Curiosity Is a Leadership Strategy

Join me as I sit down with Shonna Shearson, President and CEO of First U.S. Community Credit Union, whose leadership journey is anything but a straight line.

Shonna began her career thinking she might become a teacher, eventually moving into training and development before discovering the cooperative world of credit unions - an industry rooted in community, financial empowerment, and collective impact. 

Over the course of decades, she built her leadership career not by chasing titles, but by staying curious, being of service, and saying yes to opportunities to grow. 

We talk about nonlinear careers, the power of mentorship and peer communities, the role curiosity plays in long-term leadership growth, and what it means to build a legacy by developing the people around you.

You’ll Learn:

⭐ How curiosity can become one of the most powerful leadership skills
⭐ The cooperative model behind credit unions and why it matters for communities
⭐ How mentorship and peer networks shape leadership growth
⭐ Why service - not ambition alone - often leads to meaningful success

Key Insights:

Curiosity Drives Growth:
Leaders who stay curious about systems, decisions, and processes often uncover opportunities for innovation and impact.

Service Creates Opportunity:
Focusing on how you can contribute - rather than how you advance - often opens doors to leadership naturally.

Careers Are Nonlinear:
Few people can predict where their careers will lead. Remaining open to unexpected opportunities allows growth to unfold over time.

Community Shapes Leadership:
Mentors, peers, and professional communities often play a critical role in leadership development.

Legacy Is About Developing Others:
True leadership impact isn’t just about personal success - it’s about helping others grow into leaders themselves.

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] – Introduction to Shauna and Leadership Sacramento
[00:03:00] – Early career uncertainty and choosing teaching
[00:06:00] – Discovering training and development
[00:08:00] – Finding purpose in the credit union movement
[00:12:00] – Why credit unions exist and how they serve communities
[00:18:00] – Staying curious inside long careers
[00:21:00] – Service as a leadership mindset
[00:24:00] – Ambition vs meaningful success
[00:26:00] – Career seasons and raising young children
[00:27:30] – Becoming a yoga teacher during the Great Recession
[00:30:30] – Mentorship and peer communities
[00:35:00] – Defining leadership legacy

Resources and Links:

Learn more about First U.S. Community Credit Union

Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com

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BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter

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And if you're interested in more conversations about leadership, evolution, and building meaningful work, join my newsletter at BeldenStrategies.com/ newsletter.

Transcript

Speaker 2: [00:00:00] Hi, friends. Welcome back to kind of a big Deal. I'm your host, Kristen Belden, and I'm excited to invite you into this conversation. Some careers are straight lines, most aren't. Today's guest, Shauna Shearon, now president and CEO of a local credit union started in education. She then moved into training and development, stayed curious, followed threads, weathered the great recession, and even became a registered yoga teacher along the way.

What struck me most, she never chased leadership for the title. She built it through service. In our conversation, we explore the long game of leader. Mentorship community evolving through different seasons of life and defining legacy on your own terms. If you're building something, a team, a company, or just your next chapter, I think you'll find something here.

Let's dive in.

Speaker 3: Hi Shauna. 

Speaker 4: Hi Kristen. How are you? 

Speaker 3: So [00:01:00] good. So good to see you as always. 

Speaker 4: You too. 

Speaker 3: Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. Um, I just have been so excited about this conversation because so many. Of the chats I've had so far are with women I've either known for quite a long time. It's really only a handful of women I've had the opportunity to chat with who I'm either just getting to know or have recently gotten to know and to chat with you and hear more about your journey.

I've been really looking forward to, so thank you for agreeing to come chat with me. 

Speaker 4: My pleasure talking about myself, and that's my favorite topic. 

Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's true for most people. You know, I think I tell my kids like, the only thing you really need to do in life is ask a bunch of questions and you'll be totally fine.

Speaker 4: Absolutely. I'm really honored to be able to sit here and talk You. 

