Transcription:
Marketing on the Island

Bill Klaproth (Announcer): 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 Hillary Reed from EmpowerFi. Strategy infused, data-driven marketing solutions for financial institutions nationwide. And on this episode, Kelly Hellickson welcomes Jesica Carriaga, the Marketing Coordinator at HFS Federal Credit Union in Hawaii, as they'll be talking about all things marketing on the big island. Now here's your host Kelly Hellickson.

Kelly Hellickson (Host): Hello, hello listeners. I'm super excited as per usual, to introduce and welcome our guest today, Jesica Carriaga from HFS Federal Credit Union. Hi Jess.

Host: How are you?

Jesica Carriaga (Guest): I'm I'm doing well. How about yourself?

Host: Well, we just got done talking about that. I'm living the American dream today and you are on vacation. So, you actually are living the American dream and a special congratulations to you on your second year wedding anniversary my dear.

Jesica: Thank you.

Host: Wonderful. Well, let's talk a little bit today. I just want to talk about the ins and outs of marketing and really how to make it work with a skeleton crew, which I know anyone listening can probably either smile because previous to having a big crew, if that's what you have now, I imagine, that you can relate skeleton crew now or back in the day. So, let's talk a little bit about HFS, Jess give us some stats and the 411 on your, with standings right now.

Jesica: Okay. So HFS Federal Credit Union, we were founded in 1937, so we're celebrating our 85th anniversary coming up in January. We are at almost 800 million in assets and we've got over 50,000 members here on the big island of Hawaii.

Host: Woo. Woo. All right. Shout out to HFS and biggest and best on the island is your classification or your accreditation right now, which is so fantastic. Talk about what the landscape's like on the island, the big island, comparatively speaking, you know, with other FIs in Hawaii.

Jesica: Yeah. I feel like our area is pretty unique. We are the largest island, but we don't have the largest population. We have a lot of rural areas here and we have some pretty distinctive demographics just within our island. So, we usually kind of look at the west side of our island versus the east side. The west side is very sunny all the time and there's a lot more resorts and better beaches. So, as you can imagine, a lot of the tourist traffic is over on that side of the island. We see a lot more people moving there from the mainland, or maybe they, they live there half the year and then they live somewhere else for the rest of the year.

So, the demographic there is very different from our east side, where we have more of our locals, people that have lived here for a long time. More farming. It's a lot wetter on this side of the island. As you can tell I'm on the east side.

Host: Yes. And I think for our listeners, just to paint that picture, you know, west is Kona and east is Hilo. And just from having been working alongside HFS for so long, that's something that we're very proud of here at EmpowerFi. Hillary and I have been out to see you and we can attest to that. We can also attest to the fact that Hilo is just really, it's indicative of Hawaiian culture. And I think it's more grassroots in terms of its demographic and the folks that live there are really, really true to the island. Where, to your point, Kona, you see a lot of tourists.

Jesica: Exactly. And I think, you know, along the lines of being a marketer on an island, I feel like traditional advertising for us is very important. And I know when we talk to some of our vendors in the mainland, they think we're crazy that we still use radio and newspaper. But for us it's still relevant. And for our members, it's still relevant. So for us, that's still a very important part of our strategy.

Host: And that's really cool because actually I want to point something out. I just booked an appointment, a meeting with a client out in Philadelphia and then our partners Viamark, who help us with all of our media buys. And we're looking at instituting or implementing radio spots because it's actually coming back and post COVID, there are things that we're doing that are really, really just atypical from what we've been doing in the past couple of years with modernization of trends and what have you. So, I think it's really cool that you guys have always been, in tune with the medium of radio and talk about TV. Do you do commercials?

Jesica: We don't do TV at all, actually. Here, there are a lot of, like I said, rural areas where people don't even get cable TV. And so it's more streaming services or no TV at all. So, that's not really something we've gone into at this point yet.

Host: Got it. Cool. So, and for our audience and our listeners, those were all facts that we all know, but we wanted to paint a really good picture of what it's like at HFS on the main island. And just kind of want to talk about now marketing with a smaller crew and how to manage the day to day. So talk a little bit about your recent transitions.

