May 28, 2025 • 38 mins
What keeps you going after 30 years in the credit union industry? The answer lies in a carefully cultivated balance between professional passion and personal pursuits. Join ACUMA President Peter Benjamin and Victor Williams, Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending at Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, as they break down this balance.
With 25+ years focused on helping members achieve homeownership, Victor brings profound wisdom to the conversation about avoiding burnout while maintaining excellence. The mortgage industry presents a unique challenge that has nothing to do with complexity. As Victor and Peter discuss, what makes mortgage work demanding isn't complicated math or hard conversations - it's the cognitive load of many things we have to do AND remember daily. Understanding this distinction helps professionals develop targeted strategies for maintaining mental wellness.
For Victor, cycling provides essential mental decompression. Whether on road bikes, gravel, or mountain trails, these outdoor adventures sometimes extend to international cycling events, creating space for complete disconnection from work responsibilities. But not all recharging requires extended time away. Victor shares practical wisdom for those quick mental breaks during workdays: "You don't need to stare at the screen for eight hours. You're just destined for depression." Simple activities like walking around the block or playing a five-minute crossword puzzle can provide the mental reset needed to return refreshed.
What truly shines through this conversation is how Victor's unique personal interests (including an amusing story about his pet prairie dog) contribute to his well-rounded perspective and ability to maintain enthusiasm for his career decades in. These elements create not just balance but a full life that enhances his professional impact rather than detracting from it.
Join us for this refreshingly honest conversation about finding sustainable success in the credit union mortgage industry. Whether you're new to mortgage lending or a seasoned veteran, Victor's insights offer practical wisdom for thriving personally while serving members excellently.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast do not necessarilyreflect the views or positions
of ACUMA, its board of directors, its management staff or its
members.
The podcast discussionpresented is conversational in
nature and for generalinformation only.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Hello, welcome to Acrobat's Opening Podcast, a
series focused on sharing thestories of people who are making
a positive impact in the creditunion mortgage industry.
I'm your host, peter Benjamin.
Today, I am joined by VictorWilliams, senior Vice President
of Mortgage Lending withRandolph-Brooks Federal Credit
Union.
Victor, my friend, how are youdoing today?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Doing fantastic.
What a great day, what a greatopportunity to have a one-on-one
with Peter Benjamin here.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Listen, I am truly, truly honored that you agreed to
step into the Thunderdome.
Listen, I feel as thoughrecently we have been hitting
the Texas circuit and you arethe recent, you know,
volunteerist tribute to step into the On Point podcast.
So I'm super started to have.
But bring it full circle Now.
(01:34):
As always, I always sandbag andI always leave this little
cliffhanger for our listenersand, as always, I'm going to
leave it right there.
I'm going to pause, I'm gonnabring justin in.
So the hawk, justin.
What's it going on?
What is the latest and greatesthappening over at acuma and how
(01:58):
you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I'm good, peter.
How are you Living the dream?
Did you ever think about thatone?
You kind of took a long pausefor me.
I figured you were going with awhat's going on and I'm a.
What's a living, the dream.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I'm trying to.
It's one of those days whereyou know, you tell your kids,
you get to choose your attitude.
Every single day you get toconsciously decide.
You need to choose yourattitude.
Every single day you get toconsciously decide to choose
your attitude.
And today is one of those dayswhere I am, like, consciously
trying my best to decide whetheror not I want to be happy or
not, and so I'm doing my best toconstantly decide to be happy.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, I let my kids choose their attitude if it's
right.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
So I'm doing my best.
Today is one of those dayswhere just energy is just low,
and I'm trying my best to musteras much as I possibly can yeah,
no, I totally understand that.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Um, it's, it's been.
It has been a crazy first halfof the year.
I cannot believe it's almostjune already.
Um, tell you what brother it's,I know it's, it's been fun, but
we're one week.
We are less than one week.
We're not even one week.
We are less than one week fromour second focal point workshop
of the year, which will be inseattle.
It's uh happening next week,june 3rd and 4th.
(03:20):
Um registration is still open.
So if you're out there andyou're in the area and you want
to come to an amazing event, getsome education, see a beautiful
city, head over to the Acumawebsite.
Again, credit union and CUSOgroups of two or more can get a
$200 discount off of eachregistration.
And then our Make your Markannual conference, which is set
(03:41):
to take place in Denver,colorado, this year.
It's happening September 21stto the 24th.
Registration is open again,head over to the website.
And if you are attending ingroups of three or more in your
credit union QSO, then you canalso get a $200 discount off
your registrations outside ofour in-person events.
Sorry, I cut you off, peter.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
No, it's all right of our in-person events.
Sorry, I cut you off, peter.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
No, it's all right, no, no, it's cool man, I'm used
to it.
I'm used to it.
You know, we, we try.
Sometimes it's like railroadtracks we just got to get run
over a little.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
No man, no it's, and you, you were on a roll.
I I interrupted you.
What I was gonna say is wereally picked some great cities
this year um, seattle, one of myfavorite places in this country
.
Love the Pacific NorthwestDenver, pretty cool town.
I mean.
It's an awesome place, lookingforward to it.
(04:34):
Again, we keep coming back tothe fact that this is the best
agenda that this group has puttogether, I honestly believe,
since this organization has beenput together.
Oh, hands down.
So if you are looking forsomething to do this fall, you
(04:59):
really have nothing else to doand you're looking for an event
to go to, else to do, and you'relooking for an event to go to,
this is the, the, that's capital, the event to attend best
agenda hands down.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
It's gonna be huge um yeah, and don't forget, they
had to come to the pre-gameafter party on day one, the
pre-game the pre-game tailgateafter party that we can't figure
out the name of it yeah it's,that's right it's gonna.
It's gonna have a life of itsown, just form, and they'll be
(05:36):
like that's what this is.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
That's right, we're gonna we need to use chat gbt to
figure out a good name for thispregame tailgate after party,
because, again, like wediscussed, you know it needs a
new identity.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
But that's our homework for the next episode.
Right, there you go.
There you go, there we go, allright.
So if you can't make it to ourin-person events, we have plenty
of networking and educationalopportunities that are happening
virtually as well.
So our next network meeting,which is the Underwriting
Network, they're having theirquarterly meeting on June 10th.
Registration's open for thatnow.
(06:13):
So head over to the site, headover to the Acme site and
register for that.
I know that Lee and Magda wouldbe super excited to have
anybody who wants to join, joinand contribute, and then we have
our webinar series.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Sorry to interrupt you on that.
The last underwriting networkmeeting was massive right.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Oh, not only was it massive, it had the largest
attendance for one of ournetwork meetings ever, to the
point that Magda has nowchallenged all of the other
networks to like step it up.
She was like, yes, she's likeI'm winning, she's like it's not
a contest but I'm winning, andI was like it's kind of a
contest.
It was like 150 plus, right,160 people oh gee, that's
(06:59):
massive so everybody's got theirwork cut out for them,
including me and the marketingnetwork.
You hear that.
You hear that.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Victor, 160 people, that's, that's been thrown down
Seriously.
Seriously.
Look at, look at little Magdatalking trash.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I love it and but then we'll have our webinar
series, fast tracks and insidetracks.
Those are happening year roundand then, as always, our on
podcast, which is here to helpbring the fun and learning all
year.
All right, love it.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yes, sir, thank you all right, victor, all right,
really excited for thisconversation, and you know, for
a few reasons.
