banker must be careful where she invests her own money to avoid competing with her customers. Therefore, Betsy Lawer put her wealth in Napa Valley grapes. Her two vineyards in Calistoga, California, operate in her absence most of the year, though. Her annual vacation time is capped at six weeks. She should talk to her boss about that.

Lawer has to “walk the walk,” she says. As a member of the Cuddy family, she followed her father and brother as President of First National Bank Alaska in 2013. She also followed her mother and grandmother into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame.

Lawer could easily retire to her vineyards, or as long as she’s working as CEO and board chair and president, simply coast on the can’t-lose proposition of her hundred-year-old powerhouse bank. Instead, Lawer is venturing into the uncertain territory of food service, remodeling a 1912 building in Calistoga into a restaurant. She’s sure the same mission statement behind the bank will work there: take care of your employees, customers, and community, and if you do that, you’ll be successful.

Alaska Business: What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
Betsy Lawer: Have a glass of ice water, put my feet up, and watch a non-challenging sitcom… It just disconnects me from anything else, and after I’ve watched an hour of whatever the sitcom is (some of them aren’t interesting), then I’m ready to move on.

AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn?
Lawer: I’m learning about restaurants. Hadn’t realized I was going to be. I would think at my age that I wouldn’t have to keep running up these learning curves, but gosh I keep doing it to myself.

AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert?
Lawer: Frank Sinatra.

AB: Other than your current career, if you were a kid today, what would your dream job be?
Lawer: High school principal.