By Dianne Molvig with Lisa Hochgraf
William “Willy” Kelsey, CSE, CCE, is a muscle car enthusiast.
“I love muscle cars,” says Kelsey, a CUES member and EVP/chief operating officer at $760 million Texas Trust Credit Union based in Mansfield, Texas. “I have a white-and-black 1970 Oldsmobile 442 convertible. That’s my baby.” (See photo at right.) In November at CUES’ CEO/Executive Team Network™, Kelsey was named 2013 CUES Exceptional Leader.
His fascination with the 442 goes way back. When he was nine years old, he accompanied his parents to the local Oldsmobile dealer’s showroom. His parents were looking to buy a sensible Delta 88. Across the showroom sat a sporty, red 442 that caught the younger Kelsey’s eye. “I took my parents back and forth,” Kelsey recalls, “saying, ‘Why do you want to buy this when you could have that?’”
Decades later, Kelsey got his 442. His goal is to be able to drive it to work one of these days. “It doesn’t stop well,” he says with a laugh. He bought it knowing that it looked good on the outside, but needed work, which he’s mostly doing himself.
“It’s a nice car,” Kelsey says, “but it can be a lot nicer.”
Interestingly, Kelsey's philosophy about his car runs parallel to his philosophy about credit union work.
"One of the things I do that drives my staff nuts,” says, Kelsey, “is that I run by the philosophy, ‘If it isn’t broken, break it.’ See what you can do to make it better.”
Dianne Molvig is a freelance writer based in Madison, Wis. Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES editor.
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