The TikTok Effect: Capturing Attention in 8 Seconds or Less

About the Guest(s):

Leslie Unger is the founder of Electric Impulse Communications. With a reputation as an executive coach and communications expert, Leslie has a background in helping professionals harness the power of storytelling to amplify their business presence and improve connectivity with audiences.

Josh Reams is the President and CEO of Millstream Area Credit Union. With a career focused on financial services and community involvement, Josh is committed to advancing the credit union's mission of "people helping people."

Episode Summary:

In this episode of "Chamber Amplified" from the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, Doug Jenkins hosts Leslie Unger from Electric Impulse Communications to explore effective storytelling in business communication. Leslie emphasizes the significance of crafting a concise and engaging narrative to capture audience attention, especially in a fast-paced digital world. She compares this to the increasing influence of platforms like TikTok and illustrates why businesses today must develop their storytelling to remain competitive and relevant.

The podcast transitions to a second segment featuring a conversation with Josh Reams of Millstream Area Credit Union. Josh shares insights on the core principles that differentiate credit unions from traditional banks, underlining the cooperative's dedication to community support and financial education.

Key Takeaways:

• The Power of Storytelling: Leslie Unger underscores the importance of storytelling as a tool for businesses, not just for their marketing but as a strategy for audience engagement.
• Starting with the End: Leslie encourages businesses to start narratives with outcomes to quickly engage audiences, given today’s short attention spans.
• Credit Union Philosophy: Josh Reams highlights the unique cooperative nature of credit unions, focusing on community and customer-first policies.
• Interest Rates Explained: Josh discusses the impacts of rising interest rates on both loans and deposit savings, aiming to provide better context for members.
• Community Engagement: Millstream Area Credit Union’s deep involvement in local initiatives showcases the credit union model as a force for regional growth and prosperity.

Music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Transcript

0:00:00 - (Doug Jenkins): Hi, everybody. Doug Jenkins from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce with you. You might notice this is a little bit of a different intro. Don't worry, the fun theme music's coming. This is going to be a best of episode. We're going to do a few of these here over the holidays as well as I've got a conference coming up. So it's kind of hard to get some interviews lined up right now. So we've got best of for the next few weeks. Don't worry if it's information you've heard before, you can always use a brush up. But did you know we've been doing this podcast for almost three years now?
0:00:26 - (Leslie Unger): We're.
0:00:26 - (Doug Jenkins): We have well over a hundred episodes, so might be something that you missed in the past, especially if you're new to the podcast. For this episode, we're looking back to an interview that we did with Leslie Unger from Electric Impulse Communications, talking about getting your information, getting your story across for your business or organization in a world where you've got about eight seconds to get someone's attention before they're onto the next thing.
0:00:51 - (Doug Jenkins): Call it the TikTok effect. Probably was happening before TikTok, but that's the example I'm going to use anyway. A lot of really good information. Information. Also, way back when we first started the podcast, we used to highlight longer tenured members and we still do that from time to time. It's just really hard to get two interviews lined up for each podcast. So that's more of a bonus thing that we do. But we have one of those tacked onto the end of this as well, so you'll get a chance to listen to that. Appreciate you listening through the year. Be sure to spread the word. You're gonna hear me say that again in the podcast intro for this one, which we recorded all the way back in January of 2023.
0:01:27 - (Doug Jenkins): Thanks again for listening and enjoy the podcast. Coming up next on Chamber Amplified.
0:01:32 - (Leslie Unger): So we have grown up with stories, and that's one way that we learn and that we process without it feeling like we're being taught something, you know, or being told something. And it also includes us in the story. You know, we feel like we're a part of it.
0:01:51 - (Josh Reams): You know, that's. That's really who we are. The credit union motto, the credit union philosophy, if you will, is people helping people. And when that's your driving force as an institution, as a credit union, you know, that spells and that screams like being there for the community and that helping people comes in a number of different ways.
0:02:13 - (Doug Jenkins): Welcome to the show. I'm Doug Jenkins with the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. Here on each episode of Chamber Amplified, we're examining issues impacting the local business community. Of course, we talk a lot about employee recruitment, retention, marketing, it issues, really anything that could impact your business. Our goal is to give our members tips each week on at least one way they can improve operations and thrive in the current business environment.
0:02:36 - (Doug Jenkins): Each week we're also talking to long tenured Chamber of Commerce members to learn more about how they got started and their twists and turns along the way. Well, I certainly hope you enjoyed your holidays. Maybe get your batteries recharged a little bit and ready to hit the ground running here in 2023 quarter. Going to delve into marketing a little bit today more specifically on how to tell the story of your business and why you should be telling your story in the first place.
