Why I became a NAMMBA Visionary Ambassador
By Suha Beidas Zehl, Chief Innovation Officer, BlackFin Group
Flashback to 2002; I had just returned home to the US after living overseas for 10 years. I was a senior technology and analytics leader in the Higher Education vertical BUT I could not land any interviews, let alone get hired. This was right after 9/11; and diversity & inclusion were definitely not such a high priority for the nation. If I’m totally honest, the sentiment was anything but – especially for someone returning from the Middle East with “Suha” as her first name.
I probably spent close to six months sending out cover letters and resumes to no avail. I applied to every posting and role I believed I was a good fit for based on my experience and skillset.
Yet I did not land a single interview. Not one!
What’s a girl to do? A close friend suggested I sign up with a temporary agency and see where that lands me. So that’s what I did – after all, a girl’s gotta eat and pay her bills. I never felt it was “beneath” me; and on my third placement, I got assigned to a startup, faith-based, mortgage lender that needed some data entry work. The rest, as they say, is history; and here I am, 20 years later – thriving in the one industry that welcomed me and gave me the opportunity and the space to pivot and change lanes, to learn and to grow.
In those early days, there really weren’t that many mentors or leaders willing to advocate for and support someone just starting out – especially not for women or minorities. We’ve all heard it before, at one conference or another, how it was lonely in those early days, how we all felt siloed, how we had to learn the ropes by ourselves, without any guidance, and how the support system that is the foundation of our industry these days did not exist – at least not for someone like me.
Back then, there also weren’t any groups, trade organizations, or non-profits, like NAMMBA, for someone like me to join, learn, and thrive.
And that is EXACTLY why I jumped at the opportunity to become a NAMMBA Visionary Ambassador; and later, a member of its Board of Governors.
“It is no secret that our industry leadership is retiring out of their positions; and we are going to need exponential leadership growth to fill that vacuum,” Tony Thompson, Founder and CEO of NAMMBA recently said. As leaders, it is our responsibility to create spaces and opportunities for the next generation that will lead our industry – an industry that truly represents the backbone of our economy. Collectively, we each have a story to tell, knowledge to communicate, and experiences to share – and being a NAMMBA Visionary encapsulates everything we need to do right now.
Becoming a NAMMBA Visionary Ambassador speaks directly to the mission of the organization to engage, educate, and develop the careers of women, minorities, and their allies in the mortgage industry. But more than that – it speaks directly to my passion and my purpose to help others grow personally and professionally, to help them achieve their potential and live their best life. I want to become a part of the movement and the change that our industry desperately needs to develop diverse leaders who will take the helm in years to come.
Mentoring can be traced back to ancient Greece as a technique to impart to the young important social, spiritual, and personal values. Mentoring as we know it today is loosely modeled on the historical craftsman and apprentice relationship, where young people learned a trade by shadowing the master artisan. And by becoming a Visionary Ambassador, I am accepting that role of master artisan, helping an up-and-coming professional navigate the unchartered waters of the mortgage lending industry.
By becoming a Visionary Ambassador and accepting the role of a mentor, I have the opportunity to interact and share these stories with my mentees, to invest time in their growth and take a genuine interest in their development, to guide and help them curate their own network of peers, to provide honest, caring, and relevant feedback. I am building trust and shaping the future of our industry.