Dec. 23, 2025

The Difference Between Managing and Leading Lending

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In this episode of Leaders in Lending, host Barry Roach sits down with Lisa Highley, Chief Lending Officer at the University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union, for a candid conversation about what truly separates managing from leading in today’s lending environment. Highley shares her unconventional rise from part-time teller to executive leader and recalls the moment she realized that operational skill and technical expertise do not automatically translate into effective leadership.

The discussion also highlights UKFCU’s period of rapid transformation, including the launch of a mortgage department, the expansion of commercial lending, major investments in digital channels, and the use of AI-driven underwriting technology to serve members more effectively. Barry and Highley explore servant leadership, building trust across lending teams, and how credit union leaders can prepare their organizations for the future while maintaining a strong focus on culture, accountability and the member experience.

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I was more focused on the work that I needed

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to get done, and I didn't really understand what it

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meant to be a leader of a group of people.

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So many people we put into managerial roles and we

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don't give them any tools, we don't give them any

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training on what that really means and how you go

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from being an individual employee to a manager to a leader.

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It's about the people on my team, and I'm here

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to serve them. I have a job to do as well,

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but my main focus is to serve them, to help them,

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to coach them, to mentor them and help them to

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be successful. So that's what I try to focus on. Now.

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We can draw inspiration from many different places, but you've

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got to be open to it, right, And I think

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by seeking those sorts of opportunities out it says a

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lot about you as a leader. All Right, Hi, everyone,

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welcome to Off Starts, Leaders and Lending. I'm your host

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for today, Barry Roach and with me today joining us

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on the podcast is Lisa Highley, who's a chief lending

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officer at University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union in Lexton, Kentucky. Welcome, Lisa,

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how are you today?

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I'm good Barry, thank you all for having me, just

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trying to stay warm here and out of the snow.

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So just so our audience knows, it's a little bit

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before Christmas. We're in the holiday season. It is starting

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to get chilly across the country, not so much in

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southern California. I'm fortunate enough to have palm trees and

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sunshine out here, so hopefully wherever you're viewing us or

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listening from your staying ace of warm. So Lisa again,

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thanks for joining us today. Really the purpose of our

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podcast we want to talk to lending professionals from across

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the country and sort of get their perspectives on things

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that are happy in the industry. You know, you bring

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a unique perspective, I think, because I know you've got

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a bit of a banking background and you have a

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crediting background. So let's sort of start there with sort

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of your journey how you ended up in financial services

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in the first place.

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Sure, so, when I I graduated high school, I was

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actually going to college to be an agricultural teacher. I

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grew up on the farm and took AD classes, was

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in four HNFFA and thought I'm going to be an

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ag teacher, and I got a couple of years in

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probably a year, and actually and wanted a job. And

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my mom knew someone who worked at the local bank,

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and so she went and talked to her. And you know,

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this was back in nineteen ninety eight, so things were

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a little bit different. You could call someone up and

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you know, say, hey, my daughter wants a job at

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the bank. And so I went in met with the

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head of HR there. I happened to know the branch

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manager as well, and they basically hired me on the

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spot as a part time teller while I was in college.

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So after working there for a little while, I decided

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that I wanted to change my major, that I didn't

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want to be an agricultural teacher and I was going

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to go into finance and management. So I started as

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a part time tailor and I stayed at that bank

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for twenty three years, and I worked through being a tailor,

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internal auditor, a trust officer, and then my last years

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I spent in lending. So I started out as a

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consumer and mortgage lender, and then I was a mortgage

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and commercial lender, and then my last twelve years there

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I spent in mortgage lending. As the director of our

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mortgage lending area.

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Wow, that's quite a journey.

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You know.

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It's funny, like when you're a little kid, no one

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really grows up and says, well, I want to be

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a part time teller. I want to be a trust officer.

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I mean not that there might be some kids that

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are like that, but most want to be, you know,

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a fireman or you know, I wanted to be a

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relief pitcher for the Yankees, you know, like things like that.

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So it's it's really it's really funny sort of how

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you fell into this sort of role. But starting from

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an agriculture background and then going into banking, like there

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must have been something about banking that, I mean, it

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made you change your meat. What was it specifically about

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banking that sort of really appealed to you.

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I loved being a teller, uh, you know, and I

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just loved working there at the bank, and that being

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a teller, we had fun. I loved serving the members,

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I loved working with cash. I'm a little bit of

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a perfectionist, maybe a recovering perfectionist, so I loved balancing

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that drawer every day to the penny and making sure

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that was correct and I just I really fell in

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love with, you know, I guess, just business, and it

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happened to be a good company that you know, I

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enjoyed working for and the people were good. And before

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I ever graduated college, I got the opportunity to start

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in the internal audit area, so you know, they just

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kind of made a career for me there. They kind

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of helped me out and helped make a career for it.

