Credit unions talk about being community-focused. But what if real connection meant showing up in the moments that matter, like when someone’s buying groceries?
In this episode of Grow Your Credit Union, host Joshua Barclay is joined by co-host Becky Reed and guest Jennifer Borowy, President and CEO of Michigan First Credit Union to talk about how mentorship can accelerate leadership, what lessons credit unions can borrow from banks, and whether in-store branches really drive growth.
What Makes a Great Credit Union Leader?
Jennifer Borowy shares the unlikely journey from part-time teller to CEO. Her advice to aspiring leaders? “Don’t chase titles or money. Follow what you’re passionate about, and the right opportunities will come.” At Michigan First, that ethos fuels their employee development strategy not just to retain talent but to give it purpose.
Becky Reed reflects on her own growth, admitting she bulldozed her way forward early in her career. “I didn’t ask for help, and that slowed me down,” she says. Her advice to young professionals today is simple: just ask. Most leaders will say yes to a sincere request for mentorship.
Can Credit Unions Borrow from Banks Without Losing Their Soul?
Jennifer acknowledges that banks often have more resources which can mean better tech and tools but says credit unions have a superpower banks lack: genuine, personal service. “We trust our team to have real conversations, not just follow a script,” she says. At Michigan First, that means pulling credit reports with members, showing them how to improve, and offering clear paths forward.
Becky sees that flexibility as a major competitive advantage. “We can tailor and customize services. That’s where credit unions can win,” she says. With NPS scores topping 80, Michigan First shows that personal service still pays off.
Do In-Store Branches Actually Work?
Michigan First has 32 branches, including locations inside Walmart, Meijer, and Kroger. Jennifer says the strategy has been a clear win. “If our members are shopping there, why not meet them there?” The goal isn’t hard selling. It’s approachability. Team members wear casual clothes, help shoppers find the flour, and then let them know, “We’re from Michigan First if you ever need us.”
Becky applauds the approach. “What better way to build your brand than by walking the aisles with people in your community?” she says. That visibility, she argues, is far more impactful than most marketing campaigns.
Top Takeaways from This Episode
- Mentorship and passion-driven leadership are the keys to long-term growth.
- Credit unions can adopt bank-level tech while keeping their service personal.
- In-store branches offer powerful, low-pressure brand exposure in the community.
- Digital transformation is no longer optional, it’s table stakes.
- Credit unions should act now on emerging tech instead of waiting on regulators.
Also, we talked with Bradley Hickey, Manager of Application Development at American Airlines Federal Credit Union, to hear why CU Build is a must-attend for any credit union team looking to innovate from within.
Register here: https://www.cubuild.org/register-now
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/growyourcreditunion/
Full Transcript
Joshua Barclay: Hello, credit union community. Here are your three topics for today’s show. First up, mentorship can make or break a leader’s journey, so what does affective leadership development really look like in credit unions? Next up, is there something banks are doing better than credit unions? And should credit unions borrow from their playbook? And finally, expanding branches into retail spaces. Has this strategy actually delivered the growth credit unions expected?
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Joshua Barclay: Welcome to Grow Your Credit Union, the show where credit union leaders gather, learn, and grow. I’m your host, Joshua Barclay. And, hey, we want this show to cover what matters most to you. So, tell us what topics we should cover. Whether it’s a LinkedIn post or an article, another podcast, or something you’re dealing with in your role. Send it our way at info@growyourcreditunion.com, or message me directly on LinkedIn. Now, let me introduce my wonderful cohost for this episode. It’s Becky Reed. Becky, welcome to the show.
Becky Reed: Howdy, yawl.
Joshua Barclay: Becky, I’m looking at LinkedIn. I’m seeing all the GAC posts. I probably liked 40 of your posts. You were probably in about 400 posts published by other people. Honestly, I’m feeling the FOMO. Talk to me about sort of what were the big trending topics at the event, and then anything else you want to tell me about just the good time you probably had. Make me feel bad.
