Her Story
About Shannon
I've been in the banking and credit union field for 28 years, starting as a teller at People's First Bank and working my way up through various positions. I spent approximately 18 years as a branch manager before being given a promotional opportunity through my networking in the community, which led me to Panhandle Credit Union. Now, as Regional Operations Manager for a year and a half, I oversee 6 branch locations and all the branch supervisors, handle 90% of the training for our organization, and focus on coaching team members, scheduling, staffing, and making sure the branches run efficiently with all the tools they need to succeed. I'm also a certified credit union financial counselor, which is really important to me because I love helping people achieve their financial goals, whether it's buying a house, buying their first car, getting their credit card, or getting their retirement on track. I'm very involved in the community through networking, which has been instrumental in my career growth.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Shannon
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'm very self-motivated. I had children young and never finished my education straight out of high school, so I was very motivated to obtain my education throughout the years, even working till wee hours in the morning while raising kids and trying to get those degrees. Between you and I, I'm very Type A and very high functioning, and a lot of that is really just self-inflicted success and just wanting more for my life and my kids than just the status quo. Over the years, I've had people that have mentored me and guided me as well, and I've had a lot of people pour into me, but really it comes down to being self-motivated and pushing myself to achieve more.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The advice that's really stuck with me the most is just always being positive and having a positive outlook on everything that you do. It's not just about you, it's about everybody on the team, so when you focus on everybody and the efforts they put in, and how it benefits the entire organization, that really is important. You can have horizontal leadership, you can have upwards leadership, it doesn't always have to be downward leadership. So just really making sure that everyone is successful, even if they don't directly report to you, is important. And always have a positive outlook on everything that you do, learning from your mistakes, and just moving forward.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Learn everything you can and never stop growing. Really know your self-worth and know that you have the capabilities of doing the same thing men can do. I'm a huge advocate of women in leadership, and seeing where I'm at now, our number 2 and number 3 in leadership are women, which is a huge motivator for me. The sky's the limit, but you've got to continue growing and learning, putting in the effort, and always pushing forward with that work ethic and positivity. Really just take your job seriously. That's how I got where I am today, by continually growing and not just being happy with the status quo. Know that you can be leaders. I coach young females every quarter, and I have informal coaching daily, and I always let them know, hey, I see you, you have this potential, here's what you need to do to get there, let's work on that and continually work on that.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Really just the different generations that I work with, from Gen X to employees ranging from their 20s to people in their 60s. Navigating the different generational challenges and technology is a big part of it. Some are not as up-to-date on technology as maybe others are, and they communicate differently. Communication among different generations is different, so just navigating and really trying to speak with everyone differently is probably the biggest challenge. It's really about the communication side of the generational side of things.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is number one. I tell my people all the time, you jeopardize your integrity, really, you're done. Like, you're toast. You cannot jeopardize your integrity. Work ethic, honesty, and reliability are really my top 4 values. You can learn anything, but those things, I don't feel like, can be taught. You've just really got to be able to nail those 4 things: reliability, honesty, integrity, and work ethic.
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