Transcription:
The Importance of Finding Fulfilling Work Part Two

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 infused; data driven marketing solutions for financial institutions nationwide. I’m your host, Bill Klaproth. Well we’re jumping into part two of our discussion on the importance of finding fulfilling work part two, basically finding your “why” with our special guest, Mia Perez of the Louisiana Federal Credit Union. Hello Mia.

Mia Perez (Guest):  Who hoo. You make that sound so much better than it actually is.

Host:  Oh please. Come on. Everybody at Speak Easy gets that welcome. Please.

Mia:  Okay.

Host:  Although you are our first guest. So no one else has got that greeting because you are our first guest. But everybody will get that same greeting.

Kelly Hellickson (Guest):  First and honorary guest. So. don’t forget it.

Host:  Honorary that’s right. So, this is the Speak Easy. Can we get a shout out for what you’re drinking ladies and a cheers from you?

Mia:  Oh fantastic.

Kelly:  Yeah Hilary you go first.

Mia:  Yeah, what’s yours?

Hilary Reed (Guest):  Well I really need to change it up a little bit but right now, I am drinking vodka with a little bit of ice.

Host:  Straight up?

Hilary:  Tito’s. That’s Tito’s to be specific because it doesn’t give me a hangover. Thank you very much.

Kelly:  Heh, it’s Friday, you’re entitled.

Hilary:  Everyday is Friday.

Kelly:  Mia, what you got over there in that glass?

Mia:  Well as I said before, I normally a red girl. This is the problem, I’m a little bit of everything girl. I’m a Tito’s fan. I’m a huge scotch fan. But I do not kind of like – wine is sort of my everyday every hour kind of thing. So, right now it’s a crisp sauvignon blanc, it’s Australian. A 2016 vintage. Tasty.

Kelly:  Nice.

Hilary:  Wow, wine makes me so hot. I can’t do it. My cheeks get so red. I get so warm. You got to teach me some tricks Mia.

Mia:  Yeah, well you know it’s funny. I can say, I’m Asian, my dad is from the Philippines so there’s a thing called Asian – the Asian flush. I think that’s a real thing. I don’t think that’s like and urban –

Hilary:  It is.

Mia:  Okay.

Kelly:  Well I thought it was like from the notes in the wine or what have you.

Mia:  Yeah, I don’t get that, I just get fat. You know all the wine that I drink.

Kelly:  Stop.

Host:  Kelly, how about you?

Kelly:  Oh I have a – I’m still on these Cape in Line, you know, the white clog, it’s got the spotlight for a while and it’s the housewives, the house moms, the pool moms drink of choice. So, I’m switching it up with a cape and line white peach sangria.

Host:  Nice, very nice.

Kelly:  So yeah, I’m doing pretty well over here.

Host:  So, this is part two of a three part discussion on finding your “why”. In part one we talked about the importance of finding your “why” and why that really matters. And we’re going to dig in a little bit more with Mia now. Mia, you have a definite “why”. You’ve gone through the Simon Sinek program. Can you explain to us more of your “why” and I know there’s a formula that you use to get to your “why”. Can you explain that to us and what yours is?

Mia:  Yeah. Sure. I’m glad that you mentioned Bill, that there’s an actual format because I don’t particularly love the format. It’s got extra wording and it’s a little quirky to me. But anyway, it is what it is. I shouldn’t argue with best selling author Simon Sinek. But the “why” is architected this way. It’s to blank so that blank. Alright so to blank so that blank. So, my personal “why” is to help people so that they can be as successful as they desire to be. So, that’s my personal “why.” So you just drop it in, the statement right after to so that what. That’s the formula for the “why” and it’s the same format. You can’t get romantic with it. It is what it is. He wrote it in the book. So, that’s mine.

Host:  Yeah, that’s really good. I like that.

Hilary:  That makes it so much easier to think of things. just like fill in the blanks and you can fill in the blanks 100 times until you get it right.

Kelly:  Yeah, thanks Simon.

Mia:  Yeah. But you know people – here’s what’s really funny, is I have spoken to a number of people, a number of colleagues and I do this also as some gig work, right and so when I talk to folks about finding your “why” they’re like okay, well we – this is what we’re going to do. We’re not going to go through the whole process of bringing everybody in the room and going through the hours of work and retrieving the stories. We don’t have time for that so what we’re going to do is send a memo or we’re going to go through this as a leadership team first and we’re just going to unveil it to the staff as to what the organization’s “why” is. I’m like, that’s fantastic. Don’t call me. Because it’s like, well really the top three of my resume. That’s not the way you do it. It’s like that’s not the way you do it. You’ve got to go through the entire journey of understanding and developing finding your “why” even though the outcome is really so simplified. To contribution fill in the blank so that whatever the impact is. That’s how it’s done.

