I work in compliance on the mortgage side at Lument, where I’m the liaison to multiple agencies, including HUD and Freddie Mac. I help ensure various Lument entities comply with the rules, regulations, and guidelines of USDA and other government-sponsored enterprises. I also handle certain reporting for the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and the USA Patriot Act.

In January 2019, at age 39, I survived a massive hemorrhagic stroke. As my recovery began, I insisted that I was going back to work. I’d worked so hard to get to this position – and because I love it, I simply refused to accept that I wouldn’t be able to return to it. I finished my last round of outpatient therapy in May 2019 and returned to Lument the following month. I was on long-term disability for five years, until I came back full-time in November 2024.

I wrote a book about my recovery journey, SUPERSURVIVOR, that was published last November. The title references a particular type of survivor – whether they’ve had a stroke or are dealing with cancer, or another chronic illness – that has overcome intense odds and maintained not only a positive attitude, but also a very determined one. Simply put, they refuse to accept that their situation has taken their life out of their control. Returning to work played a large part in allowing me to regain control of my life.

Surviving a major health crisis changed my perspective on my career. My job is highly technical. It’s a challenge in a really good way and it provides me with a true sense of accomplishment. But I used to equate my job very strongly with my identity – in my mind, everything I had accomplished professionally helped define me. After my stroke, I realized that there’s more to life than just being great at your job. Time is such a precious commodity, and we’re given such a limited amount of it. When something life-altering happens, you look back and wonder whether you’d really spent your time in the way that you wanted.

Now I understand now that life is a balance, and that if I don’t take breaks – if I keep pushing myself and keep being stubborn – then my body will punish me for it. It’s more of a marathon than a sprint. Now, if I’m waiting for a deliverable, instead of sitting at my computer until it arrives – like I’d done before my stroke – I’ll change gears and unload the dishwasher, since I work from home, then return to my computer. I’ve learned that those little breaks really help my cognitive function.

In terms of professional accomplishments, I’m really proud that I’ve consistently improved my processes, retooled them to get my work done efficiently, and meet my deadlines ahead of schedule. I’ve gotten really good at time management and strategizing.

One of the biggest gifts I’ve received was getting to work for Kevin Mainelli and Lument. Kevin was incredibly supportive when the stroke happened and during my recovery. When I returned to work, he would always notice if my speech was slurred, or my cognition was a little off – he said he could see it in my eyes, and he would make me stop working for the day. Sometimes I was headstrong and said I was fine, but I so appreciated that he would look out for me and be so caring as a boss. I can’t say enough good things about how amazing he was. And so many other colleagues, too, like Danielle MacKenzie in payroll at OCU, who helped me with my time sheets when I was on long-term disability. Everyone was so supportive and kind.

Speaking of workplace support, I write in my book about the changes I’d like to see in the world, especially about supporting those who return to work after a life-altering health event. I now understand how looks can be very deceiving. When I tell people I’ve had a stroke, many almost don’t believe me. They’ll say I look so healthy and vibrant, like nothing ever happened. They don’t understand how I lost mobility on the entire left side of my body and the ability to walk. They’ll say, “But your gait is fine now.”

I’ve come to recognize how ableism can show up in everyday expectations around performance, even after a serious health event, and how critical empathy and flexibility are in those moments. It’s very easy for people to revert to thinking that my mind works just as perfectly as it did before the stroke, but there’s actually a lot of adjusting I need to do. There are many other people with illnesses or challenges who are also navigating the workplace, and they’re afraid to ask, or don’t want to call attention to themselves, much like I didn’t when I returned to work. I’d like to create awareness and sensitivity around this topic, and the minor adjustments that can have a big positive impact. For example, providing rest areas where people can sit in a dark room for 10 minutes or resources to help people maintain their energy levels can go a long way. I’d love to see these kinds of small adjustments implemented on a larger scale in workplace environments.