Jesica: Marketing at HFS is actually a pretty young department. So, like I mentioned, the credit union will be 85 coming up in January, but there's only been a marketing department for probably 12 to 15 years, somewhere within that timeframe. And so the team here at the credit union has always been two people up until recently. And about, I'd say three, four months ago, our Marketing Coordinator moved on to a new opportunity and she was fantastic at her job. She was with the credit union for 10 years. She and I worked very closely together and so when she left, I moved up into her role. So, I went from a Marketing Specialist to a Marketing Coordinator, and so I ran the department solo for about a month or so. And then we brought in actually two more Marketing Specialists. So it's really exciting. Now we're a team of three.

Host: Yay.

Jesica: Yeah, which is really, really awesome. And they've only been on for a few months now, but I think it's going to be kind of a game changer for us to have that extra body in the department.

Host: Yeah, that's a huge game changer. And before we go on any further, I'm sorry, but I'm giving a shout out to our girl, Ashley Yamamoto. We love you. We miss you. But you are making some strides. And I think that is exciting that you're now a three person, three woman crew. So, talk to us about, paint a picture for 2022 for HFS from a marketing standpoint, talk about some initiatives and some of the strategy that we've worked on.

Jesica: 2022 is actually a pretty special year for us. We've got a lot of big projects going on. So, this three person team couldn't have come at a better time. We have, as I mentioned, our 85th anniversary, you we're doing a bunch of stuff throughout the year. We're just celebrating all year long because we feel like this is a really special celebration for us. We have actually a big debit card conversion coming up during the summer and then a couple other things that I will keep a secret for now, but I would just say that they are very exciting.

Host: I love it. So listeners, you can definitely anticipate an episode two with Jess in the near future. Right Jess?

Jesica: Yes. That would be awesome.

Host: Fantastic. Well, that's really exciting. And I think that something to really hone in on is the fact that you guys are still growing. It's been a tumultuous couple of years. You've added to your team. Now you have a really special year coming up. So, how do you manage it all? Just talk a little bit about some of your best practices and we, they can be marketing best practices, or they can be you know, personal headspace best practices to keep yourself humming at that top level.

Jesica: I have to say first and foremost, EmpowerFi, you guys rock, because I don't be able to do everything that we do without your folks help. And you know, working with you guys over, gosh, it's going to be almost two years now, I think.

Host: Yeah, I think it's just over two years and that was not a plant. She did not have to say that. So, thank you so much. And you know, we love you. We love all of our clients, but you guys do hold a special place in our heart because you are so unique and you are, you know, a younger and a smaller crew. So, kudos to you guys.

Jesica: Thank you. And yes, I didn't have to plug that, but I really, really mean it. And so along with your folks help, we've instituted using an online platform that we use to manage all of our projects and our tasks that we can parse out to each other, to make sure that we know what's going on with all of our team members at any time. I find that has been like the biggest game changer for us just because we're so small, but yet we have so many things going on. We are a large credit union that it's the only way that we've been able to keep sane throughout everything that's been happening.

Host: Well, and for our listeners, Jess what software are you talking about?

Jesica: Oh, we're using Wrike.

W W-R-I-K-E,

Host: yes, it is a game-changer that and I have to say SLACK, right? I don't know where we would be without SLACK. And just personally, internally at EmpowerFi, but so that's a big game changer. What else?

Jesica: Communication is huge. And I know that's not like a top secret thing or anything, but making sure that we're all on the same page at all the time. So we do morning meetings every Monday morning at 8:30. So we gather the group together and we just make sure we all know what's happening, what our priorities are for the week. And then we, we go to it. Right.

Host: Okay now, is that the whole, when you say group, sorry, Jess. But when you say group is all staff or just the marketing you three in marketing?

Jesica: Just marketing, our core team of three. And then every Friday afternoon we do kind of a check-in meeting with the three of us again and just see what went well this week, what didn't go so well this week, what could we do better? And I think those meetings have been really important because we find ways that we can work smarter, work more efficiently to really get through all of our projects.

Host: It's tough, isn't it? And it's work smarter, not harder. And Jessm I do not want to diminish your, I guess, shout out to communication because it is silly. Like I tell people all the time, listen, we're in the communication business. And when things start to, you know, go a little bit south, or they're just rocky, that to me indicates, well, we aren't talking to each other enough.

So I think that's really key. I love the Friday finale meetings. Hopefully you guys, you girls end on like a really positive note and just always remember to be kind to yourselves because it is a really, really hard, fast paced, high-octane life of a credit union marketer, you know? So, what else talk maybe personally, you have a couple pets. Talk about what home life is like for you and how you kind of recharge your batteries.