Host:  And how does that relate to core values then? Is there – are those two similar that statement and your core values as a person? How do those two intertwine?

Mia:  I think so. I mean I think that they – they’ve got to be right? I mean Hilary, right, they have to be.

Kelly:  I don’t see how they couldn’t be.

Hilary:  We looked at our core values as an organization and then each of us individually went and wrote our own core values because we thought it was really important to see how everybody aligns or maybe doesn’t align with our core values but just looking at – like looking at my “why” and then looking at my personal core values, I mean they align like the same words almost identical. And then looking at our organization and looking at our core values, there’s alignments there which darn it, there should be because if Kelly and I don’t have personal core values that align with our company core values then there’s – but there is nothing wrong because they align. I would say 1000%

Host:  Can you share yours then if you were to put it into this format to blank so that blank. What does that look like? I don’t mean to put you on the spot but what would that – what does that look like?

Hilary:  No, it’s fine by me. I have it and I’ve sort of had it in my head and I didn’t realize when I got it but in 2018, I took my son to California for his 17^th birthday and we were supposed to get a tattoo together, but little did we know, in California, you couldn’t get a tattoo if you are under 18 even if your parents are with you. So, there I go, walking in, getting my own tattoo by myself because he couldn’t get one. But I designed a tattoo that was – it was like three half triangles kind of. They look like three mountains to represent myself, and my two children and with a black line through the middle and when you put a line through a triangle, it signifies the word explore and then I love mountains so that a big thing and then the three was for the three of us. But I didn’t realize at the time, that I was sort of putting my core value on my body so, my “why” that I just wrote down with this formula when you said it and don’t make fun of me. But it would be to work just enough so that my kids and my family can experience the world together. So, to me, that means I work, just enough. I had to put that in there because I felt like that was important. I’m self employed for a reason. I don’t want somebody else having to tell me how much I can work, right? So, to work just enough so that we can experience the world together. So travel and adventure and exploring the world is really, really important to me and to my family. So, that’s my “why” written out in the formula.

Host:  That’s different than what you do or how you do it. It’s why you do it. So, that makes sense. Kelly, how about you? Can we put you on the spot?

Kelly:  Yeah, well I guess it’s hard, it was hard to sum up until Mia gave us that formula that she learned from her exercise from Simon Sinek. So, my “why” would be to solve problems for people so that they can go thrive at what they’re meant to thrive at. And I am just – I’m a people pleaser, I’m a yes girl, I am hardest on myself, I would never let Mia down, I would never let Hilary down, I would never let Bill down. I will let myself down all day long but I think that it’s a strength of mine in terms of solving problems, like I want to take the stress off people’s plates because I know how stressful it is and so, I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I want to take that off so they can go do what they’re meant to do whether that be today, this hour. I always say when I started this career of mine, I was really firm on the fact that listen, you don’t have to listen to me, you do not have to work with me, you do not have to partner with me but please just give me a chance. If I can educate you and I can take time, stress and money concerns off your plate as a CMO, as a CEO, as a marketing assistant; please give me the opportunity to do so.

And I think it’s really served me well and I like being that first call. I like being the person that the CMO calls and says Kel, I have an issue. Can you handle it? Absolutely done and then we get off the phone and as a team Hilary and I, behind the scenes, we strategize, we give it to our team and say this is the plan of attack. So, I think that’s incredible and I think it seeps well into my personal life, right, because I am a momma bear first and foremost and if you mess with my cubs, oh, you’re not going to get Wisconsin Kelly. Let’s just put it that way.

Hilary:  I was going to say that so aligns with your personal “why”. I was like hearing it as a personal “why”.

Kelly:  Yeah so and I yell at my husband for like can you just take something off my plate and he’s like well – he’s so confused, poor guy. He’s like well babe, you just told me to go this because you’re going to do this, this and this. And I’m like well you are just supposed to know that you’re not supposed to let me do this, this and this, just this and this.

Hilary:  And that’s a conversation for another day.

Kelly:  It is a whole another Jenny Jones.

Mia:  That’s a perfect fodder for Mar are from Mars, Women are from Venus, right?

Host:  Right.

Mia:  That will be an hour long.

Host:  So, when you say this has served me well, maybe we can go around the podcast room here. how has this benefitted you? How does this benefit someone? I’m thinking someone listening going this is great, I know my “why”. How is it going to help me now? Or how does this really ultimately benefit me? Mia, maybe you can jump in on that.

