About Bob
A life spent near decisions that mattered.
Bob Lowry works with people who are ready to make one hard call. The way he coaches comes from rooms where hesitation had a cost: a bank office, a mountain, and a dojo in Belgrade, Montana.
Up the mountain, and back down.
Bob and Nicky met climbing Everest, then went back and climbed it again as a married couple. Bob has been to 26,000 feet on Everest twice. Both times, he turned back.
The second time, he lost vision in one eye. He had not eaten, slept, or had water in three days. Stopping would have put the people with him at greater risk, so he kept moving. Not toward the summit. Down toward base camp.
Going down was harder than going up. That is where he learned the difference between brave and reckless, and between quitting and wisdom. Sometimes the right call is to turn around. You still have to make it.
The dojo
Samurai Training Academy
Since October 2013, Bob has owned and been lead instructor at Samurai Training Academy in Belgrade, Montana. He teaches traditional Japanese martial arts: karate, jujutsu, kendo, and iaido.
He started the school in the hours after his banking workday, and it grew from there.
The dojo runs on discipline, focus, respect, and honor. You show up. You train. Readiness is not something you perform. You can do the thing, or you cannot yet, and the way through is more practice.
He brings that same steadiness to coaching: calm speech, no wasted words, and attention on the next honest step.
Samurai Training Academy is part of Bob's life. It is not the name of Make the Call Coaching.
Thirty-four years at the table.
Bob spent 34 years in banking: retail, commercial, healthcare and medical-practice lending, and institutional wealth. He worked at PNC for about 18 years early in his career and again later, and also at Wells Fargo, Rocky Mountain Bank, and First Security Bank Montana.
Much of that work was sitting with someone who had to make a high-stakes call about money, a business, or a practice, and helping them see it clearly enough to act. He has also helped people find their way through the banking system for business and personal needs.
See Bobs Business Career on LinkedIn.
Make the Call Coaching does not give banking, lending, or financial advice.
He led teams, too. In 2021 his Rocky Mountain Bank retail and small-business team finished at 149% of its annual goal.
Work he has helped build
Alongside the day job, Bob has started and supported community efforts.
- Founder, Gallatin County Sheriff Foundation (2025 to present)
- Founder, Montana Guys Who Give (2022 to 2026)
- Vice Chair, Montana State University Innovation Campus
- SCORE mentor, then chapter director, Bozeman
- Instructor, entrepreneurship and sales, Gallatin College MSU (2024)
Training
Bob is in health and wellness coach training with Wellcoaches. That training is still in progress. This site does not claim a Wellcoaches certification.
BS in Finance, Gannon University (1989).
The practice
The public name is Make the Call Coaching. The legal name is Make the Call Coaching LLC.
Montana registration has been completed and is waiting on final confirmation. Until that confirmation, this site does not describe the company as approved.
Break through the fence of fear to play on the court of courage.