Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Commerce team member Kenya Munsch.

“Being of service is an important part of my culture,” she says. “It’s about helping others feel like they matter, and it’s about forming connections with people. It’s how I was raised. If I need to go without something in order to help someone else, that’s just what we do in my culture.”

Munsch was born and raised in Mexico, where she learned to appreciate the importance of being connected to family, friends and the community. “I like bringing people together,” she says. “For example, in our house, we have dinner together every night. We talk about our day and share with each other. That was a big part of my life when I was a little girl. Mom or Grandma spent two hours cooking a meal for everyone, so you don’t just eat it and go. Everyone sits and we have a great conversation.”

While Munsch says she appreciates Hispanic Heritage Month, she enjoys celebrating her culture and traditions year-round. “If I have an opportunity to talk to anyone about my culture, I’ll do it,” she adds. “It’s good to have a designated month to encourage others to learn about Hispanic culture and be curious about it. It gives me even more opportunities to share all the wonderful things about my Mexican heritage. For me, it’s a lifestyle. It’s who I am.”

After finishing high school in Mexico, Munsch attended college in California and worked there for several years after graduating. When the economy took a downturn in 2008, she decided it was time to do something different.

“I was single with no kids, and I wanted to make a change before change found me,” Munsch says. “In California, I’d just been working to live. I wanted more work-life balance. I had friends from college in Hays, so I went for it.”

Moving from southern California to a city of 20,000 in Kansas was a significant adjustment at first. “I had always lived in big cities,” she says. “Hays was a big difference. But I’ve been here 14 years and I really like it. I met my husband here, I have two kids, and I have a great balance.”

Munsch worked in bookkeeping after arriving in Hays, but she eventually realized she desired a change in her career path as well. “I wanted to work with people and not just be around numbers all day,” she says. When she found a job listing for a personal banker position with Commerce, she applied immediately. As she notes, “Some of my bookkeeping clients were Commerce customers, so I was in our local branch regularly. I always noticed how happy everyone seemed to be. They were always quick to help. That was an environment I wanted to be in.”

After working as a personal banker for almost a year, Munsch transitioned into her current role, which involves helping business customers with their financial needs. “I work closely with our lenders and compile financial data from customers to help facilitate everything,” she says. “I support our commercial lenders in any way they need so they can serve our business customers. I also am often a point of contact for our customers – and I really enjoy that.” Munsch says she particularly enjoys occasionally serving as a translator for some of Commerce’s Spanish-speaking retail customers. “I believe I’m the only Commerce team member in Hays who speaks Spanish, and I really like helping in that way,” she says. “For people coming to a country with a different banking system, having someone there to help is a big deal. We focus on making banking easy to understand, and explaining concepts in one’s native language really helps with that. I enjoy welcoming people into our banking community.”

Raymond Haas, a vice president and commercial solutions specialist at Commerce, has worked with Munsch since her first days at the bank. He says her work with Spanish-speaking customers has been greatly appreciated.

“We have a growing Hispanic population in Hays, and we’ve had customers tell us other banks didn’t make them feel as welcome as we do,” he says. “Kenya is a big part of that. Whether someone needs help with a banking issue or just anything related to being new here, if she can help them, she will. She goes above and beyond for the people in our community. She puts her heart into it.”

Haas adds that Munsch’s willingness to do whatever is needed makes her a great team member. “She never limits herself to what’s in her job description,” he says. “She wants to get things done and help others. That’s where her focus is all the time.”

One of the ways Munsch helped others recently was by volunteering to be part of a Commerce group that participated in the Hispanic College Institute, a three-day program at Fort Hays State University designed to introduce Hispanic high school students to college life.

“We talked about banking and financial literacy in general, but I also got to talk to the students about my career path and background,” she says. “Once the kids realized I grew up in Mexico, they had all kinds of questions for me. It meant a lot to them to hear from someone who was the first in their family to go to college — it helped them know they could do it, too. That was an amazing experience.”

Munsch says she’s excited to continue focusing her energy on the Hispanic community in Hays. “I want people to know that Commerce is here for them,” she says. “You won’t just be a number here; we want to establish a relationship with you, so you feel comfortable coming to us whenever you need guidance around anything financial.”