Blog
Leadership Means Doing the Work
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
We have probably all heard the phrase, “You have to do the work,” from a personal trainer, a therapist, or a spiritual advisor at some point in our lives, but what does it actually mean? A personal trainer might use this phrase to emphasize the importance of consistently…
On the Border: Words Matter
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
I have always loved writing because I believe the “pen is mightier than the sword,” meaning words are stronger and more influential than force. One of the things I love most about the English language is the vast word choice. There are 170,000 to choose from, so why would…
Breaking Out of the Silo Mentality
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
As a Chicago gal living in Oklahoma for over 13 years, I have learned a few things about farming. For example, as a girl growing up in a big city, I called every bovine a cow. However, now, I am a “country girl wanna-be” who knows…
Coaching Through Connection: Human Connection Is The New Coach: A Podcast Episode
By: The BALANCE Marketing Team
Our COO, Cynthia Campbell, recently appeared as a guest on the Banking on Digital Growth Podcast with James Robert Lay. They discussed the importance of financial education and counseling within credit unions. Here are a few takeaways…
What Do Improv And Business Have In Common?
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
I am a lifelong learner and I have embraced photography classes, yoga certifications, and human resource certifications in the last few years but when my partner, Troy, asked me to sign up for an improv class I froze inside. Just the sound of it made me…
Financial Coaching: It Is An Income Issue
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
When helping a member with their budget, how much time are you spending discussing their income? I think many times we, as financial coaches, ask them for their take-home pay for use as the starting place in the monthly budget and then we move on to the expenses. Most counselors are quite…
Guardians Of The Culture
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
Being an HR Executive during the pandemic and the subsequent “great resignation” has been a crazy journey, to say the least. I have learned more about HR law than in any years previous because of special COVID rules, but more importantly, I have learned so much about people. I have learned that the pandemic helped people focus on…
The Physical and Mental Effects of Financial Stress
By: Kelly Fiddner, Contributor,
Money may not buy you happiness, but studies show that your relationship with it impacts your health. Did you know money is tied to our basic, hard-wired drive to survive? When that drive can’t be attained, it compounds into stress. Maybe it’s why the age-old saying, “health is wealth,” is more than just a cliché. In the last 30 years…
Say My Name
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
Getting someone’s name correct is critically important. We know that a person’s name is part of their identity. It differentiates them from others. If we are to create a positive and productive work environment, it starts with us knowing and using each other’s names correctly. You may be reading this, thinking…
Is Keeping Up With The Joneses Affecting Your Credit Score?
By: Denise Keiser AFC®, Counseling Programs Manager
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people that they don’t like,” — Will Rogers. In the spirit of garnering helpful advice from one of the wittiest performers in history, let’s review how money and debt shape today’s credit scores.
Help the Veterans You Serve Get the Benefits They Deserve
By: Shellye Carpenter, CCUFC, Director of Partner Relations
While we originally developed this content for veterans as a consumer-facing article, and will share it as such, it’s also extremely valuable information for you to use as a training tool or resource for your staff who work closely with veterans in…
Employee Financial Health
By: Shellye Carpenter, CCUFC, Director of Partner Relations
As we all navigate through the “Great Resignation” and the changes taking place in the workforce, one thing employers should keep in mind is: for all the talk about rising wages and workers being able to “name their price,” many workers are still struggling financially. This leads to…
Our Spiritual Nature At Work
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
“You are a singular manifestation of a cosmic unfolding and within you there is unrivaled individuality.” When I post quotes like this one from Michael Beckwith on LinkedIn, I have gotten DMs asking me why I post such “woo woo” things on this platform. After all, this is a business…
The Help Members Need: Standing In The Gap
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
If you are wondering what your members may need right now, I would suggest they need understanding and creative solutions. Recently, I have had conversations with two people who called BALANCE wanting financial counseling. They both had a gap that needed…
When Should You Seek Financial Counseling?