Jesica: We have six animals. We have three dogs and three cats, all rescues. The house can be a little chaotic because five of them live in the house, five of the six. So, a lot of cleaning, as you can imagine. But, I think personally for me, recharging is when you come home after work, the pets are a big part of it, because I think they bring a lot of calmness to you. You just feel like you can relax or you're not as stressed out anymore when, when you come home and you can pet them and play with them.

Host: Yeah.

Jesica: I love to read. Reading a book before bed or something like that just helps me wind down before the next day. If I don't, sometimes I can't even sleep because I'm just thinking about all the different projects. So, finding something to take your mind off of it is really important.

Host: Absolutely. And again, it may seem and sound listeners like basic wind down or communication 101. But honestly, I think that reading and I wish I could do more of it, but reading right before bed from an actual book, right? Like not a Kindle, not a phone, not a screen that lights up. So that's amazing.

So let's shift gears back to HFS and just be really honest, you know, because, that's what we're here to do. And hopefully our messaging helps somebody else out there. Another Jessica out there. You guys have been so steadfast and honestly losing Ashley, again, Ashley we miss ya. Yeah it's shout out. Like you have definitely risen to the challenge. So you've been so steadfast. So congratulations to you. What's your secret there at work in terms of after just kind of facing that transition head on and then just really powering down and plowing through it.

Jesica: I don't know if there's like a, a real secret to it, but I feel like, you know, I had been with the credit union already about six and a half years when Ashley left and you know, when she had gone out on vacations or maternity leave, it was just me running the department. So, I was really able to pull on the experience of when I was, you know, by myself doing everything. And what that was like and kind of push forward with that. So, for me now, I try to, for one, utilize data wherever possible, when it comes to talking with my supervisor and my management team. Because if I'm going to come to them with some sort of recommendation or report or something, I want to make sure that I can answer all of their questions and give them a full picture of whatever it is that we're talking about at that time.

So that to me has been really important, just being super prepared. Again, communication has been vital. I think sometimes our upper management maybe doesn't know everything that's going on in the marketing department, because there's so many things that people don't realize that we do. Communicating with them about what things we have going on, giving them status updates, things like that, just so that they feel included and they know what's happening and can provide input if it's needed or where they feel it's necessary.

Host: Yeah, that's great. I love the data. I love the data portion of that because that's really key. I love that your preparedness is something that's really just propelling you forward.

Jesica: I feel like personally stepping into this role, I felt kind of a renewed sense of confidence. So, not only did I step into a coordinator position, but I stepped into a supervisor position. And so I feel like this is an important part of the role, because I need to be able to believe in myself and make sure that comes across to the rest of the staff, to the managers so that they can believe in me too. They can see that I'm confident in the recommendations and the projects and the things that we're doing so that they can believe in it as well. So I feel like that's been important too.

Host: That's amazing. My mom heart is like so full right now because we've just seen you grow. And honestly, everything you just said is absolute truth. And I think that there's really exciting things ahead for you and for HFS. And I think that the 85th, talk a little bit about the 85th anniversary and what that actually means to the community and to HFS.

Jesica: Eighty five years ago, the credit union was started by a group of nine individuals. And of course, they came together to help those, help those that had little means at the time, to pool their funds together. So, just to see all that we've accomplished in the past 85 years and how, how much we've grown, how many members we have on board right now. I think we just really want to celebrate by giving back to our members in as many ways as we can. Like I mentioned, we're celebrating all year long. There are a few things we're doing that will be surprises for our members. So, I can't go into those, but we started a loan promotion today, with super low rates. We'll be doing some sweepstakes throughout the year. So, we have lots of ways for members to have chances to win. And so we just want to celebrate with everybody, and then along with our staff as well. So we're really looking forward to it.

Host: Good. Well, I really want to thank you for your time and let's definitely book, episode two. Have a great rest to your vacation and thank you so much for being on.

Jesica: Thanks Kelly.

Bill Klaproth (Announcer): And thanks for joining us and to connect with Hillary or Kelly to simplify your credit union marketing needs with EmpowerFi's full service marketing and design support, please visit empowerfi.org. You can also email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information. This is the Speak Easy Financial Marketing podcast. Thanks for listening.