Member Spotlight: Kristyn Vanover

CUNA HR/TD Council
August 17, 2009 | COMMENTS

Kristyn Vanover is manager of training and development at Kemba Credit Union in Cincinnati, Ohio. Born in Milwaukee, she moved to Cincinnati in third grade. Kristyn began working as a teller at a local bank during high school and continued part-time banking work during her college years.

“I was hired by Kemba in 1986 as a teller,” she says. “As we grew, so did my responsibilities. Other positions I held were head teller, member service supervisor, branch manager, and main office manager. With this growth came the need for training. I think because I was the most outspoken proponent for training they made me the Training Department!”

Kristyn has two sons, ages 18 and 21. “My 18-year-old has joined the Marines on the delayed-entry program and has made me a very proud yet concerned mother,” adds Kristyn. “He left for boot camp on August 9 and I'm counting down 13 weeks until his graduation.”

Biggest challenge

With today's economic situation, I think we have become victims of our own success. Last year we had a 20% loan increase and it seem that may be unheard of this year.

Best advice

Our members are the most important people in our credit union. They can never be an interruption to our day. They are the reason we come to work.

Greatest benefit of Council membership

The list serve has proven to be invaluable! Credit union people are so willing to share their knowledge.

Best part of my job

I have the privilege of working closely with every employee in our credit union, yet I supervise none! I'm a one-person training department.

Hardest part of my job

The fact that I am a one-person training department and it's a challenge for me to do the many things I believe would benefit the credit union.

Success story

We recently completed a member survey with The Raddon Financial Group and had some really great results. They found that 97.7% of our members are either satisfied or very satisfied with our service. This is up significantly since our last survey six years earlier. Raddon seemed especially pleased with this number since we have opened four new branches during this time. A lot of credit was attributed to hiring and training the right people. Personally I give most of the training credit to CUNA's Creating Member Loyalty program that we began using three years ago. It's a simple, common-sense approach to sales and service and CUNA does a fabulous job with trainer certifications and implementation.

Biggest misconception about my job

People think my job is boring because I have to sometimes teach the same thing over and over. But what they don't know is that no two classes are ever the same, because our participants change the dynamics of each class.

Hobbies and interests

After raising two athletic boys, I've come to love sports. My days of watching them play are mostly over as the youngest graduated high school this year. So in my spare time, depending on the season, you'll find me at Reds games, Bengals games, Ohio State Buckeye football or Xavier University basketball games. Not nearly as enjoyable as watching my own boys on the basketball court, baseball, and soccer field, but certainly an acceptable alternative! (Oh, and I love to shop!)

Recent book

Good to Great by Jim Collins.

Something that always makes me laugh

My dog. He is a very smart English Springer Spaniel, but doesn't see the screen door when it's closed. He runs into it every time and I laugh every time he does it!

Favorite quote

“Don't take life too seriously—nobody gets out alive, anyway.”

If I could spend a day with anyone it would be . . .

Princess Di, if she were still alive. I think she was such an amazing member of the royal family. She seemed so real and ordinary, even though she was truly royalty.

How I would explain the credit union difference to a potential new member

Credit unions are the feeders, big banks are the suckers.

> View Kristyn's profile in CUNA Councils Connect