(Photo left:  Shari Storm prepares to make her closing keynote at this year's New Ideas Conference.)

If you have heard of the book “Motherhood is the New MBA” then you are have probably heard about Shari Storm, the author.  

Shari was the closing keynote speaker at this year’s New Ideas Conference. A seasoned credit union professional, she has been with the credit union industry since 1998. Shari revamped her credit union’s image and target group when she identified young mothers as an untapped market. 

In her closing address, Shari gave some helpful hints on how to be successful in a competitive market such as “banking”. First, she says, get a focus on your target market. A good target market has a strong sense of affiliation, homogeneity, and most influence.

Affiliation: This means understanding how people view themselves, such as “Mother”. 

Homogeneity:  This means your target group should act and think similarly.

Influence: This is who has the strongest market (money) power.

Following her keynote address, Shari mediated the “Mommy Panel”.  Six young mothers with children answered questions from the audience, ranging from how they conduct their banking to what it would take to get them to move all of their services to a credit union. Many spirited questions and surprising answers were revealed. Financially, saving for future education (college funds) was stated as a major priority. Financial education (with a reward system) offered in a convenient format (such as on-demand videos) were suggested as attractive items that would draw young mothers to an institution. 

The session ran out of time long before it ran out of questions! Some credit union professionals in attendance, including Peter Butterfield, Mike Reisnour, and Cheryl Malm took the opportunity to inform the panel about the principles of credit unions and dispelled some myths that the panel held. It was not surprising to hear that several of them did not think they could join a credit union. It is myths like these that the CU on the Road campaign is addressing throughout the Dakotas.

(Photo below:  Shari Storm mediates the Mommy Panel session. )