High Tide Partners is an execution-focused consulting practice helping community banks improve operational performance market value.
Our Team.
DANA ADAMS
Prior to teaming up with former colleagues to launch High Tide Partners, Dana spent more than two decades in banking, specializing in marketing, sales & marketing alignment, launching niche verticals, change management, communications, and client experience. Dana became a part of JPMorgan Chase through their merger with BankOne, where she had spent four years establishing and growing an event marketing function within Treasury Services -- delivering critical messaging through live event experiences including conferences, seminars, trade shows, sales meetings, and entertainment events. She grew into leadership positions with responsibility for events, brand development, creative services, content creation, internal communications and change management. During her last three years at JPMorgan Chase, Dana led Marketing, Communications and Change Readiness for Global Commercial Card, where she created methodologies, and championed necessary support from sales and her own teams, to deliver accurate reporting which measured and demonstrated return on investment for her $3M+ budget. At Texas Capital Bank, Dana built go-to-market strategies and led marketing for several lines of business, including three national deposit verticals. She went on to lead corporate marketing and established/led sales excellence and corporate communication functions. As part of a major strategic effort to transform the bank, Dana led a cross-functional team which evaluated market opportunities, launched 4 new lines of business and accelerated their growth. She then broadened her reach lead several transformation initiatives including Covid-19 business continuity communications, PPP lending communications, and the rollout of Agile methodology across technology and operations. Following her Texas Capital Bank tenure, as CMO of BankOnIT, Dana built a foundation for new growth channels – building out and executing on comprehensive marketing plans. She refined messaging and the visual representation of the company’s brand, launched a new website, added automated digital marketing capabilities to outreach efforts and helped integrate marketing and sales efforts. In 2023, Dana joined Texas Capital Bank colleagues Buddy Brasseaux and John Sullivan to launch High Tide Partners, an execution-focused consulting practice designed to help community banks improve operational performance and market value. Dana spends her personal time on the move. She’s a competitive CrossFitter who also enjoys tennis, softball, and outdoor adventure travel with her husband and two college-aged sons.
BUDDY BRASSEAUX
Buddy brings over 30 years of leadership experience in Financial Services, with deep expertise in merger & acquisition integration, commercial banking and treasury management, sales enablement, operations, and program management. Buddy’s career at Accenture began in 1990 with core systems implementations at Whitney Bank, Hancock Bank, Wachovia and NationsBank. He then started what would prove to be a long string of M&A integrations as NationsBank made multiple acquisitions to become a coast to coast bank, including the merger with the legacy Bank of America. He spent his final two years with Accenture at SunTrust on the “One Bank” program helping to revamp their core infrastructure after years of somewhat patchwork acquisitions had left them with a disjointed, complex and expensive platform. Buddy joined Bank of America in 2002 developing and implementing core HR platforms for people and performance management, compensation and the bank’s first internal website. He was the technology lead for two years on a massive banking center expansion with hundreds of locations across the country built new or drastically modernized. For the next 8 years, Buddy was in Treasury Management and Commercial Banking in a number of capacities, including as a Treasury program management executive, head of Commercial Strategic Initiatives, head of Commercial Sales Enablement (sales process, support, tools and data), and leading the Commercial and Investment Banking teams for Bank of America's acquisitions of Fleet, LaSalle and Merrill Lynch. He spent his final two years leading a major Procurement program that restructured the onshore organization, built out a brand new offshore function in India and revamped processes for $25 billion in annual managed vendor spend. Buddy then joined Texas Capital Bank in 2016 as Head of Operations. In that role he led Loan Operations, Deposit Operations, Client Service & Onboarding and the Consumer Bank. With the anticipated merger with Independent Financial announced December of 2019, Buddy was asked to take on an expanded role to be the COO of the newly combined institution that would have created a $48 billion asset bank. The merger was eventually called off after several months as the unknown impacts of the pandemic were considered, but Buddy took on responsibility for Technology, Marketing and Digital Banking in addition to his previous responsibilities. Buddy holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University and is a Six Sigma Greenbelt. In his free time, he enjoys golf with friends and watching as much football as his wife will allow.
JOHN SULLIVAN
Prior to establishing High Tide Partners with two former colleagues, John spent over 30 years in a variety of leadership and professional positions in the financial services industry. During that time he gained in-depth knowledge and skills in a variety of areas, including treasury product management, business development, deposit growth and optimization strategy, short term investment product and sales, commercial card product and sales, trust and investment operations, process improvement, quality assurance, treasury operations and client service. John’s start in the banking industry began with Texas Commerce Bank, where he served as the trust company's Cash Manager followed by a leadership role over multiple trust operational areas. After 6 years John followed several members of his executive team north to spend almost five years at KeyCorp National Bank in Ohio. While with KeyCorp, John managed multiple areas within the trust and investment operations, including customer onboarding and service, custody services, billing, statement fulfillment and vault operations. While there, John was instrumental in creating and implementing the bank’s first private client experience center, which allowed clients to contact a specialized team, handling all personal banking and investment services, including deposits, loans, credit card, investments and personal trusts. After too much snow and missing his Dallas Cowboys, and the sun, he returned to the Dallas Ft Worth area in 1997 and joined Bank One, soon becoming JPMorgan Chase. John initially joined the commercial bank operations team to implement a robust quality assurance function for multiple treasury management operational areas, including lockbox, wire remittance, controlled disbursement and ACH. In 1999, John transitioned into the trust area of the bank and spent 4 years building the Nonprofit and Charitable Account Administration (NCAA) team, supporting personal and institutional philanthropic entities nationally. John’s team provided client support, transaction processing, cash management, donor gift processing, pooled/unitized fund accounting and deferred giving support. In his final 2 years at JPMorgan Chase, John joined the Treasury Sales organization where he converted the commercial client base from an indexed to managed earnings credit rate, and provided corporate liquidity and investment solutions for commercial clients' short-term liquidity needs. It was at this time that John earned his Series 7 and 63 securities licenses, as a registered representative. In 2006, John joined Texas Capital Bank, at that time a $2 billion asset bank with a reputation as an entrepreneurial, client centric commercial bank, dedicated to disciplined organic growth with plans to change the Texas banking landscape. And they did. John remained with Texas Capital Bank for the next 15 years helping to grow the bank to over $35 billion with a focused and disciplined commitment to proper funding. In his executive role, he managed the treasury and liquidity product function for the bank, including all treasury pricing and rate management disciplines, in addition to developing and implementing various deposit and fee income verticals. In 2023, John joined two of his Texas Capital Bank colleagues Buddy Brasseaux and Dana Adams to launch High Tide Partners, an execution-focused consulting practice designed to help community banks build their competitive position & improve operational performance, profitability and market value. John is a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) and earned a degree in Finance from the University of North Texas where he currently acts as an advisory board member on FIREL (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate & Law). John resides in the DFW area with his wife and in his free time works diligently to get time on his four childrens’ busy schedules.