Layna Dupuis

Layna Dupuis started in banking as a high schooler. "I was an incoming junior," Dupuis said. "I wanted to work. I needed to work. I come from a hardworking family. As soon as we can work, we work," she said.

Fortunately for Dupuis, who had been passed over by two other prospective employers, her mother had a friend at the community bank in nearby Idabel, Oklahoma, who agreed to hire her. It didn't take long for the 16-year-old to realize she had a talent for what she termed "the service side" of banking.