Transcription:
The Importance of Finding Fulfilling Work

Bill Klaproth (Host):  When you’ve been searching for the right insight, advice and information on financial marketing; you know where to go, the Speak Easy. The exclusive source for financial marketing insights with a shot of human, starring Kelly Hellickson and Hilary Reed from EmpowerFi. Strategy drive, data driven marketing solutions for financial institutions nationwide. I’m your host, Bill Klaproth. On this episode, we kick off a three part series on understanding your “Why”, the importance of finding fulfilling work. And with us is a special guest, Mia Perez from the Louisiana Federal Credit Union. Mia, welcome to the Speak Easy podcast.

Mia Perez (Guest):  Whoop, whoop, thanks.

Host:  Wow, this is exciting to have a guest with us Kelly and Hilary, isn’t that right? How about it?

Kelly Hellickson (Guest):  Yes, it is. Thanks for coming on Mia.

Hilary Reed (Guest):  Super. Super excited.

Host:  And since this is called the Speak Easy podcast, that comes with it, spirits and atmosphere. So, what are the spirits that you care consuming ladies?

Hilary:  Ah, let’s let Mia go first. Mia, what are you drinking?

Mia:  Well at the moment, see you notice how I said that, that’s terrible but, my go to is usually a big robust cab, but since it’s 1025 degrees down here in New Orleans, right now I’m having a really crystal cold Sauvignon blanc Australian so, it’s beautiful.

Kelly:  You sound so fancy when you say Sauvignon blanc.

Host:  So Kelly, how about you? What are you imbibing with?

Kelly:  I am trying, I’m going to dabble in a little bit of that you know housewife mom thing, it’s called Cape in Line white peach sangria. So, it’s pretty refreshing.

Host:  Okay. Hilary?

Hilary:  It sounds like we need a sponsor or something for Speak Easy. Sponsored by… I am drinking my regular go to which Kelly probably if you asked her, she could guess right away, Tito’s and club with a splash of something like lime or orange. So, I’m pretty plain. I wish I could say I was drinking a Sazerac in the Speak Easy, but my bartender doesn’t know how to make it yet. I have to train him a little better.

Host:  Well nice job. That’s very fitting for the Speak Easy. That’s excellent.

Hilary:  Yup they can hear our ice jingle a little.

Host:  That’s good. I like it. I like it. So, we’re going to be talking about the importance of finding fulfilling work and finding your “why” in that work and that’s why we’ve asked Mia to be on with us. So, Mia, why do we need a “why” when it comes to work and what does that mean for anybody that’s unfamiliar with Simon Sinek and his “Finding Your Why” course if you will. Because he does have a course. You can take a course in finding your why but obviously, you can find him all over YouTube and a lot of people really like what he has to say when it comes to finding your “why”, so Mia tell us your thoughts on this.

Mia:  Yes, there’s so much out there about finding your “why” and I just love the way Simon puts it. I’m a huge fan of his books. Maybe that’s just because he was a – I think he was in advertising first. I think that’s – I’m still trying to figure out where that beautiful accent comes from with him. But that’s another talk show. Anyway, the – he’s just – the tall concept behind finding your “why” and not just something you do at work so to speak but it’s really fascinating when you think about where we spend our time everyday and how much more meaningful that can be if we align it with what we personally believe in. And so, it all comes from his belief basically in a nutshell, the mini version that he says few organizations really know why they do what they do. Everybody knows what they do. Right, if you asked anyone in the workplace or in their life or whatever, what do you do, they can tell you.

As a matter of fact, in the cocktail hour, people usually lead with that. What’s your name, where are you from, and the next question is always what do you do. And so everybody can articulate that but when you say why do you do it, they are like well what do you mean why do I do it. And so, that’s what we’re really talking about is connecting those two because the what comes from the why. And it’s really important. It makes a difference in where you spend your time, what you say no to, what you say yes to. And we had the pleasure of going through that exercise in our workplace at my credit union. It has nothing to do with credit unions. It has nothing to do with anything related to the industry at all, marketing, none of that.

It has to do with why you show up every day. So, it’s – we could talk hours about Simon Sinek and why but that’s pretty much the nutshell of it.

Hilary:  Did anyone after that exercise, say, you know what, I realized after talking about my “why” that this place is not the place for me? Did that happen at all.

Mia:  Oh so, that is such a great question because we ligit were prepared for that. We had that conversation. I said listen, it’s kind of like when you don’t survey people if you really don’t want to know the truth. Or you are not going to do anything with those results. And so, that was part of the convo was okay, what do we do when we really have clarity and someone says, yeah, no, not for me.

Hilary:  This doesn’t align with my “why”. Yeah, that’s such a great point because it reminds me of when we talk about credit unions doing training and coach up and coach out and you have to be willing to let go of people if it’s not right and that’s – I’m so glad that you thought about that prior to going into it. But it sounds like you didn’t have anyone want to say goodbye, so that’s good.

