Dan Stoltz, Blaze Credit Union CEO, on thinking boldly enough to overcome business challenges

Off the Record

Dan Stoltz took the reins at Spire Credit Union (before it became Blaze) in 2010 — just as the economy was facing some serious difficulties.

“It was a tough way to start out as a CEO, but I love challenges,” Stoltz says in the latest episode of the Off the Record podcast. “I’ll never forget calling in my leadership group, sitting in a room just like this, and saying, ‘Look, we’ve got to do this. We’ve got to figure this out. That might mean some pay cuts for the short term. It might mean some downsizing. We’ve got to be careful and compassionate about that — but we also have to think boldly.”

Stoltz then took a step he admits was a risky and unpopular move: he doubled down on advertising. And it paid off, he says. “Long story short, we were $500 million (in assets) in 2010, and with this merger that just happened a couple months ago, we’re at $4 billion.”

Stoltz shares more details of the credit union’s journey and his own with Off the Record hosts Kathy Robideau, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal publisher and market president, and Dave Faust, Platinum Bank CEO.

Listen to the episode to hear more about:

• Advice Stoltz received from his father about business success (18:18).
• Why leadership is less about doing and more about being (21:26).
• What worked well about the merger between Spire and Hiway to create Blaze Credit Union (25:07).
• Being a ‘go-getter’ and a ‘go-giver’ every day (36:31).
• Stoltz’s experience making a commercial with Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins (47:23).

Leaders like Stoltz understand the value of moving quickly and acting creatively, just like Platinum Bank. Learn more about business banking with a different kind of bank.