Print edition: 
Change is a constant in Chuck Bullock's life.
The 52-year-old CEO of TECU Credit Union started his career working as a radio announcer and salesman for an Ottawa radio station.
"After eight months of that I realized a person can really starve earning a paycheck," said Bullock, who graduated from Baker University with a bachelor's degree in speech communication.
The desire for a fatter paycheck — and the advice of his father — led Bullock to the financial services industry.
Since then he has worked in nearly every aspect of the business, from making consumer loans for the former Norwest Financial to overseeing Capitol Federal Savings' retail banking operations in Wichita.
After a stint at Bank of America in 2000, where Bullock was charged with rebuilding the bank's mortgage lending business in Kansas, he joined the former Boeing Wichita Credit Union, now Meritrust Credit Union, as chief lending officer.
Three years ago he was named the top executive at TECU, a $62 million credit union.
You've run the gamut of the financial services industry, working for a thrift, a bank, and now a credit union. Which has been the best cultural fit for you?
"I can honestly say that I feel more at home in credit unions than whatever I did before because of the makeup and design of the credit union model."
What was the transition like from a position where you led a division of a financial institution to leading the whole institution?
"You're going from being accountable for two or three different business units in an organization, where now you're responsible to the entire membership in every aspect of the organization. So that keeps you up at night at first. It really does. But I will say the transition was made so much easier because of the experience level that our management team had as well as our front line staff."
What do you consider your major accomplishments so far as CEO of TECU Credit Union?
"The first thing I have to recognize is the credit union was successful for 73 years B.C., before Chuck. When I take a look at our accomplishments here, we have increased our operational efficiencies significantly, which equates to us being better stewards of the members' money, and we've continued to grow even during the troubled times — membership, assets, loans, deposits — albeit slowly."
What has been the most challenging part of your job at TECU?
"Recently it's been navigating through the waters of the economic times that we're in right now. I know for sure we've been able to keep people in their homes, keep cars in their driveways, protect members' credit. That's been a huge challenge for us over the last 12 months."
What keeps you interested in your job?
"It's really the dynamics of the business. It's always changing."