You know, a month ago we talkedto your volume based roundtable
or volume based network, peerand Kim Moore and we had this
(07:54):
great conversation on the needto kind of just step away and
that was really centered on, youknow, finding outlets to reduce
that stress and it's okay to doit.
And it was really centered ontake vacation and it's okay to
(08:16):
take that time away.
But there's another side tothat.
We all can't just take vacation, we all just can't take that
day off.
You know there's members thathave to be served on a daily
basis.
You know, not only thatvacation isn't limitless, right,
maybe you work for anorganization that has that
unlimited time off, but I don'tknow of a credit union that
(08:39):
offers that and not every creditunion does have that.
So today's conversation isreally going to be based around,
you know, what can we do on adaily basis?
Right, to really centerourselves to the point where we
can maintain ourselves, tocontinue to serve our members,
(09:04):
because ultimately that's thegoal Put families in homes,
serve our members, serve ourcommunities.
But we have to do it with ahealthy mind, a healthy body in
a positive way.
If we can't maintain thosethings, we're not going to do it
, we're not going to move thismovement forward.
(09:25):
So before we get to thisconversation, I have to ask the
first question that I always askeveryone, because it's
important.
It's an important question thatI ask and I do it strategically
and I'm going to preface it bysaying this.
It's always my preface theAcme's On Point podcast is a
people piece.
Again, it's a story about thepeople who make a positive
impact in our industry.
(09:46):
So that first question who isVictor Williams?
Who are you?
So inquiring minds want to know?
This is really importantbecause this is about
spotlighting the differencemakers in our industry, because
all too often we hear about thetop originators in IMBs, the
(10:07):
people in banks, doing theseamazing things.
Well, you know what Creditunions hands down are the best
people out there in thisindustry.
I fully believe it.
Give me a Victor Williams overanyone in the IMBs and we'll
show them how to do it.
That's how I personally feel.
So, before we dive in, who isVictor Williams?
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Well, I have big shoes to fill for myself here,
peter.
It's come off and say, well,who is Victor Williams?
And I'll come off saying, well,been a longtime employee here
at Randolph-Brooks FederalCredit Union, probably just
celebrated 30 years here withthe institution, 25 plus years
(10:53):
in the mortgage area, just invarious different roles, and
it's been a fantastic journeybeing part of a growing
organization and now we'reprobably one of the top 15
credit unions in the nation.
Now, just year over year, greatgrowth and that comes to us
just more from great leadershipfrom top to bottom and a great
team to work with and thingsthat we talk about again me,
victor, different philosophies,different points, from our old
(11:16):
CEO to our new CEO.
We try and embody three goodcore principles within us.
It's like take care of yourself, take care of your family, take
care of the credit union.
You have this nice triangle.
And as we talk about that, it'slike, well, you need good
(11:36):
work-life balance.
It's like it can't all be justthe institution, it can't all be
just mortgage lending.
That kind of makes you a dullperson, in my opinion.
So while it's fun to live it,eat it and breathe it, you also
need to be able to subtractyourself and recharge batteries.
Hence part of our conversationpoint today.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Right, I mean, I get it, but you know again.
You know, but tell me moreabout you, you know.
Let's kind of go back to thatfirst question.
You know, so obviously you'vebeen there for a while, you know
, walk us through your timethere outside of, I'm guessing
you.
You kind of rose to the ring,saw some success, you know.
(12:11):
But who are you outside of ofthis?
Of Randolph Brooks, because Ithink it plays in well to the
conversation, because today'sconversation is really based off
of that need to step away, andyou said you had that triangle
right, sure, and so I'm going to, I'm going to drive into this
(12:33):
first question.
You know who is Victor?
A little bit more, and I hopeyou don't mind, because that is
the I think this is.
If anything, this episode istruly going to be focused on who
we are outside of the creditunion, outside of Acuma.
(12:56):
So let's dive into it.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Sure, as we jump into this.
Just you know, we all probablyoutside of mortgage lending,
outside of Acumen, we all chasedifferent passions in life and
for me, like we're in our normalworkday, eight to five, you're
wearing the mortgage lending hat.
So what do you do afterwards?
How do you?
What are other fun things thatVictor does?
So I've got a few hobbies.
(13:19):
One of them is cycling, andit's just not only just a little
bit on the road bike.
You might be doing some gravelor even mountain bike, but just
across the different disciplinesit helps you decompress, get
away from work and exercise andhave a lot of fun.
And with that, with some of myfriends that I cycle with here
(13:44):
in the San Antonio area, we takethese various different guide
trips every once in a while andyou get to travel, see different
parts of the United States, oreven do a little bit of
international travel, to gowatch some international
competitions, and the cool thingabout that is when you're there
you're kind of forced not tothink about work.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
So you recently came back from like a.
Um was a trip to Belgium, if Iremember correctly, and you
watched like a it wasn't.
It wasn't um tour to France,but it was another pretty
popular race, right.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Yeah, it was then that that was called the.
It's cyclocross world, that wascalled the cyclocross world.
So there's a sport calledcyclocross where you're probably
more predominant on theEuropean side, where you have
some really fantastic Dutch andBelgium riders and from all
across the world, and it's acombination of a little bit of
dirt, some obstacles, a littlebit of pavement, and they just
(14:38):
turn themselves inside out forabout an hour going on around a
predefined course.
And even within that community,whether you're from the United
States, from Belgium, fromFrance, germany, wherever, it's
a fantastic group of fan base.
They're just rabid about, Iguess, watching cycling.
(15:00):
But then there might be a fewadult beverages mixed in with
that too.
I mean, who doesn't like a goodadult beverage?
Exactly?
And again, that trip to Belgium, that was more for Cyclocross
Worlds and me and a handful ofmy friends.
We have a weakness for some ofthose Belgian beers too.
So you were right there in theholy grail center spot of good,
(15:23):
fine-tasting adult beverages.
Yeah, sure, sure sure, allright.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
So for you, that outlet is really focused on
cycling, stepping away.
And I'm guessing because for me, prior to kids, I used to be a
runner.
In my younger, leaner days, Iused to love running, I used to
go running quite a bit and itwas about just this mental
(15:55):
aspect of zoning out and I couldjust get in the zone and not
think about anything and couldrun for hours and I'm guessing,
and for me it was the freedom,the silence, the breathing, but
even just going someplace andjust looking at the beauty of
(16:18):
things, right?
So I'm guessing for you, whenyou go cycling, whether it's by
the way, I didn't realize theyhad mountains in San Antonio but
they just going someplace,hopping on your road bike,
hopping on your mountain bikeand just going, is your form of
release and a way to mentallydecompress from the stress of
(16:40):
work and an escape from realityfor that brief moment in time.
I'm guessing that's it right.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, you got it summed up pretty good there.
So we have other friends.
Their channel is golf.
They're really good at it.
I decided, hey, I'm not thatgood at golf, so so you get out
there and do do something.
You find a little bit moreenjoyment in so.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I mean, as Justin knows, Justin doesn't have to be
good at golf just to get outthere.
It's, it's half of.
It's just the smell of of grass.
That's true, that's really rude.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I mean like granted, I can hold my own on a course,
you know that.
But I tell Peter all the time Idon't play with my 14 year old
anymore because I got tired ofbeing beat by a teenager who's
like high school golf at thispoint.
