Michelle Michnoff: The Change Agent

In this House of Hustle interview, Michelle Michnoff shares how she came to the South Lake community, built a long career in banking by focusing on relationships, and became deeply involved in local service efforts. She discusses being a single mom, advocating for her daughter through health challenges, and later returning to dating with clear non-negotiables before marrying. Michelle also describes losing her longtime bank role during a corporate realignment, leaning on community support, and using the setback to pivot into a newly created chief operating officer position with the City of Groveland. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the House of Hustle, the home of grinders, dreamers, and doers. No fluff, just fuel. Let's go. All right. Today I have with me a woman who doesn't need any introduction in our community, but I'm going to give her one anyway, the fabulous Michelle Mishnoff. Thank you for being with us, Michelle. Thank you for having me. I will say that uh you are one of the most universally well-liked and well-respected women in this community. And that's saying a lot because it's hard to be a well-liked, well-respected woman altogether, but you've earned it. Thank you. And it's my privilege to have you here. So when we interview people for the House of Hustle, when we find our interviewees, what we're focusing on are people that are hustlers in the best sense of the word. When I call somebody a hustler, I'm complimenting them. Those are people that are willing to go above and beyond in everything that they do. And they know how to take hardship and turn it into good ship. They pivot and rise, as I like to say, to every occasion. So can we start by telling a little bit about how you came into the South Lake community, like the uh hurricane that you came in? More than 20 years ago now.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Longer than 20 years ago. I moved down here from Virginia outside of DC in my senior year of high school. Okay. And went and I was homeschooled, so I didn't know anybody. My family opened the original Twisty Treat in town. And so that was a little thing. Okay. Yes. So we opened that in 1998. I worked there until the day before I had my daughter, literally. And after that, I wanted a more nine to five job instead of being 11 to 11 with a newborn. And during the time that I was off having her, I found the job at the bank and started off as a part-time teller at Bank First. But that was in 2003 and worked my way out.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Okay. And you stormed into the South Lake Chamber of Commerce very soon after that by doing what a hustler does, which is providing great community service. Talk to me before we go into your professional life. I want to hear a little bit about your community service, that whole progression.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

So I think my first introduction to the chamber was doing teacher appreciation way back in 2003 when it was at Southlake High School. And I remember having the bleachers and putting on the plants on every place and making muffins. Wow. To give out for teacher appreciation when we only had one. And that was my first introduction to the chamber and doing teacher appreciation, became more involved was on the steering committee that started the Taste of South Lake, which is it amazing. I think we're at 15 or 16 years now during the downfall. And so I worked my just did a lot of those community events.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

And how many people do you think we're anticipating at the teacher appreciation breakfast? Now you're still intricately involved in that effort, right? Yes. How many people do you think we'll anticipate attending?

SPEAKER_00 3:03

So we have over 1,600 teachers and admin staff over a two-day period now. So we've moved from only one day at South Lake High School to two days at the Wesley Christian Center. So we've we've come a long ways.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

And that's just one of your, you know, contributions to our incredible community. We're so thankful for them. I mean, it's just been such a big part of your life has been giving back to our community. You also have a kind of a Christmas, it's not really just Christmas, but we give a Christmas push. Tell us a little bit about that heartfelt community interaction.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

So that's a passion project. Um, it started during COVID. At the bank, we always had a business after hours, just like you do. And we couldn't do it that year because of, you know, COVID. So we said, how can we still help the families in need? And as Disney and Universal are some of the biggest employers here in South Lake, and both of those were closed, and people didn't have a way to get their kids Christmas presents. It's either pay the mortgage, pay the light bill, or Christmas. And so we took a Zoom meeting and had 35 nonprofits on the phone during that time to figure out how we could come together. I like to say that we formed charity across South Lake to become more of an octopus. We have all these different arms and tentacles. And what we do, it's easier for me to get money in from donors, large corporate sponsors, and go, and I have the buying power through some corporate sponsors to get the toys in backpacks. We only do two events a year, backpacks, which is coming up here pretty soon for back to school. And then we do Christmas across South Lake, which we help over 5,000 kids and over about, I would say, 2,500 families here in South Lake.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

To our listeners, what does a hustler do? It's it's uh COVID, we can't have a party, and now you've turned it into this huge philanthropic effort, it's just amazing. So that's one part of your life. I heard you mention your daughter. You've been a single mom, haven't you? Talk to us about what that's been like.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

That's hard. Um, you do everything you do for your child, right? You want them to have a better life than you do, and you want them to succeed. I don't have a college degree, so it was just her and I since she was been three. And it was never you're not gonna get your college degree. And so she graduated last year from like Sumter State College with her bachelor's, and she's working now, but everything I did was with her in mind. And I had to work long, crazy hours and lots of travel just to make sure that she saw what it was to hustle and what I didn't want for her.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Yeah, and what an achievement. She's a wonderful, wonderful young woman, not just obviously getting that college degree, but truly a kind and loving and good and wonderful person. You've been an amazing example to her.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Try to instill it's more about giving than it is receiving. And um, she's the first one that will volunteer and be like, I'll help with that event, I'll help that. What do you need me to do?