I mentor college students and people in various roles at different stages of their careers, and there’s a lot of guidance I would give to my Lument colleagues who are just starting out. First and foremost, try to never stop learning – absorb as much as you can. If you find a great mentor, take advantage of it. There are plenty of people in the company who want to support the younger generation. Lument’s Associate Development Program (ADP) is a great, successful example of the company’s efforts to cultivate young talent.

I’d recommend keeping tabs on your short- and long-term goals. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, but if you try to consistently evaluate what you’re doing, those efforts will eventually pay off. Most importantly, try to make time to pursue your personal interests, even just a little bit. You’ll feel so fulfilled, and it will open your world.

On that same subject, something that people may not know about me is that I love music and attending concerts. I was a radio station DJ in college, and I volunteered to sell merchandise at concert venues in Philadelphia. I got to meet so many artists, and I loved it! I also earned a Professional Certificate in General Music Studies from the Berklee College of Music a few years ago. I’d always wanted to work in the music industry, and it let me dabble a bit in that world. It also allowed me to prove that the stroke didn’t set me back – I could still be me and accomplish things. I took a rock and pop vocals class and an introduction to the music business, and I’ve gone on site for a couple of days each summer to take classes in person. It was so much fun.

I’ve been asked why I decided to write a book about my experience. I began writing a blog about stroke recovery about three months after my stroke, with the goal of running the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia from the perspective of someone who couldn’t walk a few months earlier. When I was told that I shouldn’t run it, the blog became more about recovery in general – what I was going through, the various mental challenges, the isolation, etc. When I first started looking at survival rates of a hemorrhagic stroke, the five-year rate was 26.7%. A lot of things happened in my life at the end of those five years. At that point, I’d gone back to work full-time and received a promotion. I’d also done peer mentoring with other stroke patients, who asked me so many questions, and told me I was able to express and describe feelings, symptoms, and side effects in a way they couldn’t verbalize. I decided to share that story because I’d passed the five-year milestone and it seemed like the right time.

The process of turning my journey into a book and trying to explain to healthy people what it’s like being sick – from both a physical and mental perspective – was quite a challenge, but also absolutely therapeutic. It helped me learn the lessons I needed faster, in ways I wouldn’t have thought about had I not been writing a book. It also helped me process what happened to me and see the big picture in so many ways.

You can learn more about Judy’s journey by following her on Instagram @judykimcagetheauthorpage and by ordering her book SUPERSURVIVOR here.

In my role as chief production officer for conventional multifamily at Lument, I oversee our conventional production efforts and am responsible for managing all of our Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac relationships. Previously, I oversaw our internal bullpen—which offers analytical support for our production teams—and I’m one of the business leads for new tech initiatives. During my 19 years at Lument and its predecessor companies, I’ve witnessed many changes both within our company and the commercial real estate industry as a whole. I have learned a tremendous amount along the way.

I really enjoy interacting with coworkers not only internally, but also our Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac counterparts—I like being an external-facing member of the firm. Having the opportunity to do both is a fun part of the job. I’ve been able to mentor some junior colleagues, just as there were senior leaders who mentored me and whose guidance I’m incredibly grateful for—like Steve Cox, Bill Hyman, and others.

There’s also not a day that goes by without a problem to solve, which keeps things interesting. You’re always finding ways to help people arrive at solutions and pull deals together. It’s not instant gratification by any means, but ultimately, it’s really satisfying to see your impact when those deals close successfully.

Lument’s corporate culture has grown more collaborative over the years—there’s definitely more of a camaraderie now than when I first started. Thanks to Jim Flynn’s and Tyler Griffin’s leadership, as well as that of the management committee, there’s been a concerted effort to foster a collegial environment, which makes it a great place to work.

Speaking of, my nearly two-decade career here is an accomplishment that I’m proud of. Over the last couple years, a large part of my role has been solidifying our relationships with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which has been a huge win for us as a company. We’ve had some big wins with both agencies lately, and I’m proud to have been part of those.