So, yeah, no, but golf is oneof those outlets Like I don't
know.
I mean, that's a really goodpoint, victor like, and I find
(17:44):
it interesting that peter saidbefore um, before kids and
everything, his was running andI'm sure he did that outdoors a
lot and cycling.
I'm pretty sure you do thatoutdoors like I I've I've always
used golf as an outlet for meand that's definitely something
that can be done mostly outdoors.
Um, for me, it's's just thatthat outdoor part right is, yeah
(18:06):
, it's nice that we have.
We have really good jobs and wehave, you know, we're grinding
every day, but at the end of it,like, sometimes you just want
to go outside, you just want toget outside, get outdoors.
I know Chris is not on the callwith us but, um, when we're
even in meetings, like, at theend of the meeting, peter, like
(18:28):
chris is the first one, I gottago for a walk, I gotta get
outside, right, it's just that,that ability to disconnect for,
even if it's just for 30 minutes, just to get outdoors and just
get some fresh air, that poweralone goes.
So long goes so far.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Sure, and Justin, you were.
You're hitting the nail on thehead on one of your comments
there when you're talking aboutyour 14 year old starting to
beat you in golf.
It's like even a handful of myfriends whether it's golf,
basketball or even cycling iswatching their kids grow up.
You know, they've been theteacher forever and now their
kids are becoming the teacherand schooling them.
(19:07):
It's like when the teacherbecomes the student.
It's kind of fun to watch thattransition where, like dad used
to beat son all the time, nowson is like just running circles
around them and it's kind ofhumbling but at the same time
fun to watch them grow in theirtheir uh, extracurricular career
yeah, I mean I hate losing.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I mean one of the recent issues of uh footnotes
that came out.
I even told like there was acomment in there about like oh,
we went and played putt puttt.
By the way, I won.
Like that was my coup de grace,if you will.
Like I won at putt-putt I beata nine-year-old.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah, it's.
I mean, victor, there's areason why I go to the gym on a
daily basis.
So just in preparation for myyoung kids to get to that point
where they possibly could beatme at something kids to get to
that point where they possiblycould beat me at something.
They're going to have a reallytough time being able to do so
(20:10):
because I'm still going to bestronger than them.
I might not be faster than them, but I'm definitely going to be
stronger than them and that'sall that matters, right?
Because, hey, they might bequicker on their toes, but dad's
got the strength and that's allthat matters.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
That's right, but you know, but, but you know, for me
, I've also learned that all toooften and this and this, this
happens quite a bit right, we,we work, and I actually I think
I said this in Kim's episode,right, when we were talking
(20:46):
about the stress that we gothrough and the idea of
overcoming burnout All too oftenthere is a lot of burnout in
our industry and I said this wedon't have a hard job.
We don't.
The mortgage industry is nothard.
What makes it difficult is thatwe have 2,001 things we have to
(21:06):
do on a daily basis.
That, on top of the fact thatthere's also 2,001 things that
we have to remember, those twothings make it difficult 2,001
things that we have to do and2,001 things that we have to
remember.
That's what makes it difficult.
The rest is easy, right?
One plus one equals two.
If you can remember that,that's as hard as the most
(21:28):
difficult math that you have todo in the mortgage business
being kind to someone.
That's the most difficultconversation you really have to
have in the mortgage business,really.
So the mortgage business is nottough, it's just you have to
remember a lot.
And one thing I also noticed isthat you know, yes, you know,
(21:50):
there's the physical aspect andyou know the idea of a good
physical activity is a great wayto recharge.
A run isn't always realistic,right?
Or going for that like a cycle,or going for that ride, you
(22:14):
know, in the middle of the day,isn't realistic right.
So what is what's that thingthat you can do?
Or what's the thing that you do, victor, that's hey, you know
it's 11 o'clock, I'm feelingstressed and, victor, you are
(22:35):
probably Justin, correct me ifI'm wrong, but he's probably the
most even-keeled person I'veever seen.
Oh, absolutely, I mean handsdown, right, but what's the most
?
What's the one thing that youtell your people hey, just go do
something for like five minutes, just go catch a breath, go
take a breather, like for me,when I'm feeling stressed out.
I'm actually literally standingover my home brewery, like my
(22:57):
brewery is right underneath me.
It's weird that, like my, thetwo, my two meccas are in the
same exact spot you go have abeer no, I don't go have it.
I mean no, but I just go tinker,I just go down there, or
sometimes I just go down thereand sit, because, one, it's
quiet, it's a no kid zone, buttwo, there's always something to
(23:19):
do down there.
I might just clean for like aquick second, because there's a
lot of stainless steel, I likeshiny stainless steel.
But two, I might just organize,even though everything's been
organized already, I might justreorganize it.
But it's not.
I'm not staring at a computer,or Justin and I go and collect
stickers at different brewerieswhenever we travel.
(23:40):
I might just go put a stickeron something and that's, you
know, 10 minutes away from mycomputer and it's in a place
that makes me happy.
So, but what do you do and whatdo you recommend to your people
throughout the course of theday?
Because obviously we can't gofor a run at 11 o'clock during
the middle of the day.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Yeah for sure.
See, the other thing, someother things about me just more
not having any children.
My wife and I we'vesupplemented that with a bunch
of different animals, so we'vegot four dogs, two cats.
Somewhere along the way my wifesnuck a prairie dog into the
mix too, so that Whoa, whoa,whoa.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
How did you tame a?
Is it a tame prairie dog, or?
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Yeah, that was more probably right around pre-COVID.
There was.
She worked as an office managerin a small vet animal clinic
and there was some, I guess theywere in one of the branches of
service.
They were going out for a likeit was a remote PCS, so they
were going somewhere overseasand they had two prairie dogs
(24:48):
and they had raised these sincebabies.
They were basically hand raised, these since babies.
They were basically hand raisedsince since a baby and they
ended up getting surrendered ather vet clinic and they were
more the, the, the, the tokenprairie dogs running around the
office or whatnot.
And then COVID happened.
They sent people home.
They were starting to get alittle bit disruptive and next
thing I know it's like I comehome one day and there's this
(25:09):
prairie dog habitat hanging outin one of our spare bedrooms.
I'm like, wow, what justhappened here?
But actually they're, they'vebeen hand raised since babies.
One of them actually passedaway.
So there's one left and he's hisname's Lou.
He's this little chunky thingand just he's most of the time
he just hangs out his habitat,sleeps a lot, he comes out,
(25:30):
likes to get scratched behindthe head a little bit and he
he's also kind of like a cat.
He, he wants attention until hedoesn't, and then he, he turns
into a big jerk.
But a lot of fun, a lot of funon that.
So it's like these interestingthings, so it's things that you
can do to well if, if we sleep.
And then it's like more, thedogs, they play really well
(25:51):
together.
So then we just go outside,throw the ball for about five or
10 minutes and they play theirgame Like, hey, when they start
playing, keep away from me.
I'm like, okay, we're done.
So that's pretty awesomeactually, and I probably have 20
hours of stupid dog videos onmy phone, on my phone, just of
them playing, doing stupid stuff.
(26:12):
So it's uh, even when you'rebored, in a way, it's like you
go back to your videos andthey're like, oh, look at that
when they were babies.
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
But that's one of those things that nobody else
has a prairie dog, like no onethat I've ever met owns a
prairie dog.
So, like you always have thaton your side of like, I have a
great conversation starter.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
For sure.