SPEAKER_01 6:02

I mean, what more can you ask from your kid than to be a giver? Correct. Right? Um, so you were a single mom. Yeah. And you found love later in life, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 6:13

I did. I tried to date when Evie was in school, and it just wasn't the right time for me to try to have a career that kept moving up in the company, raising a daughter and trying to find love or date at the time, and it was just too much. And so I decided to hold off dating until she was graduated. And then it took me a couple years with COVID and all that. And it was like, okay, I'm gonna start.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

And that must have been scary.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Very. What do you say to our single people that are getting back out in the dating pool? Where did you find the courage? So if you ask my husband today, he'll tell you our first date was like a job interview. I don't have time to sit there and go la la D. I just I have a list. Make your list and find out what's important and what's not. Ask the hard questions up front because don't waste your time on somebody that's going to string you along. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

You made a list of non-negotiables that absolutely can you remember some of the things on that list?

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Oh, yeah. I I'm not having any more children. That factory closed 20-some years ago. That's a huge thing for me. I wanted somebody who wanted to be a part of my life and not I'm very community focused. I have lots of friends. And they would have to walk in and be okay with my seven layers. I say I'm a uh planets because I have different rings of friend groups, and they would have to fit in with all of them and be okay with me being who I am, and I have to be the center of attention half the time.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Well, I mean, you are whether you want to be or not. That's just your personality. But yes, you do are called into a lot of leadership roles.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

And a lot of people are threatened, intimidated by me. And you have to find somebody that's willing to be okay with that and be a match with you and to support you. And that's huge.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

I think that's a hard thing for a lot of strong, powerful women to find as a man who's willing to let them be them.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Absolutely. And not to push them aside or to, as I say, compete or like who's gonna who's gonna know the most people, who's gonna have this, who's gonna make more money, who's going to be the person that makes the decision on dinner. Like everything is not a competition. I love that. So you gave your list of criteria.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

He was one of your interviewees and he passed.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

He did. He was the only one that stuck and could keep up with me because it's hard to run at my pace. I'm always somewhere doing something. And he he keeps up with me.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

And you know what I love about you and your hustle is you're unashamed in your hustle. Whether you're working your tail off for business, for Evie, I know that you've advocated for her for some health issues and psychological issues she had when she was younger. You've been an advocate for your customers and the banking industry. So, you know, you are hustling at such a high degree. It's got to be hard for him to keep up with you.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

He tells me, Michelle, we have to have some time to just do nothing.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Well, that must be good for you to hear Michelle.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

It is. And for somebody to go, okay, you're not going out today, stay home, and you're going, you're not lifting a finger. I've got this. Oh. And that's something that when you've never had, it's it's very hard to accept. And it's but it's great. It's a great feeling.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

That's a wonderful, wonderful partnership. So um, most people in the community know you because of your banking relationships they've had with you, basically the same institution that's gone through some iterations and name changes. Is that a fair thing to say?

SPEAKER_00 9:50

It was bank first, and then for the last 11 years, it was Seacoast. Same company, same corner, but yeah. Tell me how you move your way up the ladder. Funny story. Um, I cannot count cash. True story. Like you're bad at it? Yeah. Like your bank wasn't balancing. Oh, they didn't have a teller over and short policy till Michelle came. And they came in and they were gonna fire me because I was out of balance every single day. But when they walked in, the line was out the door for people waiting on me. And they're like, why are people here? And they're like, they always ask for Michelle. And it's because it's all about the relationship, getting to know how are their kids, how is their grandkids, how's their dog today? You know, did your doctor's appointment go okay? And knowing that relationship. So people would take that risk of getting $20 too much, too little. I think it was their idea of gambling. Um, and so they decided, let's try you on the desk on the platform and see. Never had any formal sales training. And but I can talk to a rock. I can just ask anybody how's your day going? And it did a couple of things.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Absolutely. Hustlers are very curious. Very much they're curious about their environment, they're curious about people in the environment. Sometimes we hustlers can come off as a little nosy, can't we? All the time. But it's really true, genuine interest and care.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

Right. I want to know how you're doing. What can I do to help you? How can I help you have a better day? What can I do? What are things that I can do to make you feel more comfortable?