Mia:  We had a few people after we went through it – even now, not immediately today, but after we went through the whole bit, the exercise, we still had people struggle with it. They struggled with talking about the “why” because they’re superstars anyway and they just say I do this because it’s what I feel like I’m compelled to do. I’m supposed to do this. I’m supposed to when a team member calls or when someone calls, I’m supposed to drop what I’m doing and sacrifice what I’m doing for someone else. It’s just what I do. So, I don’t really even know how to articulate that. I’m like you just did, dude. So, that was a little hard. People don’t like to brag, I don’t want to say brag, but they don’t like to talk about the good things that they do and that’s the person you want because it’s like you are already doing it so keep doing what you are keeping who you are and that’s why you contribute to this team. but no, we didn’t have anyone we – listen, I had this thing called Freedom Counseling. And people were like what’s Freedom Counseling? I’m like it’s when you come to my office, I’ve got a big picture window and outside is the flagpole. And I say bring two copies of your resume and I have them look out the window and say what do you see. the American flag. What does that stand for? Freedom. So, we’re going to have some Freedom Counseling. You are not obligated to work here. Go forth and be free to do what you want to do or what you’re great at. And I’ve had to do that a few times, but people always hug you on the way out. Because I know it sounds really funny when I express it that way. But people –

Kelly:  No, it’s amazing.

Mia:  No freedom yeah, so they are like freedom counseling. I’m like come see me. So, it’s a real thing. It’s a real thing.

Host:  So is there a difference between having a personal “why” and a business “why”? is there a difference there?

Mia:  Oh, that’s a good question. So, people will often say that. And it’s a question that Simon addresses in his book, one of his books. People say well I have a “why” here at work and I have a “why” when I’m the spouse or at home. And it’s like no, you only have one “why”. You only have one “why”. You don’t at “why” at work and you don’t have a “why” at home. You have a – one “why”. It’s like why does Mia exist and why is she doing what she does and what lights her fire, what in an exhausting day – what has you come out of that feeling like you really did something that was meaningful. Fill in the blank. What is that? And that, once you can determine what that is, and what your strengths are, and what you’ve done that’s impactful to you, not to your neighbor, not to the person in the rearview mirror; but to you, that’s how you can determine what your “why” is and it doesn’t change, ever.

It may change in time in terms of as you age or different points in your life but in terms of today, and your work and at home and with your friends and your relationships; you only have one.

Host:  Right. That makes sense. So, basically, it’s kind of what’s your purpose, cause or belief. Right.

Mia:  That’s right.

Host:  Your purpose in life. What is this cause you are most passionate about. What’s your belief. So, did you have to figure those things out for yourself?

Mia:  I did, but what’s funny, is I didn’t really – this is going to sound so terrible, good thing I’m not working for Simon Sinek. I didn’t go into the exercise knowing that I would have to do that myself. I went in a bit curious and when you find your “why” as an organization, as a team, as a tribe; you can go through that, but it still really is important to do it on your own. And you can actually go through the exercise, go through the steps with a friend or with a confidant. And you can determine your own personal “why” and it made so much sense to me that when I came out of the back end of that exercise, my “why” aligns perfectly with my shops “why” and that is the perfect reason why every day doesn’t feel like work to me. And if I were to leave where I am today, my “why” would still be the same. So, whether I was making chocolates on the assembly line next to Lucille Ball or working at a financial institution with non-sexy checking accounts; the “why” is the same. So, it doesn’t matter what you do.  It doesn’t matter what you do, it’s the “why” always comes through anyway.

Kelly:  When we were talking about having Mia come on, and just rapping back and forth about topics, she did say that she – when she facilitated that exercise at her shop at her credit union; finding you exercise or finding your why exercise, she said it was my first attempt and I figured I’d either be a superstar or I’d have to freshen up the resume and be having the old, what’s your freedom look like conversation with herself. So, I think that’s really monumental and the fact that yeah, I mean you don’t wake up one day and say, I’m going to be a credit union marketer. I’m going to market for credit unions. I’m going to help them grow. I’m going to help them prosper. I’m going to help them completely put themselves on the map. And I’ve just always been a credit union brat.

Hilary:  Give me that credit union. I’m going to go market it.

Mia: Does any [00:11:13] say that. Like that sounds like a punishment. Right. It’s like what is credit union marketing. What in the world. Like what is that?

Kelly:  Heh no. It’s like drop and give me 20 credit unions. No, it’s just – I didn’t know. Just like Mia says. I didn’t know this whole time that my passion was in and I’m living my dream. I totally am. I’m so blessed. We’re so grateful. Hilary and I have talked about this time and time again. In the middle of a pandemic, our children are coming to us and saying mom, we haven’t seen you, how the heck are you busier now than you ever have been? Like everybody else is not busy. And we sit them down and we say, this is why. Because I am living my “why”, I’m living my passion every single day. It’s not work for me. It’s a passion and it’s – this is going to sound corny, but the credit union philosophy is people helping people and at the end of the day, it might have been just a knockdown, drag out, I got to sit down. I got to have a peach sangria. But you know that you are helping every single day you gave it your all because it’s not work to me.

