She said politicians may listen to her talk about the issues, but what matters most to them is what's happening in their community and how local issues impact them.

"So I'm very proud of the advocacy work California and Nevada does in promoting the story of credit unions," Dykstra emphasized.

To better promote the mission, Dykstra believes credit unions need to find a common language that makes sense to everyone, not just people who work in the financial industry.

"Our story could be so powerful if we had everyone telling our story, and that starts with our employees, then it transitions to our members and the word credit union becomes synonymous with the great mission that we have," she said.

The Women to Watch honoree started her career in the financial industry working for Bank of America, but after returning from maternity leave, her position was no longer available. The bank offered her a vault teller position, but Dykstra wasn't interested. She knew she would miss interacting with customers, so she went home and started looking for other jobs.

What she landed on – a job advertisement from the $10 billion The Golden 1 Credit Union in Sacramento – would change the direction of her life and career. At the time, she had never heard of a credit union (all she knew was credit unions were taking all of her checking accounts at the bank). So she applied for the job and got it.

During her 15 years at The Golden 1 Credit Union, she was part of a team that developed the prototype for what would later become the Credit Union Direct Lending program.

"I'm really proud of what is now Credit Union Direct Lending. In fact, my name is on three patents because of it," she said.

It's these types of risks that have made Dykstra so successful. Not because she's never failed, but because she's not afraid to fail.

"If you're not taking risks, you need to move on. If we're not taking risks, then we're not making change," Dykstra emphasized.

She said every risk is worth taking, but you also need to know when something isn't worth continuing to pursue; in that case, the failure ultimately just becomes a lesson.

"A lot of times we get stuck on taking a risk and moving it through and then we realize it's a mistake but we don't want to tell anybody and you just keep going. It's okay to quit and say, 'That was a stupid idea' and go back and go a different path," Dykstra said.

Her career risks paid off and led Dykstra to become the president/CEO of two credit unions: The $1.1 billion San Francisco Fire Credit Union and the $935 million CoastHills Federal Credit Union in Lompoc, Calif.

She didn't gain this knowledge and experience by passively standing by, however. The Women to Watch honoree said early in her career, she made a conscious decision to always learn as much as she could. She volunteered for multiple committees and every opportunity available to her, even coming in on weekends to balance teller drawers just to get the additional experience.

She encourages other women looking to progress in their careers to find ways to get involved and gain knowledge of processes, departments and systems that are outside of their normal job.

Women may be fearful of not having enough experience or may not take enough credit for the experience they do have, Dykstra emphasized.

"I read a lot of resumes and men usually take credit for everything and women don't take enough credit … don't look at a job description and wait until you can check all the boxes. Take a risk, put yourself out there. If you check all the boxes, you shouldn't want the job anyway," Dykstra said.

Dykstra continues to look for opportunities to grow and learn. She's involved in multiple organizations. She sits on the board of at least nine organizations including CU Partner Link, Credit Unions for Kids, the Richard Myles Johnson Foundation and CUNA Strategic Services, just to name a few.

For nearly 20 years, Dykstra has been amplifying her knowledge as a teacher at the Western CUNA Management School – she became a teacher there a few years after graduating from the school. Dykstra said the sharing of knowledge is invaluable.

"The minute you think you know it, you become the dumbest person … at the end of the day you just have to believe in yourself and push yourself, and when you push yourself it may feel uncomfortable but that's the only way you grow," she said.