Speaker 3: So Shauna and I have been getting to know each other [00:02:00] through a local leadership program called Leadership Sacramento, which is run through the chamber. Highly recommend, by the way, for anybody, either that's local or I know that they run these through many kind of urban areas, chambers, some version of a local leadership program.

It's incredible to get to know your community, but even more incredible the people that you get to be. In community with, and it has been really eye-opening for me. So highly just a plug for some leadership. 

Speaker 4: So I concur. Everyone should go apply. 

Speaker 3: Yes. In fact, I think applications are coming out so we're really doing a local plug 

Speaker 4: real time.

Speaker 3: Um, so Shauna currently holds the role as president and CEO of first US Community Credit Union, which. Let's be honest, is just super badass. And she does carry herself. She has such a, um, a poise to her, but she has also just this way of showing up with an openness and a friendliness and [00:03:00] just excited to connect.

And I think that that is not always what we get to see, um, in leadership. And that's male or female. Right. And also knowing that you hold a huge amount of kind of, um. What's the word I'm looking for? You don't hold the impact, but you in your position have a very direct impact in our community and I truly did not understand the mechanics and the importance of the role of credit unions and, and how they serve our communities.

So it's been super cool getting to know Shauna and getting to hear more through her lens. And her passion for the industry. So I'm excited for her to share more about that and kind of what got her interested in this space. But let's rewind a little bit and get a, maybe a little bit more of a sense of your journey and what led you here lately.

I've been chatting with a lot of women about the early years post-college. If you went the higher ed route, um, pre full on career, whatever route you chose where everything is new, you might not know exactly where you're headed. Chatted [00:04:00] very recently with, uh, Genzer on. The series and she was kind of holding this tension of what she called the duality of both impossibility and possibility because everything feels open and new and fresh and, and yet she feels like there's so many steps to take to go in any direction.

So just curious what those early days felt like for you. 

Speaker 4: That, that really takes me back. Relate to what you were talking about with, with the Genzer, because when you have all blue sky, how do you know where to start? How do you know which direction to take that first step? My mom was a teacher. My dad was a pastor.

I think teaching is in my bones. So when I graduated from college, I was like, I have no idea what I'm gonna do with this degree. So I guess I'll teach. And I actually started to work on my teaching credential, and it was, I was doing substitute teaching while I was back in school, and I [00:05:00] realized that I was not enjoying myself.

The students were pushing back on me. The administration was putting pressure on all of the educators and then the teachers themselves, I would watch them in the lunch room. At each other and I thought I have too much of a need to be liked to be in public education, 

Speaker 3: to have all of these people coming at me from all these different 

Speaker 4: angles at me, from every direction.

No one was being nice. No one's your friend. And I really do hate discipline. So I decided to 

Speaker 3: discipline for yourself or discipline for others or both? 

Speaker 4: Uh, it's kids and other people's kids. I kind of have no problem disciplining my own, honestly, but yeah, people's kids, for other people as adults, I, I don't love the discipline, but I like setting guardrails and then trusting everyone to operate within them.

I love that. Do the work up front and not on the back end, but with, with kids in classrooms. Good luck. So I took my career and I'll just kind of [00:06:00] launch into a little bit of the journey, if that's okay. And I, I decided to take the skills that I learned through my education classes and apply them in workplaces.

So my early career was in training and development. Another thing I would say for people just starting out is that it's a meandering path. It's not a straight line, like you don't go, okay, so it's a blue sky and I don't know where to take the next step, but I'm gonna wind up here. So now it has to be a straight line journey to that place.

Like if you said, yeah, you're gonna be a credit union, CEO, I would be like, why credit unions for 10 and cool, I'm gonna be a CEO. So it, it was just, I don't think I could have fathomed it. It unfolds. Yes. 

Speaker 3: So 

Speaker 4: I went into training and development and I worked for a few different organizations. Ended up being the training manager at First Credit Union and absolutely fell in love with footing.

