‘A great culture’: How Nusenda’s new CEO plans to lead with empathy, vulnerability

Michelle Dearholt was well on her way to achieving new goals before a cancer diagnosis stopped her in her tracks.

“All of a sudden, you find out that you have something that just changes the trajectory of how you think about life in general and how you think about work,” said Dearholt, 44, of her stage three cancer. “At that time, I wasn’t quite sure, one, if I was going to live, and two, if I was going to be able to come back to work.”

But Dearholt is back — and better than ever. She started in her role this month as the new CEO and president of Nusenda Credit Union, leading the state’s largest locally owned financial institution, which comprises more than a quarter-million members and close to 1,000 employees statewide.

Dearholt replaces former chief executive Joe Christian, who had been with the company in various roles for 39 years before his retirement.

Dearholt, like Christian, has a longstanding history with the company. She started as a teller at the credit union’s Lomas location 27 years ago, right out of high school. She’s served in other roles, too, including in human resources and most recently as the executive vice president of operations.

She said one of her goals is to lead the credit union with empathy and vulnerability.

“For me, it’s trying to understand where that person is at in their journey,” Dearholt said.

How do you see the role of Nusenda in New Mexico?

Our role has been to support economic development — really trying to ensure that we can maybe fill some gaps that some… communities need. For example, we have a micro-lending program, and that helps support starting entrepreneurs who maybe can’t get loans from traditional banking means. If there’s wildfire destruction across the state, we’ve always supported emergency funding. Recently, and every year, we have what is called Community Rewards, and we give back to our community nonprofits. This year, we just celebrated 72 organizations receiving, as a whole, $700,000. It makes a difference. Our community needs it.

How do you plan to lead Nusenda as chief executive?

I’ve been here a long time, so I’ve been part of — I’ll call it the magic of Nusenda. Our service experience with our members, innovative products and services, and our top workplace status. Those, to me, will continue. We’ll make investments where we need to.

Any expansion plans?

We made a big investment in the El Paso market, and so that was kind of a natural progression following what we call the Rio Grande corridor. We’ve been in (Las) Cruces Since ’21. … We saw a lot of similarities between New Mexico and El Paso, specifically around member needs, and we feel like we can make a difference there, in terms of financial capability support, in terms of banking services, in terms of community support — it’s been a great learning opportunity for us. We’ve got some branches planned to expand in that market as well.

What about northern New Mexico? Nusenda lacks branches in Española and Farmington.

We have Taos right now. We’ve got three branches in Santa Fe and then Rio Rancho. We’re always open to exploring where our members currently are, and if they need that kind of support, we can do creative things. We have video-teller technology. … For example, we have those in universities. There are all of these opportunities we continue to look for, to expand and support our membership.

What motivates you?

The great team here. There are over 900 employees that work here. When I started, it was like 200. People here have hearts of gold. They are people who really care about the members that they’re serving, even if they don’t directly deal with the members. There are people in the background saying, “What’s the right decision for our members?” It’s not a simple yes or no. It’s always, “Let’s ask more questions. Let’s find out more information. Let’s see what that impact would be.” … We’ve created a great culture, and that, to me, is what gets me excited.

Who do you look up to?

I’ve had the pleasure of learning and working with my predecessor, Joe Christian. He worked here for 39 years, and I worked directly for him for 15. He was absolutely one of my mentors. A lot of different leaders helped me on my journey, whether they were mentors, sponsors, or supporters. But I also look up to my mom. My mom came to the States in the ‘70s. She’s an immigrant from Thailand, and she sacrificed a lot for me and my siblings to be successful here. You don’t often realize that until you’re a little bit older in life — what that looks like. My father had a 46-year career at the Albuquerque Police Department. … He always chose to work in underserved communities. I think I get a little bit of that from him.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

Lately, as I’ve been moving into the CEO role, people have said, “You’re not going to make everyone happy. You may have to say no, and you’re not always going to be liked.” I think those are three things that I’m trying to keep in mind as I move into this role.

What’s your favorite thing about New Mexico?

The outdoors, the mountains. My husband and I and our son love to go camping. It’s only an hour and a half away from our door to our campsite.

What are some of your hobbies?

Right now, I do Pilates a couple times a week. That’s a hobby of mine. My son is a junior in high school, and he’s a competitive baseball player, so another hobby is baseball — watching him.

Any pet peeves?

I expect people to do what they say they’ll do and show up in a way that is aligned with our values. If they don’t do that, then it could be a disappointment.

In one word, how would someone close to you describe you?

Tenacious.