Aidee Martinez-Vasquez serves as one of the dedicated team members at Columbia’s local State Employees Credit Union, where she has provided expert guidance and compassionate professional service with a smile for the last decade.

Originally from Columbia, Vasquez would attend Creswell High School for a time, later returning to graduate from Columbia High in 2007. After graduation, Vasquez attended Elizabeth City State University, where she pursued her degree in business administration.

Initially, Vasquez says that she always dreamed of becoming a lawyer and entering into the legal field. However, she would ultimately forgo that dream and shift her focus into business and finance, profitable disciplines she could employ close to home.

As she tells it, that decision was largely inspired by a familial situation that required her full attention and support.

“Looking back I always wanted to be a lawyer and do something in the legal industry, but, because of my family situation at the time, I thought it would be best if I stayed back close to home and helped my parents as much as I could,” Vasquez recounts. “My sister was disabled, so she needed a lot of care, but I still wanted a solid education and a bachelors degree so the closest thing for me was ECSU.”

After graduating from Elizabeth City State University in 2011, Vasquez joined the banking world, the first small step in her greater plunge into the realm of guiding clients though the rigors of personal finance.

“After I graduated I got a job with BB&T as its Bank Officer and I worked there for around two years,” she says. “After that I ended up joining up with the State Employees Credit Union and I’ve been there ever since.”

Vasquez joined the State Employees Credit Union in 2016 and is now one of its dedicated loan officers, where she helps her clients navigate the difficulties of personal finance and beyond.

According to Vasquez, she initially joined the SECU as part of its Financial Advisory Services Contact Center.

“Initially I was hired to work a contact center position here in Columbia did they had just opened,” she says. “Unfortunately, they didn’t see much of a potential for that here since most of their contact centers were based out of Raleigh. So they ended up letting go of that particular position here...”