Panida Puccinelli at work

Panida was born into a Chinese family living in Thailand. After graduating from Chulalongkorn University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, she came to the United States to study International Affairs at Ohio University in 1974. She met her husband Dennis at graduate school. She married Dennis in 1977 and made the United States her home.

Panida’s professional career began as a teller in a branch of First American Bank. Her hard work was soon recognized, and she was promoted to Vice President of the regional office of the First American Bank. She was one of the first female Asian bank executives at the First American Bank. She and her husband are involved in the Washington, D.C. Thai American community.

Quotes by Panida Puccinelli:

My parents never [thought] highly of me.  They truly believed that I'm a black sheep, and therefore [for] them [for me to] get into any university in any department, they would be glad to see it, because when I was growing up, I was probably the only one they were so worried that I would never have a university education. …. Once I got in the university, I think they felt a little bit better.

The most challenging [thing] to me, it still goes back to just overcoming that barrier, that language problem.  Just overcoming that is probably more [difficult] than anything else, because once you get that out of your system, you can learn anything, you can do anything.  If you're in your own country, you use your own language. .... But for me anyway, since I work here, it's more like, "Gee, if I have to write this ten-page report, will my boss like it? [Will] my English be okay?" I have to talk on the phone all day, discuss all these loan problems, difficult problems. Will an American understand me? Once you overcome [the language problem], you don't think of it, then [you can get by]--I mean, I don't speak perfect English.  I make some mistakes.  But as long as you understand what I'm saying [it is okay].

The way I look at it, if I write correct English and people can read and understand [it], I don't have to use fancy words.  But if I can do all that, than anything else doesn't matter. .... When I first become the assistant manager, the most difficult time that I had, and I plugged along and did it anyway, is listening [on the] phone.  If it's not your own language,[the] many accents you [hear on] the phone [makes it more difficult].  So many times I would turn red, no one would know, and I would ask the person on the other end to repeat, "Spell your name again, please.  Can you say it again what you're trying to tell me on the phone?" Now I don't have that difficulty anymore because I decided to do it.  I know I'm the supervisor.  If I can't do it, I'm not going to get respect from my subordinates; and if I can't do it, my boss above me is not going to think highly of me and not going to promote me.  So I have no choice.  I mean, I would do it.  Every time any call comes in [and] there is a problem, it comes to me first.  .... But they never had to take any phone calls. I took them all. 

That's something that I think we all can do.  I was a poor student, and I [was] never really good in English.  In Thailand, even in political science in my class, I was just an average student. My brother and my sister, they're all the top.  They spoke English fluently even before they left home.  I didn't speak a word of English, because I'm always shy and afraid to speak and my English never really [was] that good, even back then.  But I think it's more of your attitude. This is something you have to go through yourself. 

Panida Puccinelli with husband

Panida Puccinelli