Member Spotlight: Kim Sydebrant

CUNA Councils
March 6, 2008 | COMMENTS

Kim Sydebrant is the CFO for Martin Federal Credit Union in Orlando, Florida . A native of Orlando who received her education at University of Central Florida (“Go Knights!”), Kim worked in the insurance field before joining Martin in 1996 as accounting manager.

“I spent years under the tutelage of my wonderful mentor, Jana Heaton,” says Kim. “When she moved out of state, I was offered the position of vice president of finance. My title changed to CFO, and here I am!”

“‘People helping people' extends well beyond us helping our members,” she adds. “How we interact with co-workers and associates is just as important.”

Biggest challenge

Growth and staff placement. Can we re-design back-office functions so we can realize staffing efficiencies that will allow us to staff service centers? I believe the answer is "yes".

Best advice

Embrace change. Not for the sake of change, but for the sake of bettering everyone's lives.

Greatest benefit of Council membership

Learning from peers who have been there. I'm crossing uncharted waters as we grow. Having the Council to go to allows me to learn and instill safety and soundness for my work family.

Best part of my job

Working with people. I love teaching staff and witnessing them achieve the "a-ha" factor.

Hardest part of my job

Working with people! It's a double-edged sword, is it not? Working with difficult/high-maintenance staff that produce very well can be exhausting.

Success story

By far, our green initiative. For my staff, it means working 4/10s, working from home, carpooling, recycling, and going paperless. This is the age of technology and we must take advantage of it.

Biggest misconception about what I do

That things are cut-and-dry and solely analytical. There's much creativity that goes into our jobs.

Hobbies and interests

Appreciation for the arts and all that entails, spending quality time with friends and family, and enjoying the outdoors. Oh, and I just became an avid supporter of college basketball. Did you see the game between UCF and Tulsa? Triple overtime—what an awesome game! I'm hooked.

Recent book

The last book I finished was My Friend Leonard . I know A Million Little Pieces got a bad wrap, but the books were very realistic. If you want a glimpse into the life of a hardened addict, read these books.

Life goal not yet achieved

Visiting all 50 states and the countries of my ancestry.

Favorite quote

“I am too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed.” Yeah, it's religious, but it's poignant!

Current music favorites

Seal, INXS, Front 242, Yaz, Book of Love, Train, the Communards, the Cranberries, the Proclaimers, Alanis Morisette, Maroon 5, and Micheal Buble. Also Opera Babes and Switchfoot.

If I could spend a day with anyone

My brother Kevin. I forgot to tell him how brave he was.

How would you describe the credit union difference to a potential new member?

I'd point out the obvious difference: Our camaraderie. I speak to associates in the banking industry and they think it's insane that we share ideas like we do. Yes, we compete with each other, but ultimately our core reason of existence as a cooperative is to better the lives of our owners. Once we lose sight of that, we're a bank.