Born and raised in Chicago, Claressa relocated to Winston Salem in 1996 with her family where she joined Baptist Hospital as an administrative assistant and later, Wachovia in 1997. Claressa joined Deutsche Bank, now Alex. Brown – Raymond James, as a temporary employee in 2005 before being offered a position as Cashier in 2007. She has since been promoted to Branch Operations Coordinator where she continues to demonstrate her strong work ethic and embraces the importance of her role within the branch. In 2019, she was awarded Branch Associate of the Quarter*. She welcomes new experiences and is always eager to assist The Bryan Zaks Team in a support role.

Claressa earned her MBA in Business Management while working full-time and raising her family. She is a member, youth advisor and trustee of Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church. She has two children and one grandchild.

*The Branch Associate of the Quarter Award is given to a Raymond James & Associates branch employee in each division who consistently demonstrates the Service 1st pledge in working with clients, home office personnel and other branch associates. To be considered for this award, a nonsupervisory RJ&A branch support associate must have been employed with Raymond James for at least one year, must be in good standing with the firm (not on disciplinary action/probation), and could not have won the award in the past five years.