0:02:58 - (Doug Jenkins): And if you're thinking, well, that's not for me, believe me it is. Leslie Unger from the Electric Impulse Communications will be joining me to talk about that as well as effective ways to get your story across in a world where you have to about eight seconds to capture someone's attention. We're also continuing to highlight long tenured members. Today I'm joined by Josh Reams of Millstream Area Credit Union.
0:03:18 - (Doug Jenkins): Josh will tell us about the history of the organization and how they've grown over the years, plus why they're such an active member of the community. Thanks again for tuning in. Remember, if you're listening on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, you can rate and review the show and that really goes a long way in helping spread the word. Now let's get into it. Joined now on Chamber Amplified by Leslie Unger with Electric Impulse Communications.
0:03:41 - (Doug Jenkins): Really a jack of all trades executive coach. You do interviews, but what we're here to talk about today is businesses telling their story and why that's so important. We'll get into it in a second, but first I just want to thank you for joining us.
0:03:53 - (Leslie Unger): I want to thank you. I want to tell you it's been a highlight of my holiday season. Looking forward to this interview. So thank you and it's my honor to be here.
0:04:02 - (Doug Jenkins): It wasn't even my kids highlight of their holiday to hang out with me, so I appreciate that.
0:04:07 - (Leslie Unger): It's because I'm not related to you. See, it doesn't work if you're related.
0:04:11 - (Doug Jenkins): Fair enough. So we're getting into 2023 now. Everybody's got their New Year's Resolutions. Business owners, they make their resolutions too. And a lot of them, they want to be more visible in the community. Obviously that visibility means more potential clients or sales or things like that. But they don't know how to go about that visibility. So why is it important for a business to be able to tell a story?
0:04:34 - (Leslie Unger): Well, you know, first I would back up and I would, I call it the three V's, the verbal, the vocal and the visual. So when you talk about visibility, that's the visual. Is that visibility? But then when you make a commitment to be more visible, then you have to think about the verbal and the vocal. What are you going to say and how are you going to say it? So if you think of three pots, all of them are important.
0:05:02 - (Leslie Unger): The most important is getting out and being visible. That's the most important. And then continuing to work on, okay, what are you going to say once you're out there and how are you going to say it?
0:05:14 - (Doug Jenkins): So you really need to do a little, I'll call it soul searching. But you need, you can't just be out there and just blah, throwing everything out against the wall and seeing what sticks. You have to have a message or like we said, a story. Something that you want people to latch onto. How do you determine what you want to do?
0:05:32 - (Leslie Unger): Yes, you do. And that is, first of all, let me say that it's really hard because if somebody asked me, let's say you asked me, answer while standing on one foot. What is the most important thing either about communication or about telling your story? I would say the most important thing is sacrifice. You have to be willing to sacrifice. You can't get every day of 20 years into a what do you do? So you've got to sacrifice. You've got to edit and edit and edit.
0:06:03 - (Leslie Unger): You know, Jerry Seinfeld once said I could spend an hour reducing an eight word sentence to five words, but it would be a better sentence. And so it's editing, editing, editing. And it's really hard to do it when it's your own story because it's your own blood and sweat and tears. And it's really hard to take anything out. Just like, you know, as a speechwriter, sometimes I write the whole speech for someone and sometimes I get it at the end and I just, I edit it and I reorganize it.
0:06:33 - (Leslie Unger): It's much easier for me because it's not my story. It's hard to do it when it's your stories. So maybe, you know, you take a story buddy and you, you know, you Share stories. That's a step. The problem is that's not their occupation. They're not a professional at it, and they may not pick the right story or told well. If you ask me, what do people do wrong the most, I would say that they tell the wrong story and they don't tell it well.
0:07:05 - (Leslie Unger): So you're not telling the right story and you're not even telling it well. So it's hard to do it yourself. But you've really got to edit and edit and edit. And the last thing I'll say before your next question, I have 50 rules of communication that I have either made up or I have accumulated over the years. I've done both. There's actually 53, because even though they're free, I want you to get more for your money.
0:07:31 - (Leslie Unger): Well, rules 52 and 53 are audiences are lazy and selfish. Audiences aren't going to work hard to get your point, and they need to know what's in it for them. Rule number 12 is everything is driven by your audience, not you. What does the audience need or want to hear? Not just what do you want to say? And that is true whether you're president of your company, whether you're president of the country, it doesn't matter.
0:07:59 - (Leslie Unger): You've got to be driven by what do they need or want to hear to move forward with you? Not what do I want to say.
0:08:09 - (Doug Jenkins): Based on what you're saying, it almost seems like it could be harder for a longer established business to tell their story than someone just starting out, or at least equally as difficult because you've got a lot more to pare down.
0:08:22 - (Leslie Unger): Yes, absolutely. Both have challenges. You know, the kind of joke of someone going into the workforce very early in their career is you need to have experience, but if no one will hire you, you can't get experience. And, you know, so it's a different set of challenges. But you're right. If you have one coat, you know you're going to wear that one coat every single day. If you have 10 coats, it's a bigger decision.