Becky Reed: Well, yes, it was a good time. But literally I was on my feet six AM until ten PM every night. So, 12 to 15 hour days for like four days in a row. So, it’s tiring. All right, so what I would say was the theme of this year’s GAC was change. There’s been an administration change. There’s been a lot of policy changes. And a little bit of uncertainty but not in a negative way. Not in a fearful way. But in kind of a like, “Oh my gosh, a lot is happening. How is this actually going to settle out?”
Joshua Barclay: And nobody knows. That’s the end of this one. [Laughs] I know in my mind, I’m like, “How will it settle out?” Becky, as much as I love you, you are not a fortune teller. So, with that said, we will see together how it settles out. Once again I’m upset that I wasn’t there. Maybe next year. But we have a good show today, Becky. I’m very excited. Today on the show we welcome the president and CEO of Michigan First Credit Union, Jennifer Borowy. Jennifer, welcome to the show.
Jennifer Borowy: Thanks. Glad to be here.
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Joshua Barclay: For credit unions, developing future leaders should be a top priority. Studies show that employees with mentors are promoted five times more often than those without. But mentorship can mean different things to different people. Jennifer, I mentioned to you earlier that I did go to the Quce [Phonetic 00:03:19] Future Summit, and we did a podcast with Shawn Premer and Elizabeth Osborne for the young leaders. And when I was looking out into the crowd, I was like, “Wow. A lot of people hungry for knowledge, hungry for leadership and development, the future of the movement.” So, my question to you is your journey is actually ridiculous inspiring. You went from a teller to a president/CEO. So, if anybody knows about development, it’s probably you. So, my question… If the CEO version of yourself could go back and mentor your younger self, what specific advice would you share to make leadership development easier?
Jennifer Borowy: Well, first of all, thank you for the opportunity to share about my journey and what we do here at Michigan First. It’s a great opportunity to talk about mentorship not only here at Michigan First and what we do but also for my own personal career path. I don’t know that I would suggest it for anyone. A lot of times the stars just have to align. You have to be in the right place at the right time. And someone has to see something in you, and hopefully your skills and interests are a good match. If I were to go back and talk with myself, I would say that really what we tell a lot of our team members here, we want our team members to retire from Michigan First. We want it to be a career and not a job. And for that to happen, we want our team members to be passionate about what they’re doing. Don’t chase a job title. Don’t chase the money or anything else. Chase what you’re truly passionate about. And if you’re true to yourself with that, and you know your values, and you know what you like, and you follow that, the right opportunities will come at the right time. I wanted to be a teacher initially. I never would have guessed that I would have been here. And looking back as a student in college and wanting to be a middle school math teacher, I just never would have dreamt this career path. And I think that that’s important to mention. Because what I knew that I wanted in life is that I wanted to educate people. And as I was working a summer job as a part time teller, I found that I just loved helping people. And in the space that I’m in now. I’m able to do both. I’m able to help from a financial education standpoint a lot of people. I’m able to mentor team members, and coach and develop other leaders to do the same. And then we’re able to hopefully inspire a lot of people along the way.
Joshua Barclay: Becky, if there is a time warp device that you could put yourself into and go back to your younger Becky self to talk about, “Hey, younger Becky, this is what you should be thinking about in developing your career path into a leader,” what advice would you bestow upon that young Becky?
Becky Reed: To Jennifer’s point, I think that today’s generation especially is so focused on finding their passion. And a lot of times that passion may not be the job that pays the bills. So, initially when you start, sometimes you have to just get a job that pays the bills. And to Jennifer’s…in her experience, what she found is you actually kind of end up maybe liking that. And so while you might dream, “Oh, I want to be a teacher, or a fireman, or a policeman, or a nurse, a doctor,” maybe that’s not what pays the bill at the beginning. And so you kind of have to get there. And finding what makes you tick and understanding yourself is such a key piece to advancing in your career. And I would tell myself to find a mentor, honestly. You just started the conversation with mentorship and young professionals and all of that. And when I was a young professionals, I felt like I didn’t need anyone else’s advice. I felt like I had it all figured out, and I didn’t need to listen to anybody else. So, I didn’t seek out mentors. I didn’t want to really sit down and listen to anybody. I didn’t ask anyone to help me along my career path. I just was a bulldozer and paved my own way. And I think I would have gotten farther quicker if I would have asked for advice and help.
