Danita Rose
What makes Danita Wildly Capable?
Danita is a remarkable, empowering force in the OKC community, making everyone around her better through decades of leadership. A single mom who earned her degrees while working tirelessly, she founded Strategic Advantage, led Advantage Bank, and served as Executive VP at Oklahoma City Community College. Now a financial adviser, she helps families achieve stability and growth.” – ABBIE SEARS
What makes you feel proud?
I enjoy helping people solve problems and over the years I think I have gotten pretty good at it — from leadership training to managing money, so much falls in the middle.
Who is the biggest influence in your life? Why?
My son, Erick Worrell, and my life partner, Jim Holman. My son because he inspires me everyday with his creativity and positive energy. Jim because he reinforces my confidence in knowing that we can accomplish anything.
What’s been the biggest obstacle in your life so far?
At almost 64 years old, I know what the glass ceiling looks like and how much work it took to break through. I spent much of my career traveling across Oklahoma as a bank consultant. During this time, I was consistently surprised by how difficult it was to secure meetings with bank boards, unless there were lawsuits pending that demanded immediate attention. Nearly all board members I encountered were men, and the environment was often unwelcoming. Throughout my career, I was subjected to bullying, intimidation, and insults regarding my intelligence. I had to regularly remind board members that they called me for help because their institutions were facing serious challenges. Early in my career, I often had to defend my opinions and positions far more rigorously than my male counterparts. Frequently, I was the only woman present in meetings with upper management. While these experiences did not occur everywhere or with every bank, I quickly learned that the driving force was not always money, but rather power — and a desire to keep women from advancing to the top. Despite these challenges, I was fortunate that my hard work and results eventually spoke for themselves. I remained relentless, working long hours and never backing down. My ambition was to become the president of a bank (which I eventually accomplished), but I often wondered how I could achieve that goal when some men in the industry could not even imagine a female loan officer.
What advice do you wish you could give your younger self? How might it have changed your course?
Don’t do everything the hard way. Enjoy your youth, it flies by. You have to be grown most of your life so have a childhood. I was a high school drop out and I started working full-time at 15. I eventually went back to school and earned my master’s degree. But I did that while working, being a single parent, and navigating relationships that cost me both mentally and financially.
