The $5 Million Branch Manager

Since she was a little girl, Adriana Estrada-Avalos had a dream of becoming a nurse, and no one was prouder or more supportive of that goal than her dad. All of that changed, however, after she began working at The Family Credit Union (TFCU) where she fell in love with her job, but she was somewhat apprehensive about telling her dad.

“When I told my dad I wanted to work full-time at the credit union he smiled and said, ‘Whatever your heart tells you to do is what you need to do,’” she recalled.

From there, the rest is history, as they say, and the 31-year-old Estrada-Avalos recently achieved a significant milestone at the $247 million, Davenport, Iowa-based credit union. By the end of December, she became the first employee ever to book more than $5 million in consumer loans. And in 2022, she booked $4 million in consumer loans, tying the credit union’s consumer loan record held by Sue Cheek, one of TFCU’s branch managers, and Rick Lively who is retired.

“I looked up to her [Cheek] and hoped that one day I could get to $4 million just like her,” Estrada-Avalos said. “I wasn’t necessarily expecting to get near $5 million or over $5 million, but that’s what happened and I’m very happy and excited that I was able to hit that new milestone.”

She was hired as a part-time member service representative in 2014 when TFCU was opening a satellite office at the JBS USA pork production plant in Beardstown, Ill., which employs more than 1,800 people with an annual payroll of more than $100 million, according to the company.

Estrada-Avalos, who was the first employee of the new office and now serves as its manager, said the United Food and Commercial Workers Union invited TFCU to set up a shop at the plant to serve employees there.

“The leaders of the union are from Davenport and since they are all members of The Family Credit Union, they wanted to do something for their team of employees they represent,” she said.

During her part-time MSR days, Estrada-Avalos worked nights in a nursing home and attended nursing classes. Even though she was maintaining a hectic schedule, it never wore her down because she came to realize that she really loved her job at the credit union.

“I was just happy. Sometimes I would even take some [credit union] work home with me and write down what I needed to do the following day,” she recalled. “I was learning about the credit union, what we were doing and the potential we have to educate and help our members. I really fell in love with the whole story.”

Around 2018-2019, Estrada-Avalos began decisioning loans for members.

She attributes her seven-figure loan production in 2022 and 2023 to a lot of hard work that includes taking the time to talk one-on-one with members, building relationships of trust, and educating struggling members on how they can improve their financial lives.

As Estrada-Avalos sees it, turning away members for a loan because of a low credit score is never a good option. Instead, she gets them to sign up for the credit union’s credit builder program, which enables members to sock away about $100 or more a week, automatically deducted from their paycheck. Saving up money over several months helps members rebuild their credit score and qualifies them for a loan.

She also refinances car loans for members who have been straddled by other high interest auto loans.

“I know there are a lot of financial institutions around here that don’t love me, but this is what I do,” she laughed. “I want to help members get a lower rate and a lower payment that will save them money. That’s our goal at the credit union. We’re hear to help members and we want to do what is best for them.”

For members who don’t qualify for a loan because their debt ratios are too high, she usually consolidates that debt into one loan with a lower interest rate. That’s a big relief for these members, she noted, because some members were simply not aware about debt-consolidation loans.

“I want to say there are a lot of JBS employees here at the plant who are very well educated [about finances],” Estrada-Avalos noted. “That’s why they keep coming back to me, because they like what they hear, and they know they’re being taking care of by somebody who actually cares about them and their credit.”

David Hulsbrink hired Estrada-Avalos in 2014 before he became TFCU’s president/CEO.

“Even from the interview, you could tell she was a go-getter,” Hulsbrink said. “That’s probably one of my best hires.” Estrada-Avalos also stood out during the interview because she was fluent in Spanish and many of the JBS employees are Hispanic.

It’s remarkable what Estrada-Avalos has accomplished, he added, noting that the $5 million in loans she generated was all new money.

Hulsbrink said the credit union has a $1 million club program. When a lender achieves $1 million in new money, they earn $100, and “some credit union swag,” he added. The monetary award increases to $200 for $2 million and so on.

Over the last five years and during the three quarters of 2023, TFCU has seen strong and steady growth trends in members, loans, shares, assets and net worth, NCUA financial reports showed.

Hulsbrink also said that because lenders are in the best position in getting to know members by working with them, he empowers employees to make their own lending decisions for the most part.

Although Estrada-Avalos plans to keep doing what she loves, she hopes that her career at TFCU will help her advance to a vice president’s position and, perhaps someday, she will become the CEO.

“I hope she does it,” Hulsbrink said.

TFCU’s 67 employees operate 10 locations and serve more than 21,000 members.