore assignment in 1983, I requested a career change. I had supported many Relationship Managers in the evaluation of the creditworthiness of their customers and decided that with my analytic skills I could also become a good Sales and Relationship Manager. I was granted that opportunity in June 1983 and was assigned to the Branch in Hong Kong… This move to Hong Kong proved to be of great significance in the trajectory of my future career… I spent 11 years in Hong Kong and moved steadily up the ladder to Vice President and eventually Senior Vice President and Deputy Country Head… I became very skilled at developing business for the bank, had excellent relationships with our customers and matured as a leader and people manager. When I returned to New York in 1994 the bank had merged with and changed its name to Chemical Bank. I was asked to lead a support team as a Managing Director in the Banking and Corporate Finance Department at the Park Ave headquarters of the bank. I enjoyed this for a while, but I think my 14 years in Asia had stimulated something in me that was missing in my head office assignment. The customer contact and the adrenaline rush from pursuing deals was a life I had enjoyed, and I thought that is what I should be doing…
When in 1995 I was approached by. Standard Chartered Bank to lead a New York based team that focused on developing business with US importers of textiles and apparel from Hong Kong and China, this seemed a perfect opportunity to take advantage of my experience and contacts. I already knew and had done business with most of the Hong Kong exporters and manufacturers. What also drove my decision to accept this opportunity was a burgeoning desire to work in Africa and Standard Chartered had a significant operating presence in Sub-Saharan Africa, but more on this later. I jumped into my new role at Standard Chartered New York with enthusiasm and spent the next 5 years leading a small but passionate team marketing the bank’s trade finance products to the major and minor Retailers and Wholesalers and making annual visits to Hong Kong to secure the export business of many of my former clients. It was a perfect manifestation of serendipity. My knowledge of Hong Kong and China and the major players in the textile and apparel industry gave me a significant advantage in marketing the bank’s services to American Department Stores and other retailers…
In 1998 attended an Executive Diploma course in Strategic Marketing Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Business and among the participants was an Executive from. a major bank in Nigeria. We decided to remain in touch and became friends, so in November 2000 when the bank appointed me as CEO for their business in Lagos Nigeria, that connection with my friend proved very useful indeed. Throughout my career, I have profited from the development and maintenance of personal relationships. I also do not undervalue the importance of good fortune. When I left for Nigeria in November 2000 my office was at 7 World Trade Center. In September 2001 that building collapsed because of the terrorist attack on Tower 1 and 2. My assignment saved me from being a part of that tragic event. My career journey in Africa was to be the final chapter in a challenging but rewarding experience for me and my family. I got married to Heather my wife in December of 1979. Our 2 daughters Dionne and Jasmine were born in Singapore in 1980 and 1982 respectively. Our son David was born in Hong Kong in 1988… They have benefited immensely from growing up in an environment in which they were exposed to children of different nationalities and cultures.
The three years in Nigeria was the start of a great learning experience about living and working in Sub-Saharan Africa… I was for the first-time leading teams of people who were mostly black like me… Nigeria was a success in that we managed to make a start-up business profitable and expand the franchise of branches, laying the foundation for significant growth in the years to come. I moved to Uganda in 2004 as CEO of a bigger and more mature business and that also went fabulously well. Business objectives were largely met and as I did in Nigeria, I got a lot of satisfaction from helping to develop and train local staff and from the many community projects the bank was able to sponsor and by so doing, made a huge difference in the lives of many people especially in the rural areas. My final assignment was in Botswana where I managed what was the bank’s biggest most profitable business in Africa at that time. It was a wonderful three years from 2007 to 2010. This last experience was unique in the sense that the bank was a listed company with individual and institutional shareholders… The physical infrastructure in Botswana was notably modern as a result of the country’s mineral wealth in Diamonds and its partnership with South Africa in their extraction…
Over the ten years in those three countries in Africa, I matured as a leader and really enjoyed my role model status and mentorship of many of my colleagues who are now themselves leaders, managers, and CEOs. I accepted early retirement in March 2011 after returning to the USA. In December 2010. We moved into our home in Duluth just north of Atlanta. I considered and pursued various opportunities to take advantage of my accumulated banking experience and expatriate life in Asia and Africa and in 2013 established Cutting Consulting Services, LLC. In 2015 I accepted the invitation to be Honorary Consul for my native Barbados, now a Republic. I continue to enjoy life in Metro Atlanta and my quasi-retirement occupations as a Consultant and a Diplomat. I miss Africa and the many exciting times I spent on Safari in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, and South Africa… I am grateful for the life I have had so far and the support of my family that allowed me to pursue my career. and personal ambitions.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road was not always smooth or straight… My Singapore assignment was a new experience with an inherited team in a new culture. It took a little time to be accepted but my open-minded approach really helped and by being respectful I was in turn respected. The initial return to New York was a reverse culture shock. Much had changed in 14 years. The decision to move to Standard Chartered Bank resolved that matter… The same open-minded approach was very helpful in being accepted in Africa and in gaining the trust and respect of staff and clients. I embraced every opportunity to further my training and development by attending external and internal courses offered by my employer.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My consultancy offers clients the benefit of my intimate knowledge of the Emerging Markets of Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean… My understanding of the macro-economics of the countries in those regions. and the cultures could be of great value to clients who are looking to do business in or trade with those countries. I have also retained deep personal and professional relationships with former colleagues and contacts in both the public and private sectors in those regions. I could add value as a non-Executive Director for companies doing business. or wanting to do business in those. Emerging Markets.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
As I have mentioned elsewhere in my story good luck has value. By being chosen for that short assignment in Cairo in 1979, that exposure and my success led to the Singapore assignment. My Nigeria assignment in November 2000 took me away from the World Trade Center terrorist attack in 2001. My assignments in Africa lasted 10 consecutive years. When I returned to the New York office there was no role for me given my senior executive status. That led to my accepting a retirement package and deciding to settle in the Atlanta home we had owned since 2006.