By: Denise Keiser, Counseling Program Manager
…Seeking the advice of a Financial Counselor isn’t just for those who’ve experienced a financial blunder in the past. For clients looking to accomplish financial goals, counseling can be a supplement to what they already know. There is no shortage of financial goals these days. But, the challenge with…
Business Lessons From The MECU Golf Tournament
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
Sometimes a little guilt can come with spending a workday enjoying the Oklahoma sun, the beauty of a golf course, and great credit union friends. However, there are important lessons to be learned on the golf course too, here are my “take aways” from this tournament….
You Became A BALANCE Partner, Now What?
By: Bruce Doane, Account Coordinator on the Partner Relations Team at BALANCE
Okay, so your organization has signed on to begin utilizing BALANCE’s financial education programs and services. Now what? …How will you distribute information to the rest of the staff so they can communicate these new opportunities to those you serve? Luckily, you’re not alone in this endeavor….
Why Contributing To Your 401(k) Should Come With A Warning Sign — A Tale From A Financial Counselor
By: Shelly Weber, Certified HUD Housing Counseling and Financial Coach
We have often heard it said, “Do not neglect contributing to our employer’s sponsored retirement plan”…. Perhaps, taking advantage of an employer’s retirement savings should come with a warning sign: “Do not contribute until you are financially prepared.” This may sound counterintuitive, but let me explain.
No More Shame: Normalizing Money Conversations
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
We all have messages about money that we have internalized over the years. These messages have shaped our money personality. Shame is the feeling of humiliation over a perceived wrong action or foolish behavior. Shame causes a feeling of…
CUFinHealth Conference
By: Daisha Badgett, Financial Empowerment Manager
When I think about the CUFinHealth21 Conference, the first thing that comes to mind is… Mind Blown! I am the new Financial Empowerment Manager at BALANCE, and attending this conference early in my tenure was perfect. Last week, my first lesson was to …
Helping Clients Maslow’s Style
By: Tina Herndon, Financial Education and Training Manager
It is easy for clients to lose their ability to dream for a better future when they are in survival mode. The pressures of living on the brink of financial disaster can cause clients to make decisions that take them farther away from accomplishing their goals. However, motivating a client to dream is…
Road Trip: Mastering The Strategic Process Of Action Planning
By: Denise Keiser AFC®, Counseling Programs Manager
People seek financial counseling because they want things to be different in their financial lives. They are looking for change like relief from surmounting debt, less financial stress, or they have important financial goals to reach like buying a home or saving for retirement. Regardless of the individual’s reason, the counseling process is the same. The process starts with…
Swipe Up: Social Media Spending
By: Lindsey Deinhardt, Director of Organizational Development
Over decades, we have integrated social media into our lives: it is how we connect with people and organizations. Consequently, companies have taken advantage of this and turned what used to be a networking tool into an easy way to advertise. The average American will spend more than…
Multiple Financial Wellness Vendors: A Blended Family With One Goal
By: Jen Martin, Director of Partner Relations
In the first article in this series, we discussed how searching for the perfect financial fitness partner is like dating. Then in part two, we reviewed that every great partnership requires commitment (similar to a marriage), goal alignment, and working together. In part three, we will talk about how relationships change or adapt over time…
Women And Money: The Motherhood Penalty And The Pandemic
By: Lindsey Deinhardt, Director of Organizational Development
If you are curious about the life of a working mom during a pandemic—here it is… Remote learning. Working from home. Snacking. Managing simultaneous virtual meetings. Monitoring screen time. Multitasking. Snacking. Sharing funny stories on…
Economic Equality Is Necessary For Racial Equality
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
February is Black History month and the best way credit unions can celebrate is by designing their business models to help create economic equality. The first step is admitting we have a problem. The Joint Economic Committee released a report called…
Saving Money Isn’t Rocket Science, Or Is It?
