How First US Community Credit Union Is Driving Digital Growth

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Jim Marous (00:10):

Jim Marous, coming to you from CoLab 2026 at the Gaylord Resort in San Diego, California. And again, I'm doing FIsionaries Podcast to talk to organizations that are punching way above their weight and doing things that even the largest organizations in the country are challenged to achieve.

Jim Marous (00:31):

So, we have two guests today from the same organization, from First US Community Credit Union. It's a lot there. I'm a member of the First US Community Credit Union. Before we start, why don't you introduce yourselves and talk about not only your role, but what your responsibility is within that role.

Shonna Shearson (00:50):

Sure. I'm Shonna Shearson, and I'm the President and CEO at First US, and I think my responsibility is pretty typical for CEOs of credit unions, in that I was given an initiative by my board to lead and grow our credit union.

Diana La Point (01:15):

Yes, thank you. My name is Diana La Point. I'm a Chief Growth Officer, also at First US Community Credit Union. A newer role for me, I stepped up from Chief Marketing Officer, so-

Jim Marous (01:27):

I was going to say, even my notes are old there, but it's the same, but different. It’s broader.

Diana La Point (01:33):

It is. It is broader, and I think it's the recognition, really, that marketing is a driver of growth. So, I think it says that in the title, of course, through marketing, we look to drive growth, but through organizational transformation and culture.

Jim Marous (01:49):

So, we talk about many levels of digital transformation in this podcast. We know that it's not a destination, it's a process. So, I'm going to start with you, and I'm going to go a little off script here. You came on board as the top dog. What brought you to where you are today? What brought you to First US?

Shonna Shearson] (02:12):

Wow, so many things. I had a desire to lead at this level. I worked in credit unions for a quarter of a century now, and when I started in the credit union movement, I came to my first credit union as their training manager. And I kind of thought, “Well, I'll just learn everything there is to know about this job, be here for about probably four years, I'll have learned it all, and then I'll move on to a bigger organization to do training for them.” And I never stopped learning and growing in my credit union.

Shonna Shearson (02:45):

And so, I eventually came to aspire to be the CEO, and so this was a fantastic opportunity to find a credit union where I truly felt I could make a difference, come from a larger credit union, and it's been incredibly challenging, but also, I never have felt like I don't know how to handle this problem, because I found a credit union that had not been investing in itself, and was rife with opportunity to improve and create more value for our members.

Jim Marous (03:24):

What was the biggest thing you knew you needed to change? Obviously, you were hired for specific reasons. What was the biggest thing that you wanted to bring to First US when you first got there?

Shonna Shearson (03:36):

I don't know if this is a direct answer to your question, but one of the glaring things was as I interviewed all of our team members and then introduced myself around the community that I'm with First US, people didn't know who we were. And our team members would say things like, “We're the best kept secret in Sacramento,” to which I would say, “That is not a brag. Just because it has the word best in that phrase, doesn't mean it's a good thing.”

Shonna Shearson (04:05):

And so, I knew we had to raise the profile, but not just for recognition's sake, but profile as being a community partner and somebody who provides real value for our membership.

Jim Marous (04:20):

I could ask this question of you, but I'm asking of you: Chief Growth Officer, and what we're going to focus on today with your conversation is the digital initiatives. Credit union space is notorious for continually talking about how great their people are and how friendly we are. That's the whole industry, but it's not really a good enough differentiator anymore because we get better and better at it as we get more digital capabilities, more data capabilities. We can do being personal well.

Jim Marous (04:56):

You came on board, I understand that digital is a major initiative to move just from being just human, and even though you had digital capability before that, but it's really a strong focus to not only growth, but engagement and buying in. How do you look at the digital engagement perspective and still keep the human aspect of what's important there?

Diana La Point (05:21):

That's so key because I think sometimes we all fall victim to chasing the next best tool, implementing the tool is going to fix it, and the tools are important. They are so important. It's how we get on the journey but ensuring that you are having an authentic experience.