Speaker 3: That's incredible. I, um, [00:07:00] totally agree and wish that this was more a, frankly, of our education system, of this recognition that, you know, you're asked, we're all guilty of it myself as a parent too. Of asking the young ones like, what do you wanna be when you grow up? And it feels like that sets this tone for the entire path that unfolds, which is, well, you have to pick something.

And you know, I went to Cal Poly, which is, you have to declare your major. Before you even enter into a four year program, which is insane. You know, I went to school at 17, like the fact that I was at 17 supposed to choose my, like, life path is 

Speaker 4: big. Uh, a ridiculous act. 

Speaker 3: It's a lot of responsibility for somebody that was very irresponsible.

So I feel like, you know, there's this, yeah, there's a misconception. I think unless it's very, very, very clear to you that you're going to be, you know, a doctor or a lawyer or there are obvious paths for certain. Vocations. But I think for the majority of us, it is [00:08:00] kind of this squiggly path and staying curious and staying open and taking on new opportunities as they come.

So it's funny 'cause one of the questions I wrote down for you was, as you started on your path, had you always envisioned yourself in a financial institution and or, you know, leading a company of the size that you're leading. So, um. Yeah. Do you, now that you are here, what is it about this industry that got you hooked and has allowed you to stay in this space for as long as you have?

Speaker 4: Yeah. I think the, the root of it and why I fell in love with credit unions because I did not care that much about finance. I was fairly financially responsible, but not, not highly responsible. I'm still, as a young adult. Really following my wins with my money. I can't say that there [00:09:00] was any bra there, but what I found is that the more that you, the more information people have about how finance in America works, and it's a constantly evolving landscape.

But knowledge is power. And that I've always believed in. That goes back to those teacher fundamentals that I was raised with. So the more we can share information, the better. And that's what credit union are trying to do, is to give people, give communities the tools that they need in order to better their lives through their finances, because finances can destroy lives.

And then fundamentally. Credit unions are not-for-profit. Financial cooperatives and being a financial cooperative, the cooperative nature of not only a credit union, so they were started because people couldn't get loans except for from loan sharks, unless they already had money. It was mostly loans went to businesses or very rich and wealthy people [00:10:00] who didn't really need the loans.

So what was the poor sharecroppers supposed to do? So they started pooling their money. It really comes out of the agricultural. Movement in the 18 hundreds in Germany where they were pooling their money. And then if you had a feast year and I had a famine year, then I could borrow from the groups. And then next year, maybe I was doing great, but your crop was lousy and then you could borrow with very, very small interest, not the exorbitant interest rate.

So that's the roots of it. And in the US particularly, we've taken that movement, not just for our credit unions to. Pool the money and lend it back out. But among the movement itself, how can we all work together and join forces to help the financial features of all of our members collectively, not just my members at first US Community Credit Union.

Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 4: And that's the part I fell in love with. That as a training manager early [00:11:00] on I was connected to training managers and training professionals at other credit unions. And I would say, Hey, what are you doing for your orientation? And they'd say, oh, I'll send you my orientation binder. This is back in early 2000.

Speaker 3: There were binders 

Speaker 4: just had had, uh, we're using email at that time. Email is a new tool. And so we would just send everything that we had and, oh, here's, do you have a policy on this? Oh yeah, here's our policy. And I'd never seen that happen in any other industry. Never heard of it in any other industry.

And that was the part that I really fell in love with, and it's continued to be one of the best parts of my career, most enjoyable parts of my career. And I'm proud to say that, you know, I moved. To Sacramento for this opportunity. I've only been here for two years, but when I got here I was welcomed with open arms by the CEOs of Sacramento who regularly to talk about the issues that our institutions are [00:12:00] facing together.

Speaker 3: That's incredible, I think to recognize that kind of shared spirit of collective impact and everybody has their eye on. What it means to lift up the communities that they serve because that's not to your po. Not every industry behaves in that way, even if they are impact minded, right? It can be a little bit of elbows out and this is my space or I'm going after this funding, so you better not go after this funding, right?

