Once upon a time, there was a math teacher who decided to get her MBA. She went to grad school in the evenings and then full-time during the summers. (By the way, this was when you had to physically drive to grad school in buildings.)
When she finished, she knew it was time to leap into the business world. She made a tearful goodbye to her teaching colleagues and dove into the mortgage industry.
Leaping
Working for a top 10 lender, she was highly trained to be an amazing processor and underwriter at Cendant Mortgage (now PHH). We’re talking base salary plus commission based on client surveys. And so life continued until one Saturday when she was underwriting a never-ending pile of loan files. It dawned on her that she was called to do something else, but what? At that moment, she took a quick break to see what other jobs were available where she worked. The full-time, but temporary, marketing coordinator position called her name. She remembered how during the MBA program that the marketing classes were the ones she enjoyed the most. Maybe this was to be her next step. Was she willing to give up the great income to take this next leap into the unknown? She felt so called to marketing, that she made the move.
Heart Singing
What a perfect fit! Marketing was just the right place for her, and with her knowledge of processing and underwriting, the mortgage professionals enjoyed working with her because she “got it.” That temporary position became full-time, and then it became a project manager position.
Big Move
Plot twist … a big move to Florida where the journey in the world of mortgage marketing continued. First as the marketing manager for a new marketing department for Universal American Mortgage Company (the lender for U.S. Home and Lennar), then the marketing vice president for Market Street Mortgage (a retail national lender), and then heading up the mortgage marketing department for Colonial Bank.
She gained knowledge of builder-based lending, retail lending, public relations, employee relations, company-wide rebrands, direct mail marketing, marketing training for loan officers, building a company intranet, building a company website, and more!
The Big 2-0
This year, she realizes she’s been working in mortgage for 20 years. Oh, and yes, if you haven’t already guessed, this is me with 11 years on the corporate side and now 9 years on the agency side (Juice’s ninth birthday is Nov. 19, 2018). Twenty years – wow! To all in the mortgage industry that I have had the pleasure to work with over the years, my sincere thanks!