After the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Toni Berman, Contact Center Quality Analyst, shared that she looked for a position that was remote. It was in October of that year she found herself working for Marine Credit Union.
Toni grew up in Escanaba, Michigan and now lives not too far from there in Marinette with her husband. They have a 22-year-old son Treyson and their daughter Peyton, 17. “Everything revolves around her,” Toni added with a smile – being in both volleyball and softball. “I don’t know what I would do without her sports,” Toni admitted.
Family is very important to Toni. She shared she worked in sales “for a long time,” but it wasn’t conducive to spending time with her family. “I wanted to be present for my kids,” she shared. She said she got hired “quickly” at a bank and worked her way up to working as a compliance specialist investigating things like money laundering. “Someone needs to do this,” Toni was told when the previous specialist left. “I was always interested.”
Toni said she didn’t know a whole lot about MCU prior to working there, but she said, “It sounded amazing.” She said the culture of MCU was what drew her in. “We didn’t have that in place,” she said of where she used to work. After 14 years in banking, Toni said that “banks,” to her, “had a completely opposite feel. They are trying to make money.”
“The first two-and-a-half days of training, the President, CEO and CFO all came and talked to us. I thought it was too good to be true,” she shared. She laughed and said she wondered if she was “joining a cult. This wouldn’t have happened at a bank,” she added. “This can’t be real.”
“They made it a point to come,” she continued. “They told us that if we need them, to call. They actually care about what you’re saying.”
In addition, Toni said the mission of MCU to advance the lives of people from a place of financial need to a life of ownership and giving back, completely aligned with her personally and professionally. “When I started, I focused completely on the mission – to get them to a place of financial security. It’s how I have lived my entire life,” she added. “I want to help everyone. I want to help them to succeed.”
In her personal life as a mom and in her professional life Toni said she always finds herself “celebrating everyone’s’ everything. I’m the cheerleader. “This,” she added, “is how a corporation should be. This is how they should treat and approach their members.”
Where does she get her passion to be the cheerleader? “I wish I knew,” Toni replied. “If you were to talk to one of my elementary teachers, they would tell you that this is how I’ve always been.”
She recalled a time when her dad told her that Santa Clause was real. “I was convinced Santa Clause was real because my dad would never lie to me. The school stepped in. They told him that his daughter convinced everyone that Santa was real. Other parents were upset because their kids thought they were liars.”
Her dad, Toni said, is “everybody’s friend. He is the sweetest thing. He couldn’t go to Walmart without him getting stopped 50 times. That’s his personality,” she shared. “My mom was more quiet. She would rather stay home. Maybe I do know where I get my passion … from my dad. Dad was always the fixer.”
Toni said she uses her “cheerleading personality” to empathize with members she helps working in the contact center. “I put myself in their shoes. Most of the time,” she added, “I can get them there”
Outside of work and family, Toni shared that she has always felt herself to be a creative person and has a small business of her own at tabcustoms.com, creating custom t-shirts and other items. “It’s my way to craft,” she added.