There's, there's so much of that. So to, to hear that this is still the spirit in which you all operate is really incredible and you had shared before, this is really has been an education for me and I think some folks will be interested. I believe you had shared that many of these started as a kind of, um, almost like industry focused, like you are school's, credit union.

That means you're serving, you know, teachers education systems, right? There are others that are serving other industry specific spaces. Is it true though that now there are institutions like yours where there are industry agnostic and anyone [00:13:00] can become a member? 

Speaker 4: Yes. Another, I shouldn't say anyone within certain guidelines, but to generally now is more geographically bound then industry or employer bank.

Speaker 3: Okay. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. Okay. You might have, like my credit union began by serving federal civilian employees. Golden one started by serving state employees, um, and, you know, the, uh, air Force employees or, uh, you know, so all, all kinds of different, um, industries or employers. And so then just really small. And then over the years, the laws have changed.

The first credit unions were in the late 1930s, and there were a lot of credit unions that started right around that time. But the evolution has allowed them to open up there. Do 

Speaker 3: you think that there's still a little bit of like a, a marketing issue for credit union? Like, do, do you, what, what is it? [00:14:00] Why do not more people understand or utilize, or 

Speaker 4: by this question, this is something we, we do talk about and it's feels very defeating because even though.

Even though many credits, the membership has grown, we still only occupy about three to 4% of the entire financial services market. Wow. To the us And that has been the case the, since the 1980s, and maybe before I, I'll have to fact check myself later. So we have not really expanded, even if we've expanded in certain communities, we haven't expanded the basic asset base just then.

All the credit unions together make up fewer national assets than the biggest banks. 

Speaker 3: That's so interesting, right, because when you think about, yeah, the benefit, and this is so not the same, but it reminds me of when I started [00:15:00] doing work in the public library system, that there's like this massive gap between how the public perceives what a library is and does in their community versus what it actually.

It does on behalf of its community. I mean, it's wild, right? Sacramento in particular, our downtown library, it is literally a service based organization at this point, right? And there are so many things that they offer up and they are a safe communal space that, you know, when we think about a library, you think about you check out a book that is so not what it is anymore.

Really having a hard time. 

Speaker 4: I think I can see, I just now, somebody spoke at my rotary club about the library and I was like, I can get a free subscription to the things that I pay for right now, or I don't pay for New York Times and, and now I'm not going to because that free already. 

Speaker 3: That's right. Yes. Or Libby, or, you know, there's, 

Speaker 4: oh yeah.

It's just goes on and on and on. Why would I pay Audible when I, [00:16:00] 

Speaker 3: that's right. Yes. Yes. But there's such a, there's a perception issue, I think, after all these years of, you know, what they actually provide. So I'm curious kind of as you all continue to evolve for folks to see and understand the benefit and how much of an impact you all have.

So, yeah, I, I thought that was so interesting. 'cause even just in getting to know you, I've learned so much in just such a short amount of time. So it's, we need like a massive, we need a great cool marketing campaign for the Gen Zers. 

Speaker 4: Really. I hope you know now with the laws going into effect regarding financial literacy 

Speaker 3: and 

Speaker 4: education.

Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 4: I'm hopeful a little bit that we'll have the opportunity one, that credit union to step up and help partner. With the people who are developing curriculum or if they need guest speakers that we'll be called upon because we certainly show up and talk to people about how to understand finances in today's world.

Speaker 3: Absolutely. No, I'm, I agree. I think so much of the work I've done has [00:17:00] been in the either social impact space or working within communities that, um. Really, when you think about what it means to try and create opportunity. If financial literacy is not part of that conversation, then it's not sustainable because you can give, you know, you can create opportunity, you can create additional ways for folks to enter into the workforce.

But if there's not a way to then understand what it means to hold that new responsibility of, you know, additional salary or whatever it is, if, if, if something comes along or if there's a tragedy, um, and we're not doing our job of. Of integrating those tools and that training as part of the service providing.