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So I think that's why, you know, changed my major

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and state in.

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That took it from there. And so you and I

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have a similar background because I also started as a

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part time teller in high school actually, and then continued

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that and turned into a banking and financial services career.

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And you know, I've always felt that having that frontline

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experience was very powerful at several stages throughout my career.

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Maybe you've had a similar sort of an experience.

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Yeah, well, I think it helps you always remember when

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you are in operations or back office or you know,

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on the executive team now that the core of our

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business is the members and that's that's who we are

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here to serve, And it helps me remember the teller experience.

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And then also when I was a lender it helps

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me to remember what it's like on that side. So

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now I oversee you know, mostly back office people, our

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commercial lenders and our mortgage loan originators are under me,

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but you know, we have all of the processing and

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the underwriting. And so I have worked hard over my

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career to bridge the gap between those two areas. You know,

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a lot of times they like to look at each

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other and say, this is your fault and this is

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your fault, and things aren't going boot because of that,

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and so I have tried to bridge that gap and

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make them work as a team. So I think my

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working on the front end helps me have that perspective

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of both sides, and both sides are extremely important, and

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it takes both sides to make it work, and so

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I try to help both sides see that that they

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need each other and work as a team.

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That's right. I mean, the product developers can come to

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some great ideas, but if if your frontline people can't

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explain it, or if if you can't execute very well

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from an operational or even from a digital perspective, then

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what are we doing where you're really giving somewhat of

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a false promise, either to ourselves or as I value

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proposition out out to your to your customers, to your members.

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So yeah, that's that's thank you for sharing. That's that's

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really really informative. So let's talk about UKFCU a little bit.

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I know you're on a tremendous growth trajectory right now,

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a lot of change happening with the credit union. Sort

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of what are some of the things that stood out

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for you. It's a time of year where we do

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the retrospective. We're almost the end of twenty five and

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sort of thinking about, well, gee, what was in year's

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eve twenty four like, and then where are we today?

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Kind of what are a couple of things Lisa that

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you share with your audience that you're particularly proud of

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that ukfc FCU has been able to accomplish.

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If it's okay, I'll go back a little bit and

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say that I started at the credit Union in twenty

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and twenty one, so left the banking world, join the

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credit union world, really like it, really love our credit union.

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And then in October of twenty twenty four we got

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a new CEO and so it has been a very

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exciting year. Since our new CEO started, we have done

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so many different things we've kind of looked at twenty

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twenty five as a foundational year to put some things

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in place that we felt like we needed to get

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up to speed. And there it is such a long

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list of things that we have started and completed or

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started and are still working on. So one big thing

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we did in my area was start a mortgage department.

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When I got here in twenty twenty one, that was

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one of the things they wanted me to do with

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you know, my background is get a mortgage department started.

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So we had some things that I wanted to work

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on first, and so we hired someone in twenty twenty

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four and that was their goal was to start our

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mortgage department. So we got that up and running at

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the end of August and we have had tremendous success

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in that department already very pleased with how that's going.

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So that was a big lift in lending. Also in

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lending in our commercial lending area, we hired a new

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head of commercial banking because we want to diversify. We

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have a very large indirect and home equity portfolio and

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we want to diversify that with our mortgages and commercial.

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So we've had a very good year for commercial lending

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and grown that portfolio tremendously this year as well. We're

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also in the middle of implementing zest, so we hope

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to have that going live in the next couple of weeks,

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and you know, it's a long process to get that

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exactly where we want it, but we hope to start

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using it before the end of the year. So those

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are kind of major things we've had going on in lending,

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but there's a lot more things across the credit union.

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We have implemented Mantle for deposit account opening. We have

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also created a new checking and product, Blue Vantage, that

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comes with ancillary services attached to it. We're also going

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through rebrand so we're not changing our name, but we

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are changing our logo and working on our mission and

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our vision and our values. You know, we as a

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team talked about what is that we exactly want to

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do with this credit union, and our main focus is

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to provide better services and products for our members and

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to serve the communities that we are in. So you know,

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we want to give a lot back to our communities

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as well, so that's part of our part of our rebrand.

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We're also building new branches so in the next one

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to two years or one and a half, we will

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have three new branches, and we have we have moved

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out of Fayette County for many years, we have had

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all of our branches in Fayette County. So we opened

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up in one opened one up in the neighboring county,

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Jessamine County a couple of years ago, and now we

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are going out to Georgetown and Richmond. So those are

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our next branches that we're doing, and another one in

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Lexing as well. And we also have a merger going on.

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So yeah, so we're also moving up to Northern Kentucky.

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There's a credit union in Northern Kentucky that we are

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in the process of completing that merger. We hope to

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have our legal date on that April first of next year.

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And then probably the last big thing is creating a foundation.

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So that was one of the things that our CEO

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wanted to do when he first got here and as

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part of that giving back to our community. So that's

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in process and we hope to get that up and

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running next year as well.

