SPECIAL REPORT
WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2019 MELANIE MCLISTER Co-founder and broker of record intelliMortgage
A former equities trader, Melanie McLister began her mortgage career 12 years ago. Early on, she recognized a growing demand among tech-savvy borrowers for an online mortgage transaction. That prompted her to launch MyVirtualMortgageBroker.com and, in 2011, to co-develop intelliMortgage, Canada’s first DIY mortgage brokerage. “Underlying the business model for intelliMortgage was my desire to deliver a product in full transparency that referred clients to the product best suited for them, even if it came from a non-broker-channel lender,” McLister says. That approach helped build the business from one employee in 2007 to a dozen in 2019, culminating in a 35% year-to-date growth rate in 2019. Earlier this year, McLister led the sale of her brokerage and rate comparison website, RateSpy.com, to Kanetix; she remains broker of record with the mandate of doubling business output in 2020. “My proudest accomplishment is that my efforts have directly advanced the self-directed mortgage model,” she says.
PAULA NEEDLER Director of operations SafeBridge Financial Group
After 20 years in the mortgage industry, Paula Needler says she still gets excited about helping brokers meet and exceed their goals. Needler started her career with CIBC, then moved to Mortgage Alliance as a consulting support manager before joining SafeBridge Financial Group as the director of operations and compliance, where she has helped support more than 400 mortgage agents. At SafeBridge, Needler puts a priority on ensuring the best practices and processes are in place to allow team members to focus on building their mortgage practice. Needler says her favourite part of her role at SafeBridge is the ability to wear many different hats at one time. “Whether I’m focused on coaching, operations, marketing, team planning or sales, I love the challenge of constantly learning and growing in order to better serve my agents,” she says. “Watching our team and team members reach and exceed targets year over year is a gift, and one that I take very seriously. Seeing the team grow and succeed in a competitive industry is as satisfying as it is challenging.”
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MICHELLE DROVER Vice-president – Atlantic Canada Premiere Mortgage Centre
Michelle Drover’s 30-plus years of experience in the financial services industry has encompassed a wide range of roles in both sales management and leadership, as well as working as both a lender and a broker. Her enthusiasm to maintain and elevate the integrity of the industry is contagious, and she shares this energy as an industry advocate and mentor to her peers and clients. Outside of her work at Premiere Mortgage Centre, Drover is a committee member for the Mortgage Awards of Excellence and MPC’s Atlantic chapter. She received the WIMI Ambassador Award in 2018 and recently received the Dave MacVicar Memorial Award, which recognizes individuals who exemplify outstanding leadership, professionalism and commitment in Atlantic Canada’s mortgage industry. She also serves as director and VP of the nonprofit Adventure CAMP and Challenge, which helps at-risk children and teens.
NIKKI CAREW Mortgage broker East Coast Mortgage Brokers
Nikki Carew began her career in the financial services industry in 2005 with President’s Choice Financial. She joined the broker channel six years ago and has grown her business to an annual volume of more than $30 million. She also serves as the Newfoundland director of CMBA Atlantic Canada and was a 2018 WIMI ambassador and chairperson for the Brokering Wishes Gala for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. “The mortgage industry is definitely one that is challenging; however, life this year decided to challenge me in a completely different way – with breast cancer,” Carew says. She encourages her peers to “ensure you are putting your health first. Get your screenings, and if you don’t feel like something feels right, go to have it checked and don’t take no for an answer. And have those discussions with other women in your life; you could save theirs.”
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