Jennifer Borowy: I think you bring up a really good point. And coming here at Michigan First, I’m part of this highly experienced team. And you can’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for help. And what I’ve found here is that the team just embraced me and gave me a lot of grace and showed me a lot of patience. And in return, I wanted to make sure that I was doing the best for the organization in learning as much as I could about the culture and what we do. But asking why and not just bulldozing all of my ideas to the future and what we wanted to accomplish. Instead, I just took the time and learned as much as I possibly could.
Joshua Barclay: That is great advice, both of you. Becky, you mentioned mentors finding a mentor. And what I’ve noticed is I’m busy. Jennifer is super busy. You’re super busy. How could someone in the industry find a mentor? What would your advice be?
Becky Reed: Well, my coworker, my partner, at Bank Social, John Wingate, follows this methodology, and it came from kind of his idol, somebody he looked up to, which is Steve Jobs. And what Steve Jobs said is just ask for someone’s help. Most people… Most people… Think about all of us here on this call. If somebody truly asked you… Yeah, sure, you’re busy, Josh. But if somebody in a genuine, sincere way, asks you, “Josh, I really would appreciate just a 15-minute coffee or something to share with me your experience and what you’ve learned in life,” you’re probably not going to say no to that, so just ask.
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Joshua Barclay: Credit unions versus banks. Okay, I can feel the animosity by just saying it. So, we’ve mentioned the stat actually in an earlier episode, but the American Customer Satisfaction Index, they released some information. Basically it said that banks are a little bit better at satisfying customers/members than credit unions are. So, for the premise of this segment, let’s just say that banks do things better than credit unions. Although I know my credit union people will be like, “No, they don’t.” Let’s just leave it there, folks. They do some things better than credit unions. And it just so happens, Jennifer, at one time you were a VP at PNC Bank. What is one thing or some things you’ve observed while working inside a bank that credit unions could adopt to serve their members better?
Jennifer Borowy: Well, let’s just start with this. Banks can have more resources than credit unions, so that can result in better efficiencies, tools, more specialized roles, maybe maintaining technology in a better way. There are a lot of things that can come out of having more resources. But at times, this can also result in disingenuous and scripted situations. It can become more cookie cutter as more locations grow and expand. And from the customer’s perspective for the bank, that can become scripted from what they feel. So, what I would say is this. At Michigan First, we provide our team members with guiding principles and trust that they’re going to have the right types of conversations with members. And I think that’s really important. Because while we want the same experience with every location or however the member interacts with us, we trust that our team members know the guiding principles and know how to have the right types of conversations.
And I think it gives us more flexibility. It makes us hopefully come across very genuine to our members because we clearly care about them. I can go back to times where I remember being in the bank, and we would take a loan application. And we would have to tell the customer that they were denied for the loan, and it was simply because of the credit score. And so our only option at that point as the banker in this situation was to tell the customer you can go home, pull your credit report. You can bring it in to me, and I can review it with you and try to help you. But that’s really all I could do. Whereas here, we have the opportunity to truly listen to our members.
We ask them if we can pull their credit report for them. We’ll show our members what is on their credit report, and guide them, and help them, and teach them how to repair their credit or enhance their credit, and accomplish what their life goals are. I think that’s really important because then we have the opportunity to listen to the members and provide them tailored solutions based on their stories. And the numbers speak for themselves. Because our net promoter score, our NPS, is above 80 regularly. And if you compare that to banks, they’re I think on average in the 30s. And our member loyalty is so high because they trust us. They come back to us. We often have members that do many loans with us over many years, and they’ll tell their friends and family about us because we’ve impacted their lives so much.
Joshua Barclay: Jennifer, that was a really honest answer and really awesome. And what I like most about that is there was no admission that banks were in fact better at anything than credit unions.
Jennifer Borowy: [Laughs]
Joshua Barclay: So, you actually win this. This was not a trick question. But after your answer, I’m like, “That’s the answer.” Becky, should I even waste time asking you if you’ve found anything better that banks do that credit unions can adopt? Just run with this however you want.