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Wow.

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Yeah, it's been a busy year, but it has been

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fun and we are all full of energy, you know,

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to go forward and do these things.

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Yeah, wow, thanks for sharing. So us quite a year.

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You've pretty much filled the entire crediting Bengal card. I

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think right, we're looking at digital transformation, we're looking at

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a brick and mortar transformation as well. Expanding out that way,

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you're creating community foundation or foundation so you can give

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back to the community. You're trying to improve things on

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the lending side, improve things on the deposit side. Yeah,

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there's kind of not much left their lease, so you've

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got a lot on your plate. And I know you

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don't do this in a vacuum or in isolation. You've

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got a whole team around you with that. But I

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will go back a little bit. You were talking about

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utilizing zest and we recognize this using artificial intelligence in

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the lending space, so kind of maybe because it's really upstart.

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That was how we got our start was really how

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can we use AI machine learning to create a better

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idea of the true credit risk of people coming through

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our platform. And we've been pretty stressful at that. So

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it's encouraging to see other credit unions out there who

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are trying to do a similar servi of thing. What

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was the reasoning then really for you to to change

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your approach in underwriting and to maybe use some of

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these fintech partners and tools for your undwriting decisions.

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So I think it all goes back to serving our

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members better, and we were probably probably have been missing

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out on helping some members by using our manual underwriting

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guidelines because we do believe in those models and we

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do believe that we can help more people without adding

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a tremendous amount of risk to the credit union. So

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we studies show that we should be able to approve

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more loans without adding a lot of risk and having

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a large increase in delinquency. So it's it again kind

250
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of goes back to that core value of wanting to

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help more people.

252
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Right, and you think about now you're breaking into new

253
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markets as well, You've got that much more power under

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you to be able to actually serve those new markets

255
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in a way that you would not have been able

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to do a few years ago. So, you know, kudos

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for you and UKFC you for recognizing that and understanding that, hey,

258
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we can't keep doing things the way we're doing it.

259
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The marketplace has changed, the consumers have changed, and their

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expectations have changed. Consumers are expecting visions faster, and they're

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they're expecting service to come in in different ways as well. So, uh,

262
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as you're looking at your digital transformation as well, how

263
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does that sort of marry with your brick and mortar

264
00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:15.200
strategy of sort of moving into new markets like digitally?

265
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How do you how's UKFCU also looking at at meeting

266
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those member needs in a in a a in a

267
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digital fashion.

268
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So one of the things that we have done in

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the past year as well is pulled out digital from

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our deposit operations area and hired a specific person to

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run digital and we have moved that under our Chief

272
00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:41.559
Information Officer. So we recognize that that's the way of

273
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the future and you know, so that person is going

274
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to work to make the digital experience better. You know.

275
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One example that we've already done is Mantle. We wanted

276
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to get our account opening time down. We wanted to

277
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make it easier for people to be able to open

278
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accounts online and so Antle has been tremendous in being

279
00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:07.480
able to do that. You know, we have open we

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have loan origination systems that allow people to apply online. Uh,

281
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you know, we hope to improve those as well. Our

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We currently use Meridian Link for our consumer loans, and

283
00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:23.879
you know we will We're going to upgrade that or

284
00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:27.879
change that next year a little bit that will hopefully

285
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make that process better. Our mortgage software it's new, and

286
00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:34.679
so we think that's a pretty pretty good process. But

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we are going to be making investments in our digital

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and we've charged that one area to help us do

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that because we recognize we have to do that in

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order to keep up with the FinTechs and the other

291
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places in the world that are that are doing that

292
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or else will be left behind.

293
00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:57.600
For sure, for sure. So that's really more in sort

294
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of the consumer side of the lending. How let's go

295
00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:03.879
back to first mortgages for a little bit, because I

296
00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.960
live in southern California. It is the real estate market

297
00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:09.399
here is very different from the rest of the country.

298
00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:13.399
You live in a more affordable area of the country.

299
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There's no question. Are you seeing now as your credit

300
00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:21.600
union has gotten more and more into residential mortgages and

301
00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.600
so on, how it is the market out there? Is it?

302
00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:26.960
Are you seeing a lot more first time home buyers

303
00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:29.320
than maybe we were a few years ago? Are people

304
00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:31.759
still on the sidelines waiting for rates? To come down.

305
00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:35.600
We've had what six or seven rate cuts in the

306
00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:40.039
past fourteen fifteen months, and yet you know, mortgage rates

307
00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:42.200
haven't really changed all that much in the past year.

308
00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:45.360
Kind of what are you seeing out in your area

309
00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:45.879
than Lisa.

310
00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:50.240
So, our real estate market is very stable. That has

311
00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:54.200
been one thing about Central Kentucky my career, I think

312
00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:57.480
in banking is that it has been a very stable.

