Colleen Anderson-Caballero

Executive Vice President

Wells Fargo Bank

Age: 42

Don’t think that just because Colleen Anderson-Caballero is a banking executive, she’s a stick in the mud. On the contrary, the once-aspiring comedian sometimes uses wit to her advantage in her banking career.

“I am much better at banking than comedy,” Anderson-Caballero said with a chuckle. “I make my friends laugh but I don’t think I could make a living at it.”

That’s good news for her clients at Wells Fargo Bank, where she heads up lending for about 22,000 small businesses with annual revenues between $1 million and $10 million.

That translates into about $5 billion in loan commitments for Wells, the nation’s second-largest lender to small businesses, with $3.55 billion in loans outstanding. L.A. is such an important sector of that market that Anderson-Caballero is based here, even though Wells Fargo is headquartered in San Francisco.

Charles Ciarlo, president and CEO of 800 Direct, a telemarketing firm in Canoga Park, said Wells Fargo initially denied him a loan three years ago. He protested and Anderson-Caballero called him from home while she was in the midst of moving. Some wrinkles were ironed out, and the loan was approved within hours. Thanks to that loan, and an increased line of credit that Anderson-Caballero and Ciarlo settled over lunch, 800 Direct was able to buy some needed equipment. As a result, revenues increased.

“I’ve never been dealt with in that way before,” Ciarlo said. “She’s got a can-do attitude and has come through in tough situations.”

Anderson-Caballero says that if she has a choice between toeing the corporate line or doing what’s best for customers, she doesn’t hesitate to choose the latter.

“I am more of an entrepreneur at heart than I am a banker or corporate person,” Anderson-Caballero said.