Diana La Point (05:46):

I think earlier I heard you say, “Well, we're all friendly.” And so, we have spent a lot of time doing self-discovery on what our differentiators can be, not just what our team thinks that they could be, but also what the marketplace wants for us.

Diana La Point (06:04):

And that is that human element, sure, but it really is about having that authentic experience and having that care and curiosity and fostering that with your team so when you're introducing change, which, by the way, not everyone is comfortable with.

Jim Marous (06:25):

We aren't comfortable with it. Certain aspects, it's a behavioral issue.

Diana La Point (06:30):

Right, but you forget that sometimes as a leader because you know how important change is and you are always on the cutting edge of change, that the team at large sometimes fear it. Whether it's AI or you're just implementing a streamlined automation tool, the question is, where do I fit in?

Diana La Point (06:50):

So, I think part of my role is to show how that human element fits in with the digital and show that by automating mundane tasks or making it easier for the member to self-serve, then that we can have more time to have those authentic conversations about where are your goals? How do I instill financial confidence in you? And that's a very different conversation.

Jim Marous (07:16):

Tactically, how do you do that?

Diana La Point (07:18):

Well, tactically, it's about making sure that the team is really well-trained on the tools that we're putting out. I mean, one of the initiatives, as Shonna said, she came in with the mandate to completely modernize a credit union that hadn't invested in itself.

Diana La Point (07:35):

So, we're looking at implementing a loan origination system, applications, digital self-service, push provisioning, digital cards, voice, and making sure the team really understands how the tool is used and what is next for them.

Diana La Point (07:58):

So, for example, if they're no longer spending a lot of time doing card replacements and we're talking to the member about how you don't even have to wait for your plastic to come, we can push it right to your mobile app. Then it's talking more about fraud, how to protect yourself, how do we have those conversations? So, it's constant education of the team, and I think that's a role that sometimes we forget in our rush to implement the next best thing.

Jim Marous (08:26):

Boy, you said a lot there because the communication aspect is so important because we've talked to a number of organizations and you said we sometimes take that for granted, we also have to realize these are all humans that are scared to death of how digital will replace them.

Jim Marous (08:43):

We know internally that that's not going to happen, but you have to continually reinforce that or else, the entire growth engine breaks down. Because you are integrating your digital communications with your traditional marketing communications, with your branch communications, with your call center communications.

Jim Marous (09:01):

So, Shonna, within the organization, how much emphasis do you put, and how do you communicate around that we're not going to replace you, we're simply going to enhance your skill set, and make it so it not only improves the employee experience, but obviously improves member experience?

Shonna Shearson (09:19):

I will say we don't give any direct lip service to that line of thinking, but we do lead with care every day in thinking about what do we need to communicate to our team members to treat them the way we want them to treat our members. And I know that that's as basic as basic can be, but it's basic for a reason because it's absolutely fundamental.

Shonna Shearson (09:43):

And so, I think putting the time and effort and care into thinking about how do we communicate, how do we create a culture of people who care about one another, I think that takes care of it. It helps people to not be as afraid because they know fundamentally, they can trust what's happening in the organization.

Jim Marous (10:10):

So, let's take a short break here and recognize the sponsor of this podcast, Alkami Technologies.

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Jim Marous (10:21):

Welcome back to the FIsionaries Podcast sponsored by Alkami Technologies.

Jim Marous (10:25):

So, you both came from large organizations and kind of like a play box, toy box or a sandbox, whatever. So, you're big fish, smaller pond, and when we talk to smaller pond, we're talking about $500 million in assets. And you said before we started the podcast, it's an M by the way.

Jim Marous (10:47):

So, it's not just digital communication, it's digital products, it's parts within digital products. It's making the back office digital, which is not simply making a piece of paper or PDF. You know that. How do you punch above your weight in the digital transformation space when there are so many initiatives you have to look at? How do you prioritize? And how do you get them done through partnerships?