It's like tell me somethingunique about yourself that
somebody doesn't know.
It's like, oh hey, you wouldn'tbelieve it, we have a pet, pet
prairie dog.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
So I mean technically that's considered an exotic pet
right.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Who knows.
So years ago we were doing someother things and Danielle put
them out in this little habitatthing in the garage and one of
them pushed it out of the wayand escaped.
And so we're like, oh, we'renever going to see Lou again and
she throws out there on theNextdoor app and our prairie dog
escaped.
And we had some really goodwitty, witty neighbors and like,
(27:11):
well, we hope he pops upsomewhere there.
There are a few other like justreally spins on hey, hope you
find him.
And actually one of theneighbors did find him.
They didn't you get this calland say, hey, we, we think we
have your prairie dog.
I'm like, oh, oh, yeah, you do.
So we got him, brought him backhome and so he covered some
(27:35):
ground.
He made it further away than wethought.
He did these little fun stories, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
That's awesome, All right.
So, coming back, what do youtell your people?
So if you have a staff memberwho is, again, not everyone's
perfect, people get stressed out.
What do you tell your staffthroughout the course of the day
to kind of recharge?
Speaker 4 (28:03):
It's more just things you need to do.
You need to get up, walk around.
You don't need to stare at thescreen for eight hours.
You're just destined for, in mymind, you're destined for
depression.
So it's like you got to get up,do something, step away whether
it's go outside, take a quickwalk around the block, call your
spouse, tell them how awesomethey are.
Do something, get away,separate yourself.
(28:26):
Then come back and jump back inand go.
There's, that's that, and justthere's a variety of different
things, but just it's forcingyourself to unplug and do
something totally different didthan what you normally do.
If it's like, maybe play thethe new york times mini
crossword, that that thing, youcan usually get it done in five
(28:46):
minutes or less, so okay I loveit, love it.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
well, victor, we have to start transitioning to the
second segment, but before we do, I always ask the same
questions.
The first question and lastquestions are always the same.
So the last question is whatkeeps you going?
What keeps you motivated?
You're just like everyone else,one foot out of bed in the
morning, so what keeps you going?
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Great question, peter .
As I think about my career atthe institution I've been in
various different roles, evendifferent business units I think
things that you can probablyscratch your head on.
It's like you really started aninternal audit and like, and
(29:34):
it's like, as you think aboutjobs or other things like even
starting from that spot in audit, it's like after a year or so
you realize that I really don'twant to do this forever.
So then you're seeking outother opportunities and did, did
a few things on the consumerlending side and finally landed
in mortgage lending 25 plusyears ago.
And then it starting to growthrough different segments of
what we do in mortgage lendingwhether it's the origination
(29:57):
side, the operations, theservicing, the whole nine yards,
and like what we do onsecondary it's like I finally
found my passion.
This is really really what Iwant to do.
And so when I think about that,it's like how?
Again, the passion for mortgagelending, the passion for our
members, how can we better servethem, bring them great products
(30:20):
?
You eat it, you live it, youbreathe it every day.
And then you find some greatorganizations like Acuma and
even with our local Texas CuringNetwork, where you then meet
other great minds across thenation or even within the state,
collaborate and talk.
That's a lot of those things.
(30:42):
That kind of that recharge meand keep me going from a
mortgage lending perspective onreally what is that passion?
It's like even having a greatstaff and a great group of
people that work for you.
It makes the job fun.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Yep, couldn't agree more, couldn't agree more.
All right, victor, here we gowith the transition to the
second segment.
Now, in the second segment,this is where we sometimes play
Jeopardy.
Sometimes we just do randomtrivia.
We haven't really done thatmuch lately, but today we're
doing the most requested segmentof dad jokes.
So prior to the recording, Iasked you to come prepared with
(31:23):
two to three dad jokes.
So I imagine you came preparedwith some dad jokes, correct?
Speaker 4 (31:30):
I imagine you came prepared with some dad jokes,
correct?
I did, but then my repertoryisn't as huge as some others, I
think.
Earlier we were visiting withJustin and I think he has
probably a library of about athousand.
But to transition into this,justin and Peter, then I started
(31:55):
to think it's it's like well,what's the best way to save your
dad jokes?
Do you know that answer?
I don't.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
no, you put them in a database I like how he just
immediately rolls right into it,immediately rolls right into.
I love it, I love it, I love it.
All right.
So, victor, here's what we'regoing to do.
You're going to do two dadjokes, justin will do two dad
jokes, and then I will wrap upwith two dad jokes.
Sounds good, perfect, all right.
(32:22):
So rock and roll, victor Go.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
This might be oldie but a oldie, but again, even one
.
One of the ones that I alwayslike have a lot of fun with is
why does Norway put barcodes ontheir Navy ships?
Why, so they can scan the Navyin when they arrive, that was
good yeah.
Yeah, that was good, that wasgood.
Scandinavians having a lot offun with that and just and of
(32:57):
course, because my wife is anequestrian, she rides horses.
So this other one it's like apony walks into a noisy bar and
tries to order a beer.
The bartender says I can't hearyou, you'll have to speak up.
And the pony says well, sorry,I'm a little hoarse, that one's
(33:18):
a little bit more cornier, butanyhow.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
That's good, that's good.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
All right, justin go.
What's an astronaut's favoritepart of the computer?
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Space bar.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Let's just see if Peter can get another one.
All right, which vegetable hasthe best Kung Fu?
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Which vegetable has the best kung fu?
Which vegetable?
Speaker 4 (33:58):
has the best kung fu, which one?
I'd answer it with the porkchop, broccoli, broccoli.
Oh, I get it.
That's good, that's good.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
All right All right's good, all right, that's all
right.
My turn, all right.
Why did the dog get arrested?
Speaker 2 (34:20):
For urinating in public.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
He had unpaid barking tickets.
Good one.
Okay, I'm a little concernedwith this one.
It's a little risque, but I'mgoing to go with it.
It won't make it explicit, Ipromise.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Oh boy.
I'm terrified.
Now we're on pandemic.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
When I read this one I laughed, so I'm just going to
go with it.
Perfect, all right.
A man is buying a banana andapple and two eggs.
The cashier says you must besingle.
The man replied how'd you knowthat?
The cashier says because you'reugly.
That's so mean.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Sorry, sorry oh wow, that that was uh.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
I told you, I laughed at it uh sorry, I'm sorry, I
still laughed at it.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Sorry, I still have data.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
Sorry, I told you I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
That was a good one, though.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Sorry, I told you, I told you, I told you I told you
Wow, that's a.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
We can almost do a podcast for an hour on just dad
jokes, back and forth.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Oh, don't tempt him.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
I totally would.
I totally would.
All right, that's actually agreat idea.
How about we invite 10 guestsand we just have an?
Speaker 2 (36:11):
episode.
Yeah, I'm going to add it tothe list along with what was our
other one, haunted tourspodcast.
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
We're going to do a live episode of haunted tours
and we're just going to narratethe haunted tour.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
For sure.
Yeah, I've got one of my folksthat attend some of the the
acuma events, diana burn.
She's into doing crazy thingslike that haunted tours,
visiting different cemeteries,different other things she'd be
a fantastic invite for that heck.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Yeah, all right, victor, we got to wrap up well.
Victor, thank you so much fortaking time out of your schedule
to sit down with us and havethis conversation.
Really enjoyed it.
