Executive at Santa Rosa’s Redwood Credit Union wins North Bay Influential Women Awards

Jana Beatty-Andresen is a 2022 winner of North Bay Business Journal’s Influential Women Awards. Here’s her story.

Many of my traits can be attributed to my father’s role modeling, and his work in Petaluma city government for more than 30 years.

Soon after graduating from Casa Grande High School, while attending Santa Rosa Junior College (in 1995), I was hired by Redwood Credit Union as a teller. …Through the years, I’ve worked in several capacities for RCU, while finalizing my Bachelor of Science Degree in business operations. In 2001, I was promoted to management, working as the Business Development & Community Relations Manager….

After the 2008 Great Recession, I was called back to branch operations in 2009 as Petaluma branch experience manager…In my 12 years as Petaluma branch experience manager, I was challenged by many economic and natural disasters — the 2008 Great Recession, North Bay fires, and then the pandemic. While those events proved to be very difficult, the challenges offered many opportunities to hone my leadership skills and increase my ability to impact our communities and make a true difference in the lives of others.

In October 2021, I was promoted to regional vice president of member experience, and given the opportunity to provide oversight and leadership to RCU’s Sonoma County branches and membership.

What is a personal achievement you are most proud of and why?

During much of my career, I was a single mother of two little girls: Sienna (14) and Taylor (10), until meeting my husband, Brad, in 2019. Being a single mom presented some hardships over the years as I balanced family and career. Fortunately, I was blessed with supportive parents who helped along the way. I was also able to integrate much of my family life with work life (bringing kids to events and even meetings sometimes).

I was born into a family that understood the importance of a strong work ethic, and it taught me focus and drive. Being the first woman in my family to graduate college was a huge accomplishment, as was raising two very bright girls. I made the most out of challenging situations and am now grateful for them—for teaching me how to become a humble and supportive leader.

Favorite quote

I have two and both from Maya Angelou:

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it."

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”