Stephanie Sherrodd is the CEO of Texas Dow Employee Credit Union (TDECU). TDECU is one of the largest and fastest-growing credit unions in Texas. It serves Houston and other communities along the Gulf Coast. Although Sherrodd lives and works in Texas, she still flies the Wyoming flag at home and keeps some UW memorabilia in her office.
Sherrodd (B.S. ’93, marketing, and M.B.A. ’00) is a native of Green River, Wyo. She earned the bachelor’s degree as a traditional student. “Being an undergrad on campus in Laramie was the ultimate college experience,” she says. “Everything revolves around the university, which is great for younger people.” After graduation, she spent a few years working for a credit union in Cheyenne, Wyo., and decided to extend her education by adding a graduate degree to her credentials. That meant going to school while also working full time. She was able to stay in Cheyenne and attend classes via distance learning through the UW Outreach School, using a video conferencing system in which the professors were live in Laramie, and students were at satellite locations across Wyoming.
“I gave up a lot of hobbies, and it was time consuming,” she says of that period. “But it was good because I had work experience under my belt. I could apply work situations to school and school situations to work.”
That degree paid off. In 2004, she was recruited by the then-president of TDECU to come to work as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Then in 2012, when her predecessor retired, she received the top job. “I love the cooperative functioning of a credit union,” she says of her work. “As a leader, I make sure my decisions are in the best interest of our members.” She believes that finances are “some of the most sensitive parts of our lives as human beings.”
Credit unions function in a cooperative model, which “puts service to members above any type of criteria,” Sherrodd says. “Being able to provide people with tools to reach their goals and dreams is very rewarding to me. It is great to see the outcome of decisions I make.”
Flying the Wyoming flag is only one way Sherrodd stays connected to her home state. Although she no longer has family in Green River, her husband Kevin Sherrodd (B.S. ’92, civil engineering) has family in Gillette, Wyo. They visit Wyoming often, especially to escape the hot Texas summers, camping in the Wind River Mountains. “It is great to take our kids back there and show them places where I hung out when I was younger.”
Sherrodd reflects on living in one of the most populous states in the nation while being from the least populous. “It is a novelty to people here that I am from Wyoming,” she says. “I am thankful for roots I have. Wyoming people have such a sense of independence, which has served me well in my life journey.”