0:08:48 - (Leslie Unger): You know, do I want a short coat? Do I want a long coat? Is it going to rain? Do I want a hood? It's nice to have more, but there's also more room for error in making that decision when.
0:09:01 - (Doug Jenkins): When people think about telling a story. I think, you know, a lot of times the retailers want to do that. A lot of times your restaurants, they want to do that. You know, we've been a restaurant in town for, you know, 30 some years, they want to Establish that. Why is it important for a manufacturer or somebody outside of that B2C business to be able to tell their story as well?
0:09:21 - (Leslie Unger): Because everybody loves a story. Everyone grew up with stories. Think about it. The American Indian didn't have a written language. They passed down traditions orally around a campfire, smoking, whatever, right? Every child grew up in really, every country in the world grew up with some kind of fairy tales. Whether it's Santa Claus or Kris Kringle. Everyone grew up with stories. A story about their family, a story about how grandpa came to this country.
0:09:58 - (Leslie Unger): We have grown up with stories. And somewhere along the line, we get to be professionals, and we think we're above stories. What is a $200 million Hollywood blockbuster? It is a story at its core. So we have grown up with stories, and that's one way that we learn and that we process without it feeling like we're being taught something, you know, or being told something. And it also includes us in the story.
0:10:31 - (Leslie Unger): You know, we. We feel like we're a part of it. There are rules to stories and how to tell a story, but the bottom line is to embrace that your audience loves a story.
0:10:44 - (Doug Jenkins): I think that's a really interesting point, that it includes you in a larger story, too. For instance, here in Findlay and Hancock county, certainly there's a rich business tradition here, and we have business stalwarts that, you know, when you think, hey, think of a Philly, Hancock county business, DJs, ice cream, beer and chocolates. We just have them on the podcast on the last episode that comes to mind. You know, there are certain ones that come to mind to be included in that conversation, I would imagine you have to be putting your story out. And the other thing is, it seems like it's a subconscious thing. It's a way to not be selling yourself. It's just telling people about yourself.
0:11:16 - (Leslie Unger): Right. Well, you know, I'm sure that you're familiar with the saying, the best way to sell is to tell. It is. It is the best way to sell. Because everybody loves a story, but rarely do we like to feel like we're being sold. So, yes, it is a great way to sell. It's a great way to get someone's interest and to keep their interest and to help them be part of the story. But just like all movies are not told well, all TV shows are not told well, I'm totally shocked by the fact that when I go to my Netflix, you know how it has. It has one column of recently watched shows.
0:11:59 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah.
0:11:59 - (Leslie Unger): And it has like 20 of them. And I'm like, I didn't watch those shows. And then I realized that I put them on for like 10 seconds and they didn't grab me. They didn't. They didn't get to their story fast enough. So I just click them off. Next. Next. So not even a Netflix or an Amazon story. All of them are told well, because it's not easy. Even if you've got, you know, Hollywood creative people, it's not easy to do, but it's something that the rewards are. Great.
0:12:31 - (Doug Jenkins): We'll get into how to effectively tell a story here in just a second. But I think the time element of it is where a lot of people bulk or balk is because they have. They've got their business to run. And they didn't get into their business necessarily to be a marketer or to, you know, be a quote unquote storyteller or anything like that. Although it kind of comes with the territory, regardless if you want it to or not.
0:12:55 - (Doug Jenkins): How do you make time? How do you force yourself to do this? And I hate to say force yourself because then it seems like a chore when it really can be a good creative outlet for you and really make you help reappreciate what you do.
0:13:08 - (Leslie Unger): First of all, everyone sells. Everyone is in the marketing business. I don't care. If I ask a surgeon, an attorney, or a CPA, what do you do? Their correct answer in 2023 should be, I'm in marketing. I market my services as a cpa, an attorney, you know, or a surgeon. But, you know, I am fortunate that my clients are very, very wide breadth and depth of occupations. I had two clients that were pediatric surgeons.
0:13:42 - (Leslie Unger): Okay? Now, trust me, I am not advising any surgeon on how they're going to operate. But communication is important and they can't ply their trade. They can't save someone's life if they don't get picked to do the surgery. So the surgeon that is newer, he has a story to tell, or she has a story to tell that her skills are newer, they're more relevant. And the surgeon that's been operating for 30 years has a story to tell that he has seen just about everything or she has seen just about everything, and they're the better choice. So they both have stories to tell.
0:14:23 - (Leslie Unger): They're just different stories. So really, a judge, think about a judge, you know, from nine to five or whatever time they're in court, they're in charge of the courtroom and, you know, they put their gavel down and they say, guilty you know, or 20 years or whatever it is. And then at 5pm they become a candidate and they have to ask for someone's vote, they have to ask for someone's donation. They all have a story.