I think that's, it's a real disservice. So I love this is just being embedded in our education system because that's, 

Speaker 4: I right 

Speaker 3: much needed. I literally that meme of like, I didn't know how to, I didn't learn how to do my taxes, but I'm so glad I learned how to like do the doey dough in high school. You know, like, what the [00:18:00] hell back to you.

So. You've built this decades long career it specifically at one organization before stepping into your current CEO role. Um, and I, I just curious, like what does it take, not to just stay, but to continue evolving? And growing, especially, you know, if someone loves where they're at and they see themselves there for a long time, but are interested in developing themselves or still evolving or taking on additional roles.

Um, is there anything that you could point back to for you journey and being intentional as you found yourself in this organization for the time period that you did? 

Speaker 4: Yeah. That's a little bit tough. I have 15 different answers to that question. You 

Speaker 3: can 

Speaker 4: loud in my stream of consciousness. Thoughts here. So something you said earlier, it's been a word I've been gravitating to for some time now, [00:19:00] that earlier in our conversation you said something about staying curious and I think that's a big part of it, is staying curious and.

Looking at kind of pulling on those little threads every now and then. Like I wonder why we do it like this, even though maybe you've been doing it that way for the entire time you've been at that organization or in your career. What's really the fundamental why behind it? And sometimes it's just for curiosity sake and you move on and sometimes you find stuff that doesn't make any sense.

And so then having conversations with, with, if you're not the decision maker or the change maker. Organization with the people you are. Okay. I noticed this. And even just sharing that insights of, hey, it was, or asking other people, Hey, I wonder why we do this. Then it can start a conversation. People start to see you as a thinker, as someone who's invested in the organization.

You know, not a paper pusher do need tacos anymore. I don't know. That's a, that's an antiquated terminology. But you know, as somebody who [00:20:00] just checks off your list and goes on about the next task, you're somebody who's thinking about the whys behind things. Now, you can't let that get in the way of actually doing your job and, you know, making progress and performing in a way that that supervisor is expecting.

But if you look for opportunities to be of service, find that need and then fill it. And you start to make a reputation for yourself within the organization as someone who can be counted upon. Yeah. And I feel like that kind of just that being of service is probably fundamentally the most impactful thing for creating a growing, um, growth center career.

Speaker 3: I love that you say that. I feel like it's so interesting in all of these conversations. Across the board. I would tell you that that has been a very loud pattern that has risen is in speaking with women, specifically women who have kind of [00:21:00] crafted a career where they have taken on more and more responsibility or have a position of authority or ownership is the ones that have landed in spaces where not only do they have that.

Position, but they love what they're doing. Um, or it it not every day. Not everybody. There's no, no, no chance of that. Sorry. But if for the most part you are fulfilled and you find excitement in your work and you know you're having an impact, I think many times it is because you started. With that lens of service.

It's not that it, it wound up like that. It is. Okay. I'm interested in helping, growing, learning. Yes. In that I get to now have these different opportunities, but I think by carving it out intentionally in that way, then you are likely going to be given opportunities that you may not have expected along the way, and then you get to hone and [00:22:00] shape.

Oh, this is what feels right or feels good, or where I think I'm really shining versus just trying to like, you know, quote unquote climb the corporate ladder or whatever. Right. I think that's how we can sometimes get in trouble is when we have like this blind kind of, um, desire to land into a specific position.

There's nothing wrong with ambition, but I think. The difference I'm starting to hear with the women in these spaces is, so many started with that lens of curiosity, but also with the angle of being in service. And, um, it's not surprising to me, but I have found it really, really interesting that that can continues to come up in these conversations.

So I love that you just, you just reiterated that 

Speaker 4: too, and I'm. Gratified to hear that that's a theme that you're starting to hear because their, you know, their success and it depends on how it's measured, right? There are prices to be paid for [00:23:00] pure ambition, and for me, they, some of those prices weren't worth it, and sometimes they're just not worth it in a season.

