Associate Spotlight header - Emily Nguyen

Associate Spotlight: ELSIE HWANG

Senior Dealer Credit Financial Analyst, Elsie Hwang

When a workplace clicks, you stick with it. That’s the philosophy Elsie Hwang has embraced regarding her career with Toyota Industries Commercial Finance (TICF), where she has been an associate for the past 22 years. In fact, she is so loyal to the company that despite being a native Californian, when TICF relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2016, she decided to follow.

Currently a Senior Dealer Credit Financial Analyst, Elsie started in Toyota Motor Sales as a budget administrator before moving to TICF as a contract analyst. In that first position she facilitated the funding of contracts, including for one of the largest national accounts, which gave her a solid foundation on which to accelerate her growth. She subsequently spent a year as a dealer payables administrator, processing and analyzing dealer payables and managing the clarification general ledger, and then moved over to her current department, Dealer Financial Services, where she has been for 16 years.

In her role, Elsie provides financing solutions for commercial truck and material handling dealers from floor plan lines to working capital to real estate loans and revolving lines of credit. “I enjoy being there to support them and find ways to structure deals that will boost their business,” she says. “It’s exciting to be a partner and resource for them and realize you played a part in contributing to their success as you watch their business grow.”

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It’s exciting to be a partner and resource for them and realize you played a part in contributing to their success as you watch their business grow.”

That’s a reason TICF’s core value of be faithful to your duties resonates with her the most. “I get tremendous satisfaction from being there to support our dealers and help support the needs of their business Elsie says.

Elsie values the relationships she has built within the company as well. “We have a lot of camaraderie and everyone is eager to help everyone else out,” she notes.  Relocating with her team helped cement these bonds. “With so many team members going through the same thing, we were all in it together, which made it less stressful,” she says.

One of the elements she believes makes TICF special is how all the departments work together. “When I have a question, I can ask for assistance, and everyone is always willing to provide it.” She especially appreciates that her colleagues will explain not just the steps she asks about but the “why” behind the function. “Knowing more about the business helps me understand the bigger picture and how it affects other departments.”

And she is always willing to lend a hand when the questions come her way. It’s part of what contributes to the variety she enjoys in her job—working with dealers to provide financial solutions to meet and grow their business then internally helping fellow associates. “There is never a dull moment in my work,” Elsie says. “There are always new challenges, which I view as opportunities to grow.”

Elsie seeks out challenges in her spare time as well, finding satisfaction in word puzzles, like Wordle and crosswords. Her love for travel has allowed her to immerse herself in different cultures. Her favorite trip was visiting France and Italy.

Elsie also loves to bake and is continually on a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. She even shared some of her secrets. First, start with quality ingredients like high-fat butter and real vanilla extract. Then instead of using chocolate chips, chop a bar of good chocolate into chunks. And finally, she says, the best cookie is one that’s freshly baked. “Keep the dough in the freezer and then just pop a few pieces in the oven whenever you want a delicious cookie.” The ideal recipe for success!