Industry Forward: Financial institutions Charlie Cameron and Josh Juergensen Own The Promise

Charlie and Josh have taken two very different career

journeys in the FI industry, but they agree passionately on this: an

entrepreneurial approach to serving banks and credit unions is what sets CLA

apart. Together they lead our FI practice, which now boasts $70M in revenue,

more than 250 staff members, and roughly 1,500 clients. Let their stories of

grit and success inspire your own industry specialization path.







[00:00:24]







John:

Welcome CLA family to this podcast designed to tell the stories behind the CLA

promise. I’m John Langan, chief industry officer for our regulated industries.

We create opportunities when we live our culture as entrepreneurs, owners, and

leaders. At the center of the CLA promise is our why: to create opportunities.

Behind the CLA are a set of core beliefs. One of them is helping verse selling:

A belief that specialization enables us to focus less on ourselves and our

practice service specialty and more on our clients’ needs and opportunities.







[00:01:02]







As

we get to know our clients better and help them more it will in fact result in

growth for CLA. That’s industry specialization at CLA. Industry specialization

equals growth along with better quality, profitability, and more inspired

careers. But how do you get started? And how do you build a succession plan for

yourself? To answer those questions, we’ve invited two industry specialists,

financial institutions leaders MPI Charlie Cameron from our St. Louis office

and Josh Juergensen, an FI principal in the Minneapolis office.







[00:01:39]







Charlie

and Josh, welcome. You represent two ends of the industry journey, so exploring

it from both of your perspectives will provide real insight to our audience.

Let’s start with your personal stories. How long have you been with the firm?

Tell us about your career and what you have that brought you to this place.

And, Charlie, let’s start with you.







[00:02:00]







Charlie:

Thanks, John. I’m in my eighth year now with CLA. I actually merged my legacy

firm in at the beginning of 2012 when we first began operating at CLA. After

spending a few years with the Big Four at the beginning of my career, I worked

for 12 years for a regional bank holding company in St. Louis. After that bank

was sold, I purchased a small niche bank consulting firm and ran it for 12

years. By hiring some good people, many of which are still with us today, we

were able to grow consistently and establish a good reputation in the

marketplace.







[00:02:38]







In

2017, I began transitioning into my current role FI. Our FI practice now

stretches across the country, as totally revenue approximately $70 million, and

consists of about 250 total staff members.







[00:02:54]







John:

And I’ll bet as you started in this industry you had no idea you’d be sitting

on top of revenue of that size.







[00:03:00]







Charlie:

Absolutely no idea. It’s been a great ride.







[00:03:03]







John:

So, Josh, tell us about your story.







[00:03:05]







Josh:  Thanks, John. I followed the more traditional

career path starting right out of college coming to CLA back in 2007, currently

in my 13th business season. By dumb luck, I happened to be placed in the

financial institutions practice and here we are today.