313
00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.159
We don't see the ups and downs in values, so

314
00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:04.400
our values stay pretty stable and our you know, our

315
00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:08.359
business fluctuates just like anywhere else. With the rates, I

316
00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:12.119
wouldn't say that right now, we've seen much increase in

317
00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:16.079
first time home buyers. You know, we're getting some purchases

318
00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:19.680
of people moving in, you know, taking jobs. You know,

319
00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:23.279
we have a large university, University of Kentucky and then

320
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:26.720
University of Kentucky Hospital, you know, so we have people

321
00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:29.559
moving in to take jobs at those places, and then

322
00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:34.400
we've got some refinances. Our retail team is doing an

323
00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:38.720
excellent job of referring business to our mortgage loan originators.

324
00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:44.839
They are just excellent at seeing opportunities and making sure

325
00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:46.839
that they are trying to get our members all in

326
00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:50.000
with us. So sometimes they refer somebody that has a

327
00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:52.359
four and a half rate and they call the mortgage

328
00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:54.799
loan originator and says, hey, I've got four and a half.

329
00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:56.680
Is there anything you can do for me? And it's

330
00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.519
like no, you just sit on that and wait. So

331
00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:02.880
you know, as you know, mortgage rates are tied to

332
00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:07.240
treasuries and so those haven't moved like prime has. So yeah,

333
00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:09.799
the raids have gone down a little bit, but not

334
00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:12.960
a lot. So there it has stirred a little bit

335
00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:17.200
of business because they have come down some, you know,

336
00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:20.880
but I think our success that we're having thus far

337
00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:26.480
is mainly due to our retail team bringing those referrals

338
00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:29.400
to our mortgagelone originators. You know, they have contacts as

339
00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:33.200
well with their real estate agents, but we've had a

340
00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.160
lot of success due to the referrals.

341
00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:39.319
That's great, that's great. So you know, again in southern California,

342
00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:41.960
it's hard for first time home buyer to break in

343
00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:46.559
here and thinking of your membership base. So University of Kentucky, Kentucky,

344
00:18:46.599 --> 00:18:49.119
so you've got a lot of faculty that probably have

345
00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:52.160
good incomes. You've got the hospital which probably has good

346
00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:54.039
incomes as well, but you've also got a whole cool

347
00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:56.599
heart of students who are just coming out, maybe breaking

348
00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:59.119
the first job, and so on and so forth. You know,

349
00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:01.359
it used to be, I'll go back a generation or so,

350
00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.839
in your twenties, it was possible for you to save

351
00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.960
enough for a down payment and go out and buy

352
00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:11.240
a house that you could afford. That that that that

353
00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:13.680
that payment that you you had the debt to income

354
00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:17.279
ratio to be able to support that. That's our first payment.

355
00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:20.839
You know, are you seeing that with your student cohort

356
00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:24.680
or your graduating student cohort? And if not, like, how

357
00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:28.519
is your credit uns for helping those students save for

358
00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:30.160
that first home or find that first home.

359
00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.599
So we do have some portfolio products that we don't

360
00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:37.440
sell on the secondary market. We have one that's called

361
00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:41.160
a Professionals Program, and we'll go up to one hundred

362
00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:45.079
percent LTB so they don't have to have a down payment.

363
00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:49.279
You know, there's some stipulations that goes along with that

364
00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:50.920
for us to go up to the one hundred percent,

365
00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:54.759
but that helps some of the students coming out of school.

366
00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.640
We go up to higher LTV on some other products

367
00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:01.160
without requiring them to have private mortgage insurance as well,

368
00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:06.680
and we haven't gotten to participate in this yet here,

369
00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:09.519
but like in the spring, we will participate in Federal

370
00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:12.799
Home Loan Banks Welcome Home program. So that is a

371
00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:16.599
great thing to help first time home buyers so they

372
00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:19.519
can get grants. Last year, I believe it was up

373
00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:23.319
to twenty thousand dollars to go put towards down payment

374
00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:25.559
and closing costs. And so we are a member of

375
00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:27.880
Federal Home Loan Bank and we will participate in that

376
00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:31.759
come the spring. So you know, we're looking for opportunities

377
00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:35.920
to help those people. We are, you know, just a

378
00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:38.519
few months in so we still have some more products

379
00:20:38.519 --> 00:20:42.799
to build out. We're getting ready to start FAHA lending,

380
00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:45.519
so we haven't had that up and going yet, but

381
00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:47.359
we will have that up and going in the next

382
00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:50.240
month or so, and then we'll get into VA and

383
00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:56.559
RHS and also Kentucky Housing Corporation. They have down payment programs.

384
00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:59.839
Some of those are repayable, but it's still you know,

385
00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:02.839
helps them get a down payment. So we'll excuse me,

386
00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:04.880
we will participate in that as well.