Meanwhile, my role as a resource for my colleagues has also been meaningful. Whether it’s a small victory in helping someone to engage a deal, or a huge win in assisting a coworker to close one, I don’t take any of those successes for granted. I built out our bullpen—it’s something near and dear to me, and I’m very protective of the talented people on that team. When I see them succeed, that makes me prouder than my own successes.

I’m impressed by how Lument encourages entrepreneurial thinking. The company has changed and grown exponentially during my time here, and people aren’t siloed whatsoever—there are so many different parts of the firm to get involved with. If I can help expose colleagues, especially my direct reports, to a wider audience, that’s a win.

If there’s a piece of advice I wish someone had given me when I was coming up through the ranks, it’s the value of being patient. There’s so much to be said for taking your time to learn—and also for going out of your way to establish relationships. You can’t wait for people to come to you—you have to be willing to move beyond your comfort zone. There are many things I’ve had to do in my career that I’d never had any experience in—technology, for example. I’m not a tech person, but I’ve helped lead a number of initiatives that we’ve rolled out over the years. There are real benefits to taking on new responsibilities.

One thing a lot of people might not know about me is that I’m die-hard Kentucky Wildcats fan, having gone to college there. I’ve even dragged my wife and my daughter, who’s in sixth grade, over to London to see them play. While my wife thinks it is somewhat unreasonable, you could say I have an emotional attachment to the team.

I’m a managing director and head of transaction management at Lument, where my responsibilities include managing the closing of loan transactions from the application stage through post-closing delivery. With almost 28 years at Lument and its predecessor organizations—and more than 31 years of industry experience—I’ve cultivated deep expertise in multifamily loan closings.

Our team is top-notch, and together we work extensively with a range of internal and external partners to ensure loan transactions align with established guidelines for closing and timely delivery. It’s really rewarding to play a vital role in supporting the broader organization in achieving its goals across all lines of business. I strive to create an environment where everyone feels encouraged to participate and share their insights. Every member is a fantastic person and employee—I try to celebrate a lot of their achievements, and I hope that some of our success is due to how I lead.

Lument’s welcoming, hard-working culture has provided me with opportunities to initiate change and grow both professionally and personally. I strive to be very open and transparent with my team to create a culture of empathy, and to be crystal clear about my goals and expectations. I also try demonstrating that we need to be adaptable and flexible, and when things don’t go right, to have the patience and understanding to take it in stride, regroup, and get back on track.

The company also encourages entrepreneurial thinking, which I appreciate. I believe people thrive when they’re empowered to make decisions and given the freedom to engage and perform their best work. I’m not afraid to approach my manager with an idea about how we might do something better or streamline a process—not only in my department, but Lument as a whole, because ultimately, we’re all one team.

Throughout my career, one of my proudest moments was when Lument was honored as the 2023 recipient of Fannie Mae’s Excellence in Operations Award. This recognition celebrated our outstanding performance across key operational areas, including master servicing, commitments, and delivery. What makes this achievement so meaningful is that it not only reflects the dedication of my department and team but also showcases the exceptional collaboration across multiple departments working toward a shared goal. This award is a testament to our strong internal relationships, effective leadership, and unwavering commitment to excellence in everything we do.

I’m also proud to be Lument’s main liaison with Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, which provides women in our industry with valuable opportunities for networking and professional development. I got involved with the organization in 2020 and it was a terrific introduction to women like me who have had long careers in commercial real estate, yet haven’t always had secure footing, given that our industry has traditionally been male dominated. CREW’s seminars and events are great venues for meeting women in different real estate categories, to learn how can we support each other and celebrate our various career successes. We’re recruiting more young women to join our chapter within Lument, which we launched in 2023, and grow awareness of the many resources CREW has to offer.

One key lesson I’ve learned during my career is that the value of adaptability and continuous learning can’t be overestimated. Remaining open to change—be it in respect to new technologies, market shifts, or client needs—is essential to long-term success, as is relationship-building and gaining hands-on experience. Early in my career, I always made it a point to learn from more experienced colleagues, and then gradually use those lessons to expand my responsibilities.