0:14:49 - (Leslie Unger): You know, they're the judge with no name recognition, no backing, but always wanted to be a judge. And they kept running until they became a judge. They all have a story. And they're in the same boat as the manufacturing executive that may think they're above telling their story. But to connect with your voter, which is connecting with your patient, connecting with your client, connecting with your guest, connecting with your customer, a story is just a great way to connect with them. And that's always, let me just add, that is always a speaker's number one job is to connect to their audience and to connect the dots for their audience. And think about it. That's why fairy tales were important, because parents connected that fairy tale to why it was important for little Johnny to put away his shoes every night.
0:15:43 - (Leslie Unger): It was connecting the lessons we learned from Hansel and Gretel. That's why they were important, because somebody had to connect those lessons for us.
0:15:53 - (Doug Jenkins): That means you have to be effective in it. Let's delve into that a little bit. We'll use the example of the surgeon is, you know, maybe a long time tenured surgeon. I get the feeling the temptation is to. I'm going to tell my story. I'm going to tell you chronologically what happened. And to use your Netflix example, you get 20 seconds before a Netflix show, like grabs your attention to see if you want in on it or not. I know I fall into this trap anytime people, like, want to ask me questions. I'm like, well, let's go chronologically because that's how time works.
0:16:24 - (Doug Jenkins): But it might not be the most effective way to do it. How do you determine the most effective way to do this?
0:16:29 - (Leslie Unger): Okay, so if anyone goes to my website, ElectricImpulse.com, you will see me hanging upside down.
0:16:35 - (Doug Jenkins): Okay.
0:16:36 - (Leslie Unger): I also have a banner in my office of me hanging upside down. And it says, at Electric Impulse, we look at things upside down, which I do. I just look at things the opposite. So the solution to your problem, which you just outlined fantastically, because we want to start with, well, you know, I was born on a Wednesday and then I started preschool, right?
0:16:57 - (Doug Jenkins): I'm from Huntsville, Ohio. No one cares.
0:17:00 - (Leslie Unger): The answer is for everyone is you start at the end. You don't start at the beginning. You start at the end. At the end of this presentation. You will know the three reasons why we are the best option for you. At the end of this email, you will know what you need to know for the conference next week. You start at the end, not the beginning. Because your audience, through no fault of your own, your audience, except for anybody out there listening or watching, your audience has the attention span of a flea.
0:17:38 - (Josh Reams): Okay.
0:17:39 - (Leslie Unger): And it's not. It's not their fault. You know, we are on. On Twitter where we don't even say okay. Okay. Ay, we say K. Right. We say Y for yes. We, you know, we text and we are abbreviating things in email and everything is shorter and shorter and short voicemails because messages. Because heaven forbid, we are not going to listen to a long voicemail.
0:18:05 - (Doug Jenkins): Right, Right.
0:18:06 - (Leslie Unger): We have a short attention span, so we have to understand our audience has a short attention span and we have to give them the reward first. Their reward for listening to us. We have to get to that end first.
0:18:23 - (Doug Jenkins): Sounds good. So at the risk of having you spill all of your secrets, I don't want to take all of your time today. What are. Let's take the example. Let's stay on the surgeon example. We've got some doctors and medical facilities that are members here. How do you go about determining what is the most effective venue for your surgery? Maybe not venue, but vehicle for it. Do I need. Obviously, people need to be on social media.
0:18:51 - (Doug Jenkins): Advertising is something outdoor billboards. I imagine there's a bit of research that goes into it, or finding somebody who can do the research for you is probably a better use of your time.
0:19:03 - (Leslie Unger): Right? Right. You know, a lot of it is trial and error and a level of comfort. Although I do say, as an executive coach, I do say to my clients, comfort is highly overrated. Don't really care if you're comfortable doing something or not. By that, I mean, we get comfortable. You know, I'm sure we work. You know, I don't know about you, but I remember giving up my flip phone and I was almost traumatized.
0:19:26 - (Leslie Unger): A smartphone. I had to give up my flip. And so we learn to adapt. Comfort isn't that important, but I think we do find that we all find different choices and different platforms, and some of it is trial and error, and some of it is the feedback that we get back. But I would just say we try something and we can always edit it. You know, the good and bad of social media, you know, it's kind of like resumes. I have younger clients that. Because to me, the interview process is just a communication challenge.
0:19:58 - (Leslie Unger): It's not about who's most qualified. There is no such thing as the most qualified candidate. It's who communicates their value most effectively through the interview process, which also could be said, who tells their story most effectively through the interview process gets to move forward to the second round and the third round and et cetera. So I was saying to a younger client that the good and bad of having resumes on that you, you know, online, whether you use Canva or whatever, is that you can easily make changes. It used to be we had to go to the print shop, remember, and you had to order like 500 resumes.
