Lindsay Land packed her bags, loaded her car and said goodbye toher husband and two children. She was headed for a week-longcross-country drive with no plan in sight, except one ofadventure.

Land, vice president of operations at the $682 million ConsumersCredit Union in Kalamazoo, Mich., had just completed a coreconversion, and she viewed the trip as a great way for her toreflect and relax after the accomplishment. She knew she wouldlikely never make the drive again, so she used the time to singalong with the music in the car and enjoy all the unique people shemet along the way.

“It was one of the best experiences I've had in my life. I knewI couldn't really get lost because I didn't know where I was going.I didn't have any hotel reservations or anything. I winged it,” themost recent Trailblazers 40 Below honoree said.

Land has applied this same sense of curiosity and possibility toher career. Her degree is in human resources, and for more thanfive years she served as the chief human resources officer at the $476 million Kellogg Community Federal Credit Union in Battle Creek, Mich.After getting exposure to operations, Land saw how much she enjoyedthat aspect of the credit union.

The wheels started turning for her and she made it known toKellogg Community's leadership that she was interested intransitioning to operations.

“I was very nervous because my whole world was human resources.I wasn't as entrenched in the credit union industry as someonenormally going into an operations role,” she recalled.

The risk paid off. She transitioned to COO at Kellogg Communityand later to her current position of vice president of operationsat Consumers. Land said there was a ton to learn, but thetransition ended up being positive.

“The result of it is I learned that it's OK to push yourself totry new things, and if it doesn't work out there's always a PlanB,” she emphasized. “If I hadn't taken that step to operations, Iprobably wouldn't have the opportunity to transition to ConsumersCredit Union.”

As vice president of operations, Land manages and oversees thecredit union's card department, ATMs, operations, projectmanagement and facilities. But, she said, a huge part of her job isto create a supportive environment for team members and fosterinnovation, empowerment and leadership. She also said sheencourages her team to not be afraid of risk and tells them whileit's OK to fail, the failing should be done quickly.

Every year, Land completes an individual development plan foreach team member. She discusses their growth plan for the nextyear, the next two to five years and then for the long-term. Shesaid she wants her team to have the same opportunities she had.

“We talk a lot about thinking big, thinking outside of yourcurrent role and thinking outside of operations,” she said.“There's a lot of encouragement when we're talking about teammember growth.”

This emphasis on employee culture and empowerment appears to beworking. A 2015 survey of all Consumers employees revealedsatisfaction was high – 4.35 out of five. Land said members arealso highly satisfied. In 2015, 98.16% of members surveyed saidthey were satisfied or very satisfied.

“These figures really show pride within the team,” Land said.“We focus on that throughout the year and talk about memberengagement and member satisfaction.”

Consumers is also focusing on providing personalized servicethrough digital channels. In 2015, the credit union implementedinteractive tellers that allow members, at the touch of a screen,to see and talk with a teller by video link. In the first month ofuse, interactive teller transactions grew 60%. Members seemcomfortable using the technology – Land joked that her mom was evenwilling to try it.

Right now, the interactive tellers are in select drive-thrulocations and branches, but the credit union is working ondeploying a standalone location.

This year the credit union is also preparing to implement onlinemembership, which would allow new members to sign up withoutvisiting a branch.

Land said the credit union has consistently grown 18% annuallyfor the last 20-plus years.

“It's really spearheaded by our growth and our focus on our teammembers. Just growth through culture and performance, and it'sachieved by collaboration throughout the organization,” sheemphasized.

But all this success isn't keeping Land stagnant. The creditunion welcomes the opportunity to try new technology and productswhile acknowledging the risks that need to be calculated.

“It has to be a win for the credit union and the member,” Landsaid.

She said she is pushed by companies outside of the financialspace to think differently, adding that the sheer volume ofstart-up companies is staggering.

“They're offering solutions that fill the same need that creditunions do in a different way, and it's forcing us to rethink howwe're approaching our services,” Land said. “I think it's reallyimportant for our industry to evolve and evolve quickly so we don'tfollow paths like Blockbuster. We're also looking at the taxi cabindustry and how Uber has changed that.”

As the credit union continues to grow, Land said she still nevermisses an opportunity to invest in others, just as someone investedin her. She said she continues to empower her team so they feeltrusted enough to make decisions and know they'll have support ifthey fail.