While he dreamed when he was younger that he'd be a speechwriterfor others, Chad Helminak, CUDE director of REAL Solutions andoutreach at the Wisconsin Credit Union League, has found his ownvoice through service to the credit union industry.

“I may have had an account at my parents' credit union that theyopened when I was born, but I never knew what it really meant,”said Helminak. “I got involved with credit unions because of blindluck. I applied for a public relations assistant job at the leagueseven years ago, and it has been nothing but goodness eversince.”

He added that the good being done by the league and the creditunion industry as a whole has not only been inspiring but has himeager to get to work every morning.

“Learning from everything would be how I'd describe my journeyso far,” said Helminak. “Through all of the successes and mistakesI've experienced,I've realized that every situation–whether weperceive it as good or bad–presents us with an opportunity to learnand better ourselves, and I'm grateful for them all.”

Some four years ago, the league launched a young professionalscouncil initially as a way to float initiatives by a youngeraudience. Involved from the start, Helminak said the drive andpassion of young professionals across Wisconsin has evolved into aprofessional networking and development group that has some 150members. Likening the league's Young Professional Network to MarvelComic's Tony Stark's self-sustaining Arc Reactor, Helminak creditsthe success to its members' energy and passion.

“Their involvement in CU education and development has causedthem to ask questions, creatively brainstorm and look for new waysto grow and promote credit unions,” said Helminak.

He added that industry leaders should look to harness thatenergy, not fear it given that the average age of a credit unionmember has continued to hover at 47 years old.

“Our industry has invested a lot of effort into findingeffective ways to attract young members, and while there's beensome success, to many, it still feels like an uphill battle. Butwe're missing the low-hanging fruit and a question I hope allcredit unions would ask themselves this: How can we expect youngpeople to get excited about joining our credit unions when theyoung people within our own walls aren't excited to work for creditunions,” said Helminak.

According to the latest Trailblazer 40 Below, any hope forcredit unions to experience any significant brand recognition orgrowth in the marketplace, collectively speaking, will be throughthe industry's efforts to become self-aware.

“We need believers in our branches. Our employees–and especiallyyoung ones–need to understand who we are, and why we do what we do.Our really good employees are likely searching for thatunderstanding right now, on their own,” he said. “Between theconference rooms and teller lines that message gets lost, but it'ssuch an important one because it can help create a sense of purposefor employees. It has the ability to make them proud to work forcredit unions. In a world of ever-changing communication,word-of-mouth has never lost its meaning and that's how we earn it,by inviting our young leaders to be a part of our futuresuccess.”

In order for this to succeed, credit union leaders should lookfor ways to proactively channel this energy.

“Their wisdom and experience is invaluable and without it, ournext generation of executives will be at an incredible disadvantagewhen their time comes. It's clear that there's plenty of work to bedone and through mentoring and thoughtful succession planning, wecan begin to share the load as we prepare to eventually pass thetorch,” said Helminak. “Plus, having more hands on deck might alsofree up time for us to explore the areas of innovation and creativemessaging our industry longs for.”

He also would like credit unions to take a critical look atroutines as they look for new avenues to explore.

“What are we doing just out of the sake of tradition and why?”said Helminak. “Everyone's time is so limited that just asking whyare we still doing something a particular way and exploring optionsof ways to be more efficient so you have time for things likeinnovation, matters. If the reason why still resonates after 20, 30years that's great if not then why not reconsider and eliminate itor try something different.”

That may mean letting go of the notion that credit unions are abest kept secret is a good thing.

“That's one commonly held belief that needs to fade away becauseit implies that we are doing well, and it's consumers' fault theydon't know about us. It's totally backward,” said Helminak. “We asan industry need to clue them into our relevance prove it and takesharing our structure one step further to what the benefits of thatmeans for consumers. Historically, most of our growth as anindustry happened at a grassroots level when we had none of themarketing we have access to now. We need to realize the importanceof collaborative messaging that speaks to consumers and maybe evenbe able to laugh at ourselves. When you look at the “Got Milk”campaign, they didn't take themselves too seriously, were flexiblewith the message and yet it's had a great impact.” 

It's a concept he has been living as part of the musical duo,The Disclosures. During his spare time, along with ChristopherMorris, director of communications at the National Credit UnionFoundation, the duo write, record and perform songs related to thecredit union industry from history and philosophy to the presentday issues. They have found music and comedy as a way to get thecredit union message across many different venues.

“My first month in college I grabbed a guitar and taught myselfto play. And in 2009, Chris and I met at the DE training found outwe both played music and it took off,” said Helminak. “It's been anew way to flex creativity and to have this incubation tank ofsorts for innovation in credit union messaging has been incredible,and we've been able to make more of an impact than we ever couldhave imagined. We're working on a financial education album forkids and hope to give then a fun musical way to learn aboutmoney.”

To him, innovation has less to do with something new and shinyand more to do with finding ways to improve upon what currentlyexists whether making it easier, more efficient and/or relevant toconsumers' lives. To that end, he's found that collaborationhelps.

“I'm a big believer in helping others realize goals and dreams,”said Helminak. You want to get an idea off the ground, allow otherpeople to have control over it and involved in that innovationprocess.” 

“From a credit perspective, the more people involved, the morecreativity and energy you'll have in order to drive it into beingrealized. That way, everyone has a stake in the game and they wantto share those ideas and see them succeed, rather than watchingfrom the sidelines.”

As one who tries to live by doing what must be done and doing itwell, he has always been a believer in being focused on what's infront of him.

“Purpose and motivation aren't things you find under a rock orbehind a tree. We create our own purpose and motivation bychallenging ourselves to discover and do new things every day ofour lives, and help others to do the same,” said Helminak. “So whenit's all said and done, I hope I can say that I never stoppedcreating.”