Rising to the Top continued on page 19 OVER THE PAST few years, the top ranks of the reverse mortgage industry have opened their doors to a number of women. Marion McDougall has been leading the reverse mortgage servicing company Celink since 2021. Kristen Seiffert has been a top leader at Finance of America Cos., parent of Finance of America Reverse (FAR). Also in the C-suite is Melissa Macerato, chief revenue and marketing officer for Longbridge Financial since 2012. And many women are climbing the ladder behind them. At Longbridge, for example, 62 percent of managers are women, according to Macerato. “Continuing to give women the opportunity to earn and hold significant senior-level roles and providing them the opportunity to lead and help form the culture of the industry are critical,” she says. Indeed, female leaders argue that the reverse mortgage business can be a good fit for women. They cite its flexibility in comparison with the forward mortgage sector. Some note the characteristics that make a successful reverse lender dovetail with the strengths of many women. “You have to be able to use both sides of your brain,” says Melinda Hipp, CRMP, an area sales manager for Mutual of Omaha Reverse Mortgage, referring to the logical left side of the brain and the more emotional right side. “There are very few people who can do that. I’m not saying men can’t. But I do find women are better able to switch from left to right brain.” Nonetheless, the industry’s female leaders see room for improvement, particularly in reverse mortgage’s ability to attract and promote other women. They see mentoring as a critical component of that effort. “It can be a long-term mentoring relationship, or it can be one conversation,” says Kellan Brown, senior vice president of business development and strategic partnerships at FAR. “The most important thing is what you take out of the conversation and what you do with the knowledge shared with you.” Female Reverse Mortgage Executives Discuss Their Careers and Offer Advice for Other Women By Joel Berg REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 19
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