SPEAKER_01 11:24

So you hustled your way up from teller to what, like a customer service person when people walked in the door?

SPEAKER_00 11:30

And then what happened? Um, I became the number one sales rep in the whole entire I my sales numbers were off the charts.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Now, for those of us that don't know, sales in banking means you were opening credit cards, no, banking new accounts.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

Okay. This is how long ago it's been when e-statements first were rolled out and debit cards, right? And trying and say, hey, did you know we have this? Generally just asking and say, you might need it if there's a hurricane and get cash out. Here's, you know. And it was this whole entire time. This is before the Wells Fargo when they were doing the naughty. And they thought I was doing something because I had gone from no sales training to the number one in the company, like the first month. And so they came and sat down. I thought they were coming back to fire me again. And this time they were like, you know, can you run a can you teach a sales class? Because what you're asking is what we want everybody to be doing and generally caring, not being nosy, but truly caring about people. All right. And so then you start teaching sales.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

I did. I did. And you're teaching salespeople all over the company. Yeah. And then what happened?

SPEAKER_00 12:34

From there, I became an assistant branch manager, followed by a branch manager in Claremont. Um, and then we got bots, and I was happy doing all my community being, you know, Miss South Lake. Everybody knew who I was. And then when the corporate came in and they were like, Well, you we need you to do some more stuff. And I was like, Okay. I had learned small business, I had learned commercial lending, I had treasury, so I had all this wealth of knowledge for people coming in. And from when C COS came in, they had more of a sales structure than Bank First did. And to be in the top three out of at that point, we had 80 some branches and every month. And it was because of the hustle. And then from there, they I said, I can't do everything that you're asking me to do and still train people and to help people grow. And so I became a community banking manager and led all of the Central Florida market branches for several years. And after that became the director here in Orlando. Wow. From a teller. From a teller with no degree. We couldn't balance a bank. Can't balance, no degree, correct.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

So, you know, all of us uh hustlers, we've had bad things happen to us, surprising things, maybe better things, unexpected. Let's not call it bad. Unexpected things happen to us. And uh, you know, hustlers aren't defeated, right? Hustlers pivot and rise. So I gotta tell you, I was at a Christmas party, you know, you talked about your bank's Christmas parties, and you and I have at different times throughout the years had competing Christmas parties. That's been so fun because it's always been for the community. Great. Um, so I'm expecting to see your shining face as well as the several hundred other people that are there. And let's be honest, primarily because of relationships with you and those that you've taught to be like you. And I sachet in and ask, where's Michelle? And I get told that Michelle is no longer with the bank. Yes. After coming up from teller to director of operations in this area, and I was, I understand, I don't know if this is true, you tell our listeners, was that the day you were let go? The Christmas party day? 8:30 that morning. Okay. So talk to your listeners as much as you feel comfortable what that experience was like, uh, how you handled it, how you recovered from it. What does that moment feel like? Did you know it was coming?

SPEAKER_00 15:08

I had a feeling it was coming. My role was eliminated. It wasn't that I chose to leave the bank. I knew that we had a company come in and tell the bank that we were very top-heavy in administration. Okay. Um, I didn't think it would be me. I didn't think it would be when it would happen. We had a realignment in the company.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

And I dun dun dun when you hear that word realignment, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:35

I will tell you, I'm always going to be a relationship anchor. I'm always going to err on the side of employees. And everything falls in place when you do the right thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

That's how you do business, that's how you live. Correct. Right. So that 8 30 in the morning, you get called in the office. Let's tell the listeners when you got that call come in, did you think it was going to be you were let go? I did.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

You did by the nature of who called you? Um, well, my boss at the time was not based here in Central Florida, but when they put a 15-minute meeting on your calendar at 8 30 in the morning and they're coming up from Stuart, you know. Okay. So how do you how'd you handle it? I feel like I handled it with grace. I mean, I let my emotions cry a little bit because I was there 23 years. That's not half my career. That's half my life I spent with that company. Right. And all for it to be gone that fast, I didn't get to say goodbye to any of the people that I had worked with for those 23 years. Um, or my team. And my team thought I had abandoned them. You know, you're tearing up a little bit right now.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

And I love that. I love that. That shows your love and passion.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

So, what did you do? Like, did you sleep that night? Oh no, I did not sleep for a couple days. My head kept racing of thinking of what should I have done better, what could I have done. And again, it's all about the customer relationship. It's all about my team and the employees and making life better for them and fighting for them. And I would do it all over again.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

Well, I will say, you know, at that party when the news was spreading that you were no longer with the company, um, people were horrified. They were concerned about you, but selfishly concerned about themselves, right? Because they had lost their relationship banker. So you lost the employee relationships, and then, you know, you kind of lost the ability to look out for these customers that have taken care of for so many years. That's gotta be hard.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

It's very hard.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Um, you'd watched our businesses grow. I did, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:42

I did. I'm very fortunate that I have such a great community and never underestimate the power of community. I had so many job offers that night of people going, Hey, I need this, hey, I need this, or I've got a friend. I had over 20 people just go, here, I've got this opportunity, here's this. What do you want to do?

