April Miller, 36

The way April Miller sees it, success is about setting goals and hitting the target. “I’m so goal driven. I hit every single goal I set,” says Miller. 

Miller’s most recent goal: Making the Business Observer’s 40 under 40 annual list celebrating young, innovative entrepreneurs and professionals who create their own success. 

Photo by Mark Wemple

Mission accomplished. 

To help her celebrate, one of her first mentors in banking, Patty Jones — now retired — planned to fly into Florida from St. Louis to attend the Oct. 9 event.

Miller worked with Jones, then a branch manager at Iberia Bank in Bradenton, for more than seven years. At the time, Miller was a teller. “She was so smart and well respected,” Miller says. “She wanted to teach me. She helped me so much.”

Miller’s interest in banking started when she was young.

At 18, one of her first goals was to open a checking and savings account. She chuckles as she recalls her excitement at going to the bank.

Another goal? To become a branch manager by age 30, which she also accomplished.

About four years ago, Miller joined BayFirst Financial’s treasury management services department. Now she works with businesses in four counties, from Hillsborough to Sarasota.

During her tenure, monthly service fees for that department have grown from $900 to $8,000, Miller says. “It’s really about going out and building relationships,” says Miller. 

“We’re telling everyone about BayFirst and our services,” she says.

Miller credits her mom, Robin Turner, as being a key mentor in her life. One way was by leading by example, as Turner, Miller says in her 40 under survey, was a single mother “who always got knocked down but never gave up. It takes a strong, God-fearing woman to do what she has done in her life.” 

Another outlet that’s helped Miller of late is the book “The Let Them Theory,” by Mel Robbins. She says she’s often her own worst critic, but the book has helped her see that she can’t control others’ behavior or change what’s not in her control.

Instead, she focuses on what she can do.

And for now she’s considering her next goal. One idea: Maybe, she says, she’ll go after businesswoman of the year.