Wisconsin focus is key for Johnson Financial Group's Schoenborn

Evamarie Schoenborn knew she wanted a stronger community focus when she decided to make a return to Milwaukee.

Having worked at large, national firms for most of her career, including a stint at Northwestern Mutual from 2017 to 2022, Schoenborn wanted something different.

That’s what she got with Johnson Financial Group, where she serves as the president of the Racine-based firm's Johnson Wealth subsidiary. She began in her new role in June.

“It’s more difficult at those large, national firms, because you’re trying to make your messaging resonate with everybody in the country, and everybody in the country is very different,” Schoenborn said. “Here, we have a very specific focus on this state and only in this state, and our mission is to deliver value to the people of Wisconsin.”

Schoenborn didn’t initially plan to enter the world of wealth management. During her time in graduate school at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Schoenborn landed a temporary job with a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial Inc., located in the Minneapolis area. Her success was noticed immediately, and she was brought on full-time.

“They asked me to continue working there past the summer and (said) that they would pay for my graduate school,” Schoenborn said. “I learned a lot about basis points and how financial service firms operate, how they build products and how they build some of the most complex products in the industry.”

This turned into a 21-year career with Ameriprise, where Schoenborn rose to vice president of the organization’s wealth management division before spending more than four years in various leadership roles with Northwestern Mutual. Schoenborn most recently was a managing executive at U.S. Bank in Minneapolis from June 2023 until June 2024, when she joined Johnson Financial Group.

Johnson Financial Group is among the largest private companies based in the Milwaukee area, with $289.52 million in revenue in its latest fiscal year and 597 local employees, according to Business Journal research dated October 2024. It includes Johnson Wealth and a banking subsidiary, Johnson Bank.

Schoenborn said she was excited to be given the opportunity to join Johnson Financial Group after being recruited for the position.

“Getting an invitation to work for this firm, a privately held firm that has a founder’s vision of helping the people of Wisconsin, that is a very special invitation to get,” Schoenborn said.

In her new role with Johnson Financial Group, Schoenborn aims to grow her team and build the group’s reputation and clientele, which numbers in the thousands.

“That means we’re going to need more talent to do that,” Schoenborn said. “We do a great job for our clients today. In order to grow, we need more people, more financial advisers, to serve more clients.”

In her role, Schoenborn puts an emphasis on building relationships and investing in other people, as it has helped her reach the point where she is today.

“It’s not only the wealth management business that relationships are relied on, it’s the business of life,” Schoenborn said. “If you invest in other people, you do right by other people, opportunities will come.”

This rolls into her leadership style. She said she aims to create a nurturing environment where “everyone can win and where everyone knows what winning looks like.” She said she brings a collaborative approach.

“I have a clear vision of what is possible, and I bring people along on that journey to help create what that is. There’s no one person that can drive company success. It takes everybody, every person from every chair, especially when we’re dealing with a business as complex as wealth management,” Schoenborn said.

Schoenborn’s leadership style is part of what made her a good fit in the eyes of company executives, along with her extensive background in wealth management, said Johnson Financial Group CEO Jim Popp.

“This business is great because it’s a face-to-face business, an in-person business, and she’s a very face-to-face, in-person, roll-up-your-sleeves and get-your-hands-dirty kind of a leader in this business. And that was really compelling for us as well,” Popp said.

With goals to grow Johnson Financial Group's wealth management division, Popp said he has seen Schoenborn’s leadership and personality already begin to shine through less than a year into her time with the business.

“She’s not a wallflower. She’s not shy. She’s been a really good cheerleader and advocate for the culture, for how we celebrate success and wins in our business, which is nice,” Popp said.

The transition from working at bigger, national firms to a smaller, more tightly knit one such as Johnson Financial Group has Schoenborn eager for the future — both for herself and her department.

“This is different in that we’re winning hearts and minds in a really meaningful way in the state of Wisconsin,” Schoenborn said. “To me, if we can make a meaningful impact in those communities and in each one of those communities the people in unison will say, 'that’s the best bank in Wisconsin,' that’s fantastic. It’s very meaningful to me that we’re community focused.”

As seen in bizjournals.com.