Fresh off her first eye opening experience of CRASHING the 2020 GAC Daizey Kinn is eager to do more within her Credit Union as well as within the industry. Daizey is high energy, determined, and has a new focus on advocating on behalf of Credit Unions worldwide. We got some time to sit down with her to discuss her GAC experience, her day to day, and of course what she is going to do with all the knowledge and the new network of people she gained with out at GAC.
Tell me about your day to day and your Credit Union.
My day to day routine can be a little hectic. First things first, I am a mom and my day starts with my two young daughters. Getting dressed, brushing teeth, little giggles before we rush out the door. There are many times where I must be in the office early and they will come color or run around the lobby till it’s time for school/daycare. So you can say my personal life and Credit Union life can be the same thing at times. If I have a member in before our doors open, they often get to know Chloe and Luella a little better and it really adds the family feel to my branch. I am very fortunate to work for a financial that values work life balance and is accommodating to my schedule. Within the Credit Union I wear many hats. My official title is Branch Manager and that includes overseeing the branch, as well as coaching and supervising two employees. But this title also means being a teller during busy hours, loan officer, account representative, and all the things in between. I really get a feel for the full member experience which allows me to see things through the member lens and create an environment that is 100% all about the member.
I really like the mindset you approach your day to day with, being member centric is so important. What is your involvement with the Montana League, do they have a YP group, are you involved with the league?
Currently my involvement with the Montana League has been somewhat limited until I Crashed the GAC. I met Tracie Kenyon, President of Montana’s Credit Unions and Tom Boos, President, CEO of Billings FCU one of the first nights in Washington DC. At the time in my GAC journey I had really started to get a clear idea of where I wanted to go with my career and what I could do to help others. After about 30 minutes of being in the presence of these two amazing people and hearing about how passionate they are about advocacy it really clicked for me. Before we Hiked the Hill, the Montana Credit Union delegates were all invited to a breakfast and luncheon and during that time I shared a story about a local bank closing and the effect it had on my rural town. Immediately Tracie asked me to share that story with our Representatives. I did so and it really connected me to lawmakers, I plan on getting more involved in the Montana League as well as advocating day to day about all the hard work my Credit Union and Credit Unions as a whole are doing to help consumers.
Tell me more about GAC. This conference is the real deal and can create so much opportunity with CEO’s like what you mentioned above. What was CRASHING like, what were your biggest ah ha moments, and what are your takeaways?
That’s a loaded question! The GAC was life changing. We heard from inspiring speakers, Antonio Neves, Andy Janning, Jim Nussle, Gigi Hyland, Nikki Hayley, Platton, I mean the list goes on and on. There are a few things that have really stuck with me though. Antonio Neves asked us if we were to re-interview for our job based on our last 30 days of performance would we get hired again? That one got me. I take a lot of pride in my work, but it also made me realize that I could be doing a lot more. If others took that same approach to their day to day think how much we could accomplish and grow in our careers. Andy Janning said “If you want to run fast, run by yourself. If you want to run far, run together.” This really resonated with us as Crashers. We truly were there for the experience together and now even almost a month later we are still a family. We have a group chat with 60+ people and every day it’s active. All of us helping each other get further in our lives together. It is really the craziest thing to be able to pick a person out of a crowd of 60 and for them to just be there for you no strings attached. As an industry we are all connected, my eyes were really open to this at GAC. My biggest takeaway is my family that I walked away with. They all opened my eyes to how HUGE the credit union movement is. It truly is a movement of people helping people. Our generation doesn’t get enough credit for what we do on a day to day basis that helps the movement grow and it felt really good to be the center of attention at a conference of this magnitude. We are driven, forceful, and uniting. This is an exciting time for a young professional to be in the credit union industry. It just makes me so proud to be a part of this.
Amen to that. As young professional ourselves we see a ton of great things within the industry, which is why we started CUltivate, to give these people a spotlight and something others can grow or be inspired by. To us, having attended many of these conferences - networking is one of the most powerful tools; yet many YP’s struggle with this. How has your networking changed since GAC?
You guys are 100% accomplishing that, I have been following you all for a while and the content really is inspiring, I was honored when you asked me to tell be a part of it. I believe my initial response was “I will get this back to you tomorrow, thank you for the amazing opportunity!” I am going to be totally honest here, I don’t think I knew what networking was before the GAC. I started my LinkedIn profile specifically for the GAC to connect with my fellow Crashers. So you can say that the GAC was a “CRASH” course in networking! 😊 I am still growing and want to have more of a presence; both in social networking and in person.
Well we see you being a natural networker right from the start. With starting to tell your story to fellow Montana credit unions and then to senators, that is half the battle. So you are well on your way! I hope our readers will give you a follow and introduce you to the impactful people they follow on LinkedIn. Being fresh off the life changing GAC CRASH, what is next for you in 2020 and beyond?
Right now, I am focusing on making the small changes in my community. I really want the kids at my local high school to be educated on practical finances when they leave with their diploma. Currently, there is little to no education for teenagers on how to spend their money or what a credit bureau is. This really can have a negative impact on kid’s future and people are not paying enough attention to it across the board. I mean the list goes on with the lack of financial education. So that’s 2020 for me, working with the kids.
For beyond, I want to eventually become more involved in Credit Union advocacy. My highlights from GAC in Washington, DC were Hiking the Hill and telling my story and letting people know why credit unions are important! Especially in rural Montana where big banks won’t take a second look because they think money isn’t there, when really, it’s not about the money, it’s about the people. I want to be a voice for Credit Unions.
CUltivate is people helping people with our mission to spread the word, connect the people, and give an outlet to share your stories. Know someone in the industry we should interview? Drop us a line at CultivateYP@gmail.com
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