387
00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:08.279
Good good, Yeah, I think just sort of going back

388
00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:11.440
to something you said, these all these products and that

389
00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:17.519
you're creating are really nonconforming, Right, And I do wonder

390
00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:22.920
if there's a real need for for those rules from

391
00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:26.319
Faniling and Freddy to change to better accommodate those first

392
00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:29.960
home buyers, because, uh, your institution and many others across

393
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.559
the country have to come up with your own programs

394
00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:36.759
which carry a different degree of risk and different degrees

395
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:39.960
of of of leverage required around that in order to

396
00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:44.079
satisfy what is a critical need for for for these

397
00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:47.119
younger folks that are just entering the workforce and and

398
00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:50.960
trying to become productive members of our of our economy. Uh,

399
00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:53.279
the old American dream of a I'll get my first

400
00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:55.519
house and and my job and sort of go on

401
00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:58.319
from there is is further and further away from many people,

402
00:21:58.359 --> 00:22:00.119
I think than it was maybe when you and I

403
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.039
started in our careers.

404
00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:03.920
Right, yes, I would agree, you know, and I think

405
00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:08.039
Freddie Fanny and Freddy have made some changes, you know,

406
00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:11.960
to try to help people out, and some new programs

407
00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:15.599
that they have and changed how you calculate student debt.

408
00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:22.559
You know, student debt has brought a new difficulty. You know,

409
00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:27.119
years ago, people didn't come out of school. College didn't

410
00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:29.720
cost as much then as it does now, So people

411
00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:31.480
did not come out of school with the type of

412
00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:33.759
student debt that they seem to come out with now

413
00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:36.559
and then you know, having to count those payments again

414
00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:38.799
against them. So there has been a little bit of

415
00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:41.720
relief there, but I think there you know, can still

416
00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.240
be work to do. It is not as easy as

417
00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:46.759
it used to be, the dream of voting the home

418
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:47.680
for sure.

419
00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:50.559
Good good, Thank you for that. Let's switch gears a

420
00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:54.519
little bit. You know our the name of our podcast

421
00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:56.599
is leaders in Lending. Let's talk about the leader part

422
00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:59.599
for a second, because I know, Lisa, Uh, you and

423
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:02.640
I talked a little bit before the podcast, and you

424
00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:05.279
really honed in a lot on sort of that leadership aspect,

425
00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:08.799
and it is something that you've sort of I've always

426
00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:12.640
been interested in, almost a lifelong learner of how you

427
00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:15.920
could be a better leader with your team. So maybe

428
00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:17.799
sort of take us a little bit through that journey,

429
00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:21.000
because you've been through a lot of different roles, a

430
00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:24.839
lot of different spheres of responsibility to where you are today,

431
00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:27.160
where you're leading a pretty large lending group and a

432
00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:30.480
very important component of the Credit Unions executive team. So

433
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:33.119
maybe tell us a little bit about your leadership journeyings

434
00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:36.240
and maybe even something that you think in twenty six

435
00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:39.160
would be something that at the end of it you go, oh, wow,

436
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:41.640
I'm really glad that I did X. In terms of

437
00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:43.359
developing my own leadership.

438
00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:46.799
There's a difference between a leader and a supervisor or

439
00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:50.640
a manager. And when I was first charged with being

440
00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:55.160
the director of mortgage, I didn't really understand that. You know,

441
00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:58.559
I was excited to get to be the manager of

442
00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:02.359
a group of people, but I also was kind of

443
00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.839
a working manager, and that I was also the underwriter

444
00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:10.519
at the time, and I was more focused on the

445
00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:13.359
work that I needed to get done, and I didn't

446
00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:15.799
really understand what it meant to be a leader of

447
00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:18.440
a group of people. So for the first few years

448
00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:20.960
I was in that role, you know, I was more

449
00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:23.160
focused on the things that I needed to get done,

450
00:24:23.319 --> 00:24:27.319
and I answered their questions, I did their performance evaluations,

451
00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:31.720
but it wasn't about them, you know. And so a

452
00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:34.799
few years after being into that, I went to a

453
00:24:36.039 --> 00:24:40.200
leadership conference here in Lexington called Emerge and we heard

454
00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:44.559
a speaker there, very dynamic speaker who talked about leadership

455
00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:47.319
and a lot of the things he said just resonated

456
00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:50.920
with me and a light bulb came on that you're

457
00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:53.880
not doing these things. You know, you are not a leader.

458
00:24:54.039 --> 00:24:59.559
And so many people we put into managerial roles and

459
00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.720
we don't give them any tools, we don't give them

460
00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:04.519
any training on what that really means and how you

461
00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:08.680
go from being an individual employee to a manager to

462
00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:12.200
a leader. So when I went to that conference and

463
00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:14.599
I heard those things, I said, Okay, I need to

464
00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:17.400
learn so much more about leadership and what I'm supposed

465
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:19.880
to be doing. And so I started reading a lot

466
00:25:19.880 --> 00:25:23.119
of books, listening to a lot of podcasts, and a

467
00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:27.000
couple of my favorite people are John Maxwell and Patrick Lyncioni.