Becky Reed: Well, Jennifer nailed it. And I think that the differentiation with credit unions is the fact that we’re smaller and more nimble. And every credit union…every single credit union including the top ten credit unions here in the United States are smaller than most banks. And so every credit union is small, and so every credit union has an opportunity to double down on what they do best. And because we’re member owned financial cooperatives, it is in our best interest to tailor and customize our services to our members. And, yes, we may not have the best technology. We don’t have the 18-billion-dollar budget or whatever that Chase has on technology. But that personal experience is where we can actually make the difference. And that net promoter score she talked about, that’s massive. That is a massive opportunity that credit unions should really focus on.
Jennifer Borowy: But we can have the best technology. It’s all in what we want to do and what we want to invest in. And we brought that all in house here. And so we’re able to listen and read all of the member surveys, and our technology team will call our members. If they have feedback from their experience with our mobile app, we’re able to talk with our members, understand what that feedback is, and be able to make adjustments or enhancements on our mobile app and do it quicker.
Becky Reed: That’s amazing.
Joshua Barclay: I think that just goes to show that it can be done. No, banks, I’m sorry, you’re not better than credit unions, number one. And then number two, credit unions don’t feel like you can’t do what a larger funded institution can. You can. You may have to get there in a different way. But I think what Jennifer says is completely feasible. You can win. And win, most importantly, with your members because that’s, after all, who comes first before anything else.
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Joshua Barclay: A growth lever in the industry has been branch expansions into retail spaces. So, that’s situating branches in high traffic locations where people already spend their time. Jennifer, Michigan First Credit Union has expanded its branch network to locations like Walmarts, Kroger stores, high traffic locations, big brand places. Right? Having branches in these strategic locations, has it proven to be the driver of growth that you had hoped it would be?
Jennifer Borowy: Yeah, I absolutely love this topic. This is just who we are. And we’re just trying to get out there in the community and just connect with people. And that can look different in different areas. And I think a key to that has been that we remain flexible with the types of locations that we have. We continue to focus on meeting members where they are and how they want to be served, how they want to connect with us. It might be weird for some of us that people don’t want to speak with other people when they do their banking, and that’s okay. But how do we now serve those members really well? So, this has been a big key strategic driver for us. And a big way for us to be able to drive growth has been to just understand our members. And with that, we have focused a lot on of course technology and having a digital first mindset, but then also expanding our branch locations.
A few areas that we’ve done this is the digital branch. This past year, although there might be a lot of credit unions that have already done this where they open up accounts online, we were a little bit hesitant to do that due to the risk there. But we’re proud that we were able to open up accounts online, and we were able to do that quickly this past year. But with that, it doesn’t stop just there. If there are members out there, which there are, that prefer not to step foot in the branch, how can we serve them for anything that they would need to actually physically come into a branch for…how can we serve them now virtually and make it easy, and make it convenient on their time? And one of the things that we have to help all the time is that we have a 24/7 365 live call center. It’s all in house. We don’t outsource this. So, if a member ever wants to talk with us, we’re always available to them. So, that was a big component for our digital branch. The other thing is we were looking at this year of adding a mobile branch. There are many areas within Michigan or I’m sure within the US that are underserved when it comes to banking, and we want to be there for members.
And as a CDFI, a Community Development Financial Institution, this is very important for us, to be able to provide access to banking for community members. We also are reevaluating where our branches are. We had a branch in Grand Rapids that was in the middle of a housing development between a fire station. Nobody knew we were there. And so we relocated that branch this past year on a much busier road in Grand Rapids, and we were excited about that expansion. And lastly, the other thing that you were talking about was our in store model in Kroger, and Meijer, and Walmart. This is important for us because really we just want to connect with community members. We want to make it easy.
We found, for instance, when we added Walmart that the studies showed that a lot of our members were already shopping at Walmart, so why not add a location and make it a one-stop shop for our members. And our members are thrilled, by the way. When they find out that we have popped up in this location and we have a location in their Walmart, they’re so excited because they know it’s us, and they know our culture, and they know the service level that they come to expect. And we’re happy to be able to provide that now 32 locations statewide. We do not sell in the aisles when we’re at these in-stores. We don’t want to be that type of person out there. I’m sure we’ve all gone to a certain retail stores, and you walk in, and then all of a sudden somebody is trying to sell you something, and you have to quickly turn your cart the other way. It’s just awkward. And so we want to make sure that we’re approachable. We also don’t dress in suits in the aisles.
