I’ve been in the business for more than 20 years, starting out in loan processing at a bank in Chicago, where I was born and raised. Over the years, I’ve moved up, managing loan closing groups at a number of organizations, which brought me to Texas in 2011.

I first interviewed with RED Capital, one of the predecessor companies of Lument, in 2014. I didn’t get the role, but we kept in touch. I was really impressed by the people I met during my interviews. Everyone treated me like I mattered, not just like one of the many people they had to interview that day. I felt there was something there.

So, when Lument reached out to me last year and told me that they were expanding and reorganizing their asset management and loan servicing departments and needed my help, I was ready.

I really appreciated that they didn’t just look at my previous job titles and put me in a box. Although I understood asset management, I had never done it on a day-to-day basis. But they took the time to consider my experience as a whole and put me in an asset management position. I have five people reporting to me and the autonomy to innovate and strategize.

Lument challenged me to go outside of my comfort zone and are encouraging me to take the initiative. I’m taking all the experiences I’ve had and rolling them up and introducing my team to different ways of doing things. It’s very exciting.

Even though I’m working at home, I really like being part of the team. As a minority, I’ve experienced workplace discrimination, and diversity, inclusion, and respect are very important to me. At Lument, everyone is pulling in the same direction. At the same time, you have a voice, and you are appreciated and listened to. Differences of opinion are welcomed.

Diversity is important here in other ways as well. Lument is sincerely dedicated to equality and bringing us together as one. This is huge for me. I’ve never seen this much diversity in my entire career.