"I was fortunate to be in a company that was thriving and growing. We're now a little under $800 million in assets. I was at the right place at the right time."

Stopera worked her way up to manager of the member service department then to operations manager and became vice president of operations/executive vice president and then was named CEO in August 2004.

"Many credit unions have that type of case where the CEO has moved up the credit union over the years. I've also seen cases where people grow tired and old in their job no matter what age they are. You need to re-energize. It's important to realize you set the tone for entire organization," Stopera said.

Lourdes Cortez, president/CEO of North Jersey Federal Credit Union, also started her career at the same credit union more than 20 years ago.

Cortez started as a teller at North Jersey and worked in every department at the credit union, except accounting, before landing the CEO position five years ago.

"Having worked my way up at the credit union absolutely gives me a number of different perspectives. I've worked in every department, so I have respect for employees in those positions, and I relate better to membership because I've dealt with them on a one-on-one basis," Cortez said of how her experience has helped her as CEO.

Stopera agreed that because she's worked her way through the credit union, she has a better understanding of the challenges that each department has and that employees respect the guidance she gives because they know she's been in their position.

Stopera added though that being young and moving up through a company also has its challenges.

"Coming from a peer to a manager can be challenging. One day you're everybody's friend and the next day you're their manager. I understand that though when I see our young managers coming up."

Still, Stopera said, she feels that it's more advantageous to train employees and promote from within than to hire from outside, especially when it comes to the CEO position.

"When you bring in a CEO from outside, there is often turbulence at the top because executives that wanted the position didn't get it. There are, of course, times when it's necessary because the skill set may not be there, but I think it works much more seemly to promote from within."

Bogdan Chmielewski, president/CEO of Polish and Slavic Credit Union in Brooklyn, N.Y., started off his career like Stopera, as a member service representative at Polish and Slavic, but he took a different path than she did.

After several years at the credit union, Chmielewski left the credit union industry for a vice president position at HSBC Bank to expand the business into the Polish district of Brooklyn.

"After a few sleepless nights, with a broken heart, I decided to leave the credit union. It was a great professional experience, and I was able to uncover some of the banker secrets for their success, but I never lost the connection to the credit union industry, my friends, employees and members," Chmielewski said.

In 2007, Chmielewski decided to make his move back into the industry by applying for the CEO position at Polish and Slavic. He started the position in May 2007.

While Chmielewski believes that internal development is crucial for every institution. he also said he believes it is important for a growing and expanding institution to have employees with different professional experiences. The Polish and Slavic management team, he said, is made up of employees promoted from within and employees that bring an outside perspective and experience.

"We have a lot of employees, like myself, who at some point of their career left the credit union, got professional experience from a different financial institution and happily came back to our credit union to utilize their knowledge at the higher level positions here."

Hank Hubbard, president/CEO of Communicating Arts Credit Union in Detroit, had an unusual story of how he got into the industry.

Hubbard started his career at a small IT consultant company he ran with a high school friend. Hubbard installed some of the first PC networks in Detroit, including one at Communicating Arts Credit Union. After his friend merged the company with another company his father was running, Hubbard was laid off and started his own independent PC consulting company, keeping CACU as a client.

Hubbard did a lot of work for the CEO at the time, including installing Microsoft Windows for the credit union and making it work on the network. Impressed with Hubbard's work, the CEO began looking for a job in the credit union industry for him and ultimately ending up finding a new job for himself.

"The board felt that they had a strong lender and account person. They need a leader-manager with good background in finance and technology. It was a little out of the box for a board to think that way, but I fit the bill," Hubbard said of how he got the CEO job.

Hubbard started at the credit union right before his 31st birthday in April 1991.

"The first two years were hell as I figured out what I'd gotten myself into. I didn't enjoy it, but I wouldn't give it back-I learned so much in those first few years."

In his 18 years as CEO, Hubbard said he faced some tough battles. The first ten years of his leadership growth at the credit union was pretty stagnant, he said. The credit union attempted mergers but couldn't find a compatible partner. In 2004, Hubbard discovered that the credit union's success would be in targeting low- and moderate-income members. The credit union has since opened a branch in one of the poorest parts of the city, was named Outstanding CU of the Year by the Michigan Credit Union League and was featured on the front page of the business section of The Wall Street Journal this past summer.

However an employee gets into the industry, Stopera said that so many work their way up the credit union, end up coming back to the industry or end up staying in the industry for so long because once you get in it's so hard to get out.

"It becomes a part of your life. It truly is a movement that just keeps getting better."

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