Q: What led you to the credit union sector and to Xceed Financial Credit Union?
A: I’ve been in the credit union sector my entire career! I always had a knack for anything financial and a heart for service, so when I started working as a teller at a credit union and saw that here was an industry in which I could combine both of those passions, I was hooked! From there, I worked my way up and through pretty much every job you can have in a credit union, before being recruited in 2006 to lead Xceed — which, at the time, was called Xerox Federal Credit Union.
Q: How do you lead an engaged team? Describe your leadership philosophy.
A: For me, it’s all about communication. For associates to be truly engaged, they need to have a strong sense about how they fit into our big picture and how they as individuals can help us achieve our goals. Too often, leaders focus their attention on the front line and forget the amazing contributions of people behind the scenes. At Xceed, we work very hard to make sure every associate in every corner of the credit union knows how their actions and decisions can affect our members’ experiences and our bottom line
In terms of leadership philosophy, I like to say we get smarter every day. Each new day presents fresh opportunities to learn, innovate and excel — which is why I’m always excited to come to work!
Q: What are some of the new technologies and trends you are incorporating into your business model and day-to-day operations?
A: Frankly, there isn’t any segment of our business that isn’t being transformed by new technologies. On the marketing side, we’ve deployed a new marketing analytics platform that’s helping us to really fine-tune our segmentation strategies and be extremely efficient with our marketing dollars. Throughout the organization, we’re automating more and more processes, which is making us more efficient while eliminating friction points that can interfere with the member experience.
Q: Xceed Financial takes its social responsibility seriously and is committed to the communities it serves. Why is that important to you?
A: My volunteers and I share a deep, personal commitment to public service, to the environment and to diversity, equity and inclusion. I think the fact that there’s no daylight between us on these things is a key reason we’ve been successful as a socially responsible organization.
It’s also a business imperative. Certainly, our values-based approach to banking is one of the key differentiators between nonprofit credit unions and for-profit banks. However, it’s also something I think pretty much every business is going to have to embrace at some point, simply because that’s the direction society is going. Younger consumers want companies they do business with to stand for something positive, and they want to align themselves with businesses and organizations that are using the platforms they have to help make the world a better place.
Q: What specific goals do you have for Xceed Financial in 2020? What will your team be focusing on?
A: The rallying cry for us right now is growth. In 2019, we were heavily focused on growing core deposits. With all of our new competitors, that’s been a challenge for lots of credit unions, and I’m so proud that our team has been able to deliver and reach our goals. So now we’re in a position to broaden our growth agenda to also encompass lending growth and membership growth. It’s going to be an exciting year to be at Xceed!
This article was published in the January-February 2020 edition of The NAFCU Journal magazine.
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