When I had younger kids, I was still doing a lot of work, but I didn't have, I couldn't say yes to as many opportunities when they were little or, you know, so family situations dictate what you can and can't do. Mm-hmm. But certainly figuring out a way to say yes to as many opportunities as you as you can is great.

But then I also saw people that. Were ambitious at the expense of other people, and one, I didn't like how it looked or felt on the receiving side 

Speaker 3: totally, but 

Speaker 4: by the same token, I didn't really see those people having any happiness or satisfaction other than the triumph of, you know, every new rung of the ladder that they were.

Speaker 3: Yeah, 

Speaker 4: I think the kind of success or how, at least I wanted to experience it, and so I think there's more and more people are hopefully waking up to that. Like, okay, what, what is success? [00:24:00] How do you define it? And part of that piece that, and that you identified is that, I wanna love what I do. 

Speaker 3: Yes, I agree. I feel like the climbing of the, you know, the, the.

The going up the rungs or whatever, it's almost akin to like buying the new dress. You know, like it feels good for a hot minute. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. I get the new dress and then six months later I'm like, insulting, 

Speaker 3: something sucks. Why did I ever buy this? Or I like wore it once, you know, like, whatever. So yeah, I think there's, there's something to that analogy.

Um, 

Speaker 4: splurge on that. 

Speaker 3: Yes, yes. You mentioned, um, earlier on, you know, when your kids were younger. And I really, really, really try to be careful here with the asking of women, like the quote unquote balancing of children and career, because I think there are, there's such nuance here, and we typically don't ask men this question, right?

It's like, well, you had kids and that's not even part of the conversation. But I, you, you brought it up in a way that I think leads to a question that [00:25:00] arises for me, which is. So you knew in this moment like, I have to, maybe not, I cannot necessarily say yes to all of the things that I might want to say yes to.

Do you remember feeling that that was an intentional choice that you, that you knew that that, or is it that you're looking back on it and can recognize that? Or if you were in that moment and it was intentional, did that ever feel challenging to. Recognize that you were maybe having to kind of put pieces down or maybe on pause until you felt like it was more of the right time.

Speaker 4: Yeah, that, that's a really great question, and there is a moment in time, and I'll share it with you, but I haven't thought about it in a long time, but during the Great Recession, so 2008, nine, even in the 10. Credit unions and financial institutions in general, were having a really hard time. 

Speaker 3: And 

Speaker 4: then the credit union that I was working for, we went through the pain of closing a few branches and laying off some team members and in order to [00:26:00] get our finances online, because in that moment we had.

More than an average of one member per day walking in and turning over the car keys to their car and just long day surrendering their vehicle. They had a loan on because of the unemployment or they just couldn't afford it or whatever. So this was a really rough time for everyone. I did retain my job there, but it.

A really hard time. And so I started thinking, okay, like my, my career, it was more like keep your head down and hope they don't notice you. So you're a survivor. Kind of like 

Speaker 3: skate under the radar of it. 

Speaker 4: I was not, my career was not growing there. Many of our careers weren't growing there during that time.

And so I remember having a conversation with my husband, so my kids were, would've been early, uh, elementary at that time. And there was a, you know, some opportunities that were out of the city that we were living in. And I was like, you know, I kind of maybe wanting to see [00:27:00] if maybe we move. And so we just sat down and said, you know, no, we're not gonna move.

I didn't wanna change industries at that point. And so I just thought, well then I'm gonna do the best that I can to impact my organization, realizing that I'm not gonna have tremendous growth here. But I have this desire to be constantly working on something. So I started pursuing another avenue of a hobby that I became a little bit obsessive about the, it was I ended up going to school to become a registered yoga teacher.

Speaker 3: What? Wait, I didn't know this. Okay. No wonder I love you. I knew I did, but like, okay. Well. Stop. This is really cool. 

Speaker 4: That was, that was the way I fueled my desire to grow during that. Yes. Because it wasn't gonna happen in my actual career at the time and hindsight, I'm like, really glad that happened because it.

