The Smile of a Clown

Every day, our members and teammates walk through our doors wearing what looks like confidence, calm, or even cheer. Sometimes, though, that expression is nothing more than the smile of a clown — a brave, outward appearance crafted to mask worry, grief, fear, or pain we cannot see.

Truth is, we rarely know what someone is carrying when they interact with us. A member may be facing financial stress, health concerns, or family challenges. A colleague may be navigating loss, exhaustion, or quiet anxiety. Yet both still show up — smiling, polite, composed — doing their best to move forward.

That’s why compassion and empathy are not just values here; they are responsibilities. How we listen, how we speak, and how we respond can either deepen someone’s burden or lighten it. A moment of patience. A kind tone. A willingness to truly hear someone’s story. These small acts of humanity often matter more than we realize.

At its heart, our work is about people, not transactions. When we choose empathy, we honor the dignity of every member we serve and every teammate we work alongside. By looking beyond the surface and extending grace to one another, we create a credit union culture where people feel seen, supported, and safe…even when the smile they wear hides more than it reveals.

Let us continue to serve with open hearts, remembering that kindness is sometimes the most meaningful service we provide.

You vs We

Many companies use “you” in their marketing or even in their names. It has been said that “you” is widely considered a powerful and persuasive word because it creates a strong connection and personalizes the message by focusing on the recipient’s needs and emotions. We’ve certainly used it to demonstrate our focus on, and commitment to, the members. I must admit, however, while a necessary part of our communications, I don’t believe it is more important than “we” especially when it comes to the Freedom philosophy.

At Freedom, “we” is more than just a word. It’s the foundation of everything we do. It means we’re in this together, not as customers and a company, but as members of a community, working side by side to build something better. “We” represents shared goals, mutual support, and a collective commitment to financial well-being. Every success story, every new home, every college fund, every small business loan is not just about one person. It’s about all of us. Because when we say “we,” we’re talking about you and us — together. We listen. We care. We grow — as one. That’s the credit union difference. That’s the power of we.

With that in mind, I want to say how excited I am that “we” are having our first all day, all employee, development day. I know we’ve had smaller meetings to share information, answer questions and just spend time together in a meaningful way, but this day is something I’ve thought about for some time. It’s always been a logistical nightmare to coordinate and a costly proposition to bear, but something I knew held great potential for organizational development and team building if we could just pull it off. You can imagine how happy I am that we found a way.

I know this is new and maybe a little daunting, so I want to stress not just the importance of the day, but how this is about our commitment to you. We intend this to be educational, fun and provide a meaningful experience with a lasting impact. As I’ve said to many of you over the years, you’ll get out of it, what you put into it, so come with an open mind, a positive attitude and we’ll do the rest. I look forward to spending the day with you and learning together.

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

I’m sure it’s happened to all of us. We look back and say, “if I only knew then what I know now”. We ponder over past decisions wishing we had gone left instead of right, chosen one path over the one we took, tried this or avoided that. All that second guessing. Truth is each choice we made led us to where we are. Good, bad or indifferent, here is where we are and worrying about what could have been, serves no useful purpose. We make decisions with the information at hand, by instinct, through experience, and maybe a touch of desire, but we make them, believing it’s right at the time. We do the best we can with what we’ve got and with good intentions.

It’s the same thing at Freedom. We have a great team continuously looking for ways to make things better for our members, our employees, and our community, We gather data, do research, discuss (sometimes ad nauseum) and then we make the choices we think are in the best interest of all concerned.

As we navigate the final stages of the merger over the next few months, rest assured there are a lot of people working diligently to maximize the benefit while minimizing the impact. As with any endeavor such as this, there will be challenges but they won’t be the result from a lack of effort on our part.

I think the quote by the poet Robert Burns sums it up. “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gle” (the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry) which means no matter how much one plans, external factors can disrupt and derail those plans. It serves as a reminder of life’s unpredictability and the need for flexibility. It’s not about perfection it’s about progress, and Freedom continues to progress in support of our mission and all those we serve.