Something that many people might not know about me is that I’m an avid snowboarder, along with my husband and three children. I was very hesitant to try it—I literally cried on the way to our first snowboarding vacation. The first three days were filled with falls, bumps, and bruises—I could feel every bone in my body. But what makes snowboarding intimidating also makes it exhilarating. It requires technical skill and focus and challenges you to problem-solve and make sharp, fast decisions. For those few hours, there are no distractions—it’s just us and the mountain.

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I’m a senior managing director and head of real estate investment sales at Lument. As a leading multifamily lending platform, the company is charting a growth path for the future by offering clients an expanding array of complementary services and solutions—and one key component of that growth is a national market-rate multifamily investment sales platform, which we launched this summer.

After having spent the past 12 years overseeing the largest multifamily investment sales platform in the country, I joined Lument to develop and run this dynamic new facet of our business. Creating this nationwide platform is an ambitious goal which will take time, but being selective in who we bring on to be a part of this investment sales platform is critical. Right now, I am focused on sharing our vision with experienced multifamily advisors throughout the country, as well as building the foundation for this new platform. I’m lucky that Lument has infrastructure and resources in all the areas where we need support.

It’s an opportune time to be in the multifamily market, which has become much more competitive and institutionalized over the past 20 years. Between advances in underwriting and growing investor sophistication, it’s a different ballgame. Looking at the current multifamily market cycle, I am excited to see pent-up demand starting to turn into activity as investors adjust expectations and begin to jump back into the market.

We have a tremendous opportunity to leverage Lument’s debt platform for the benefit of our clients. With 30 offices across the country, Lument is a top agency lender and servicer providing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD/FHA financing. In addition, we offer balance sheet bridge, mezzanine, and preferred equity solutions, as well as a suite of debt capital markets products such as bank, debt fund, life company, and CMBS financing. The powerful combination of investment sales with this comprehensive range of custom capital solutions is unrivaled in the industry.

I have always been entrepreneurial-minded and enjoy the challenge of building out systems and infrastructure. The goal of developing an investment sales platform represents a tremendous opportunity. One of the reasons I was drawn to Lument is a corporate culture that encourages you to decide what you want to accomplish, put together a game plan for how you’re going to get there, and then make it happen. The colleagues I’ve already collaborated with have shown remarkable intelligence and dedication. Working with people who are so capable and with whom you enjoy spending time makes such a difference. It’s a very positive work environment, which is terrific.

One thing that my colleagues likely don’t know about me is that as of a few weeks ago, after living in Indianapolis for 25 years, my wife and I are now Manhattan residents. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in big cities during my career—when we got married, we were living in downtown Chicago—so we understand what urban living is all about. But obviously, New York is a different experience, no matter who you are. It’s an exciting new chapter, both personally and professionally.

I’m a senior director on Lument’s capital markets team, where I identify financing solutions for commercial real estate clients utilizing a wide range of lending sources, including banks, debt funds, conduits, and Lument’s proprietary capital. Prior to joining Lument, I focused on capital markets deals across virtually every sort of asset type and region in the U.S.

To be successful in the current environment–where there’s market volatility and guidelines have recently become more stringent–you must be able to offer an array of alternative financing, or else clients will take their business elsewhere. Lument has its finger on the pulse of the market: at a time where a lot of competitors aren’t looking to grow their brands, Lument has wisely gone in the opposite direction and expanded this team, which I believe will grow the business.

Since arriving at Lument, I’ve been able to focus fully on production, while in my previous role I concentrated more on the analytics side. Though production in general has its challenges, ultimately there’s a lot of opportunity in the market right now, so I’m excited to be able to fully focus my time on originations as we grow this business.

Many Lument colleagues from across the country reached out to welcome me and my capital market team members when we joined Lument, and now other producers nationwide are getting in touch, either to pick our brains or discuss co-brokering deals with us, which is terrific. I appreciate the entrepreneurial and empowering culture that Lument has cultivated. As a producer, I feel that my years of experience and market knowledge are valued and respected by leadership.