But also thank you for beingsuch a great champion of the
credit union movement.
Again, always appreciatetalking to you and looking
forward to seeing you soon at anupcoming Acumen event.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
Absolutely Looking forward to it.
Thank you for the invite and itwas what fun.
I'm looking for the right word.
They're fun.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
No, it's all right.
Good, good, good, justin, asalways.
Thank you very much.
Of course, it was my pleasure.
And to wrap up everything,everything else, and to all of
you, we know your time isvaluable.
Thank you for tuning in to thelatest episode of ACMA's On
Point Podcast.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time, be well, myfriends.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time at theACMA On Point Podcast.
If not already, be sure tosubscribe and give us a
five-star rating For more greatepisodes and information.
Be sure to visit us online atacmaorg and to get the latest
updates.
Head over to our LinkedIn page.
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast do not necessarilyreflect the views or positions
of ACUMA, its board of directors, its management staff or its
members.
The podcast discussionpresented is conversational in
nature and for generalinformation only.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Hello, welcome to Acrobat's Opening Podcast, a
series focused on sharing thestories of people who are making
a positive impact in the creditunion mortgage industry.
I'm your host, peter Benjamin.
Today, I am joined by VictorWilliams, senior Vice President
of Mortgage Lending withRandolph-Brooks Federal Credit
Union.
Victor, my friend, how are youdoing today?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Doing fantastic.
What a great day, what a greatopportunity to have a one-on-one
with Peter Benjamin here.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Listen, I am truly, truly honored that you agreed to
step into the Thunderdome.
Listen, I feel as thoughrecently we have been hitting
the Texas circuit and you arethe recent, you know,
volunteerist tribute to step into the On Point podcast.
So I'm super started to have.
But bring it full circle Now.
(01:34):
As always, I always sandbag andI always leave this little
cliffhanger for our listenersand, as always, I'm going to
leave it right there.
I'm going to pause, I'm gonnabring justin in.
So the hawk, justin.
What's it going on?
What is the latest and greatesthappening over at acuma and how
(01:58):
you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I'm good, peter.
How are you Living the dream?
Did you ever think about thatone?
You kind of took a long pausefor me.
I figured you were going with awhat's going on and I'm a.
What's a living, the dream.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I'm trying to.
It's one of those days whereyou know, you tell your kids,
you get to choose your attitude.
Every single day you get toconsciously decide.
You need to choose yourattitude.
Every single day you get toconsciously decide to choose
your attitude.
And today is one of those dayswhere I am, like, consciously
trying my best to decide whetheror not I want to be happy or
not, and so I'm doing my best toconstantly decide to be happy.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, I let my kids choose their attitude if it's
right.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
So I'm doing my best.
Today is one of those dayswhere just energy is just low,
and I'm trying my best to musteras much as I possibly can yeah,
no, I totally understand that.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Um, it's, it's been.
It has been a crazy first halfof the year.
I cannot believe it's almostjune already.
Um, tell you what brother it's,I know it's, it's been fun, but
we're one week.
We are less than one week.
We're not even one week.
We are less than one week fromour second focal point workshop
of the year, which will be inseattle.
It's uh happening next week,june 3rd and 4th.
(03:20):
Um registration is still open.
So if you're out there andyou're in the area and you want
to come to an amazing event, getsome education, see a beautiful
city, head over to the Acumawebsite.
Again, credit union and CUSOgroups of two or more can get a
$200 discount off of eachregistration.
And then our Make your Markannual conference, which is set
(03:41):
to take place in Denver,colorado, this year.
It's happening September 21stto the 24th.
Registration is open again,head over to the website.
And if you are attending ingroups of three or more in your
credit union QSO, then you canalso get a $200 discount off
your registrations outside ofour in-person events.
Sorry, I cut you off, peter.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
No, it's all right of our in-person events.
Sorry, I cut you off, peter.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
No, it's all right, no, no, it's cool man, I'm used
to it.
I'm used to it.
You know, we, we try.
Sometimes it's like railroadtracks we just got to get run
over a little.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
No man, no it's, and you, you were on a roll.
I I interrupted you.
What I was gonna say is wereally picked some great cities
this year um, seattle, one of myfavorite places in this country
.
Love the Pacific NorthwestDenver, pretty cool town.
I mean.
It's an awesome place, lookingforward to it.
(04:34):
Again, we keep coming back tothe fact that this is the best
agenda that this group has puttogether, I honestly believe,
since this organization has beenput together.
Oh, hands down.
So if you are looking forsomething to do this fall, you
(04:59):
really have nothing else to doand you're looking for an event
to go to, else to do, and you'relooking for an event to go to,
this is the, the, that's capital, the event to attend best
agenda hands down.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
It's gonna be huge um yeah, and don't forget, they
had to come to the pre-gameafter party on day one, the
pre-game the pre-game tailgateafter party that we can't figure
out the name of it yeah it's,that's right it's gonna.
It's gonna have a life of itsown, just form, and they'll be
(05:36):
like that's what this is.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
That's right, we're gonna we need to use chat gbt to
figure out a good name for thispregame tailgate after party,
because, again, like wediscussed, you know it needs a
new identity.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
But that's our homework for the next episode.
Right, there you go.
There you go, there we go, allright.
So if you can't make it to ourin-person events, we have plenty
of networking and educationalopportunities that are happening
virtually as well.
So our next network meeting,which is the Underwriting
Network, they're having theirquarterly meeting on June 10th.
Registration's open for thatnow.
(06:13):
So head over to the site, headover to the Acme site and
register for that.
I know that Lee and Magda wouldbe super excited to have
anybody who wants to join, joinand contribute, and then we have
our webinar series.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Sorry to interrupt you on that.
The last underwriting networkmeeting was massive right.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Oh, not only was it massive, it had the largest
attendance for one of ournetwork meetings ever, to the
point that Magda has nowchallenged all of the other
networks to like step it up.
She was like, yes, she's likeI'm winning, she's like it's not
a contest but I'm winning, andI was like it's kind of a
contest.
It was like 150 plus, right,160 people oh gee, that's
(06:59):
massive so everybody's got theirwork cut out for them,
including me and the marketingnetwork.
You hear that.
You hear that.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Victor, 160 people, that's, that's been thrown down
Seriously.
Seriously.
Look at, look at little Magdatalking trash.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I love it and but then we'll have our webinar
series, fast tracks and insidetracks.
Those are happening year roundand then, as always, our on
podcast, which is here to helpbring the fun and learning all
year.
All right, love it.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yes, sir, thank you all right, victor, all right,
really excited for thisconversation, and you know, for
a few reasons.
You know, a month ago we talkedto your volume based roundtable
or volume based network, peerand Kim Moore and we had this
(07:54):
great conversation on the needto kind of just step away and
that was really centered on, youknow, finding outlets to reduce
that stress and it's okay to doit.
And it was really centered ontake vacation and it's okay to
(08:16):
take that time away.
But there's another side tothat.
We all can't just take vacation, we all just can't take that
day off.
You know there's members thathave to be served on a daily
basis.
You know, not only thatvacation isn't limitless, right,
maybe you work for anorganization that has that
unlimited time off, but I don'tknow of a credit union that
(08:39):
offers that and not every creditunion does have that.
So today's conversation isreally going to be based around,
you know, what can we do on adaily basis?
