Meet Diana Lucero, whose life still sometimes surprises her
When she was in junior high school, Diana Lucero remembers her reading log sparking suspicion from one of her teachers. No way did a 12-year-old read “Gone with the Wind,” the teacher thought. She even tried denying Lucero credit for the work.
But doubt is not something Lucero — who says she did read the voluminous novel, and in a week no less — encounters often.
In fact, New Mexico Bank & Trust’s vice president for construction lending has found believers and mentors around nearly every corner. There were the car wash co-workers who encouraged her to leave and take her first bank job. There were the bank executives who pushed the onetime teller to take on bigger roles. There were her colleagues within the National Association of Home Builders, an organization with nearly 85,000 associate members, that last month named Lucero, 55, “Associate of the Year” for her contributions to the industry at the local, state and national level.
Others have routinely spotted something special in Lucero, helping her achieve things she never would have thought possible.
Lucero, who grew up mostly in the North Valley, was born to 15-year-old parents. She came from a loving, albeit modest, upbringing that found her often fantasizing about the lives of others, from the private school kids in her neighborhood to TV sitcom families and the business executives she served during a brief teenage stint at a burger joint near Downtown.
That she’s managed to carve out a similar life for herself still sometimes surprises her.
“I always feel like I’ve been blessed with the right people around me at the right time,” she says. “I honestly have been told ‘You can do this.’ ‘You can do more.’
“I can’t believe that I’m here.”
Q: Describe yourself as a teenager.
A: I actually grew up more of a tomboy. I love sports. ... I’m climbing trees, climbing on rooftops, jumping off, getting scolded, playing baseball, basketball with the neighborhood. That was me. I think what also got me through a lot of my childhood was reading. I was a bookworm; I read all the time. Loved music. I know it will date me, but I had my little record player and the
biggest collection of 45s . ... I grew up in a family that did not have very much. My parents struggled quite a bit, however always found a way to pay the bills and to give us all that we needed.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I worked at (an) Exxon Company USA … car wash, just with some friends that were there, and we were washing cars. Well, then they needed help inside, so I learned to cashier really quickly, and then their bookkeeper got sick, so I learned bookkeeping really quickly. It was a great learning experience. I became a cashier/ bookkeeper and I became an assistant manager. This was all through school. I never know if (I) should say (this) or not, but I lied about my age by two years to get that job. They never checked back then, so I literally had my first credit card when I was 16 because they thought I was 18. I had my Exxon credit card.
Q: What were your career ambitions when you were younger?
A: I actually wanted to be a detective. I think I watched too many of those programs on television and read a lot of books, and I really wanted to do that . ... But I don’t even know how it happened ... when a lot of children play dolls and things like that, my childhood friend and I played “office.” We even ran into a doctor that was not too far from us that had a bunch of boxes they were taking out of the Dumpster (and said) “you can take whatever you want in there.” They had the appointment pads, message pads and stuff like that, and an old phone. We took that and always played office. I guess it just slowly (seeped in). And I love it. I think I’ve been very lucky. I have worked for two wonderful banks, great groups of people at both.
Q: What is your current position telling you about the state of the construction industry in New Mexico right now?
A: It’s not where I would like it to be. Unfortunately, it is true we always are the last to drop and the last to come back up. I know right now for permits this year to last year, there’s pretty much no growth in permits; however, I think every year since the crash we have picked up. … The phones are ringing again like they were. Not only do I have builders calling; I have people calling (saying) “I want to build.” “I want to buy a lot.” “I’m ready to go.” Literally just phone calls and people walking in keep us pretty busy. I’m thinking this is going to be a better year, but when I say that, we are going to grow slow and we’ll never be back to where we were. I think when the market got crazy, we were close to 7,000 permits. We won’t do that again, but it would be nice to be back up — about 3,000, 3,500 would be really nice. I think we have a good customer base. I’ve made some really solid relationships.
Q: How did the recession change your approach to construction lending?
A: Fortunately, the way I do business did not change. We continued to do business the way we always have, even though the market was on fire and I think people were getting some really great deals out there. They were telling me they were getting lot loans at a lot better loan values than what I could give. Rates were going pretty low. People were quoting really low rates to get business. We kind of stayed level. Fortunately, (knocking on desk) we did not have very many losses during the downturn. But at the same time, I got to see a lot of good people struggling who were not making it, and I think that was the hardest part of the market falling.
Q: How much in construction lending do you do annually here?
A: Well, right now because the market dropped it kind of pulled the rug out from everybody, but ... just residential houses, we’re probably up to $24 million a year, which is less than half of where we were, but it’s building back up. It’s doing really well. A lot of other banks have stopped making residential construction loans because of a lot of new regulations that have come out, so I find that my piece of the pie keeps growing. It’s really wonderful because, being born and raised here, I’ve set up such a referral network that literally I go to my events and meet people, and it just kind of walks in or the phones ring.
Q: If you weren’t doing this, what else could you see yourself doing?
A: I would have my own little restaurant-pub, and I would be the person that greeted everybody and knew everybody’s name when they came in and remembered everything they liked to eat or drink … I just think that would be great.
Q: What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?
A: Actually, I’ve had a lot of folks just thanking me for supporting them. I just received a wonderful note from one of my friends at the National HBA (National Association of Home Builders); he just thanked me for being there for him; he went through some rough times recently . ... And I’m fortunate enough to hear things like that quite a bit. I love that. I am a believer in giving back. And I think that I would not be here if people had not helped me and pushed, and I think we all have to help each other.
Q: What’s your life like away from work?
A: I put my grandmother hat on a lot. I am known as MeeMaw, Meemee and Grandma D depending on who you’re talking to, and they are just such a delight. I never realized how wonderful grandparent-hood would be. Both of my daughters got pregnant at the same time. They were just dying to make me a grandma; they thought it was going to affect me; they thought I’d be like, “Oh, no. Don’t call me Grandma.” But oh, no, it’s been wonderful. Outside of work, I have the homebuilders association (involvement), I have homebuilders care projects. We try to help the women’s housing coalition as often as we can. We do a lot of the (fundraising) walks . ... At HBA, we have our bosque cleanup, but a lot of (life away from work) is probably riding my bike along the bosque.
Q: What is one food you can’t live without?
A: Chile. And red or green. I prefer green, but depending on who’s made the red, I will do both.
Q: What would you do with an extra hour every day?
A: I love taking pictures. I am the unofficial/ official photographer everywhere I go. If I had an extra hour, it would be spent organizing photos, putting them in albums and sharing them with the people who are in them.
Q: What was your last splurge?
A: I hate to say it, but I have not had a recent spurge. I have been going nonstop since October and have not had time for me. I am way past due. Thank you for reminding me.
Q: How would you describe yourself in three words?
A: Energetic; there has to be a little bit of mischievous in there; and caring.