My team and I have hit the ground running and have already closed a few deals, which has been great. It was a pretty seamless transition, and we’re seeing business ramp up. Recently, a lender whom I’ve closed a bunch of deals within the past reached out about a previous client of mine was having an issue with one of his properties. He was sitting on a loan for quite some time without the certificate of occupancy needed to lease out the building, and eventually went into a Department of Buildings (DOB) audit.

His hands were tied for a very long time, and his loan was coming due. It was a bit of a fire drill, but I was able to get that to the finish line in about two weeks, before the close of the loan, which was a big win. It’s a good example of the importance of maintaining relationships in this industry: in business, as in life, if you treat people the way you want to be treated, they’ll likely reciprocate, and good things will happen.

One thing that my colleagues may not know about me is that I love to play sports, and I work out a lot. I’ve been doing CrossFit for two years now. I have a good friend who built a CrossFit gym in his house, so we work out together and push each other. Balancing work and home life is always a challenge–I have four kids, who take up the majority of my free time–but I try to get out there and stay active as much as I can.

I’m an associate on the conventional production team in New York, reporting to Nicole Goodman and Ian Monk. I work with originators on sizing and screening potential loan transactions and drafting loan submission packages, so I’m basically responsible for the journey of the loan from the initial request to sending it off to our underwriting team once the loan is secured.

Besides working alongside creative and knowledgeable colleagues, I really enjoy being involved in different types of deals, as no two are ever the same. We receive requests daily for those with specialized bar structures, repayment executions, affordability programs––the list goes on and on. This exposure has widened my understanding of the industry beyond what I ever expected. I’d argue that what we do is something of an art: we can review the financials to form a cohesive account of a property’s operating history, and make an educated inference on future performance as it relates to the senior loan transaction. I personally also enjoy putting together a package for a deal, because the storytelling is so fascinating.

Before I was hired three years ago, I interned during the fall of my senior year in college at Project Destined, a leading social impact platform that provides training in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and real estate to students worldwide. I’ve utilized the foundational industry skills that I learned there since my first day in the Lument bullpen. Now it’s kind of a full-circle moment, as I’m the team lead for our internal Project Destined partnership team. I’m continually impressed by Lument’s desire to aid future housing leaders via initiatives like this one, as well as our internal Associate Development Program, which I’m also involved in.

Lument’s exemplary work culture is what motivated me to join the company, and makes me excited to come to the office. It’s deeply collaborative and encouraging––I know I can always connect with someone, either on my team or outside of it, and work with them to sort out any challenge that I’m facing. Everyone is welcoming and generous with their insights here, and I’m never hesitant to reach out for help.

I’ve also found our corporate culture to be very inclusive–which is the opposite of what I expected to feel as a Hispanic woman, especially when I was searching for a job in commercial real estate after college. I almost started to believe that there wasn’t a place for me in this industry, but Lument quickly helped me realize that was the furthest thing from the truth. I’ve definitely been given the chance to prove myself here. Lument also fosters a safe environment that allows us to speak freely from our individual perspectives, and clearly values our respective opinions.

One of my proudest accomplishments at Lument so far is my work with Project Destined. Besides acting as team lead, I’ve also served as a mentor and judge during our fall internship program. The program is structured as a “Shark Tank”-style competition internship, in which participants present what they learn based on a commercial real estate case study. As a judge, I ask the participants questions and rate their presentations based on certain criteria. In these roles, I’ve been able to provide students with industry insight and knowledge that I had sought when I was an intern there.

Something that my colleagues may not know about me is my passion for solo travel. I’ve taken six solo trips since my first one in 2019, before I joined the company–primarily to Europe, and also to Jamaica, which I really enjoyed. I encourage everyone to travel alone at least once, whether it be a weekend trip an hour away or a six-hour flight across the world. I’ve not only been able to experience new cultures and landscapes, but I’ve learned more about myself than I ever had before.

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