Right, to really centerourselves to the point where we
can maintain ourselves, tocontinue to serve our members,
(09:04):
because ultimately that's thegoal Put families in homes,
serve our members, serve ourcommunities.
But we have to do it with ahealthy mind, a healthy body in
a positive way.
If we can't maintain thosethings, we're not going to do it
, we're not going to move thismovement forward.
(09:25):
So before we get to thisconversation, I have to ask the
first question that I always askeveryone, because it's
important.
It's an important question thatI ask and I do it strategically
and I'm going to preface it bysaying this.
It's always my preface theAcme's On Point podcast is a
people piece.
Again, it's a story about thepeople who make a positive
impact in our industry.
(09:46):
So that first question who isVictor Williams?
Who are you?
So inquiring minds want to know?
This is really importantbecause this is about
spotlighting the differencemakers in our industry, because
all too often we hear about thetop originators in IMBs, the
(10:07):
people in banks, doing theseamazing things.
Well, you know what Creditunions hands down are the best
people out there in thisindustry.
I fully believe it.
Give me a Victor Williams overanyone in the IMBs and we'll
show them how to do it.
That's how I personally feel.
So, before we dive in, who isVictor Williams?
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Well, I have big shoes to fill for myself here,
peter.
It's come off and say, well,who is Victor Williams?
And I'll come off saying, well,been a longtime employee here
at Randolph-Brooks FederalCredit Union, probably just
celebrated 30 years here withthe institution, 25 plus years
(10:53):
in the mortgage area, just invarious different roles, and
it's been a fantastic journeybeing part of a growing
organization and now we'reprobably one of the top 15
credit unions in the nation.
Now, just year over year, greatgrowth and that comes to us
just more from great leadershipfrom top to bottom and a great
team to work with and thingsthat we talk about again me,
victor, different philosophies,different points, from our old
(11:16):
CEO to our new CEO.
We try and embody three goodcore principles within us.
It's like take care of yourself, take care of your family, take
care of the credit union.
You have this nice triangle.
And as we talk about that, it'slike, well, you need good
(11:36):
work-life balance.
It's like it can't all be justthe institution, it can't all be
just mortgage lending.
That kind of makes you a dullperson, in my opinion.
So while it's fun to live it,eat it and breathe it, you also
need to be able to subtractyourself and recharge batteries.
Hence part of our conversationpoint today.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Right, I mean, I get it, but you know again.
You know, but tell me moreabout you, you know.
Let's kind of go back to thatfirst question.
You know, so obviously you'vebeen there for a while, you know
, walk us through your timethere outside of, I'm guessing
you.
You kind of rose to the ring,saw some success, you know.
(12:11):
But who are you outside of ofthis?
Of Randolph Brooks, because Ithink it plays in well to the
conversation, because today'sconversation is really based off
of that need to step away, andyou said you had that triangle
right, sure, and so I'm going to, I'm going to drive into this
(12:33):
first question.
You know who is Victor?
A little bit more, and I hopeyou don't mind, because that is
the I think this is.
If anything, this episode istruly going to be focused on who
we are outside of the creditunion, outside of Acuma.
(12:56):
So let's dive into it.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Sure, as we jump into this.
Just you know, we all probablyoutside of mortgage lending,
outside of Acumen, we all chasedifferent passions in life and
for me, like we're in our normalworkday, eight to five, you're
wearing the mortgage lending hat.
So what do you do afterwards?
How do you?
What are other fun things thatVictor does?
So I've got a few hobbies.
(13:19):
One of them is cycling, andit's just not only just a little
bit on the road bike.
You might be doing some gravelor even mountain bike, but just
across the different disciplinesit helps you decompress, get
away from work and exercise andhave a lot of fun.
And with that, with some of myfriends that I cycle with here
(13:44):
in the San Antonio area, we takethese various different guide
trips every once in a while andyou get to travel, see different
parts of the United States, oreven do a little bit of
international travel, to gowatch some international
competitions, and the cool thingabout that is when you're there
you're kind of forced not tothink about work.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
So you recently came back from like a.
Um was a trip to Belgium, if Iremember correctly, and you
watched like a it wasn't.
It wasn't um tour to France,but it was another pretty
popular race, right.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Yeah, it was then that that was called the.
It's cyclocross world, that wascalled the cyclocross world.
So there's a sport calledcyclocross where you're probably
more predominant on theEuropean side, where you have
some really fantastic Dutch andBelgium riders and from all
across the world, and it's acombination of a little bit of
dirt, some obstacles, a littlebit of pavement, and they just
(14:38):
turn themselves inside out forabout an hour going on around a
predefined course.
And even within that community,whether you're from the United
States, from Belgium, fromFrance, germany, wherever, it's
a fantastic group of fan base.
They're just rabid about, Iguess, watching cycling.
(15:00):
But then there might be a fewadult beverages mixed in with
that too.
I mean, who doesn't like a goodadult beverage?
Exactly?
And again, that trip to Belgium, that was more for Cyclocross
Worlds and me and a handful ofmy friends.
We have a weakness for some ofthose Belgian beers too.
So you were right there in theholy grail center spot of good,
(15:23):
fine-tasting adult beverages.
Yeah, sure, sure sure, allright.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
So for you, that outlet is really focused on
cycling, stepping away.
And I'm guessing because for me, prior to kids, I used to be a
runner.
In my younger, leaner days, Iused to love running, I used to
go running quite a bit and itwas about just this mental
(15:55):
aspect of zoning out and I couldjust get in the zone and not
think about anything and couldrun for hours and I'm guessing,
and for me it was the freedom,the silence, the breathing, but
even just going someplace andjust looking at the beauty of
(16:18):
things, right?
So I'm guessing for you, whenyou go cycling, whether it's by
the way, I didn't realize theyhad mountains in San Antonio but
they just going someplace,hopping on your road bike,
hopping on your mountain bikeand just going, is your form of
release and a way to mentallydecompress from the stress of
(16:40):
work and an escape from realityfor that brief moment in time.
I'm guessing that's it right.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, you got it summed up pretty good there.
So we have other friends.
Their channel is golf.
They're really good at it.
I decided, hey, I'm not thatgood at golf, so so you get out
there and do do something.
You find a little bit moreenjoyment in so.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I mean, as Justin knows, Justin doesn't have to be
good at golf just to get outthere.
It's, it's half of.
It's just the smell of of grass.
That's true, that's really rude.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I mean like granted, I can hold my own on a course,
you know that.
But I tell Peter all the time Idon't play with my 14 year old
anymore because I got tired ofbeing beat by a teenager who's
like high school golf at thispoint.
So, yeah, no, but golf is oneof those outlets Like I don't
know.
I mean, that's a really goodpoint, victor like, and I find
(17:44):
it interesting that peter saidbefore um, before kids and
everything, his was running andI'm sure he did that outdoors a
lot and cycling.
I'm pretty sure you do thatoutdoors like I I've I've always
used golf as an outlet for meand that's definitely something
that can be done mostly outdoors.
Um, for me, it's's just thatthat outdoor part right is, yeah
(18:06):
, it's nice that we have.
We have really good jobs and wehave, you know, we're grinding
every day, but at the end of it,like, sometimes you just want
to go outside, you just want toget outside, get outdoors.
I know Chris is not on the callwith us but, um, when we're
even in meetings, like, at theend of the meeting, peter, like
(18:28):
chris is the first one, I gottago for a walk, I gotta get
outside, right, it's just that,that ability to disconnect for,
even if it's just for 30 minutes, just to get outdoors and just
get some fresh air, that poweralone goes.
