Jayson Krisell hurt his ankle his senior year of high school, and it prevented him from the sports he loved to play. He soon became interested in sports medicine and decided to major in it during his first year at Gonzaga University.
Krisell realized that the degree would require him to take a lot of biology classes, and he had no desire to do that. He came back to Arkansas, received a management information systems degree from the University of Central Arkansas after encouragement from a counselor, and then in 2016, he started an insurance company with his friend Brent Jennings.
They sold Krisell & Jennings in 2023, and he is now a commercial lender for The Bank of Fayetteville.
“It’s been pretty random [my career path],” he said. “This job … is very appealing to me. I get to help people and businesses.”
He almost didn’t take a job with the bank. He’s a board member for nonprofit Hope Cancer Resources, an organization that helps cancer patients with a myriad of things including counseling, transportation, wellness, financial situations and other services.
Krisell was about to take a job with the organization when a friend from the bank called to offer him the lending job.
“I’ve made a lot of connections through Hope Cancer Resources,” he said. “It’s a great organization.”
After owning his own business for several years, working for a bank has been a transition, he said. For almost a decade he didn’t have a boss and having to report to someone has been different.
But his supervisor is a good friend and has made it easy, he said.
“He’s made it very easy. I can’t complain at all. I’ve landed with a good group of people here.”