Gave me a little pause, little reset. It gave me this [00:28:00] other thing that I love to do. I mean, I already was passionate about yoga, but then I combined it with my passion for teaching and you know, then I was still there in my organization. And when it was time to pick up the pieces from the Great Recession and really start growing and moving forward, I was there.

I was refreshed, I was ready to take on. 

Speaker 3: I love that for so many reasons. So much of my evolution over the last two years has been as it relates to this recognition that your job or your vocation, or your title does not have to, that's not where your identity ends. And I don't know that I ever, I don't know that I ever allowed myself this kind of opportunity to think about how other things feed you and feed your soul, right.

I was an art major in college. I have all these interests outside of just building a business or building in service of someone else's business. [00:29:00] But I, because I was so hell bent on like just being in. My job and doing the best job I could. And I think I really kind of cut off some of those pieces and some part of it is hard, right?

As young kids, the whole thing, right? So there are elements that you do have to kind of like set down for a little while, regardless at times. But I think in this new season of my life, I'm recognizing, wait a second. There are still ways to infuse these things that we care about. It does not have to just be in service of the business that we work inside of, or even the business that we're working on.

And I think it can be tricky to figure out that, wait, just because you're not spending all of your waking hours pushing and hustling and you know, moving into the next role or whatever, there's still ways to develop or evolve. Outside of that, that are ultimately in service of who you are holistically as a human.

But I think that unfortunately is a lesson I learned a little bit later that [00:30:00] I, I maybe wish I would've learned a little bit earlier on. And sometimes I do think it takes almost like a forcing mechanism to have that happen. But I think how cool that you now have this lasting piece of your legacy, which is continuing to pour into.

Another passion that you care about that will last you forever. Right. Um, just to stay on the personal track here a little bit, um, I recently was in a conversation where I was asked. Something that has shaped me as a leader that doesn't always make it or wouldn't typically wind up in my bio or my resume.

And I thought that was such a fantastic question because it gets you thinking about what are the elements of your life that have shaped how you show up today. So curious what your answer to that might be. 

Speaker 4: Wow, that's. What's interesting to me is like there's so much more of what shaped me as a leader that doesn't show up in my bio.

That I, yes, 

Speaker 3: that's so real. 

Speaker 4: That's like, okay, [00:31:00] everything that's not in my bio, those are all things that shaped me as a, 

Speaker 3: that's so true. 

Speaker 4: But I think I would have to talk about my mentors. It's too bad that I can't, you know. Shauna has this achievement and here's all the people that contributed to it significantly.

Kind of like a, the, um, 

Speaker 3: like acknowledgements in a book. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. I've had some really fantastic mentors that, you know, I mentioned that I'm in a cooperative movement, so there are networks. Some of them are formal networks that are created that you can join and others are, you meet somebody at a conference or at a Crate Union school, and then they become lifelong friends and confidants.

And so I have a few people that I meet with regularly that some of them are now CEOs like me, that we've kind of bounced [00:32:00] ideas off of each other or. The last 25 years, um, I had a really significant mentor, my boss. For about almost probably a decade before I left my former credit union who was phenomenal at pushing me to grow and giving me opportunities and giving me the space to fail and learn.

And quite frankly, I don't, I don't think I'd become a CEO in the alternate reality where I don't have that mentorship from him. So shout out to my friend Steve. You know, we talk about supporting women. I met a group of women almost five years ago at a credit union school. And it's a three year program and we got to know each other.

And we started traveling personally this week with five of us, and continued even when the school was over. Now we still meet once a year and pick [00:33:00] each other's brains and have spa day, and it's a perfect mix of. Personal and professional support and then just, you know, it's that group that you can just reach out to whether you are having, if you wanna celebrate, we're, we're there to celebrate each other and if you need to fall apart, we're there to.

So I think that just unnamed many uncounted groups of people or individuals that have really shaped my, 

Speaker 3: I feel like that has been, that is like one of the biggest hacks I think in career development is finding. Your people, whether that's through mentorship. I know it can be tricky sometimes because it's hard to know who is looking out for you in those ways.