So long goes so far.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Sure, and Justin, you were.
You're hitting the nail on thehead on one of your comments
there when you're talking aboutyour 14 year old starting to
beat you in golf.
It's like even a handful of myfriends whether it's golf,
basketball or even cycling iswatching their kids grow up.
You know, they've been theteacher forever and now their
kids are becoming the teacherand schooling them.
(19:07):
It's like when the teacherbecomes the student.
It's kind of fun to watch thattransition where, like dad used
to beat son all the time, nowson is like just running circles
around them and it's kind ofhumbling but at the same time
fun to watch them grow in theirtheir uh, extracurricular career
yeah, I mean I hate losing.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I mean one of the recent issues of uh footnotes
that came out.
I even told like there was acomment in there about like oh,
we went and played putt puttt.
By the way, I won.
Like that was my coup de grace,if you will.
Like I won at putt-putt I beata nine-year-old.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah, it's.
I mean, victor, there's areason why I go to the gym on a
daily basis.
So just in preparation for myyoung kids to get to that point
where they possibly could beatme at something kids to get to
that point where they possiblycould beat me at something.
They're going to have a reallytough time being able to do so
(20:10):
because I'm still going to bestronger than them.
I might not be faster than them, but I'm definitely going to be
stronger than them and that'sall that matters, right?
Because, hey, they might bequicker on their toes, but dad's
got the strength and that's allthat matters.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
That's right, but you know, but, but you know, for me
, I've also learned that all toooften and this and this, this
happens quite a bit right, we,we work, and I actually I think
I said this in Kim's episode,right, when we were talking
(20:46):
about the stress that we gothrough and the idea of
overcoming burnout All too oftenthere is a lot of burnout in
our industry and I said this wedon't have a hard job.
We don't.
The mortgage industry is nothard.
What makes it difficult is thatwe have 2,001 things we have to
(21:06):
do on a daily basis.
That, on top of the fact thatthere's also 2,001 things that
we have to remember, those twothings make it difficult 2,001
things that we have to do and2,001 things that we have to
remember.
That's what makes it difficult.
The rest is easy, right?
One plus one equals two.
If you can remember that,that's as hard as the most
(21:28):
difficult math that you have todo in the mortgage business
being kind to someone.
That's the most difficultconversation you really have to
have in the mortgage business,really.
So the mortgage business is nottough, it's just you have to
remember a lot.
And one thing I also noticed isthat you know, yes, you know,
(21:50):
there's the physical aspect andyou know the idea of a good
physical activity is a great wayto recharge.
A run isn't always realistic,right?
Or going for that like a cycle,or going for that ride, you
(22:14):
know, in the middle of the day,isn't realistic right.
So what is what's that thingthat you can do?
Or what's the thing that you do, victor, that's hey, you know
it's 11 o'clock, I'm feelingstressed and, victor, you are
(22:35):
probably Justin, correct me ifI'm wrong, but he's probably the
most even-keeled person I'veever seen.
Oh, absolutely, I mean handsdown, right, but what's the most
?
What's the one thing that youtell your people hey, just go do
something for like five minutes, just go catch a breath, go
take a breather, like for me,when I'm feeling stressed out.
I'm actually literally standingover my home brewery, like my
(22:57):
brewery is right underneath me.
It's weird that, like my, thetwo, my two meccas are in the
same exact spot you go have abeer no, I don't go have it.
I mean no, but I just go tinker,I just go down there, or
sometimes I just go down thereand sit, because, one, it's
quiet, it's a no kid zone, buttwo, there's always something to
(23:19):
do down there.
I might just clean for like aquick second, because there's a
lot of stainless steel, I likeshiny stainless steel.
But two, I might just organize,even though everything's been
organized already, I might justreorganize it.
But it's not.
I'm not staring at a computer,or Justin and I go and collect
stickers at different brewerieswhenever we travel.
(23:40):
I might just go put a stickeron something and that's, you
know, 10 minutes away from mycomputer and it's in a place
that makes me happy.
So, but what do you do and whatdo you recommend to your people
throughout the course of theday?
Because obviously we can't gofor a run at 11 o'clock during
the middle of the day.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Yeah for sure.
See, the other thing, someother things about me just more
not having any children.
My wife and I we'vesupplemented that with a bunch
of different animals, so we'vegot four dogs, two cats.
Somewhere along the way my wifesnuck a prairie dog into the
mix too, so that Whoa, whoa,whoa.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
How did you tame a?
Is it a tame prairie dog, or?
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Yeah, that was more probably right around pre-COVID.
There was.
She worked as an office managerin a small vet animal clinic
and there was some, I guess theywere in one of the branches of
service.
They were going out for a likeit was a remote PCS, so they
were going somewhere overseasand they had two prairie dogs
(24:48):
and they had raised these sincebabies.
They were basically hand raised, these since babies.
They were basically hand raisedsince since a baby and they
ended up getting surrendered ather vet clinic and they were
more the, the, the, the tokenprairie dogs running around the
office or whatnot.
And then COVID happened.
They sent people home.
They were starting to get alittle bit disruptive and next
thing I know it's like I comehome one day and there's this
(25:09):
prairie dog habitat hanging outin one of our spare bedrooms.
I'm like, wow, what justhappened here?
But actually they're, they'vebeen hand raised since babies.
One of them actually passedaway.
So there's one left and he's hisname's Lou.
He's this little chunky thingand just he's most of the time
he just hangs out his habitat,sleeps a lot, he comes out,
(25:30):
likes to get scratched behindthe head a little bit and he
he's also kind of like a cat.
He, he wants attention until hedoesn't, and then he, he turns
into a big jerk.
But a lot of fun, a lot of funon that.
So it's like these interestingthings, so it's things that you
can do to well if, if we sleep.
And then it's like more, thedogs, they play really well
(25:51):
together.
So then we just go outside,throw the ball for about five or
10 minutes and they play theirgame Like, hey, when they start
playing, keep away from me.
I'm like, okay, we're done.
So that's pretty awesomeactually, and I probably have 20
hours of stupid dog videos onmy phone, on my phone, just of
them playing, doing stupid stuff.
(26:12):
So it's uh, even when you'rebored, in a way, it's like you
go back to your videos andthey're like, oh, look at that
when they were babies.
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
But that's one of those things that nobody else
has a prairie dog, like no onethat I've ever met owns a
prairie dog.
So, like you always have thaton your side of like, I have a
great conversation starter.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
For sure.
It's like tell me somethingunique about yourself that
somebody doesn't know.
It's like, oh hey, you wouldn'tbelieve it, we have a pet, pet
prairie dog.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
So I mean technically that's considered an exotic pet
right.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Who knows.
So years ago we were doing someother things and Danielle put
them out in this little habitatthing in the garage and one of
them pushed it out of the wayand escaped.
And so we're like, oh, we'renever going to see Lou again and
she throws out there on theNextdoor app and our prairie dog
escaped.
And we had some really goodwitty, witty neighbors and like,
(27:11):
well, we hope he pops upsomewhere there.
There are a few other like justreally spins on hey, hope you
find him.
And actually one of theneighbors did find him.
They didn't you get this calland say, hey, we, we think we
have your prairie dog.
I'm like, oh, oh, yeah, you do.
