The CUInsight Experience
The CUInsight Experience podcast is hosted by Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com, and Jilly Nowacki, founder, president, and CEO of Humanidei. In each episode, they engage in wide-ranging conversations about leadership lessons learned, life, and credit unions. Join them as they dive deep into topics that help us become better leaders and strengthen our movement, uncovering valuable insights that we can all learn from. The CUInsight Experience is produced by John Pettit, managing editor of CUInsight.com.
The CUInsight Experience
Shine with Faye Nabhani (#233)
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“Investment in people is literally a business strategy. We win when our people win.” – Faye Nabhani
Welcome to episode 233 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your hosts, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com, and Jilly Nowacki, President and CEO of Humanidei.
This episode is sponsored by Trellance. Trellance is a leading technology partner for credit unions, delivering innovative technology solutions to help credit unions achieve more. With a comprehensive suite of analytics, cloud and talent solutions, the Trellance team ensures credit unions increase efficiency, manage risk, and improve member experience. Learn more here!
In this new 2026 season, Jilly and I will have conversations centered around leadership, credit unions, and living our best lives. We will have some of the most respected leaders from around credit unions who we are grateful to call friends join us in the discussion from time to time too.
This week on the podcast, we return to a simple but far too often overlooked truth: leadership is not about staying in the spotlight but is rather about building space so that other people can step forward and shine. We explore how legacy isn’t really what we accomplish alone, but who we help develop along the way, and joining us to help us tackle this discussion is Faye Nabhani, CEO of SAFE Credit Union, whose work is often defined by a culture rooted in trust, growth, and people-first leadership!
We talk with Faye about what it actually feels like to develop people in practice, and she shares the joy of watching someone realize that they are capable of more than they believed—those moments when confidence finally clicks because someone took a chance on them! We also discuss the distinction between mentorship and sponsorship, and how powerful it is when someone opens doors for you before you even know you’re ready to walk through them.
Faye reflects on opportunities that place leaders into unfamiliar, high-responsibility roles and how those experiences can truly help reshape confidence and capability. We also talk about how to recognize emerging leaders without trying to force development.
Listen in as we also explore what it means when the people in whom you invest eventually move on and how strong leadership cultures create alumni who carry that experience forward and reflect it back into the world! We open up about the shift into senior leadership: learning to let go of control, focus on fewer priorities, and accept that authority doesn’t translate into day-to-day execution, and Faye shares how unlearning the urge to do everything has been just as important as learning how to lead.
We finally close on what it feels like to see someone you’ve supported succeed and offer up the reminder that helping others shine often means stepping back just enough to let them. Enjoy our conversation with Faye Nabhani!
Find the full show notes on cuinsight.com.
Connect with Faye:
Faye Nabhani, CEO & President of SAFE Credit Union
safecu.org
Faye: LinkedIn
SAFE Credit Union: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
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