SPEAKER_01 18:02

How many uh you probably can't count the number of messages that you got saying, Hey, I'm sorry, hey, what's going on?

SPEAKER_00 18:09

And how many people didn't want to reach out because they were so shocked and they didn't know how I was doing. And um I will tell you, it was the most loved feeling that people cared and were genuinely concerned. And how can I help? I mean, it happened two weeks before Christmas to the day. Christmas was two weeks later. And I'm very thankful the bank took care of me. And um That's good to hear. They did. I took the time to figure out what does Michelle want to do when she grows up.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Well, that's what I wanted to ask you about. It seems like almost immediately I see a notice on Facebook, and you know, that's how everybody follows it, right? Right that you're gonna be on vacation.

unknown 18:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

I had planned a vacation. It was planned. And did you use that time though? Well, how did you use that time as a hustler to kind of recover from the you know, the wrecking ball and rise from the ashes?

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Tell me what you did during that time. So that Thursday was really tough that weekend, and I tried to stay really busy, you know, think about what do I want to do when I grow up. Um and then we left on Tuesday to go to Cabo and took the time to really stop and enjoy. As a hustler, you're always on your phone, you're always checking your emails no matter where you go. It's you're always answering that customer's call. Um and I took the time to really stop and enjoy Cabo and take the sights in and spend the time with my husband and our friends and really be engaged. And sometimes I don't know about you, but my husband tells me that I'm not as engaged as I should be because I'm in my phone.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Me too.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

And it it was a rude awakening for me, if nothing else, that I need to be more present for those that I'm around and not be in my phone, not be in Facebook, not be whatever it may be. You think you'll carry that forward? I try, I got yelled at for it this weekend. But for the most, I do try to do it now and try to stop and listen. So, and that was hard. Um but I took the time to really focus in on what could I do better? What should I have been doing? Where do I want to go next? What does the future look like?

SPEAKER_01 20:32

And you chose something entirely different. Now, again, uh hustler is not afraid to take a chance and do something different. So tell us how you came to be in your current position.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Again, the power of community. Uh my kind, the former city manager for the city of Groveland, who is um everybody loved. Loves my I mean, he's still alive, but he's not with his own.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

No. And our listeners should know what's your official position at the city of Groveland? I am the chief operating officer for the city of Groveland. Now, had the city of Groveland ever had a chief operating officer. Okay. So you go into a new sector, which is public. Yes. To a newly created position. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Fearless. Went in with change. And that is something that is even though I didn't change jobs for 23 years or change houses for 20 years, I'm a change manager. How to bring people around and bring them to the change and because the world's changing every day, especially since COVID, right? How do we do that? And so I found myself being a really changing change manager, and that was huge. And when Mike, you know, proposed this opportunity, I was like, I'm not qualified, I'm a banker. And he's like, No, I need a change agent, and that's what you are.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

That's amazing. And so, you know, I think what's important for hustlers to hear is you know, it's It's not so much a job description, what you do in life, it's how you do it. And it's not a coincidence that most hustlers can be really good at a lot of things, right? Because they know how to pivot and rise. They know how to work hard. They know how to care about people. They know how to be chasing whatever the next phase that life has to bring. And so I think of you, you know, throughout the life you've talked about, right? You embraced being a single mom. You were an incredible single mom. I saw that. I watched it happening when I had support. Now I'm a single mom, and now I know just a little bit of what's in some of our listeners are shaking their head as they're listening. Um, those of you who have helped raising kids by with a spouse, please, or significant others, appreciate them. Give them an extra kiss tonight because when you don't have it, you realize how hard it is. So you're raising Evan to this incredible human. You're changing your job throughout the bank, right? And then you change your career entirely. So it takes a leap of faith. And then you go from being single for basically your life. I know you had a few romantic relationships, but nothing anywhere near being married like you are now. So you made that huge change in pivot when you were ready at a time that made sense for you. And then you change your career. So you how many times have I just said the word change in a paragraph? At least five. Yeah. So what would you so people that are listening right now, um, you know, what would you say to encourage somebody who's just lost a job? Um, or encourage somebody that's out there looking for a relationship for the first time or struggling, you know, raising that single child by themselves. Is there is there advice you want to give them based on this incredible experience you've lived?

