Nuvision Heroes: A team member of 19 years who understands the impact a simple conversation can have on the community

Born and raised in Chugiak, Alaska, one of the things Trisha Knox values most is giving back to the community she has loved all her life. With the determination she learned growing up in a family of hard-working business owners, she’s spent her 19 years with Nuvision doing exactly that.

“Blending my love of our Alaskan community with the financial needs of the industry that we serve has been the best part of the journey,” Trisha said.

Trisha has come a long way since she started as a teller in 2002. Now, she fills a crucial role developing the standards of service as Senior Relationship Development Specialist. But no matter what she is doing, she always makes time to cultivate real relationships with community members and meet the needs of those around her, whether that means coaching youth sports or helping with Nuvision’s financial literacy program for young adults. That’s why we choose Trisha as this month’s Nuvision hero.

Growing up in a self-employed family, Trisha built an early appreciation for hard work. 

Trisha grew up immersed in her family’s construction business, which gave her plenty of hands-on work experience and a deep appreciation for local business.

“When we talk about small business owners and that local feel, I totally have a big passion for that because I was raised in a small business,” she said. “My dad was owner-operator of a small construction company. My mom was the bookkeeper and accountant. In the summers all through high school, I would work as the receptionist.”

Living through economic struggles in the 80s, she understands what it is like to pour your heart and soul into keeping a dream alive. Even as a kid, she actively participated in the business.

“Us as kids would go to the job sites to do some of the painting, some of the labor work,” she said. “So we could work together to keep our family business alive.”

Joining Nuvision, Trisha says, helped her cultivate that work ethic and bring it to another level.

“I was hired into the industry originally as a teller with no credit union background,” she said. “[I’ve] worked my way up through management to where I am now, in this capacity of still working with the branches but really able to give back to the community too, that I was born and raised in.”

Everyday conversations have the power to build community and share kindness.

When Trisha was hired, she worked at the first retail credit union branch inside a grocery store in Alaska.

“Back then, 19 years ago, it was a very standard thing with bankers on one side and tellers on the other,” she said. “Having a branch in the grocery store was the new cutting edge.”

At that branch, tellers would go out into the grocery store, help people find what they need, direct shoppers to the correct aisle, have conversations, and just be there to lend a hand.

An act as simple as helping someone find their groceries could launch a relationship that, years later, would enable them to meet savings goals or secure a mortgage for their first home. For Trisha, service is about being available and approachable, supplying people with the comfort of knowing that there is someone willing to help.

It’s a lesson she’s carried throughout her entire career. Even before coming to Nuvision, her family business helped her understand the importance of cultivating community relationships. In construction, the general contractor, electrician, and plumber need each other to get the job done. No one can do everything alone.

“The most successful people are the ones that really have that tight-knit community where they know who they can rely on in any field,” she said.

It’s why she loves to participate in Nuvision’s outreach events. Aside from the financial literacy programs for youth, her favorite events have been gas card giveaways for veterans and the lunch Nuvision hosted for first responders on 9/11’s 20th anniversary.  

“Just providing a simple meal on behalf of Nuvision saying ‘thank you for what you do for us,’ has been some of my most favorite parts--being part of Nuvision’s care of our local community, which is really important in today’s world,” she said.

Meaningful opportunities for service can come from unexpected places.

Experience in her family business and involvement with Nuvision aren’t the only things that have shaped Trisha’s vision of community service. Sports have too.

“Growing up in Chugiak high school, I actually was an athlete myself and played basketball,” she said. “There [were] a lot of volunteers back then that gave up their time to commit to helping me be better at my craft.”

Today, Trisha, who now has a 17-year-old son, sits on the boards for football and wrestling and donates her time to students.

“A lot of times it’s just being present so that you can help, [being] hands on deck providing that warm smile and a helping hand of somebody who knows the sport.”

Whether fundraising for a skills camp, a tournament, or better equipment, Trisha has found that the impact of her volunteering has reached far beyond the football field.

“Because I have a passion for the community and I love youth and kids and sports, it really allows people to trust me at different levels of their financial journeys,” she said. Her activity in the community often brings unexpected opportunities to help others out.

“For example, through COVID, I would have several people throughout the community reach out and say, ‘Hey, you know, I have nowhere to go, nobody will talk to me about the payroll protection program, PPP Loans, but I saw that Nuvision was offering these. Even though I don’t have an account there, is there somebody that can help me?”

We’re thankful for team members like Trisha who understand the value of building long-term community relationships.

What Trisha remembers most from her years with Nuvision is the impact her service has had on members, especially when she finally sees them achieve long-awaited success.

“I had a member that was referred to me through the community, and he was very embarrassed [by] his credit scars from his past,” Trisha said. “I slotted time to sit down and talk to him. We pulled his credit, took a look at what he needed to fix, set up credit repairing tools with a shared secured loan.”

Last month, she found out that same member just closed on his first home.

“That’s been very rewarding to celebrate with him,” she said.

Committed team members like Trisha are the ones who keep Nuvision going, providing service to the community and to members in everything they do. Thank you, Trisha, for all your hard work and love for the community!