Recently, a member called her directly for a small loan. She knew the member couldn't drive and couldn't easily leave her house. So Page went out of her way to help the member with the loan.

“I drove the paperwork to her house, she signed it … and then I took the check and deposited it for her so that she could have access to the money,” she recalled. “I'm not afraid to jump in when someone needs help, because that's what I grew up doing.”

This tight-knit community culture is evident throughout the credit union.

“I'm not the only one, others have done similar things,” Page said.

While her core values of community and family have endured throughout her career, her path to the corner office was an unexpected one. She joined the credit union for a position in accounting and never envisioned becoming president/CEO. She is a self-proclaimed numbers girl, who found comfort in the precision of balance sheets and digits. However, when her predecessor left, she was unexpectedly appointed interim president/CEO. After serving in the position a few months, she told the board she was confident she could do the job and presented all the reasons why.

Page, a natural peacemaker, avoids confrontation. So this was a step out of her comfort zone, albeit a proud one that forever changed the trajectory of her career.

In a town where quite literally everyone may know your name, a sense of community is imperative for success, and Page's value system of community has paid off. When she started as president/CEO in 2007, the credit union had $43 million in assets; it ended 2015 with nearly $109 million in assets.

One of the credit union's major goals was to make sure its members viewed them not just as an option, but as their only financial institution. She reevaluated and changed policies, and improved employee training to enable more loan officers to say “yes” on loans.

The results were impressive. The credit union went from having slightly more than 8% loan growth in 2013 to 11% in 2014 and 14% in 2015. Loans per member grew from 77% in 2013 to more than 87% in 2015. Growth on its auto loan portfolio went from 12% in 2013 to 30% in 2015.

At the same time, it launched membership campaigns for non-members who had existing auto loans, offering a 2% reduction off of their current rate to move the loan to Community South. In addition to the loan growth, it saw a spike in membership growth from 3% in 2013 to almost 11% in 2015.

In addition, 96% of Community South members have checking accounts, while the industry average hovers around 50%, according to Page.

“When I tell you our members use us, our members use us!” she emphasized.

She said she sees a need to assist higher risk members of the community. Community South serves two of the poorest counties in the state of Florida, and she's proud to be able to lend to this population of members as well as small business owners – often when banks refuse.

“When we have members who come in, whom others wouldn't talk to, I'm proud that we can serve them and make a difference in their lives,” she explained. “Our service also makes a difference in our community as a whole; we're increasing the financials of the community.”

Page also said she believes it's imperative for a credit union to determine its identity, noting it can't be all things to all people.

“You need to determine your identity, who you want to reach and how you want to reach them,” she said. “You must know your target market and meet the needs of that market.”

To do this, the credit union started targeting higher risk loans, and the result was an increase in loan yield and ROA. The ROA rose from 0.30% in 2013 to 1.40% in 2015. Loan yield went from 6.73% in 2013 to 7.77% in 2015.

This year Community South received its CDFI designation, which will allow it to serve even more low-income members.

Several months ago, a member came into the credit union with a low credit score and said no other financial institutions would talk to her. The credit union loan officer sat down with her and told her things she could do to help her credit. The woman left feeling empowered and made the necessary changes to improve her credit. She later called the credit union to say her credit score was now high enough to qualify her for a loan to buy a house.

“We believe that the community has made us successful and we should give back,” Page declared.

Page said if she could give one single piece of advice to a new CEO it would be to focus on the people, not just the mechanics.

“Members will not choose you because you have the best core processor or because of your branch design,” she said. “Members are individuals. Employees are individuals … they want to know they are valued and respected. Show them that. Show them by giving your time and efforts to the individual. The rewards are huge.”