468
00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:31.160
I love Patrick Lencioni's books how they tell a story

469
00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:34.119
and then you learn from that story. And I've used

470
00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:36.799
several of his books as well as well as others

471
00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:42.200
to do book clubs with leaders that report up to

472
00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:46.640
me and even just individual employees as well. So I

473
00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:50.920
learned a lot from those and learned servant leadership that

474
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.640
you know, that kind of sums you know my style

475
00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:58.000
up now, and it's about the people on my team

476
00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:01.480
and I'm here to serve them. I have a job

477
00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:04.400
to do as well, but my main focus is to

478
00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:08.279
serve them, to help them, to coach them, to mentor

479
00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:11.759
them and help them to be successful. So that's what

480
00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:15.119
I try to focus on now. And you know, we do.

481
00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:19.200
We read the books together, and it's just one of

482
00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:22.759
the things I love, you know, love to learn how

483
00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:25.720
to be more humble and you know, learn all those

484
00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:29.720
things that I just talked about. And it was I

485
00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:32.039
always teased that I was a slow learner. Took me

486
00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:34.799
two or three years to learn that I was that.

487
00:26:34.920 --> 00:26:37.640
You know, the manager and the supervisor is different than

488
00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:40.039
being a leader. And I still have a lot more

489
00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:42.960
to learn, and you know, a lot more that I

490
00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:46.799
can do to be better. But I'm glad that I

491
00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:49.640
went to that conference that day and you know, learned

492
00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:54.440
that and took that and have really dived deeper into

493
00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:57.400
the whole leadership faucet and how you need to be

494
00:26:57.480 --> 00:26:58.079
as a leader.

495
00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:01.519
That's great. I mean, we can draw from many different places,

496
00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:03.440
but you've got to be open to it, right, And

497
00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:07.200
I think by seeking those sorts of opportunities out, it

498
00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:10.279
says a lot about you as a leader. And knowing that,

499
00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:14.880
look I'm in a leadership role, I've attained a certain stature.

500
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:18.079
I guess in my career. But that's not good enough.

501
00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:20.240
You've got to keep sort of building, you've got to

502
00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:22.839
keep developing your own skills and so on. I love

503
00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:26.200
the book club idea because it's such an old school idea,

504
00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:29.400
but there's a fellowship with it, and there's an accountability

505
00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:31.799
because I'm not showing up to the book club next

506
00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:33.839
week if I didn't read the chapters that we all

507
00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:36.319
you know, I want to participate. I don't want to

508
00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:38.839
just be an observer, right, And so you get a

509
00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:41.680
bunch of like minded people in a room talking about

510
00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:44.640
the same topic and maybe having different interpretations of a

511
00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:46.720
lentcy Oni book, which I've got a couple over here.

512
00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:49.839
By the way. They're very consumable and very easy to read.

513
00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:54.160
But and the thing about Lency, he doesn't necessarily tell

514
00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:57.400
you exactly what this means, but he'll sort of show

515
00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:59.799
you the possibility and allows you to sort of think

516
00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:03.039
on your own of, well, how would I approach this problem,

517
00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:05.319
or how would I approach this what's the best solution

518
00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:08.960
for it? But the fellowship and accountability, I think really

519
00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:10.680
goes a long way in terms of developing all of

520
00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:11.400
us as leaders.

521
00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:15.279
I'm always looking for an opportunity to learn, you know,

522
00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:19.440
and just even very small, minuscule things that something might

523
00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:22.119
go wrong and I'll be like, well, what can I

524
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:24.160
learn from that, you know? And it might just be

525
00:28:24.279 --> 00:28:26.519
something very small. But I think that's one of the

526
00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:30.440
keys too, is just being open to like you said,

527
00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:33.799
and always trying to learn from the different experiences that

528
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:34.119
you have.

529
00:28:34.759 --> 00:28:38.559
We're recording this before the holiday season. This may drop

530
00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:40.519
a little bit after the holiday season. So I'm gonna

531
00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:42.119
I'm gonna change this a little bit. I'm not going

532
00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:44.960
to necessarily say who's naughty, you're nice, and twenty five.

533
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:47.599
I'm going to ask you to sort of look out

534
00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:50.759
another year, so we're a year out from now. What's

535
00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:52.680
on the naughty list and what's on the nice list?

536
00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:56.839
So I'll start with one. The interest rate environment. At

537
00:28:56.839 --> 00:28:58.799
the end of twenty six, are we going to say, oh,

538
00:28:58.839 --> 00:29:01.200
that was very naughty or that was very nice? For

539
00:29:01.319 --> 00:29:03.880
consumers and for financial services.