So we got him, brought him backhome and so he covered some
(27:35):
ground.
He made it further away than wethought.
He did these little fun stories, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
That's awesome, All right.
So, coming back, what do youtell your people?
So if you have a staff memberwho is, again, not everyone's
perfect, people get stressed out.
What do you tell your staffthroughout the course of the day
to kind of recharge?
Speaker 4 (28:03):
It's more just things you need to do.
You need to get up, walk around.
You don't need to stare at thescreen for eight hours.
You're just destined for, in mymind, you're destined for
depression.
So it's like you got to get up,do something, step away whether
it's go outside, take a quickwalk around the block, call your
spouse, tell them how awesomethey are.
Do something, get away,separate yourself.
(28:26):
Then come back and jump back inand go.
There's, that's that, and justthere's a variety of different
things, but just it's forcingyourself to unplug and do
something totally different didthan what you normally do.
If it's like, maybe play thethe new york times mini
crossword, that that thing, youcan usually get it done in five
(28:46):
minutes or less, so okay I loveit, love it.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
well, victor, we have to start transitioning to the
second segment, but before we do, I always ask the same
questions.
The first question and lastquestions are always the same.
So the last question is whatkeeps you going?
What keeps you motivated?
You're just like everyone else,one foot out of bed in the
morning, so what keeps you going?
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Great question, peter .
As I think about my career atthe institution I've been in
various different roles, evendifferent business units I think
things that you can probablyscratch your head on.
It's like you really started aninternal audit and like, and
(29:34):
it's like, as you think aboutjobs or other things like even
starting from that spot in audit, it's like after a year or so
you realize that I really don'twant to do this forever.
So then you're seeking outother opportunities and did, did
a few things on the consumerlending side and finally landed
in mortgage lending 25 plusyears ago.
And then it starting to growthrough different segments of
what we do in mortgage lendingwhether it's the origination
(29:57):
side, the operations, theservicing, the whole nine yards,
and like what we do onsecondary it's like I finally
found my passion.
This is really really what Iwant to do.
And so when I think about that,it's like how?
Again, the passion for mortgagelending, the passion for our
members, how can we better servethem, bring them great products
(30:20):
?
You eat it, you live it, youbreathe it every day.
And then you find some greatorganizations like Acuma and
even with our local Texas CuringNetwork, where you then meet
other great minds across thenation or even within the state,
collaborate and talk.
That's a lot of those things.
(30:42):
That kind of that recharge meand keep me going from a
mortgage lending perspective onreally what is that passion?
It's like even having a greatstaff and a great group of
people that work for you.
It makes the job fun.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Yep, couldn't agree more, couldn't agree more.
All right, victor, here we gowith the transition to the
second segment.
Now, in the second segment,this is where we sometimes play
Jeopardy.
Sometimes we just do randomtrivia.
We haven't really done thatmuch lately, but today we're
doing the most requested segmentof dad jokes.
So prior to the recording, Iasked you to come prepared with
(31:23):
two to three dad jokes.
So I imagine you came preparedwith some dad jokes, correct?
Speaker 4 (31:30):
I imagine you came prepared with some dad jokes,
correct?
I did, but then my repertoryisn't as huge as some others, I
think.
Earlier we were visiting withJustin and I think he has
probably a library of about athousand.
But to transition into this,justin and Peter, then I started
(31:55):
to think it's it's like well,what's the best way to save your
dad jokes?
Do you know that answer?
I don't.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
no, you put them in a database I like how he just
immediately rolls right into it,immediately rolls right into.
I love it, I love it, I love it.
All right.
So, victor, here's what we'regoing to do.
You're going to do two dadjokes, justin will do two dad
jokes, and then I will wrap upwith two dad jokes.
Sounds good, perfect, all right.
(32:22):
So rock and roll, victor Go.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
This might be oldie but a oldie, but again, even one
.
One of the ones that I alwayslike have a lot of fun with is
why does Norway put barcodes ontheir Navy ships?
Why, so they can scan the Navyin when they arrive, that was
good yeah.
Yeah, that was good, that wasgood.
Scandinavians having a lot offun with that and just and of
(32:57):
course, because my wife is anequestrian, she rides horses.
So this other one it's like apony walks into a noisy bar and
tries to order a beer.
The bartender says I can't hearyou, you'll have to speak up.
And the pony says well, sorry,I'm a little hoarse, that one's
(33:18):
a little bit more cornier, butanyhow.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
That's good, that's good.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
All right, justin go.
What's an astronaut's favoritepart of the computer?
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Space bar.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Let's just see if Peter can get another one.
All right, which vegetable hasthe best Kung Fu?
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Which vegetable has the best kung fu?
Which vegetable?
Speaker 4 (33:58):
has the best kung fu, which one?
I'd answer it with the porkchop, broccoli, broccoli.
Oh, I get it.
That's good, that's good.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
All right All right's good, all right, that's all
right.
My turn, all right.
Why did the dog get arrested?
Speaker 2 (34:20):
For urinating in public.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
He had unpaid barking tickets.
Good one.
Okay, I'm a little concernedwith this one.
It's a little risque, but I'mgoing to go with it.
It won't make it explicit, Ipromise.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Oh boy.
I'm terrified.
Now we're on pandemic.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
When I read this one I laughed, so I'm just going to
go with it.
Perfect, all right.
A man is buying a banana andapple and two eggs.
The cashier says you must besingle.
The man replied how'd you knowthat?
The cashier says because you'reugly.
That's so mean.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Sorry, sorry oh wow, that that was uh.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
I told you, I laughed at it uh sorry, I'm sorry, I
still laughed at it.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Sorry, I still have data.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
Sorry, I told you I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
That was a good one, though.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Sorry, I told you, I told you, I told you I told you
Wow, that's a.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
We can almost do a podcast for an hour on just dad
jokes, back and forth.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Oh, don't tempt him.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
I totally would.
I totally would.
All right, that's actually agreat idea.
How about we invite 10 guestsand we just have an?
Speaker 2 (36:11):
episode.
Yeah, I'm going to add it tothe list along with what was our
other one, haunted tourspodcast.
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
We're going to do a live episode of haunted tours
and we're just going to narratethe haunted tour.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
For sure.
Yeah, I've got one of my folksthat attend some of the the
acuma events, diana burn.
She's into doing crazy thingslike that haunted tours,
visiting different cemeteries,different other things she'd be
a fantastic invite for that heck.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Yeah, all right, victor, we got to wrap up well.
Victor, thank you so much fortaking time out of your schedule
to sit down with us and havethis conversation.
Really enjoyed it.
But also thank you for beingsuch a great champion of the
credit union movement.
Again, always appreciatetalking to you and looking
forward to seeing you soon at anupcoming Acumen event.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
Absolutely Looking forward to it.
Thank you for the invite and itwas what fun.
I'm looking for the right word.
They're fun.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
No, it's all right.
Good, good, good, justin, asalways.
Thank you very much.
Of course, it was my pleasure.
And to wrap up everything,everything else, and to all of
you, we know your time isvaluable.
Thank you for tuning in to thelatest episode of ACMA's On
Point Podcast.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time, be well, myfriends.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time at theACMA On Point Podcast.
If not already, be sure tosubscribe and give us a
five-star rating For more greatepisodes and information.
Be sure to visit us online atacmaorg and to get the latest
updates.
Head over to our LinkedIn page.
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