Member Spotlight: Amy Davis

CUNA Councils
June 3, 2009 | COMMENTS

Amy Davis is vice president of marketing for Red Canoe Credit Union in Longview, Washington. Born in Southern California, she was raised along the Oregon coast by her hardworking parents, who owned an appliance store.

“I quickly learned the value of a day's dollar by sweeping floors at the store and even running the cash register,” Amy remembers. “Being involved in a family business also sparked my interest in marketing. My parents were always try to conjure up ways to get more people into the store.”

Amy knew her career was going to be in marketing at age 9 when her favorite pastime was watching the Super Bowl with her father and analyzing the commercials. She took this passion to the University of Oregon , where she graduated with a degree in business administration and marketing.

Her first job out of college was director of marketing for Northwest Resource Federal Credit Union. “I didn't even know what FCU stood for,” she admits, “but I got the job and quickly fell in love with the movement.” She joined Red Canoe Credit Union (formerly Weyerhaeuser Employees' Credit Union) as the vice president of marketing in 2002.

Biggest challenge

Growth in the economic downturn. People are guarded about their finances and we have two branches in new markets with less name recognition than other markets we serve.

Best advice

Always act like the person you aspire to be.

Greatest Council benefit

Networking! It's such a wonderful resource to have hundreds of extremely talented people at your fingertips to bounce ideas off and learn from. I've even forged a few good friendships over the years from meeting some of you in person.

Best part of my job

Getting to do something different every day. There is never a dull moment in marketing. I love the continuous challenges and working with an extraordinary team to overcome them.

Hardest part of my job

Having to wear so many hats. I often find myself pulled in many directions and by the nature of me being me, I always want to give 100% in every direction.

Success story

We just opened our sixth branch in February. With some generous rate specials approved by finance, we were able to bring in 66M in deposits in just one week! Of course, now they want us to lend it all out. But we did do a little dance of celebration.

Biggest misconception about my job

That all we do is advertising. Many people don't understand the complexities of the research we perform and the many hats we wear.

Hobbies and interests

I love to scrapbook, mostly pictures of my family. I also enjoy playing with my kids and spending time with my family.

Recent books

Click, Clack, Moo (I have little kids, you know). I recently ordered War in the Boardroom: Why Left-Brain Management and Right-Brain Marketing Don't See Eye to Eye and What to Do about It.

Life goal not yet accomplished

Be the best marketer I can be and someday be nominated for the Marketer of the Year Award.

Something that makes you laugh

The smile on my baby's face when he sees his older brother come in the room.

Favorite quote

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently" (Henry Ford).

If I could spend a day with anyone . . .

It would be Oprah. She has met so many people and experienced so much in her life, I bet I would learn something completely unexpected.

How I would explain the credit union difference to prospective new members

I think sometimes trying to blindly explain the credit union difference can sound like you're standing on a soapbox. I try to break it down to what is real and relevant for each person and educate on the core values of our brand as a company. In the end, the credit union difference truly comes out, but it doesn't sound as much like a history lesson.