SPEAKER_00 23:51

Don't give up hope. No. Um, I don't know if you know, but my daughter has seizures and she's 23. I didn't know if you want to talk about that, but and she can't drive yet at 23. She works here at South Lake Hospital, and she's almost there to get her driver's license. Um, we're praying hard that later this fall she'll be able to get it. Um, she's doing great, but it's hard being a single mom, you know, with kids and dance and sports and running here and doing that. When they're growing up, they have a car. But when you have a high-paced career and now, wait a minute, you gotta go here and take your daughter. It's not, it does not. It didn't end for you when she turned 16, like it does for a lot of us. But it wasn't a burden. It was part of it was part of our life and who we are. And everybody goes through a stage for a reason. And it has it helps both of us and the hope that we have that there is a good ending. And don't give up and don't. I was the person that said, don't ever do online dating because of horror stories that I heard and saw. But there's some good ones out there. Did you find yours online? I did. I did. I met them on eHarmony. Oh my god. Don't do the cheap ones that you don't pay for because those are the ones that people don't really care. If they're gonna pay for it, they put in their money where their mouth is. I like that. So d don't lose hope. Don't lose hope. It yeah. You think that's driven a lot of what you've done in your life? Absolutely. My faith and my hope has kept me going. And through some crazy wild times and dark times, yes, definitely. He just kept going.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

So if you have another change, you're ready. I'm ready. I think about things that when they happen can seem so devastating. It must have been so scary when you were so pregnant, so young. Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00 25:50

You must have been terrified. Oh, a hundred percent. Like, because they always told me I could never have kids. So when I found out I was pregnant, I'm like, I'm sorry, what? You need to take that pregnancy test twice. I did. I made them do it again because I'm like, it has to be someone else because they told me from the time I was 12 I was never gonna be able to have kids because I have PCOS, which is now PMOS. And so when you're told from the time you're 12 you're never gonna have children, to the when they say you're pregnant, I'm like, what? That that can't be. And you must have been so frightened at different times throughout her life. And then when the seizures were diagnosed. But it was the best blessing that has ever happened, and it's she's driven me to be a better person, a better human, a better mom, a better leader because of empathy and understanding you don't know what somebody's walking through every single day.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

If that and have kept going in the face of that fear, you wouldn't have had all those blessings. It must have been f scary when you were starting dating.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

Scary when you were being dating is it's something that's what I say to dating.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Yes, as a newly single person. Yes. Because you're not on the same wavelength as most people. No, and I'm not. I one thing I did do is I put in there that um they need to be okay with a strong A personality. Okay. That's what I need to do. Strong B A and be honest and tell them right from the start what is priorities to you.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

Maybe we can do a special podcast on dating for hustlers. Wouldn't it be fun? Totally. That would be so fun. But then, but then the scary thing happens. This career that you poured, as you said, most of more than half your life into, then that's gone, but you keep going.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

You know what? Because change is inevitable. And if we get complacent, what good are we? Amen. We need to remind ourselves that. And it's scary. It's okay. God's got us. He's bigger than and he knows what the outcome is. That's we've just got to go, okay, we've got this.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

Well, you know, you're still a young woman. I want to call you a young woman because you're younger than me. You've got a lot of life and change ahead. Um, I know the same fearlessness, the hope to keep going. It's gonna guide whatever comes next. And I hope people are inspired listening to this. Michelle, if people want to find you, pick your brain for business advice. I know you have so much business advice to give, dating advice, life advice.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

I always give five cents, not two cents, because the pennies are not being made anymore. So you're a nickel, but I'm at least, if not a quarter anymore.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

I've got lots of I can give you. And most importantly, if anybody has any city of Groveland business, how can they get a hold of you? Sure. You can find me on social. I use Facebook. And you use your real name for those listening. Last name spelling is M-I-C-H-N-O-F-F, Michelle the Regular Way. And you have a gazillion friends, and I know you're happy to have more.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

Yeah, Facebook to LinkedIn. You can email me. Um, my personal email is Michelle Mishnov at gmail. It's pretty simple. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

And I know you'll listen and I know you'll respond. And I know that anybody that needs a word of encouragement, I know you're gonna give it to them because I've seen you do it before. You've done it with me. Um, and I know you've done it with so many others. Thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for having me. Such a treat. And we'll have you back for our special dating. Yes, I can't wait. That'll be fun. That will be fun. Thank you so much. And that's it for today. Now go turn that coffee into cash flow. Later, hustler.