Marion McDougall CEO, Celink Marion McDougall Marion McDougall was born and raised in Germany, where her father was stationed while in the U.S. Army. “I came to the U.S. in the 1980s, and I started in banking. Fast-forward 35-plus years later, I have spent most of my career working in the financial industry and found it challenging and fulfilling.” McDougall says. “I have met many incredible, smart and caring people in our industry, and it has been the best experience.” McDougall lives in the Dallas area with her husband. Her two sons and their families also live in Texas. Her first experience with reverse mortgages was from 2012 to 2014 and then again in 2019. “It is such a needed product. To be able to tell your spouse, your family members, your friends that your job is to help seniors age in place is such a privilege to me,” she says. “I have also been able to watch how seniors have embraced technology to gather information on their reverse mortgage and transact digitally. The reverse mortgage is going to become one of the most important products in our country. Today, we have 54 million seniors—65-plus years old. By 2060, we will have 95 million seniors.” McDougall says she feels mentored every day by the people she works with, including her executive leadership team, managers, employees, clients and borrowers. “I have also had the privilege of meeting and working with extraordinary people in our industry,” McDougall says. “Early in my career, I had a supervisor who taught me to have more compassion and patience. Leading by example is still one of my most important rules.” One of her mentors was a process engineer with a discipline that took the company to the next level. “Another mentor was a people leader. He had the touch, the presence, the compassion, and you felt appreciated for your hard work,” she says. Patty Wills, CRMP Director of Reverse Sales, Open Mortgage Patty Wills Patty Wills, CRMP, was working as a branch manager for a forward mortgage company. “But after the birth of my second child, I decided it was too much being on call on weekends and evenings,” she says. Wills then worked in her husband’s law office and eventually found herself working full time. She was planning to dive back into the forward business. But one day, she went out for breakfast and spied a newspaper left on a table. She picked it up, noticed the help-wanted section was open and spotted an ad for a company looking for someone to open a reverse mortgage branch in her area. She applied for it and was hired. “Before that, I had looked into a reverse mortgage for my mother, but nobody had heard of them. My mother ended up selling her house and was forever sorry,” Wills says. “I know what happens when you don’t look at a reverse mortgage and don’t know they’re available.” In addition to the opportunity to help seniors, she has found that the industry offers flexibility. “You need to be able to do what a forward originator does, you have to be able to work with numbers, you have to like talking to people, and you have to want to solve problems,” she says. “But the process for reverse mortgages is longer term, which gives you the flexibility to spread out your appointments. It doesn’t mean it’s less time. It’s just done a little differently.” REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 23
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