The Liberty Bell: 36 Hours

Matt Duncan, Senior Lender in Henderson

Summer 2026 Edition 

Wednesday

6:30 A.M. 

My mornings start the same every day. I pretend to still be asleep as my two Golden Doodles, Mabrie & Millie, nudge me to wake up and take them out before I get out of bed. As I get back in the house, I wake up our youngest and begin fighting for bathroom time with our house full of teenagers ages 14, 16, 17 and 19. After a long hug with the wife, I’m quickly out the door to drop Jacob off to class at the middle school. It’s nice having three kids that drive themselves, because dropping off four kids to several destinations before going to work yourself was an exhausting day before 8:00 A.M. But, I soak in the fact that this is my 20th and last year of dropping kids off in the morning. I never thought I would miss running kids every direction, but I’m afraid I will.

7:30 A.M. 

I arrive at the office and start catching up on emails with customers and co-workers. I already have a client texting this morning about a project they will need funding for, so I reply back to continue the conversation.

8:00 A.M.

The rest of the crew is all here now, and everyone is gathering outside my office where the coffee pot is sitting. Not to mention, Donna made fresh, homemade sourdough bread so that is drawing in quite the crowd this morning. I enjoy hearing about everyone’s morning and catching up.

8:30 A.M. 

I meet with the loan officer team weekly to discuss loans that need attention and put together plans to keep them at the top of our communication list. I then rolled into a meeting with one of the lenders on the team to discuss a potential loan deal. We strategized about how we may be able to structure the loan to be sure we gain the relationship.

9:30 A.M.

After the meeting, I circled back to the customer from this morning with the project and loan request. The financials I had requested are flowing in through email. I’m getting them organized and beginning to review, while starting to put together a draft credit memo.

12:00 P.M.

YMCA Board Meeting. Great discussion with the board on our capital needs for the building and grounds, some strategic discussion on budgeting & fundraising goals for the year, and updates on our financials and upcoming events. I hang around after the meeting to get in a quick workout before heading back to the office. In the gym, I run into a client I banked at my prior employer. We strike up a conversation about his business and set up a meeting to get together next week and discuss some projects he has brewing which may need funding.

2:00 P.M.

After getting back to the office, I met with Wade to talk shop. We focused on a couple of deals we have going at the moment and then discussed some opportunities in the market we need to tackle. 

2:30 P.M.

As Senior Lender, I am responsible for approving loan requests from other lenders in Henderson. Today, I was sent a request, reviewed it and made some suggestions before approving and sending it to underwriting for further approval. 

3:00 P.M.

After the loan request, I looked at my own stack of deals that are in progress. I examine what we are still needing such as appraisals, title work, insurance, etc. I sat down with Donna to discuss which files need attention or follow-up.

4:00 P.M.

I have arrived at the attorney’s office with the buyer and seller for their loan closing. It’s a good feeling getting to the finish line with a happy customer. The seller was happy as well with their check in hand.

5:00 P.M.

All three of our boys are playing tennis this season, so I am out at the courts in my Independence Bank hat along with my Colonel gear. As I sit in the stands watching the games, I spent some time chatting with one of the other dads that was a long-time bank client of mine, but has yet to make the move with me to IB. But hopefully soon! Our oldest son, Jaxton, is a junior and plays the number one singles spot on the tennis team. He has gotten pretty darn good and thinks he may want to play in college. He won his match 6-2 6-4. My youngest, Jacob, is an 8th grader and plays the number four spot on varsity. Jaxon better watch out because Jacob may be taking his spot before long! Jacob won his match in a pro-set 8-6 against a senior.

Our second oldest, Jace, is a sophomore and is mainly playing because his parents highly encouraged him to sign up. Jace is more interested in his football season. Jace definitely looks like a football player and will likely see a lot of reps this year in varsity as tight end and defensive end. Jace and Jacob play doubles together and surprisingly get along on the court well. Tonight, they lost 6-8 in a close one.

8:00 P.M.

After multiple matches, we finally got back to the house for a late dinner. My wife Aimee had already prepared dinner for our in-laws who live next door, so we finish it off for her.

8:30 P.M.

I sit and watch some games on TV with my youngest and then lay in bed. There will be kids in and out of our room for a while, not to mention the dogs are taking up most of the bed. But, this chaos is relaxing for me and a great way to end the day together as a family.

Thursday

6:30 A.M.

Marbie and Millie are letting me know it’s time to get up with the nudges and licks. As I head out to the patio, I notice that the kitchen does not look as clean and picked up as it did when I went to bed last night. The boys must have had a second dinner, which I begin to pick up with the help of our daughter, Jaylee. She is working on her RN at the community college and working at the hospital, proudly following in her mom’s footsteps as a nurse. She leaves for the day; Aimee is already gone for her 12 hour shift, the oldest two boys are at morning football lifting practice, so this leaves me and Jacob as the last ones to leave.

7:30 A.M.

After dropping Jacob off at school, I have breakfast with a former client who I always enjoyed working with. I am working out how we can move his accounts to Independence Bank and continue supporting his goals.

8:30 A.M.

Once again, the crowd is standing outside my office for their morning coffee when I get back to the office. I’m not a coffee drinker, so they always give me a hard time and I tell them I’m too young for that stuff!

9:00 A.M.

I take another look at the client file with financials received yesterday. I had a few additional questions and rather than continuing our text conversation, I gave him a call and began building the credit memo.

10:30 A.M.

I put together a couple of reports that were due, including our prospect list for the month and updated the classified loan report. I wanted to get this ready before going to lunch with a mentor and previous co-worker of mine.

12:30 P.M.

Today, there is a Henderson Leadership Initiative class I am attending. I was in the class of 2008 and was recently asked to serve on the board, which I jumped at the opportunity! The group was deep in their curriculum, so I just showed my support for a bit. We recently had our annual retreat in New Harmony, where I got to meet the new incoming class. That was a great time! I am looking forward to what exciting projects come out of this year’s class for the betterment of Henderson. One of Independence’s own, Megan Rabe, is in this year’s group.

1:30 P.M.

The HLI Meeting ended, and I returned to the office to review a deal and prepare for a conference call with underwriting later this afternoon that will give me the work I need for the rest of the day.