Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of stories about people who were raised on the Sunshine Coast who are making a successful mark in the world of their chosen vocations. Some are residents of the Coast, while others have left to pursue their dreams.
You would have to have a pretty strong set of binoculars to spy a more dyed-in-the-wool Sunshine Coast success story than that of September Dixon. She has accomplished much - and almost all of it on the Coast.
Dixon is the human resources manager of the Sunshine Coast Credit Union. With a work force of 105, most of whom Dixon has had a hand in hiring, it's a busy, demanding job.
Like many young people, Dixon's first main foray into the working world was off the Coast. She spent about four years in Vancouver working for a bank, but had always known in her heart that she wanted to work for the local credit union.
"I haunted [recently retired CEO] Dale Eichar steadily. I told him, 'I'll work for free.' He said, 'September, we can't have that.' He hired me as a part-time teller in 1984," she chuckled.
From there her progression up the ranks was steady. She went on to be a members' service representative, a loans clerk and loans officer and on to her present position. All along the way, the credit union supported her aspirations with education.
"They walk the talk as an employer," Dixon stated.
Presently Dixon holds the national designation of certified human resources professional from the Canadian Council of Human Resources. She's also completed management studies through the University of Dalhousie. That endeavour took her about nine years.
"My children and I studied together," she laughed.
Her good example has paid off. This spring her daughter became the first woman on her side of the family to complete university.
And Dixon is proud that opportunities still abound for careers in the Sunshine Coast Credit Union. One program she considers a boon to people on the Coast is the management courses Capilano University offers that will transfer to the credit union.
However, while education is important to the credit union, there's one factor in a prospective employee that's even more important according to Dixon - personality.
"You hire for attitude and train for skills. Being in the right job that makes you happy is what it's all about," she explained.
"It's about your people, your community, your members. We [the credit union] come from grassroots, and we try never to lose sight of this fact."
And obviously that attitude is succeeding: the credit union has grown in leaps and bounds since amalgamating with the Pender Harbour Credit Union in 1990.
When Dixon joined the organization, the assets were roughly $50 million. Now they top out at over $350 million.
"But," she's quick to add, "we're still keeping our value, our people value."
Like many folks on the Coast with a young family, Dixon considers keeping youth on the Coast a priority. She's happy to see the initiatives of the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation's Youth Task Force. The recently formed VOICE group is one both she and the credit union will be listening to.
She's grateful to the credit union for providing her an opportunity to live and grow in her chosen community.
"People come here to vacation, and we live here," she said.
Dixon's values and those of her home mesh nicely.
"It takes a community to really raise a family. It's nice having people who know who you are knowing who your kids are."
And for this self-professed people lover - a person who sees the human along with the resource - that really says it all.