540
00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:07.079
Well, that's gonna depend a little bit. We have a

541
00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:12.400
huge helock portfolio, so when the rates go down, that

542
00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:14.480
is the you know, a little bit of a negative

543
00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:18.599
for us. But for first mortgages, if the rates go down,

544
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:20.960
I think that's going to be really positive for us,

545
00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:24.119
because you know, there could be a small refinance boom.

546
00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:28.079
You know, if rates get down consistently in the fives.

547
00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:30.000
There's a lot of people out there that did loans

548
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.200
in the sevens. So, uh, I think it's a mixed

549
00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:35.799
bag for the credit union. Uh if it goes down,

550
00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:39.720
if it goes down more. But I'm gonna say for consumers,

551
00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:41.759
it's nice for certain.

552
00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:45.200
Okay, So nice for consumers may be naughty for banks

553
00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:46.119
and credit unions.

554
00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:48.640
Right, maybe possible.

555
00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:52.680
Yeah, we can see. We're gonna hold you these. By

556
00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:55.039
the way, Lisa, we'll come back in the here. We'll say, well, Lisa,

557
00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:56.319
was you know corrector? And great?

558
00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:59.119
No, Well, I think it will if if they go down,

559
00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:03.119
it will generate more business. So even though our helocked

560
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:06.319
portfolio interest will go down, it will generate more business.

561
00:30:06.680 --> 00:30:10.160
Things will be happening more in the economy. So overall,

562
00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:12.119
I think loan volume might go up, so it will

563
00:30:12.119 --> 00:30:14.839
help us in the end. But I can't ever ignore

564
00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:16.240
our helock portfolio.

565
00:30:16.359 --> 00:30:19.200
The reason why home equally bounces are up is because

566
00:30:19.480 --> 00:30:22.920
no one's leaving their home with their three percent mortgage, right, So,

567
00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:25.720
but I hate my kitchen or I want another bedroom

568
00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:28.279
or you know, my bathroom's old or whatever like I

569
00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:32.480
need to. I may not necessarily love the house I'm in,

570
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:35.039
but I'm stuck because I've got this low rate mortgage.

571
00:30:35.079 --> 00:30:38.000
So I'd better find a way of making this my

572
00:30:38.119 --> 00:30:40.680
house a nicer home for me to live in. So

573
00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:43.160
maybe that's that's part of it. And if rates do

574
00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:47.079
continue to decrease, you know, maybe some of that, some

575
00:30:47.160 --> 00:30:49.440
of that will transition from the home from a second

576
00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:52.440
to a first as people do trade down or trade up.

577
00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:55.519
This case, maybe yes, add anticipate we'd see a good

578
00:30:55.559 --> 00:30:57.200
amount of cash out refinances.

579
00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:01.079
Very great, good down. Okay, not your now. So consumer

580
00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:05.440
sentiment around the economy, because right now the economic numbers

581
00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:09.680
are actually not that bad. Right Unemployment is still pretty good.

582
00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:12.599
I know, the race haven't necessarily dropped us as we

583
00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:17.240
want them to. But GDP is still maintaining as it

584
00:31:17.319 --> 00:31:20.279
is right now. Where do you think in twenty six

585
00:31:20.359 --> 00:31:23.319
is consumer sentiment going to be saying, Hey, this economy

586
00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:25.640
has been really naughty or the economy has been really nice.

587
00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:28.400
I think at the end of twenty twenty six there

588
00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:31.440
may be a more positive outlook. I'm not going to

589
00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:34.359
say it's going to be to the point where it's

590
00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:39.519
great and people are satisfied and happy and things are

591
00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:42.960
easier on individual consumers because I know things have been

592
00:31:43.079 --> 00:31:46.880
very tight, but I think there might be some positivity.

593
00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:49.960
All right, good, I will hold you to that one,

594
00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:51.680
because we all need a little bit of positivity in

595
00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:55.680
our life, right, Okay? How about so AI AI is

596
00:31:55.720 --> 00:31:58.440
a topic again, I'll start. We use AI. We've been

597
00:31:58.519 --> 00:32:01.519
using it for many, many years as a core part

598
00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:03.440
of our business and our under eighty models and so on.

599
00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:06.279
But we're also starting to use AI as agents to

600
00:32:06.359 --> 00:32:09.000
make my job easier, to make all of our jobs

601
00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:12.119
a little easier. Where do you is that gonna? Is

602
00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:14.119
AI going to be naughty or is it? Is it

603
00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:15.680
going to be nice in terms of how it's going

604
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:18.359
to be helping us in financial services or us as

605
00:32:18.759 --> 00:32:21.160
just employees do our jobs better?

606
00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:22.680
I think nice.

607
00:32:23.319 --> 00:32:25.240
Are you using anything right now, Lisa.