Mia:  The short answer is when you know what your “why” is, okay not only does it add clarity to what you do every day, but it allows you to say no. it allows – especially for those of us who are overachievers or who are folks that just take challenges and adversity in the face and just go at it. It allows us to re-center and say wait a minute, is this something that I should be using my time and effort and resources towards and so it helps us really helps you focus – laser focus in on what it is you are supposed to do and with that, you have to say no to the other things. It’s like Dr. Neil Goldman says when you flash the flashlight, if we all flashed a light onto the wall in the same spot, we would get an extra vibrant light whereas if we were all focusing in different areas, it would be bright but not as bright.

And so that’s what happens when – whether it’s yourself or with your teams in an organization, when you all have the clarity of “why” it’s so much more precise and impactful. And really, that’s just – that’s the beauty of it.

Host:  Yeah, it sounds like it really makes you a lot more efficient as well. Because you’re paying attention to the things that really matter.

Mia:  Right and like for me, with my personal “why” is really people focused and helping people be as successful as they desire to be. Because not everyone – we were having this conversation before, not everyone has the same goal as me or as you as a person. That’s why I tell my team members I say don’t – the person that you compare yourself to is who you are looking at in the mirror, not the person on the left or the right. You are better than you were yesterday and let me help you with that. What does that look like to you? And what can I do to assist you with that? If the answer is I’m good where I am Mia, I’m good; then I’m like awesome, great, move on to something else or someone else because I mentioned I’ve had seven or eight CEOs in my career and every single one of them had told me – we’re talking about male, female, younger, older, experienced individuals, professionals have said to me, Mia be careful not to visit your standards on other people. Now when seven people who don’t know each other tell this to you through your career, you should probably listen and that was so a light bulb for me because it’s not about making people what you think they should be or do or accomplish; it’s what they want and there’s no right or wrong. So, you have to meet people where they are and so everything I do, is surrounded or surrounds that I should say. Helping people be as successful as they want to be, let me help you and if you don’t want that help, I’m okay with that too. It’s not going to change my own personal “why”.

Kelly:  Man that’s fantastic.

Mia:  Can I get an amen?

Host:  Amen.

Kelly:  Amen.

Hilary:  Amen.

Kelly:  Can you say y’all just for me one more time?

Mia:  Y’all. Like doll. What’s awesome about this whole conversation is every Monday, I – well not every Monday, it’s when I’m feeling I guess inspired. But on Mondays, I send out this communication to my team members, it’s called Mondays with Mia. And it’s like listen, you’re not obligated to read it, you won’t be tested on it, you can disagree all day long, it’s not really a part of your work. And it’s some inspiration story or some type of challenge. And I often talk to them about being thankful for disagreement. Be thankful when you disagree with someone. I’m not talking about loving conflict or arguing with people. I’m talking about be thankful for a new perspective. And adversity is a red carpet rolled out for your true self, right? So, when you are faced with those obstacles where you are on a team or you’re faced with a team or a boss or a circle that has a challenge, this is an opportunity for you to look at that and say okay, I’m going to be – I’m just going to cower or I’m going to say how can I help this situation be better by employing my own personal “why” and just my own personal “why” allows me to tell my teams, listen, get with it, learn something new, challenge yourself because they know I’m coming from a really authentic place of wanting to be the coach even if I am yelling, it’s still the coach want me to put your best play out at my field.   

And so, they know that. They know I shoot straight, and they know if I’m going to say something that’s hard to swallow, I’m right there next to them, holding their hand. I’m letting them know I will be here for you, champion you and take all – when you fall, and when you have a challenge, I will take that. And when you’re the champion, when you do well; I’m going to champion you. And so, it’s a safe space. And my personal “why” really helps me – it helps me in that. People know I’m really being authentic about them.

Host:  Well, the way you explain it, it certainly is easy to understand how it has benefitted you and it helps us to understand our own too and how to put this into practice. Well that’s a great place to wrap up our second part of finding your “why”. In part three, we’re going to talk more about financial institutions and credit unions and how they should look at this process as well. Ladies, is it time for the cheer?

Kelly:  It’s time for the cheers, Bill. I heard some cubes clinking a couple of minutes ago. So, I think Hil, did you get a refill?

Hilary:  Probably me. I wish, my bartender hasn’t come to give me a refill yet. So, he’s not getting a tip.

Kelly:  Not gonna tip. All right, ready?  One, two three, cheers.

Host:  And to connect with Kelly or Hillary please visit www.empoerfi.org. This is the Speak Easy Financial Marketing podcast. Thanks for listening.