A heartfelt thank you.

By Kendra Holland, CCE, ICD.D

The time has come for me to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported, mentored, and encouraged me in my unexpected role.

Six months ago, I was asked to take on the role of Interim CEO at connectFirst Credit Union . My self-doubt answered the call with: "I’m not a CEO!"

Then, I quickly realized that those kinds of thoughts don’t serve anyone, so I decided to take a calculated risk and go for it. And very shortly after my appointment was announced, I felt the collective arms of the connectFirst family, and countless others in both my professional and personal world, wrap around and embrace me in my new role. I was incredibly inspired by (and will always be grateful for) this support.

As I end my Interim CEO tenure, I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who saw things in me that I didn’t immediately see in myself. This confidence helped me find strengths I didn’t recognize I had, and this belief in me let me meet the challenges of the role. I know I will always look back at this achievement as a reminder that I can always do more than I think I can.

It’s an important lesson: don’t let self-limiting beliefs or fears drive you. So often we’re overly hard on ourselves, especially women, and we let self-doubt blind us on how capable we are, and we don’t realize those capabilities until we accept challenge.

When you think about your career journey and where you want to go, I encourage you to consider paths you’ve never considered. Never stop learning. Seek to acquire knowledge and embrace unexpected experiences because it will all prepare you for the biggest challenges and opportunities of your life. You just never know the path that's going to be put in front of you.

My biggest takeaway from my time as Interim CEO is that people relate to other people—they connect to realness, authenticity, and humility. When I stepped into this role, I knew things would be challenging, and the unknown was intimidating and scary. The unknown and uncomfortable is always there—it’s a part of life. And how we the uncomfortable and unknown is what defines leaders. When we rally behind and support each other, we get through it as a team.

When Don Coulter begins his new role as the CEO of connectFirst next week, I know that we will all rally again and bring our collective best to tackle what lies ahead.

I am proud to work for connectFirst. We are a family that cares about each other, our members, and our communities. We are an organization that believes in impact and the importance of being seen, being valued, and being heard. We continue to build and nurture our culture that is founded in psychological safety, trust, and transparency.

I want to congratulate Don Coulter on his new role as CEO. I am happy knowing that I’m handing over the baton to a leader who believes in our mission, embodies our values, and who will create a brighter future for our people by continuing to nurture unity through diversity.

I am excited for the next chapter and what we will achieve, together.