My name is Joel Phillipps and I’d like to take a few minutes today to tell you about myself. Certain dates seem to stick in my mind.
April 22nd, 1970. I was born at Northwest Hospital in Seattle. I don’t really remember that day. My parents always told me that I was born on the first Earth Day. I grew up in the Meadowdale area and attended Meadowdale Elementary, Middle, and High Schools.
August 25th, 1986. I was riding my bicycle with a friend when I struck a car and was almost killed. That experience taught me to cherish every moment as it could be my last. I recovered from the accident and went on to attend the University of Washington where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics. I spent the final year of college at the University of Tubingen in Germany. During this time I vagabonded throughout Western Europe and also spent a month in Egypt. I had so much fun goofing off ( I mean studying) in Germany that I traveled to Japan where I taught English in a now bankrupt English conversation school for 5 ½ years.
December 3rd, 1994. In Honolulu, Hawaii I married my wonderful wife, Akiko Kosugi. She is Japanese and we met while I was living in Japan. I didn’t start studying the Japanese language until after a visit to the local zoo. I was standing next to a sign written in red in Japanese looking at an Asian elephant. My wife was standing about 20 feet behind me. All of a sudden the elephant raised its trunk and hosed me down with water. Shocked and drenched, I turned around to my wife and said, “Did you see what that elephant did?” She replied, “Oh yeah, the sign says ‘Don’t stand too close. This elephant is tempermental!’” From that point on, I was determined to learn the Japanese.
January 17th, 1995. At 5:46 a.m., my wife and I awoke to a violent shaking. A large earthquake destroyed the nearby city of Kobe and also the school where I worked. I saw first-hand how in the face of government inaction, individuals and groups (probably Rotarians) provided relief and comfort for their fellow citizens in Kobe. All the roads and train tracks where damaged, so people walked to the city carrying blankets, food, and water. After the earthquake, we relocated to the city of Kyoto, which was the ancient capital of Japan for 1200 years.
In 1998, we moved back to the U.S. in settled into a home in Shoreline. We don’t have any kids, but we do have a cat and a dog. The dog, like any good companion, takes me for a walk every morning. My wife, Akiko, started a small, Japanese-style landscaping business that is growing steadily. I started working at a large national bank as a Teller and then moved up to Personal Banker for five years.
Last June, I left the big bank and joined Shoreline Bank, a local community bank as a Community Banker. Okay, here’s my plug. Shoreline Bank was started in 1999 by citizens and investors in the community of Shoreline. We currently have four branches and about 45 employees. The bank encourages community service and, therefore, gives me time to come to rotary meetings. Several Board Members as well as Senior Management are Rotarians. Two weeks ago, we opened our newest branch on Ballinger Way, which is where I work.
For me, Rotary is an opportunity to give back to the community where I grew up and make a contribution to a better world.