608
00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:29.400
Like co plot chat, GPT. Yes, we use that throughout

609
00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:29.960
the company.

610
00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:32.319
Good good? I mean it's uh, it is a bit

611
00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:35.279
of a game changer. I'm not one of these dooming

612
00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:36.960
loom people that thinks it's going to take a bunch

613
00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:38.880
of jobs away. If anything, I think it's just going

614
00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:41.640
to enhance your ability to do the jobs you have.

615
00:32:41.720 --> 00:32:44.440
I don't necessarily see it reducing a number of jobs.

616
00:32:45.160 --> 00:32:48.279
And you know, a little plug. I use Gemini because

617
00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:51.119
I don't cook very well. But you know my wife,

618
00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:53.599
you know, we're dual income, right, and we got to

619
00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:57.279
share responsibility. So sometimes I'll use Gemini and I'll say, hey,

620
00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.759
i've got a chicken thigh, I've got a lemon, and

621
00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:03.400
I've some broccolini. How do I cook this? What do

622
00:33:03.480 --> 00:33:08.359
I do? And surprisingly it actually makes even me a

623
00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:09.000
decent cook.

624
00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:11.240
So yeah, I haven't done that, but I have some

625
00:33:11.319 --> 00:33:14.079
friends that say they'll put in what they have available

626
00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:17.079
in their kitchen and it spits out exactly what they

627
00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:19.079
can do, and they've been very pleased with the results.

628
00:33:19.319 --> 00:33:21.200
Right right, And you can root around your fridge and

629
00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:23.599
find whatever, and it'll say, oh, we'll do this with rosemary.

630
00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:26.160
And I have rosemary, you know, but I have some sage,

631
00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:28.920
you know, left or from Thanksgiving whatever. So yeah, so

632
00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:30.319
it's it's pretty cool.

633
00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.119
Yeah, I agree, it can make us much more efficient,

634
00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:35.759
you know. I mean sometimes I can sit there and

635
00:33:35.799 --> 00:33:40.119
stare at an email for five minutes, wanting to make

636
00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:44.400
sure that that email sounds professional, you know, and doesn't

637
00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:48.359
sound negative. And you can throw that in AI and

638
00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:50.079
tell it what tone you want to have and it

639
00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:54.279
will spit something back out and that's beautiful, you know.

640
00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:57.200
And it only takes thirty seconds. So I do see

641
00:33:57.240 --> 00:34:02.599
it also as being used more for efficiency than been

642
00:34:02.680 --> 00:34:03.440
taking a lot.

643
00:34:03.319 --> 00:34:05.920
Of jobs, for sure. Yeah, I mean first draft or

644
00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:08.239
mill draft. Maybe not the Final Cup, but yeah, I

645
00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.119
hear what you're saying, for sure. Okay, a bit of

646
00:34:10.159 --> 00:34:15.039
a niche one naughty or nice University of Kentucky Wildcat basketball.

647
00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:20.840
Oh goodness, man, that's a hard one to say. We're

648
00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:23.079
on a bit of a bit of a roller coaster

649
00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:26.840
right now. But I'm going to choose to be optimistic

650
00:34:27.199 --> 00:34:30.519
and say by the end of twenty twenty six nice.

651
00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:33.480
Okay, well, then we'll go with that. I mean, UK

652
00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:39.960
basketball is legendary national championships and all Americans and these

653
00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:43.039
coaching greats and so on and so forth, right, so

654
00:34:43.079 --> 00:34:45.639
we all have sort of up and down periods, right,

655
00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:48.880
So you're thinking upwards directories can be nice at the

656
00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:50.679
end of twenty six I think so.

657
00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:54.400
And you know, the UK fans are not very patient

658
00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:57.920
or forgiving. So you know, we if we don't win

659
00:34:57.920 --> 00:35:00.920
a national championship every year, it's been a good year.

660
00:35:01.559 --> 00:35:05.119
So but I'm going to be optimistic and say that

661
00:35:05.239 --> 00:35:07.719
it's going to be okay, terrific.

662
00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:09.880
Good, all right, Lisa, Well, thanks very much for joining

663
00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:13.199
us today. Really enjoyed the conversation with you. Learned a

664
00:35:13.239 --> 00:35:18.519
lot about you and about UK and UK basketball and UKFCU,

665
00:35:18.599 --> 00:35:21.480
and really really excited to see all the things that

666
00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:24.800
you and your company have been doing and looking forward

667
00:35:24.840 --> 00:35:27.199
to to seeing you again in twenty twenty six.

668
00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:30.199
Thank you. I appreciate you all having me and we

669
00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:33.519
are having a fun time here at UKFCU.

670
00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:35.840
Right the Credit Union for all y'all?

671
00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:37.760
Right, that's right for all y'all.

672
00:35:38.639 --> 00:35:40.199
Thank you, Lisa, Thank you,