0:20:40 - (Leslie Unger): You couldn't change anything until you got through that 500. Well, the good and bad is that social media doesn't last. So you say something one day, it's not going to be there forever. So that's the good. And the bad is that you have to stay current and you keep trying. So I would tell anyone out there, just do one more thing than you're doing. Just try something and do one more thing. But think about it from a telling standpoint rather than a factual or a bragging standpoint, because things are so upside down today that it used to be your brick and mortar company would start out their story by saying, we've been in business for 100 years, right?
0:21:21 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah.
0:21:22 - (Leslie Unger): Well, today we may think less of that company, not more of that company. Are they relevant? You know, are there, is their technology up to date? Do they know the newer ways to do things? So, you know, think about how young, you know, a Facebook is or even a Microsoft, you know, well, think about how young those are in comparison. So the same things we've been in business so long. Well, maybe you've been teetering on bankruptcy for 25 years, so we have to look at things differently. What does your audience want to hear? And they want to hear what you've done to make someone better.
0:21:59 - (Leslie Unger): That's where your value is and that's where you want to think about telling your story, is how did you make someone better?
0:22:07 - (Doug Jenkins): It's interesting, you bring up the long tenured businesses and I never really thought about that. But as it goes to everything we've been talking about today, the second part of each podcast we do, we always have a longer tenured business on, but one of the things we talk about with every one of them is how have things changed over the years so they have that opportunity to talk about, well, we're not still doing it like we did in 1935 and, and how the business evolves Those are always interesting to me. Now, I might be a business nerd and think like all of those stories are interesting, but I think it stands to your point that you're getting it out there. Yeah, we've been around since 1935. Here's how we've evolved over the decades.
0:22:46 - (Leslie Unger): Yes. Here's how we help you today. You know, I had about, I don't know, maybe eight years ago or so, I had a client, happened to be a physician that was an OB gyn. She became a chief medical officer, but she was doing surgeries and she went and learned robotic surgery. And I said, is it like, you know, playing video games? And she said, yes, yes, it is. I still remember that. So, you know, again, we want to know that we can go in for a knee replacement and come out the same day, not a two week stay day at rehab. That's how I'm better off.
0:23:21 - (Leslie Unger): I'm better off. You know, think about it. What does everybody want from their CPA every April 15th? They want the same things, right?
0:23:29 - (Doug Jenkins): Right. They want to pay turn or a very low tax bill and do it all legally.
0:23:36 - (Leslie Unger): Right? Yeah. That's all they want. Now, your CPA may have 100 certifications, but what your clients want to know is how are they going to be better off from you having those certifications? How are they better off you knowing what to do with their PPP loan? How are they better off? So your story always wants to center around how not you're better off. How is your client, your guest, your patient, your customer? How are they better off?
0:24:10 - (Doug Jenkins): Leslie, do appreciate your time today. I don't want to keep you all day. I feel like we could talk about this all day though. If people want to learn more about what you do with Electric Impulse Communications, some of the services you offer or anything like that, what's the best way to get in touch with you?
0:24:24 - (Leslie Unger): Yeah, you can email me. Leslie. L A S l I e electricimpulse.com Named after a horse. And yes, there is a story lesliectricimples.com my cell phone is 330-607-5730 and I'd love for anyone to text me, tell me something that I said that that hit home with them or something that they would like to hear more about. I answer everybody 330-607-5730 and my website.
0:24:53 - (Doug Jenkins): Is electricimpulse.com Leslie, again, we appreciate your time today and thank you and happy New year to year on the first podcast of the new year for us.
0:25:02 - (Leslie Unger): Yay. I'm honored and I thank you so much and I look forward to staying in touch.
0:25:09 - (Doug Jenkins): Thanks again to Leslie for joining us. I really like that point about starting with the end of your story and not the beginning again. You have that short amount of time to capture a potential client or customer's interest, so you really want to get to the good part quick. And maybe the good part just happened last year. No reason to start from the beginning. In that case, eventually they'll learn that part of the story too. I think that's definitely a note that I'll be using going forward for sure.
0:25:31 - (Doug Jenkins): So one quick chamber note to run by you. Our January event schedule is up now@finlayhancockchamber.com if you're interested in what's happening the local business community. Don't miss the January 10th fresh brewed business. We'll be getting an update from Economic Development, several other agencies on that topic. So make sure you kick off your new year right by joining us on January 10th at the marathon center for the Performing Arts. By the way, there's coffee and pastries there, so really not a bad way to get into it. And if you're New Year, new Me or whatever, just don't eat the pastries. It's fine. Coffee's good for the metabolism.
0:26:01 - (Doug Jenkins): Now let's get back into the show. Welcoming in to Chamber Amplified. Josh Reams is the president and CEO of Millstream Area Credit Union. They've been members now for nearly 29 years here at the Finland Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. I've known Josh not quite this long, but for quite some time. Josh, thanks for joining us today.