By: Denise Keiser AFC®, Counseling Programs Manager
But, let’s be honest. Saving money isn’t something that comes easily to many of us, including the people we serve. We know it’s important, but so often, it seems like an overwhelming task. Instead of…
Debt Management Plans
By: Denise Keiser AFC®, Counseling Programs Manager
Getting out of debt for many people is like losing weight. As easy as it was to rack-up, just like those few extra pounds, it now seems overwhelming to clear up. Most don’t know where to begin. If they do, they may lack the motivation to start. Turning to a…
Financial Stress
By: Meaghan Hiller, AFC®, Director of Financial Education
I was not always an expert in personal financial management. Years ago, like many other 18-year-olds, I stumbled into the credit card trap and fell…hard. I was finishing up my freshman year in college when I maxed out my first credit card, which was soon…
Upstreaming Financial Services
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
There is a parable used in the healthcare industry that has changed the way I think about serving people. I would like to share this parable, which I heard told by Dr. Rishi Manchanda, the founder of HealthBegins, in a TedTalk called, “What is an Upstreamist in…
Committing to a Financial Wellness Partner is Like Marriage
By: Jen Martin, Director of Partner Relations
You “dated” several financial wellness vendors. You found something that meets your needs, a proposal was sent, and now you are “engaged” to the vendor that best suits your needs. What comes next? Planning your marriage! When an engagement happens…
What Credit Unions Can Learn From Healthcare: Member Centered Financial Home
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
In the healthcare field there is a concept called, “patient centered medical home” (PCMH). It is a model that puts patients at the forefront of their own care. Patient centeredness refers to healthcare that establishes a partnership among practitioners, patients, and…
Are your Employees Financially Savvy?
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
Let’s talk about money. It is a taboo subject—much like sex and politics. We were taught not to discuss these topics “in polite company” but look at where “not discussing politics” has gotten us in America! Perhaps, instead of telling people not to discuss politics, we instead encourage…
Insights from the Front Lines: Housing Counseling
By: Linda Davis-Demas, Senior Director of Housing
Housing Counseling is a core competency of BALANCE. We handle pre-purchase, post-purchase, foreclosure prevention, rental, and reverse mortgage counseling. We are a HUD approved national housing counseling agency. We work with mortgage servicer partners…
Five Steps to Financial Triage
By: Karina Galvan-Torres, Senior Director of Operations
During times of economic crisis and uncertainty, the significance of prioritizing financial stability suddenly leads every conversation with family and friends. For agencies, like BALANCE, that provide services to underserved and financially vulnerable communities every day…
How Choosing a Financial Wellness Partner is Like Dating
By: Jen Martin, Director of Partner Relations
If you are considering implementing a financial wellness program for your members and/or staff you may feel overwhelmed at where to start. Luckily, my team and I have on-boarded many credit unions and have learned a lot along the way about what they were looking for, what they hope to…
Workplace Financial Wellness: Your Employees Have Money on Their Minds
By: Denise Keiser AFC®, Counseling Programs Manager
It’s not enough that money problems stress employees out, all of the time. Employee concerns about money also lower productivity while on the job and often increase the likelihood that employees will miss work. Money woes also account for…
Knowledge Begets Confidence
By: Meaghan Hiller, AFC®, Director of Financial Education
How do you foster your employees’ confidence to love their job? Help them build upon their current skills and learn new ones, increase the “tools in their toolbox,” empower them with knowledge and strike up a new spark in how they approach their day-to-day. In two words…
Are Your Members Financially Healthy?
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
When I first heard of the Financial Health model created by the non-profit, Financial Health Network (formerly CFSI), I was thrilled. This framework offers four main pillars of financial health and under each pillar, there are two indicators. It is beautifully simple. They offer…
The Evolving Workforce
By: Jenna Allen, HR Manager
Over the years, more and more companies are starting to offer their employees the option to work remotely. This gives employees more flexibility, eliminates commute time and the stress that comes with it, and allows employees to be more efficient with their time. Although we have…