Shonna Shearson (11:1):

How much time do you have?

Diana La Point (11:22):

No, I was talking about that.

Shonna Shearson (11:24):

You really were. So, I will start, I would laugh when you said it's more than making a fillable PDF because that's what the member application was when I first arrived.

Jim Marous (11:35):

But most financial institutions still do. Because to get back to what your comment was about we are who we are, we came from where we came from, it's hard to change and not just digitize something that's not digital because it's got to be rebuilt. And coming from large organizations, you both came with the knowledge of what can be done and in many cases, knew what still had to be done at your bigger organizations, so where do you go?

Shonna Shearson (12:03):

So, now, I'll get to actually more the heart of your original question, which is I think you have to start with the limited resources that we have of looking at what have we already taken on? So, when I got there, we had just changed our digital app, our digital banking provider to Alkami. And it was one of the really great moves that they made, but they set it up and then didn't do anything with it.

Shonna Shearson (12:33):

And so, I think going back and looking at our vendors and making sure that we're looking at them as business partners and not a third-party relationship, it's bringing that human element back to it. It's bringing that care back to and asking for what we need. And so, that is the first thing that you have to do.

Shonna Shearson (12:56):

And then you find the biggest gaps in service, going back to knowing your members. And so, one of the things that we talked about, one of my first things was nobody knew who First US was. We didn't want to be the best kept secret anymore. We could have gone out and spent all our money on advertising dollars to get our name out there.

Jim Marous (13:16):

New branches.

Shonna Shearson (13:17):

Right. If we'd driven all that business, which is going to come more than likely through electronic channels, and then they showed up for a fillable PDF, we would have lost them as fast as we'd attracted them.

Shonna Shearson (13:31):

So, we didn't start with the marketing, we started with trying to get our digital onboarding experience to where we needed it, so we could hang up our shingle and now start attracting people to a good first experience.

Jim Marous (13:46):

It's interesting, in the growth area – you can't sell bad products and you can't let good products go invisible, and that's a whack-a-mole. It's really hard because it's a multiple process and we have to all move in tandem.

Jim Marous (14:05):

So, we're no longer in this world where we can go linear and go from point A to point B. We have about a year to do it, no. The speed has been turned around. The need for partners and what's really exciting about what I do with the FIsionaries Podcast is I get to meet organizations that not only punch above their weight, which I said in the introduction, but do it through partnerships that allow us to do things that Chase may not be able to do, or to do things that every one of my community banks around me aren't even close to.

Jim Marous (14:35):

And to stand out in that way, in a membership way, that they realize my organization's got it in the way they communicate, and the employees, that experience level goes up because they're not just proud because they're the biggest kept secret, no. We're no longer a secret. That's even a better feeling.

Jim Marous (14:55):

So, from your perspective, when you're trying to grow, what is the biggest challenge you have today? And I'm putting you in a spot because you're with her, and she may have been the reason why I've been held up, or maybe it's the person that's pushing you harder than you want to be pushed.

Jim Marous (15:16):

What is the part of what you do that right now, today, maybe not tomorrow because I know you're working on it – what is the thing that holds back growth that you're working on?

Diana La Point (15:31):

I think that's a great question because the easy answer is always resources. We don't have enough people, we don't have enough budget, but that's where this idea that we have to get scrappy and not only that, but we need to use our size as our advantage, which to your point is quicker turn times. Because we can get into a room or flatter organization, we can make those decisions.

Diana La Point (15:58):

So, I think for me, it really is always comes back to the data and how we connect those to our partner tools. And so, really, for me, it is evaluating whether or not we have tools that are open source, that they're not going to throw up roadblocks to connecting that data, and then making sure we're being fastidious about what the member is experiencing.

Diana La Point (16:29):

And that allows me to then sit down with my partners in operation or lending. I mean, I'll give you a good experience. We're working on a campaign for auto loans, bread and butter for credit unions, and now through our marketing automation, we can see where members are stalling out through the process. And we can identify, “Hey, in this particular section, do we really need to ask all these questions?” And I can go across the aisle and say, “What can we do to reduce these pieces?”