0:26:23 - (Josh Reams): Oh, happy to be here. Thanks for having me. Doug.
0:26:26 - (Doug Jenkins): We haven't known each other 29 years, right? No, that's not.
0:26:28 - (Josh Reams): No, no. This is math where we were com majors. So math is not to us. We're looking at 98 almost. We're at 25 years will be this year.
0:26:39 - (Doug Jenkins): Holy cow. That is a long time, especially us knowing each other.
0:26:43 - (Josh Reams): So that's a scary thought.
0:26:44 - (Doug Jenkins): All right. Well, we're not going to get into the trouble that we used to get into. Today we're here to talk about Millstream Area Credit Union and really let's kind of start from the beginning and how Millstream Area Credit Union came to be.
0:26:58 - (Josh Reams): Oh, absolutely. We started out, we were chartered in 1966, so going back a little ways, more than 50 plus years. And we started out as the credit union for the local union guys of Cooper Tire. And over the years it kind of grew After a handful of years, they started the credit union, started serving the management and salaried staff of Cooper Tire. That's when the name changed to Millstream Area Credit Union.
0:27:29 - (Josh Reams): And then a number of years after that, we opened up to the community. So no longer did you have to work for Cooper Tire, have a family. It was a. At that time, Hancock County. If you lived, worked, worshiped, or went to school in Hancock county, you could join Millstream. We've since expanded that out to essentially all of these surrounding counties except Wyandotte. I wasn't with the credit union when they expanded that, so I can't say why they left Wyandotte county, but we love our friends from Wyandotte county nonetheless.
0:28:02 - (Doug Jenkins): Absolutely. You apparently just root against Terry in football or something like that. I don't know.
0:28:07 - (Josh Reams): Somebody must have.
0:28:09 - (Doug Jenkins): It's a long standing rivalry. No, that's. That's not true. What are the advantages of credit union? What makes a credit union unique?
0:28:18 - (Josh Reams): You know, a credit union is like a bank. And I grew up in the credit union world and kind of lived this for a long time. We offer pretty much the same services, the same options as a bank. What makes us different is in how we do it and why we do it. We're cooperatives. A credit union is a financial cooperative. So all of our net income at the end of the year stays within the credit union. We're not shipping it out to a handful of shareholders or private owner, anything like that. It stays within the credit union, and that's what causes a lot of those benefits.
0:28:53 - (Josh Reams): The money stays here. So that's what allows us to keep our loan rates lower, our deposit rates a little higher than what you're going to find at, at our banking friends around town. One of the other differences that I like to point out when I'm talking to people about the difference between a credit union, a bank is how we're governed. We are governed. You know, we have a democratic board of directors or we have a volunteer board of directors that are democratically elected via the membership.
0:29:24 - (Josh Reams): So we are governed by the same people that use our services. We don't have a group of board members that are making decisions for all of our members based on what might be best for them as a shareholder or based just on the bottom line. The people that sit around are the men and women that sit around our board table that I answer to every month are just like you and I, they're, you know, hardworking people that are here for, you know, governance. They're not the foremost experts in banking. They don't need to be. That's why they hire management and they hire people to do that.
0:29:57 - (Josh Reams): But they keep us in line and make sure that we're keeping the credit union on the straight and narrow and doing what we're supposed to do as a credit union.
0:30:05 - (Doug Jenkins): You mentioned the deposit rates, and I think that's an interesting area right now. I was talking to members of our agribusiness committee before Christmas, and they mentioned that the rates on deposits are higher than they've seen in quite some time. Maybe you can give us a little background on that. I know obviously can't get into, you shouldn't do this, do that, or whatever, but maybe tell us a little bit about what's driving the market. There's.
0:30:27 - (Josh Reams): Well, it comes down to the fed funds rate in the prime rate. I mean, that's, you know, as the Fed has increased rates, so have the deposit rates. And really what it comes down to from a rate standpoint, the deposit rates. You know, we take deposits from our members. You know, anybody has an account, all the deposits we have, that's the money that we have available to work to either lend out, you know, to invest and to do that kind of stuff. And essentially what the deposit rates are, that's the interest that we're paying you, our member, to let us hold onto your money.
0:31:01 - (Josh Reams): And so as the Fed funds rate kind of goes up, you're gonna see all rates going up. Lending rates are going up, too. That side of it's not as good. Cause that means you gotta pay more for money. But at the same time, as a financial institution, we're, if you will, because of the rates going up and we're charging a little bit more. There's a little bit risk. There's more risk base baked in. So we're charging a little bit more of an interest rate on the loans that we give out.
0:31:28 - (Josh Reams): But at the same time, we're also paying more to our members to keep the money here. So it's all one big ecosystem, if you will, that lives within each other.