We don’t want to be thought of as corporate from Kroger or from whatever the grocery store is and then for the member not to approach us. We want to make sure that we are able to just connect with people, help them find whatever it is that they’re looking for – the salt, the sugar, the flour. And we will walk around the grocery store with them and help them find whatever they’re looking for. And at the end of the conversation we’ll just simply say, “Hey, we’re actually from Michigan First. We’re here to help you whenever you need anything.” And that approach has worked so well for us. And we continue to find that Kroger, and Meijer, and Walmart want to add us in additional locations because we are a very good partner with them in just serving community members.
Joshua Barclay: Becky, Jennifer said so many good things. There’s so many lanes to go down that I feel like I’m going to put the onus on you, Becky, as a “choose your own adventure” to go down any path that Jennifer just talked about. It could be the digital account opening online. It could be the in-store branches. It could be a number of things. Becky, the mic is yours.
Becky Reed: Well, I think the digital experience that Jennifer talked about is table stakes now, right? That’s just something that we have to do. That’s what people expect. And certainly some members will not go that path. But that is kind of a minimum expectation now for a financial institution. I think what I loved about what Jennifer said is being where the members can see you. Where the community can see you. And all the things that she described… Her culture and all of that. How are people going to experience it without actually walking along with you, without talking to you? And what better way to interact with people in the community than going into the grocery store? There’s no better way. And so if you want to talk about building your brand, there is absolutely no better way than to have actual live people that are interacting with the people in the community who may or may not be members and walking alongside them to help them find the sugar. I mean what an amazing way to advertise your brand.
Joshua Barclay: That brings us to the end of the show. Jennifer, do you have any final thoughts or plugs regarding anything we talked about today?
Jennifer Borowy: Yeah, thank you again for the opportunity just to be able to share and talk. A lot of really great concepts about, again, just helping people. That includes our team members. That includes our members. And continue to be proactive and listen. And don’t just listen to respond. Listen to take action. And that goes, again, for both your team members and your members. And if you’re doing that, you will continue to make really valuable improvements for the future of your organization.
Joshua Barclay: Becky, final thoughts or plugs? You were at GAC. Maybe you want to plug something. I don’t know. Final thoughts or plugs. You choose. You can do one or the other, or you can do both.
Becky Reed: Well, I think for credit unions… I mean here we are in March. And a lot of times we talk about planning sessions and getting ready for the following year as we had into usually Q3 and Q4 of the year. But I think this year, it’s really important to start planning now. We talked earlier about all the changes that are happening in Washington. And oh my gosh, it’s like everyday is something different. This has changed, that’s changed, this has been discovered, this department is being moved over there, or whatever the case may be. And I think it’s time to shake up the credit union space, too. There are lots of things, especially as it relates to immerging technology, that credit unions no longer need to be sitting on the sideline. It’s not a time anymore to be looking and saying, “Hm, I wonder if we should consider that.” Now is the time to consider it.
And I’m talking about immerging technologies such as distributed ledger technology, AI, crypto, all of those things. Because guess what? The bank regulators have been given kind of the green light and the thumbs up right now. And many of them have been waiting for the last two or three years to really get into this space. They’re going to get into this space now. They already are. And so credit unions, that safe kind of mindset, “We’ll wait and see what other people,” please, please, please put it in your planning sessions now. Be talking to your boards about this now. If you want to learn more about it, go find somebody who can give you some education. There’s several people in the space including me that can provide that type of education. Not just me though, plenty of people. Just jump on it right now. Don’t be scared or shy.
Joshua Barclay: Becky, as always, you’re my favorite cohost in the world. Thank you. Jennifer, thank you for being a wonderful guest. And then of course I got to thank you, the listeners, for continuing to support and listen to another episode of Grow Your Credit Union. Remember, if you like the show, if you’re digging it, follow us on your podcast player of choice or share this episode with someone who you think might benefit. If you want to be a guest or would like to talk about sponsorship opportunities, head to growyourcreditunion.com to learn more. Thank you for listening, and we will see you next time. Take care and buh-bye.
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