Mia:  And you know why Kelly I said that and what we were kind of bantering back and forth with topics; why I said that I’m going forth with this exercise on the organizational level with hundreds of people; it’s the reason why I said I could either I’m going to be a superstar or I’m going to have to like ligit get the scratch and sniff resume paper out. Because to go through the exercise, it’s a pretty emotional thing. It sounds so hokey when you read about it but I was like oh my God, are you kidding me? But when you go through the actual exercise; the admonition is you cannot shortcut the exercise. You cannot do this just with a chief level team or an executive level team. You have got to take the time that’s allotted in the blue print to do it this way. You have to have these conversations. You have to – I was like oh my God. Okay so that means people are going to dig deep, they are going to reflect on some of their best memories while they’ve been working here and be prepared for people to shed many tears. Like have the Kleenex out. And I’m like oh my God, are you kidding me right now?

Kelly:  Yeah, financial institutions just aren’t ready for that half the time right and –

Mia:  No, because they’re thinking – yeah, they’re like what kind of training day is this? I’ve got to go. I’m busy. So, when we went through that, it was amazing. I mean 20 minutes in; I knew I’d hit a home run. I mean I had an employee stand up when we asked about tell us some of the impactful moments that you’ve had working here. What do you remember, and we had an employee that stood up and she says, she started to cry immediately, and she said I remember working here in whatever role I was in, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. And the HR person came to me, one of our employees, came to me and said, out her hand on my shoulder and said, you focus on your family and what your husband and your children need from you right now. You don’t worry about this job. You don’t worry about if you have a job. You’re going to have great days. You’re going to have terrible days. And we are here for you no questions asked.

And other employers would never do that. And that wasn’t just lip service. And she’s still with us to this day and she said I will never forget what you did to make me feel like I was important and that it wasn’t really about the checking accounts and loans and all this stuff, the what that we do; it’s “why.” And that was one of probably 40 stories and at the end of the day, it was like eyes opened when we went through that exercise. So, that’s what I mean by this could go horribly wrong because there are a lot of people who will fold their arms and say I’m not going to go there. I’m not going to have these conversations. I punch in and I punch out and I leave. Those are the people that come for the Freedom Counseling. Those are the ones that we’re like okay, no problem, listen you don’t have to buy in, you don’t have to drink Kool-Aid. It’s cool. We’re not asking you to change who you are though, but we are asking you to buy into the tribe “why”. Like we have clarity now so now you get on board or you find somewhere else to practice your excellence. I mean that’s your two options.

Kelly:  Absolutely. You know and that’s just a really moving story and it’s even more so the fact that you had not one but 40 of them and something that I want to capitalize on that you said, not every employer, not every type of company, not every vertical is going to do that and I think that’s true. I can count so many times in my childhood, my mom started out as a teller at Blackhawk Community Credit Union in Janesville, Wisconsin. I mean 42 years. She just retired. She started out as a teller. She’d come home and she’d have stories. I’m not supposed to talk about this but, I just have to at the dinner table and she’d tell us girls, this is what it’s about. I’m not making a million dollars here, but I know I’m going to be able to work up, work my way up the ladder. I know I’m going to have a pension. I know I’m always going to have a place where away from my family there’s going to be family. So, I thought wow, just to see my mom so passionate about that and literally, I never heard that woman once complain about going to work. Never once.

Mia:  Right. It’s like we – if you are watching the clock, you probably are not working for something that’s really empowering your “why.” And listen, I’m not saying every day is glorious. I mean, I’m not saying that. We all have the crap work that we have to do every now and again. You know like staple papers and – but for the most part, if you are not – if you aren’t invigorated at the end of tiring work day, it’s probably time to just say what am I doing? Am I wasting my life? I can’t get back what just happened five minutes ago. That time is gone. So, make sure I’m doing something that’s either helping other people if that’s my “why” or feeling like you said, living the dream, living your dream and that’s another conversation. My person “why” I can articulate that. I’ve got it written out. And that’s a – I’ve really had some – I’d say come to Jesus enlightening moments in developing my own personal “why” that were lessons over my career. So, that’s something we can talk about too.

Hilary:  And sometimes you don’t find your “why” until you find the opposite. Right so –

Kelly:  That’s a great point.

Hilary:  It’s crazy to say, but when you’re talking about this I’m thinking about where I was in my past career and I didn’t actually know my “why” until I came to this segment of my life and then I was like, oh, there it is. There you are. I’ve been looking for you this whole time. And it made me realize what I don’t want so much so that I found my “why” in that.

Kelly:  Yeah, that’s amazing.

Host:  Yup, really good. Well this has been a great discussion on finding your “why”. This is going to be a three part series, so this is part one. So, this is really a great way to start it off talking about your personal “why” and finding that and again, talking about your purpose, cause or belief. So, make sure you check out podcast two and three of finding your “why”. Mia, Kelly, and Hilary, thank you so much. This has been great.

Kelly:  Yeah, thank you Bill.

Hilary:  Thanks can we do a little virtual cheers with our Speak Easy drinks?

Kelly:  One, two three, cheers.

Host:  And to connect with Kelly or Hilary please visit www.EmpowerFi.org. This is the Speak Easy financial marketing podcast. Thanks for listening.