0:31:38 - (Doug Jenkins): Two sides to the coin, to oversimplify it, most likely.
0:31:42 - (Josh Reams): Yes, yes.
0:31:43 - (Doug Jenkins): But speaking to the interest rates, and granted they're higher than they were the historical lows. But they were historical lows. We're still in the area of, you know, compared to what our parents probably paid for houses in the, in the 80s, we're doing pretty good.
0:32:00 - (Josh Reams): We are. And you're right, and everything is relative. And, you know, we're still very young men, Doug. And so in our young careers, we're.
0:32:08 - (Doug Jenkins): Young middle aged people.
0:32:09 - (Josh Reams): That's right. That's right.
0:32:10 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah.
0:32:11 - (Josh Reams): And you know, and from what we've seen in our, especially in our working careers and such, we've seen the Great Recession and then, you know, you come down and historic lows there because anomaly that happens and then they started creeping back up and then all of a sudden, you know, the COVID pandemic hits and yet another anomaly that just kind of wrecks things. And so we've lived through times of historic lows that other generations never ever have.
0:32:36 - (Josh Reams): So it's all relative. And when you hear people talk about, you know, mortgage interest rates like they're up to five and a half percent and you know, that seems absolutely atrocious based on the 3% that they were and such. But the first mortgage I ever got in 2006, I was excited to get five and a half percent then because at the time that was good. And for a long time before that that was, you know, not far from average.
0:33:01 - (Josh Reams): But you go back in the 70s and 80s and you know, I talk to people here, we've got a board member here who I want to say, he said his first interest rate was like 16%. It's something absolutely absurd. And that wouldn't be possible at all today. So are they high right now your mortgage interest rates are 7%, 8% or right in there a little higher? Yeah, that's quite a bit higher than what we've seen for a long time going back 20 plus years.
0:33:27 - (Josh Reams): If you stretch that further and look at an average. Yeah, they might be a little high. But that typically that 5 to 6% right in there is about what it should be sitting at in a real world. We're not dealing with pandemics and everything else that is trying to be thrown at us.
0:33:45 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah, that's, that's a really good point. You talked a little bit about the connection to the community. I find it interesting. I hadn't realized that it started off with Cooper Tire employees. That would explain why the, the original office is right there, right next to the plant, practically on Western. And then you have the, the new office as well out on Fostoria Road. But, but the connection to the community is one thing that makes a credit union different. And it's not just about the board members and how that's structured, but there is a lot of connection to the things that you want to do in the community to help improve it too. Can you talk a little bit about just the things that you guys get behind Us as a credit union.
0:34:21 - (Josh Reams): Yeah. And absolutely, we, we get behind as much as we possibly can. We find ways, you know, that's, that's really who we are. The credit union motto, the credit union philosophy, if you will, is people helping people. And when that's your driving force as an institution, as a credit union, you know, that spells. And that screams like being there for the community and that helping people comes in a number of different ways.
0:34:47 - (Josh Reams): We sponsor, we're very proud to sponsor a number of local agencies. We put a lot of resources, as many as we can behind Children's Mentoring, Connection and Center for Safe and Healthy Children. Cancer patient services. We've long been supporters of Cancer Patient Services and Habitat for Humanity. A lot of those. We give as much as we can, we donate time, resour. But then there's, there's a number, you know, there's, I don't know, dozens and dozens of other smaller based, you know, whether it be events that are fundraisers for things or, you know, anything else that we can, we want to try and get behind.
0:35:26 - (Josh Reams): School and education is something that for me has always been a big part of my life and something that I hold and value. And coming into Millstream, it was nice because the credit union has long supported education and especially financial education as well too. And so I'm, I'm happy to keep, keep that going. And we supply the, we supply financial education workbooks, classroom books for all of the Hancock county elementary and high schools and a few outside Hancock county as well too.
0:35:58 - (Josh Reams): And those are, those are resources are free for teachers to order. They can order the books for the students and there's teacher workbooks and the Hancock literacy projects and anything that we can get behind, you know, the idea, my mindset, when I'm looking at things to support, you know, we're looking at the need that's out there. But a big part of that credit union philosophy of people helping people is, you know, it's, it's not about just charity, it's about giving a hand up. You know, it's not that hand out, it's a hand up. And that's what we like to support. Because there's nothing better than seeing one of our members who, you know, might be stuck in a payday lending cycle and they're just, you know, struggling and you give them that loan to get them out of it.
0:36:41 - (Josh Reams): And a couple years down the road they've paid that loan off and they've stayed out of those cycles and their finances are in better shape and just how happy they are and how joyous they are and everything else. It's just those are the days you look for and those are the days that remind you, like, this is why we do what we do.
