Your Circle Matters More Than You Think

Big Leap: AI can can pr can predict trends, but having someone in a human in person actually identifies potential and opportunity. The thing that I love about the most is that AI allows me to take the administrative things. It streamlines that process so I can spend more time focusing on people. You ready to get a treat? Let's go. Let's do it. Hop in. Hi, it's producer Nicole Dunsen. Today we're talking with Josh Bennett, cash flow and operations specialist and senior business advisor at Mountain America Credit Union. Josh has spent more than 10 years there helping business members with cash flow management, process creation, and fraud prevention. Before that, he built a career in sales and business development at Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Corporate Alliance, and Merck. He's a systems and process creator by nature with a knack for helping business owners slow down to speed up. Back to the show. Alright, for everyone listening, this is Josh Bennett with Mountain America Credit Union or MacU here in Utah is what most people refer to it as. Hi guys. And Josh and I met kind of I knew of Josh before I actually knew Josh. We met about twelve-ish years ago. I moved into a neighborhood in Lehigh. And as I moved in and was meeting neighbors, they told me, Dude, you're like the new Josh Bennett. And I remember being like, Well, what does that mean? Who's Josh? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? And everyone's like, No, he's like the nicest, just most genuine person you'll ever meet. And next thing you know, it was in the next six months, we're at a restaurant with some neighbors and Josh and his wife were there and we got to get to know each other. And ever sometimes you meet your heroes and you're severely disappointed. This was not one of those times. Okay good. Josh is as genuine and kind and just good a person, salt of the earth, as you will meet. And so I'm grateful that you were willing to take some time with us today. Absolutely, man. Hey, anytime I get myself some Dan Poser time, it's a good day. So thanks for the invite. You bet. ⁓ I got some easy questions to lob at you. Okay. And then I wanna get into the sweet take, which is kinda your hot take on whatever you want to talk about, right? Okay. And have we Pre-rehearsed any of these questions. Do you know anything I'm about to ask you? I do not. Good, I like it that way. Okay. So number one is give us your origin story of how you got to be at MACU and how you decided that this was the kind of career that you were gonna rock. Wow, that's a that's a that's a loaded question. A lot there, I know. ⁓ and we only have thirty minutes right now, I'm kidding. ⁓ so no, originally born and raised in Vancouver, Washington, ⁓ went to ⁓ school out in eastern Idaho for a couple years. ⁓ served an L D S mission in Germany and ⁓ the German tradition is still a very big part of our lives. ⁓ so ⁓ came back and w came down to ⁓ finished school in eastern Idaho and one night was I w when I would came home I was contemplating ⁓ what I was gonna do next, didn't really know what was gonna happen and all of a sudden I had this such a distinct impression, you need to move to Utah. And I thought, ⁓ man, I'm like I'm not a Utah guy. I'm not you know, and obviously being from outside of Utah there was that Utah stigma and I didn't want to be part of that but I couldn't get rid of it. So Within the course of a week I got admitted to school at UVU. I found a job, a place to live, and within nine days I moved packed my car, followed everything I owned, and moved to Utah. This was you were not married? This was just you had the impression you're like, I gotta follow this, let's go. Right, exactly. And and so I finally I remember I remember the night I arrived in our apartments, a good friend of mine who I was moving in with and I looked at him and I said, What am I doing here? And he says, Just trust the process. Okay. And I said, Okay And then ⁓ three short l months later I met my wife. We were married a year later and twenty seven years ago twelve three months later you three months later. And ⁓ then I then a year later we were married and ⁓ established ourselves and and then ⁓ and then again four four four girls and ⁓ twenty seven years later it's all it's all part of the plan. So it's been it's been awesome. So my my ⁓ my ⁓ degree over at UV U I graduated in finance. And did what all finance majors do, and that's going to medical sales. Yeah, which which makes perfect sense, right? Before we segue to medical sales, what's a shout out you'd like to give to your wife? man, my my wife, my my favorite thing my wife's ever said about eight years ago, she said she wanted to go back to school and finish her master's degree, and she said, I want to go back to school because it doesn't make sense. My wife is a very, very she she trusts her gut. She is very very God fearing and she loves people i in a way that that makes them want to be better. And my w so my wife does that for me literally every day. ⁓ not because she says a lot but because she does a lot. It sounds like for you and your wife just in the f few minutes we've been talking thus far, and I actually don't know a lot of this background, so this is fun for even though we've known each other a long time. Yeah. what I'm understanding is for both of you a takeaway or a life I don't know guiding force is kind of trusting impressions or trusting your gut. Absolutely. We're going with it. We are absolute trust your gut people. Okay. And ⁓ we don't try to explain it but we understand and had experience of how it works and it's it always works in our favor. And we and we know that that that that's true. So Okay. Well we'd ⁓ segued you away from medical sales or something like right? Yeah so I did medical sales, thought was gonna be my lot in life and then just had a really unique unique opportunity and a sudden opportunity to change to change. And again, going back to the idea of trusting your gut, I just said this is what I'm supposed to be doing. So I I got out of it and then ⁓ worked for a couple of small companies as I kinda segued into into this job. And my you know, like most parents do when they when their child gets a degree in a certain area, my parents were very, very excited when I finally got my finance degree to come full circle and say, ⁓ so that's why I went to school and to learn finance and to learn kind of the ins and outs and the specifics of numbers. And so found out about this opportunity. And ⁓ a a g a mentor of mine, ⁓ his name is Joel and Joel reached ⁓ Joel ⁓ reached out to me one day and said, Hey, why is the COO of Mountain America reaching out to me asking about you? And I said, I would love to know the answer to that question. So anyways, ⁓ come to find out that ⁓ he and I had a lot of mutual ⁓ business acquaintances in common and just was getting just a reference check and ⁓ like I said, then started in with Mountain America in June of twenty sixteen. So it's been almost ten years. Yeah, so it'll be in a few weeks it'll be ten years. And so Just love the opportunity to be able to ⁓ you know, it to connect with people and that's and that's really what this role's about, to be able to to account manage, to be able to forecast, to be able to act as a consultant, to help people to be able to realize what they want to accomplish. And so it's been really rewarding and Mountain America's been a really good place to do it. How many years have you would you say now that your career path has been an account managing kind of role? ⁓ it's probably been it's been fifteen years. Fifteen ⁓ to be able to be in that space. I mean once I jumped out of pharmaceu pharmaceutical sales, ⁓ I realized that my passion is people and being able to connect people, ⁓ just to surround myself with the best people possible. And I love to be able to, regardless of industry, regardless and not just with my job but just with people in general, my main goal is to surround myself with the best people I can. And if we happen to do business together then great. But if not, it it is very, very satisfying and and fulfilling for me. To know that I've done everything I can to surround myself with the best people. So once again, you have no clue I'm about to ask you. No. Which hopefully is kind of fun and a little scary. That is true. You say you love surrounding yourself with the best people. Many of us have heard the adage, you become the the sum of the five people you spend the most time with, something like that, right? Mm-hmm. Who's ⁓ who's a person, and it can't be you or me, or your wife, we've already highlighted her. Okay. Who's a person that you want to give just a quick shout out to that ⁓ is one of those people that just lifts you up and makes you feel like you want to be better and ⁓ it's just great people that everyone should know. ⁓ absolutely. you know the the ⁓ I'm I'm gonna pull a twofer be if that's okay. But my ⁓ the twofer is is that the one I will say first is is my dad. ⁓ I actually just lost my dad about a month ago. ⁓ and and ⁓ and and the best part about the about about that s experience was that not only have I dis rediscovered that there's that there's There's blessings to be had in the heart, but there's also miracles to be happened in to happen in the in the heart. And and I've seen so many miracles because I have been able to discover all the things that I thought about my dad growing up that he's very, very, ⁓ very generous, he's very charitable, he he everyone he there's not a person around you that'll know my dad that says that he didn't make him feel like the the best person in the world. And so that's the one thing that I've taken from my dad and Phil a huge obligation to carry on that that legacy. And so he's he taught me not only by the things that he said, but ultimately by the things that he did. What's your dad's name? His name's John. John. Well shout out to John. Yeah, he's but then the but then my my my true life mentor is Joel Steadman. ⁓ Joel actually was my was a was we worked together in a previous a previous job. And Joel also has the ability, his adage to to me and and to everyone is that I c instead of actually feeling like the world's out to get him, he constantly tells people that the world is out to do him good. And looking for opportunities and f identifying this and not being surprised when good things happen to to people. What is ⁓ what's Joel doing now? ⁓ Joel is the CEO of a staffing company, a regional staffing company that tre he travels all throughout the day. He's his area is in sales, ⁓ but his his he's ⁓ taking on the role of a CEO right now. What is ⁓ what's the staffing company? Well T V D we'll have to come back to that Yeah, T V D we'll come back to that one. Joel shout out to you and the impact you've had in Josh's life. Yes, and he is the constant constant of someone that looks for the good in everyone and everything. Okay. ⁓ but also just to be able to make sure that you also believe the potential that isn't within yourself to become s because I'm great. All it all sometimes it takes is a little a few tweaks and you can become something amazing. And so that's one thing I l appreciate about him. So If anyone listening has had this thought lately of wanting to surround yourself with more uplifting people or finding a mentor. I think that's a whole topic because I've had people ask me that before. How do you find a mentor? And I thought to myself, I don't know in my life, it's just happened kind of organically. You just the people that you surround yourself with, you find someone that you kind of have see the world in a similar way, or you want to see the world in the way that they see it. Yep. And then you just spend more try to spend more time together. Absolutely. I've had people I've ask that question, hey, would you be a mentor to me in this way? And I also have the unofficial version where I've just been friendly with people and asked and try to learn from them. Yeah. What advice would you have for anyone listening that's saying to themselves, ⁓ what Josh is saying rings true to me. I could use someone like that in my life right now. How do I find a mentor? Well I think what you identify, like you mentioned, you find someone who you really want to model yourself after and then you learn from their example. ⁓ don't be afraid to ask those people to mentor you. I think that's important because sometimes we feel like it's like a high school relationship or something like that. You know, will you go out with me? Will you be my mentor? Uh-huh. That's absolutely not the case. We really want, you know, to be able to find that right person. Again, find that person who not only will be willing to spend time with you, but willing to take the time and and and be very vulnerable and very honest with you in order to be in order to have true progression and true growth, you have to be someone who's really w willing to be honest with you for good and for bad. The thing I love about my mentor is he will constantly tell me he he is his his first and foremost private priority is to make sure that you understand your value and that he loves you from a really honest and good place. So when the feedback comes, you know it comes from a good place, so the the likelihood of you being offended or the or the times of being offended is i is not taken as such, but you're really w knowing it's coming from a a true heartfelt and genuine place. Do you ⁓ In the la I've reached the point in my life now where I'm humbled and grateful that a few people have had those conversations with me lately and said, Hey, I'm reaching out to you for these reasons, what do you think about that? It's a humbling place and it's never a why are you asking that of me or why are you talking to me or why are you this or why that? It's right. And I assume most people are similar to me and you in this regard. Man, if someone asks me, Dan, I'm struggling with XYZ, can we talk? My first thought is yes, when? Let's get it on the calendar, let's make it happen, right? Yeah. And I think sometimes in those relationships, if you don't actually extend the invitation and and invite them in, I mean I feel s I feel like sometimes it kind of does a disservice to the relationship because as in any any relationship we have, we want to be able to grow and we wanna be able to get better and do more. And I think sometimes when we don't take be direct and just ask those questions, ⁓ it doesn't give us an opportunity f to for that rel that relationship growth to happen. So So we're here at Thirst, taking a picture of the menu. I freaking love the names already. You already know what you're getting, right? I do. And the thing that I'm getting is actually not on the menu. So they got an off menu. I'm an off menu kind of a guy. So yeah, Thirst is they do a really good job with their with their ⁓ with their app. ⁓ as far as being able they have special features and things like that that they throw up there. They they always will keep on the menu even though it's not listed on the menu. So Josh Bennett with MACU. Hey Dan. Good to be with you today. Thank you. It's good to be with you. I am looking to see where we're going to eat or drink. Or what are we doing? ⁓ we're gonna we're gonna go over to Thirst in Pleasant Grove. Okay, you've been going there for a little while. We have, we are devout followers of Thirst. As they continue to grow and get bigger, they get more locations, their treats get bigger, and the drink that I have that's solid there is is my go to every time. What's the go to? The go to drink is called a Pisces. Pisces. Yes. All right, you get that, and you're gonna have to recommend something for me. Well, waterfall so I can take a sip of yours as well. Absolutely Absolutely, yes. We will share and share alike. I love it. Awesome. Well excited to try the the thirst. Let's go. Let's go. Don't teach me about This is a stupid okay. So we just got back from a ⁓ we got it back from it's my wife's name. Yeah. ⁓ it's not real. It's fake. It's it's it's henna. It's temporary ink. So it's not real. I and if I was gonna do a tattoo, that would be the last place I would put it and my ⁓ my wife would be mortified if she if if that was permanent because it wouldn't happen. But we went on a we went on a trip to Florida and my kids decided to get henna ⁓ at the last minute. You know, the they do arts all over the my daughter has a big like a big whale or something on her arm. And ⁓ so she has yeah, we got these t henna tattoos. Thank you, thank you. Pass that your way? Yeah, yeah. no anyway, so the Hannah tattoo. So my kids got Hannah tattoos and you know we tip the guy for after doing my daughters and he's like, ⁓ thanks for the tip. Let me go and do something on your hand. So he grabs my hand, pulls it away and you say, What's your wife's name? And I said it's Sean El and so she put it on there. Did he spell Sean El right? Well I I he he he stopped about halfway through and just said, How do we do I was like, Okay, that's not Kim. How do I how do I do Right. Well the funny part was is that it was still wet and we went down to the beach later that day. And I actually got it got it wet, so it wiped off the the last three letters. So all it said was Sean. And my and my wife's like, that is hilarious. If that if that doesn't like come off, I'm like she's like, I got some questions of my own. And so, anyway, so she but anyways, we got home that night and I wiped it off and it was brown and I I rubbed it off in the shower a few times and it's gotten darker since then. So Love it. Well let's transition to your sweet take. Okay. Well, in the in I see in the marketing world right now, I AI's the hot topic, right? Everyone's trying to utilize and and streamline and things like that. My sweet take is AI can can pr can predict trends, but having someone in a human in person actually identifies potential and opportunity. and so, ⁓ you know, in in in my role, I mean it can help me and it's wonderful. The thing that I love about the most is that AI allows me to take the administrative things off of or or the mundane day-to-day things, the compilation of reports and the compilation of ideas, ⁓ trends in from a financial perspective, but it also it streamlines that process so I can spend more time focusing on people. And and that's the and that's the one thing I think people realize is they think, you know, AI, especially in the financial industry, is it gonna take over my job? It'll do analysis for you like crazy and it'll give you opportunities and it'll identify opportunities there as much as possible. But to have somebody there in your t in your corner, having someone who can advocate for you that says, you know, on paper, these trends don't make sense, even though it's purely taken and date from data, ⁓ you know, there may be part of the story to to tell that that the the that the data can't and that the AI can't produce. So ⁓ I think sometimes people look at, you know, there's ways to be able to apply for financing and apply for loans and oper and and and f capital and things like that for growth. ⁓ but sometimes there's opportunities in a in a situation where It may not make sense on paper. Maybe there's something else going on that people don't see and don't can't identify. And it's nice to have someone in your corner that can help get help identify that. AI will never be able to approve loans for people who actually have kind of a one-off type of a situation. And being in the environment that we're in, in the market in Utah and in the Intermountain West, I have I rarely find someone who fits that perfect cutter, ⁓ cookie cutter AI footprint where there's not something that needs to be looked at. that maybe A AI can't identify. Okay. And so that's the one thing that I want to make make sure that people know is that yeah, it helps us to be able to if efficiencies are streamlined and it's fantastic. But at the end of the day, it's nice to have someone on your corner who can actually have ⁓ can be on your side and advocate for you and tell the story ⁓ in a situation as you're looking for things to go into growth mode, you know, we need to get you in a position to be grow to grow and and AI can't do that all the way till the end of the row. And so what we do is Again, a l allows people to be able to get tell their story and get all the way to the end of the row to make it make sense for them. So what I'm my Dan GPT brain is saying is as I try to summarize that, you're not saying AI bad, people good. Mm mm. You're saying AI is great because it can help to take a lot of the mundane pieces off of your plate. Yes. And then it gives you more time to be what you are, with to just serve people and to love people and to take care of people. Right. the more that AI advances, the more I have the opportunity and we all have the opportunity to do that. And truly, I mean, in in i r regardless of what you do, I mean who wouldn't love to be have the more mundane tasks taken off of your plate, either whether personally, professionally. So it's nice to be able to have those tools and resources that do it at I mean, you know bet better than everybody and anybody is i i it's an alarming speed and it isn't and it's not slowing down. So rather than be be afraid of it, it's opp it's a opportunistic to be grateful for it, utilize it in its in its appropriate ⁓ causes and and purposes and then allow us just to be more of ourselves, more of our authentic selves. We have it gives us the opp the bandwidth to do that. So what's a use case where you or MACU is able to utilize AI to make your life less take the mundane tasks and help you not have to handle so many of them? No, that's a good question. They I think the biggest the biggest opportunity is for us to be able to ⁓ for AI to be able to reply to emails, to do f to send follow ups, to be able to send out RFPs, to be able to generate reports, again forecasting trends. ⁓ I've had situations where as I I have a portfolio of clients that I meet with and I always run the analysis and now with AI ⁓ it gives me all that opportunity, ⁓ all that information within just a few minutes so that I can actually identify ⁓ information that's comed off of there and then it rather than actually me spending an hour or two in preparation for those meetings, it now takes me five minutes. So now I can look at it and identify trends, identify opportunities, realize that maybe something doesn't make sense to clarify and understand a little bit more about specifically what they're trying to do. And I mean it happens literally on the daily, whether it's a new client, whether it's an existing client. ⁓ just looking at opportunities for them to be able to to grow, then it just AI allows me to be able to do that that much quicker. And and so it allows us to be able to find out Okay, now we logistically we know how to do all the banking stuff and and Mountain America does it very, very well, both on the personal side and on the business side. But at the end of the day it's like, okay, let's get past the banking thing, let's get systems and processes put in place. What are you really truly passionate about? Right. And where else can we help make that connection? And that's the bandwidth that I love to have back because of AI that gives me the opportunity to spend more time on that and go really, really deep and forge these relationships which again hopefully will last, you know, through our relationship with Mountain America but just to be able to give us the opportunity to know that what we're doing is making a difference just beyond the deposits and and the and the day to day stuff that they do with their banking. Just came back from Thirst. You got the Pisces. You usually get it with Mountain Dew or Fresca? Fresca, yeah. This time it was Dr. Pepper. I'm so excited right now. Take a sip and tell us. I know you love it with ⁓ with fresca. We'll see what this is. Still good? That's money. Still good? That's good. Yeah, absolutely. So you had that. I had a McCreamy. McCreamy, Dr. McCreamy, Mr. Creamy, which was Dr. Pepper and Raspberry and it was like a coconut puree or something. And some love. And you can't go wrong. So good. So And then the the star of the show though, if people can see this or not, are these ⁓ boy. Nutella filled beignets, which tastes like we've just been transported to Chocolate Happy Land and New Orleans at the same time. So good. Yeah, they're so good. I'm not gonna eat one on camera because the powdered sugar, I'm gonna laugh and blow it in your face. That's what's yes. That's our fantastic. But they're amazing. They're so good. So So shout out to Thirst. Shout out to Thirst. And who do you know at Thirst? ⁓ I know Ethan. Ethan is a Sir Cisneros, he's the CEO and operator of Thirst. So shout out to Ethan. I I got just some more fans. Never disappoints, man. Thank you so much. It's amazing. Thank you, Thurston. Thanks for coming along for the ride! If you enjoy sweet takes, be sure to subscribe and leave us a review. Join us next time, there's more sweetness ahead.