Jim Marous (17:03):

Which by the way, it's hard because when we get in a room, we get people together and say we want to convert this, somehow in the banking industry, we add steps instead of taking it away. Because they see it as an opening for the person in the back office, and they say, “I want to ask this as well.” You go, “No, no, you missed the point.”

Diana La Point (17:19)”

And I love a healthy debate. Like internally, if we're not debating each other – and Shonna lets us do this. Every once in a while, she has to get in there and referee because we're passionate about it. My colleague-

Jim Marous (17:33):

Referee, referee, or push?

Diana La Point (17:37):

Both, right?

Jim Marous (17:37):

Because the reality is, at the end of the day, it's top leadership that has to set the tone for expectations and where your North Star is as a leader, where your North Star is as a leader, and where your employees' North Star is as leaders in their own way.

Jim Marous (17:55):

And great concept there that you have all these things going on, but you got to take steps. And the good news, again, we all know what's possible. The challenge today is we know what's possible, we know what we need to do, the execution gap is where it really comes into play.

Jim Marous (18:15):

And it can be because of compliance, it can be because of people, it can be because of budget. We have an environment now, over certainly the last six years, where the partnership capabilities, the ability to find specialists.

Jim Marous (18:30):

If you say, I want to move my new account opening experience from 14 minutes to three, we have that company. If we say we want to change our loan experience so that somebody can … if they're already a customer, we can move that down to five minutes, that capability is out there. It's just a matter of prioritization, where you put your money, where you put your priorities.

Jim Marous (18:52):

And I get tired in the industry of hearing organizations continually talking about how growth is a top priority and experience, and then we don't deploy resources, energy, we don't fix our data warehouse to make it so that we have the back office well set up. What are you working on right now that is a big deal?

Diana La Point (19:18):

Well, first I want to say, I hate the word easy, because nothing with financial services is ever easy, but simple. Simple is where I'm always looking. For us right now, a big initiative is we're looking at how do we create more signals based on segmentation.

Diana La Point (19:43):

So, I mentioned earlier that really doing a self-discovery, Shonna did as well, about who we can serve. And then looking at those signals, so whether it's their behavior in online banking, how they're rating us in the app, and then making sure that we are connecting that data with our marketing automation systems, and then we can proactively look at the behavioral data of what they're doing out on the websites, and trigger signals.

Diana La Point (20:14):

And that sounds so great, that promise of that omni-channel 360 view of the member that a lot of people sell to us, but it is very hard to achieve to get everything to talk to each other. And so, especially in an organization like ours, like you mentioned, we don't necessarily have the really deep expertise, but we have the ability to find partners. And we're not just talking about the software solution because you said execution, the easy part can be making the decision to buy this, the hard part is making it all work together.

Jim Marous (20:52):

And not getting in the way. Because how many solution providers do you work with that will promise you something and they can do it, as long as you don't get in the way and say, “Oh, by the way, we still require this.” You go, “You've just thrown it out.” You bought something that I can't execute against because you've set some rules that are in the past.

Jim Marous (21:19):

So, Shonna, you obviously are continuously evolving. You're continuously setting the bar higher based on what you know is out there, but even some things that you may not even know are out there yet that you're saying we have to do. How do you sell that to the board? How do you sell that to your leadership? And just as importantly, how do you sell it down the organization because it's a cultural thing.

Shonna Shearson (21:41):

When it comes to the board, I feel really lucky in that my board has been more progressive and open-minded. And they've sort of taken a … I think probably behind closed doors are going, well, we brought her here. And so, they're-

Jim Marous (22:00):

You are already pointing around the room going, you wanted her.

Shonna Shearson (22:04):

We did this to ourselves.

Jim Marous (22:05):

And they're doing it in front of you.

Shonna Shearson (22:07):

I remember my very first planning session, it was like three months after I started. And I went over all my observations and then laid out a lot of what I thought needed to happen in the future, and then we went through a prioritization exercise.

Shonna Shearson (22:24):

But one of my board members said, “Well, Shonna, you even brought the kitchen sink.” And so, I left no stone unturned. And there's certainly a lot to do. So, I haven't had to fight a lot on that, but there were some things that were much harder and you do it in the same way that you convince people, is you start to leave a trail of bread crumbs.

Shonna Shearson (22:46):

And this is for the staff too, is you start … try on this idea for a site. We're not saying we're going to do it right now but try it on. And then, okay, we got some more data. Oh, look at what's happening over here. So, you start to provide evidence, and then by the time you get to a vote, if one is required, people are going, “How come this isn't done already? We've been talking about it for six months.”

Jim Marous (23:07):

You set an expectation within your organization and now with your members as well. That if something's not in place, they've heard that an organization has, they now know they can come to you and say, “We want this.” And what's interesting, I would imagine, your member base is evolving to not just be the people that put up with it, but those who are expecting it, which is a whole different game.

Jim Marous (23:33):

It's exciting because it was easy to satisfy those who hadn't left because they've already accepted they're not going yet. But now to get new members, to be able to get new employees, to be able to satisfy the curiosity of everybody, on both sides, as well as your own, is pretty important, especially for a modest size organization that's punching above their weight.

Jim Marous (23:54):

So, when you look at what's going on, and no matter if it's companies, 3 billion, 8 billion, 400 million, they look to you and they say, “How are you doing?” So, it's going to really be limiting. But what's the one thing that you're telling organizations that are behind the curve compared to you that they need to do? I'm going to start with you.

Diana La Point (24:19):

Don't mistake the fact that the technology is the differentiator.

Jim Marous (24:24):

Well said. That's actually, I believe, the easiest part. It's simply money. If you buy the technology, that's great. But that doesn't make you successful.

Diana La Point (24:36):

Yes. And coming from an organization with what seemed like an unlimited budget, it was that idea that sometimes the tool was what made the difference. And at the same time, you also need to ensure that the team doesn't – I think you said that the in-branch transaction is not also the differentiator as well.

Diana La Point (24:57):

So, the one thing is making sure that your team knows that they are the brand, not the tool; they are the differentiator. And whether they're in the call center, they're in the back office, they're servicing a member digitally, that the brand can be expressed and the care that they take, their curiosity of asking someone in a different department, why do we do this? How can we change it? How can we make it simpler, not easier, is really what gets the team fired up to say, “I am First US, I love working here, and I want to make a difference for my member.”

Jim Marous (25:36):

Makes the whole process a little bit easier. So, Shonna, talking to other leaders within the financial service industry, what's the one recommendation you'd give them?

Shonna Shearson (25:49):

Sort of builds off of what Diana was saying, but I think it starts with know who you are as an organization. Know who your members are and how they're evolving. Get crystal clear on where that alignment is, and that will guide the rest of your decision-making moving forward and knowing where do you need to start, how do you prioritize?

Jim Marous (26:12):

And it's great because if your employees know it, your members know it. And if your members know it, your board knows it, and your prospects know it, so it's kind of fun. Thank you so much for both being on this show.

Shonna Shearson (26:25):

Thank you, Jim.

Diana La Point (26:25):

Thank you.

Jim Marous (26:25)”

It's so exciting because it really shows that digital transformation is a big thing, it's a word, but you still got to prioritize. It's not your comment, it's not technology. Boy, I try to sell that all the way. It's leadership, it's employees, it's culture because you can buy anything, but the implementation is where the gap is. And as you brought up in the very beginning, it starts in the back office. It's not digitizing paper, it's a PDF. It's bigger than that.

Jim Marous (26:53):

Thank you both for being on the show.

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Diana La Point (26:54):

Thank you.

Shonna Shearson (26:55):

Thank you.