0:36:57 - (Doug Jenkins): You've. As we mentioned, you guys have been members of the chamber here for 28 years now. Certainly you been in an operation for well beyond that. I feel like I've been here a while now, but just barely scratching the surface of an organization that's now 136 years old at the Chamber. But I always like to find out what makes it important for Millstream Area Credit Union to be a Chamber of Commerce member.
0:37:20 - (Josh Reams): That's an easy one. I'll go back to people helping people, that credit union philosophy. We as credit unions, we believe that there is strength in numbers. If you look at just the total amount of assets and I don't know the numbers and I'm not going to try and make them up, In Ohio alone, all the credit unions combined, maybe 40 billion in assets, 45 billion in assets. Your JP Morgan Chase might be a couple trillion in assets.
0:37:50 - (Josh Reams): So if you look collectively, credit unions have a relatively small market share. But we're wildly successful because by and large, we do it together. We belong to our, to the Ohio Credit Union League. It's our state level trade association. We belong to our national level trade association and credit union national association as well. Because the dues that we're paying to them, yeah, we get resources, we get a lot of stuff, you know, back and support back.
0:38:19 - (Josh Reams): But all that goes to help fuel, you know, mission success and credit union industry success. And for now, the credit unions really, in the 30s and during the Great Depression is really when they took off in the United states. So for 90 years, you know, roughly 90 years now, credit unions have thrived by joining together. That's the very nature of think of a cooperative, a financial cooperative. We live that within ourselves. We get together and we can do a lot more. When we band together, the Chamber is the same thing. We want nothing but the best for the Findlay, the Hancock county and surrounding area communities.
0:38:52 - (Josh Reams): And one way, just one of many ways that we can help make that happen is by being a part of the Chamber, supporting the Chamber, not just paying the renewal, which I just signed off on that right before the call here.
0:39:03 - (Doug Jenkins): Appreciate it. Thumbs up to that.
0:39:05 - (Josh Reams): Got your back on that. But you know, not just making that or cutting that check every year, but by participating in other events that you do and showing up to some of the roundtables, you know, the roundtables that you have. The more people that show up and engage in those, the more the elected leaders are going to want to participate in those. The better the Chamber does, the better Millstream does. So, you know, it's all collectively gathered into one. And if we're all working together toward the same thing, we're going to get there.
0:39:32 - (Doug Jenkins): I certainly appreciate that. We'll leave you with this lightning ground. True or false? You've been published in an academic journal.
0:39:40 - (Josh Reams): Is Radio Recall an academic journal?
0:39:43 - (Leslie Unger): I don't know.
0:39:44 - (Doug Jenkins): You've been published.
0:39:46 - (Josh Reams): I've been published. I wrote an article in. Oh, this was circa, probably 2000, 2000, 2001, and it was somewhere around there. It was ahead of its time, I think, because we were talking about, oh, what's the name? Something Armstrong.
0:40:00 - (Doug Jenkins): Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy.
0:40:03 - (Josh Reams): And my article that I wrote was, is Harry Potter the Jack Armstrong Strong of Today? And I still maintain that he absolutely was.
0:40:10 - (Doug Jenkins): I somehow. Yeah, I remember our professor saying you should be published and telling me thank you for coming today.
0:40:17 - (Josh Reams): Oh, well, I'm sorry for that. That's fantastic.
0:40:22 - (Doug Jenkins): Josh, if people want to learn more about Millstream Area Credit Union, its products, services, its involvement in the community, what's the best way to do that?
0:40:30 - (Josh Reams): The best way we have our website is millstreamcu.com and see you as in credit union, but just millstreamcu.com. we're on Facebook and we're on Twitter and Instagram a bit too. But you know our Facebook page, there's a ton of information going out on there and just check us out. We're here to help in any way we can.
0:40:50 - (Doug Jenkins): Well, Josh, thank you for joining us. Thanks again for your partnership here for nearly 29 years at the Chamber and we will talk to you soon.
0:40:57 - (Josh Reams): That sounds great. Thank you, Doug. Appreciate it.
0:41:04 - (Doug Jenkins): Thanks again to Josh for joining us. Josh is one of the first people I actually met when I came to the University of Findlay, so I do appreciate him not dishing on all of our dumb ideas when we were just communication majors. Links to both Millstrom Area Credit Union and the Electric Impulse Communications are in the show notes in this podcast. So if you want to learn more about them, you can just check it out there.
0:41:23 - (Doug Jenkins): And that's going to do it for this week's episode. I do hope you learned a little something about the local business community and hopefully a little something to help you run your business better. If you have any ideas on topics you'd like to hear covered here on the podcast, just email me. Djenkinsindlayhancockchamber.com Remember, if you're listening on our website, we appreciate that, but you can make it even more convenient on yourself.
0:41:42 - (Doug Jenkins): You can just search for Chamber Amplified in your favorite podcast player and subscribe and you'll have it each and every Friday morning. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time time on Chamber Amplified from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce.