Erin Wencl grew up in the small town of Mosinee, Wisconsin and later attended Winona State University where she met her husband, Corey. She started at Marine Credit Union (MCU) in 2009. “It’s been a cool career path,” commented Erin, who now serves at MCU as the Associate Vice President of Consumer Lending, Central. Her path took her from city to city and in October of 2016, Erin and her family transitioned to the La Crosse, Wisconsin area – where they currently live. That said, many MCU employees now work remotely, and branches have closed. “As a company, we didn’t need to have the branches open. We could do it remotely. We are getting really good at helping our members remotely,” Erin shared. “It was part of our future vision. The pandemic made it happen sooner. It worked out really well for what we are able to do,” she added.
Erin currently leads six team members. “There are such different backgrounds in their stories,” she explained. “It’s beautiful the way it comes together.” Erin said everyone on her team relies on each other and cheers each other on. “That’s the secret sauce,” she said even though they each have different experiences and come from different backgrounds such as leadership, teaching, and even retail.
Moving around a lot, Erin said, helped her in her career. “It helped me my whole life,” she added. Erin also shared that she has two siblings, one almost ten years younger than herself. “I was more of another mom to her,” she said. “When I reflect that back to my career … I have the ability to adapt to different strengths, relationships and scenarios.”
Before MCU, Erin shared she was in retail and customer service. “It’s funny how all of your experiences in your life mold you into who you are today,” she said. For her, she said that customer service helped to build her up. “It is interesting how those experiences help to build you up for now,” she shared. “When I look back on my life and childhood, there was not a lot of ease. It molded me into a person who can lead with compassion,” she added and said she can now embrace her past experiences because they help her in her current career.
“My parents didn’t have a lot of stability. They didn’t really understand finances,” she said. “It helps me to have compassion now as I interact with people. It makes you more sensitive and aware. It makes you pause and reflect on your own experiences. How can I impact this person? How can I lead with compassion?”
“I think the thing is … as I have grown …my big value every day is stability,” Erin continued. “Every chance I take, I have to have stability with it.” Her husband, she said, helps her with that and MCU does as well. “Marine Credit Union offers me (stability) so I can lean in and focus on helping others.”
Through her past experiences, Erin shared, she has learned to pause and understand people from their perspective. She said that when you “slow down and seek to understand, rather than be reactive,” that is when you can truly help others. “It’s amazing how my life experiences have led me to this experience … this job,” Erin added. “Listening to their stories and helping them on their journeys,” she said is what she brings, along with her own experiences, having to “roll up her sleeves and get things done.”
“The beautiful part of doing this with MCU,” Erin continued, “is that I get to help a lot of employees and members. It’s pretty great.”
Erin and her husband have two rescue dogs and currently live in the Holmen, Wisconsin area.
