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Marla Shepard started work as a teller at Santel Federal Credit Union in August 1972 and within a couple of months on the job, she decided that she'd like to be president and CEO of the then-small credit union.
At the time, the credit union was called the Telephone Employees of San Diego Credit Union and had $9 million in assets and one Downtown office. It wasn't long after she made the decision to seek more responsibility that she began to move up the ladder.
Since 1983, Shepard has been the president and CEO of the credit union, which has since grown to $352 million in assets.
It is now the seventh-largest credit union in San Diego County with 12 branch offices and 125 employees, according to Shepard and the San Diego Business Journal's 2000 Book of Lists.
"I liked the credit union's philosophy of people helping people and liked making loans to those who might not otherwise qualify for a loan," Shepard says.
Along the way she learned certain management skills she says are crucial to her success.
It wasn't a fast trip to the top, however, for the Dragerton Utah, native. The daughter of a coal miner who was disabled on the job, she learned the value of persistence and hard work from her parents, who recovered from the trauma of her father's injury to become successful farmers in Grand Junction, Colo.
"We raised milk cows, corn, pigs and chickens," Shepard recalls. "It was a very small farm, but my folks always managed to make ends meet."
Opportunities
While a student at Clifton High School in Grand Junction, she participated in the girls drill team, but her favorite pastime was hanging out at the school and public libraries, absorbing as much knowledge as...