Stick to core values

It’s safe to say that Blair Wolston’s grandparents are proud of him.

“My grandfather worked as a plumber for the family business and didn’t retire until he was well into his 80s,” Wolston says. “Everyone he worked for knew that if Armand did the service work, they could count on it being done right.

"They represent the core values that I strive to embody in my life: integrity, strong work ethic, charity, compassion. And Mimi and Gramps serve as my primary motivators for giving 100% at whatever I do.”

Since 2014, Wolston has been a member service consultant at $680 million asset VSECU in Montpelier, Vt. He’s also working with the marketing and members financial services areas to develop two new internal programs.

The career gives Wolston purpose, he says, by demonstrating that great things can happen when people come together with a shared mission.

“I am on this Earth to make it better, and VSECU is the vehicle for this outcome,” Wolston says. “When I see members achieve their financial goals through their own dedication and the use of our products, it completes the circuit for me. This is why I’m dedicated to the credit union movement.”

In nominating him several times over, his colleagues called him a “change agent.”

“I am humbled that my peers chose that language,” he says. “I want the people around me to be encouraged to embrace critical thinking, problem solving, innovation, and compassion with regards to what’s possible.

"If I can loosen the foundation of certain ways of thinking enough to allow new streams of ideas to break through, then I’ve been completely successful," Wolston adds. "VSECU was ready for the change. In fact, I feel like I joined a relay team of ‘change agents’ and it was my turn for the baton.”

Success occurs, Wolston says, when his intentions and actions are in alignment.

“I hope every member knows that when I sit down with them, they have me,” he says. “Success is when the phone rings and someone I’ve never met says, ‘My friend told me to call you because you helped him, and I hope you can help me, too.’”