Andrea Rose was a military kid who grew up in Virginia Beach, Va., where her father was stationed during his service in the U.S. Navy.

“I loved watching the sunrise and plunging into the waves, and I later learned to surf,” says Rose, member service representative and human resources generalist at $46 million asset Alcoa Community Federal Credit Union in Benton, Ark.

One of her fondest memories is watching the dolphins swim. “It inspired my first tattoo.”

Rose’s good memory extends to quickly remembering names and faces, a knack that serves her well whenever an Alcoa Community Federal member enters the branch. It’s these relationships she cherishes most in her position.

“It’s amazing to see peoples’ lives evolve and to be a part of so many big moments that financial institutions handle,” she says.

Because she’s naturally gregarious, Rose is not shy about reaching out to new people.

“I remember standing in a restaurant line and striking up a conversation with the woman in front of me. That was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted over six years and made us best friends,” she says.

After graduating with degrees in business management and human resources (HR), Rose dove into the credit union’s HR function and found that too many providers had a hand in that area.

She searched for a reliable single-source provider of HR services, and the results were astonishing: a 65% reduction in HR costs “plus a far more user-friendly system that Alcoa employees could easily access,” Rose says.

When she trains new member service representatives, Rose emphasizes two things: “First, you have two ears and one mouth, which means you should do twice as much listening as you do talking. Your approach should always be in the form of a casual conversation, not a sales pitch.

“Second, buy into the Alcoa philosophy: We are member-owned and member-focused. Our members are the most important people in our lives as long as we work here—they’re the reason why we’re here.”

Rose is an avid do-it-yourselfer who loves to watch YouTube DIY videos. They have come in handy since she and her husband and two sons moved into their Benton, Ark., house in 2017 and are steadily making it their own.

“Wherever I look around the house I ask myself, ‘What can I do to improve it?’ Then it’s on to YouTube to see how it’s done.”

She sums up her life this way: “I genuinely want to be a good person, and if there is one thing I do every day, I try.”