From banking in the Bayou to being a Southwest Florida community leader with Brandon Box

May 29, 2025

Brandon has been in banking in Southwest Florida for 15 years, joining Orlando-based Cogent in 2020. He started his career in his native Louisiana, working for IberiaBank in Baton Rouge and since coming to the Naples-Fort Myers market he’s become a go-to leader in the business and civic community.

On this episode Brandon talks about the lessons he learned from navigating the 2008-09 recession as a young banker, and how that frames his leadership style today. He also talks about the value in transparency in holding people accountable, and how he maintains a positive workplace culture.

3 Takeaways

(13:20) Invest in your people and train them well
(19:45) If it were easy, everyone would be doing it
(20:10) There is never failure unless you stop trying

Timestamps

(00:00) Introducing Brandon Box, Market President, Southwest Florida, Cogent Bank
(05:00) How Brandon got into banking
(07:30) Learning from 2008-2009 recession
(09:20) What makes Cogent different?
(12:30) How do you build teams?
(14:00) Characteristics of good leaders
(15:15) Balancing personability and leading
(17:00) Mentors and lessons
(18:40) How do you handle setbacks?
(21:50) Cogent Bank in 2025

Join us every week as we interview business leaders to learn what makes them great, what they look for in growing leaders and much more.