I think sometimes it evolves over time. You recognize, oh, this person really does have my best interest and they see something in me and I, I can, you know, evolve into that. Right? Which is beautiful. Um, but just as important is the groups of people that are your peers that are surrounding you, that you find [00:34:00] can pour into you, that you pour back into.

And I think. Yeah. I had no idea how important that was to me until I no longer had the, the job that I held up until two years ago, because that was my community. I had found just this, it felt like family, which I know you're not supposed to say about your job, but truly it was like it was everything. And when that went away, I couldn't have said it at the time, but I look back on that time now and go, oh my gosh, I know what I was so desperately seeking was.

That level of community again as it relates to your profession or your peer network. And I went through a executive coaching program over the last year and outside of the learnings and the education you get, it was truly the community of people that come around that that are still now. You know, we kind of call it like our green room, so to speak.

The people that you find that you allow to speak into or that you know are going to be in support of or, or tell you the honest truth, sometimes it can feel difficult, but you trust them to speak into that because you [00:35:00] know that they see you and they can speak some truth for you in a way that feels like it's gonna take you somewhere.

Those things are hard, I think, to. They're not hard to find necessarily, but it does take time to find the right groups of people sometimes. And then other times you're just super lucky, right? And you end up in these spaces and you're like, what the heck? The one question that I do have to ask every woman that I chat with, just as I think about the work that I'm involved in now around evolution and this bridging of business strategy and leadership development and what it means to be looking at our lives in these holistic ways.

Thinking about how all of this, in some ways, in service of the impact that we wanna have or the legacy that we want to leave. So my question for you, Shauna, is what does building a legacy mean for you? 

Speaker 4: Such a great question. I think it goes back to my experience and the mentorship I was [00:36:00] just talking about and my personal purpose as I stepped in to become CEO.

I, my purpose is to grow the leaders who will grow my organization. 

Speaker 3: Hmm. 

Speaker 4: And when I look back at my whole career, really that's been a focal point. Whether I had words for it or not the entire time, or even in my personal life, wanna grow these leaders that will grow the world or grow whatever it is that they're working on.

So. I definitely take mentorship very seriously and with people that I have had as direct reports that I do have as direct reports. I'm trying to focus on what their goals are and how can I help them achieve those? How can I provide opportunities for growth and for failure and for learning, and. For community.

And so [00:37:00] hopefully that's building these wonderful leaders and then that they were providing through our credit union an opportunity for our community to grow more richly and for people to, um, the space that they need and within their financial lives to live a great and fulfilled and satisfied life.

And, um, then that just perpetuates for all of us. 

Speaker 3: So cool. Yes. I think that is such a beautiful way of thinking about how our work is so much more than just our work. It is about humanity and to know that you are intentionally pouring into the next generation of leadership, right? Who knows then what opportunities they'll take on because of that.

Mentorship. So, um, incredible and I think you're so wonderful. I think you're so awesome and I'm so thrilled that this leadership program that we found ourselves in this year has brought us together and [00:38:00] that you are someone that I am excited to continue to grow as part of my own community of people that I adore and love.

So just thank you so much for sharing some time. 

Speaker 4: Thank you so much for the invitation for the incredibly kind words. All the compliments were for sure 24. It's been absolutely my egos really. But seriously, I appreciate the opportunity to be for both this very good questions that made me, made me really think so.

Share some of my stories. 

Speaker 3: Of course. Yes. Thank you again. I'll see you soon. 



Speaker: Thank you so much for listening and spending some of your time with me here. I hope our conversation sparked some new ideas for you. If you enjoyed the episode, please make sure to hit subscribe so you don't miss what's next. And if you are ready for even more tools and stories, head on over to belden strategies.com/newsletter.

I share fresh insights, [00:39:00] stories, and tools for women leaders every week. Until next time, keep building, keep evolving, and remember that you are kind of a big deal.