DelMonte built her career from the ground up. Here's what she says women need to do the same
Women make up a significant share of the mortgage workforce, but their representation thins sharply as you move up the org chart. The gap between those who enter the industry and those who reach the executive level is not simply a pipeline problem.
The good news is that the industry has produced a generation of women who navigated all of it and are now in a position to show others the way. Some of them built their own companies. Some of them sat through boardroom conversations where they were the only woman in the room and kept showing up anyway.
Donna DelMonte (pictured top), COO of OCMBC, Inc., has worn just about every hat the mortgage industry offers.
From posting paper checks in a servicing department 35 years ago to her current role, DelMonte’s career cuts across nearly every corner of the business, including operations, underwriting, credit, retail, wholesale, and executive leadership.
When she speaks about what it takes for women to succeed in mortgage, she is not offering theory. She is drawing on three and a half decades of hard-earned experience. When she finally reached the executive table, sometimes as the only woman in the room, she had already mastered the fundamentals that made her hard to overlook.
That grounding in the basics is the one piece of advice she would give any woman looking to break into the industry today.
"Make sure you understand the business from end to end," DelMonte told Mortgage Professional America. "Don't pick sales or pick ops, but don't shortchange yourself by trying to go too fast. What you really want to do is understand — otherwise you become a jack of all trades, master of none. And you really need to learn it. And if you learn it and understand it, you're going to get to that next role."
Build it from the ground up
It is advice that maps directly onto her own path.
Her first job was at a Thrift and Loan in Corona del Mar, California. She worked in almost every stage of lending, from loan processing, closing, funding, credit, and underwriting.
That breadth of knowledge ultimately gave her the range to take on executive roles that required understanding the entire manufacturing line, not just one piece of it.
"When you get to that next role, you'll be able to train the people that are reporting up to you," she said. "You'll move through the organization, and you'll have a much wider breadth to move into in a larger role. You need to understand the task. What are you looking at? What does this mean? What is that document? And if you do that properly, it's going to help you develop your education, your career."
But technical knowledge is only part of it. DelMonte places equal weight on the posture a young professional brings to the room. Asking questions, volunteering to cross-train, and raising a hand when something is unclear are the habits that separate people who advance from people who plateau.
"You just want to build a strong foundation and understand what you're doing and ask," she said. "I tell people all the time, raise your hand if you don't know. Push yourself, ask the people around you. You have extra time, go sit with somebody else to cross-train. Ask the question, speak up. No question is a bad question. And just keep going."
She also wants women to understand that setbacks are not detours.
"People should stress resilience," DelMonte said. "Setbacks are part of the process. It's not a sign to stop."
A seat at the table, and what comes next
DelMonte said times have changed for women in the industry. There was a time, she recalls, when she was the only woman at the table and faced real resistance. The assumption was that operations was a woman's lane and sales was not, that certain rooms were not built for her.
"I think that you have to show your ability," she said. "I think you have to ask questions. You've got to get yourself to a seat at the table. And when you do that, and you can work with the other executives, regardless of gender, you'll be known for what your leadership is and your skills and your ability. I don't sit in a room anymore and think I'm the only woman here. I'm joined by other women. I'm speaking to my peers, and they're listening to us."
She credits much of that change to the proliferation of women's networks, mentoring programs, and educational resources that have emerged across the industry over the past decade.
"There are so many women's groups that are out there that they can join," DelMonte said. "Get invited to a dinner with different people, discuss, and you put yourself out there. It's going to mean a lot for you."
For DelMonte, mentorship is also something leaders owe the people below them.
"You lead by example," she said. "You want to make sure that you know what to do and that you're showing them how to do it. You give them an opportunity, you spend time with them, and you give them a roadmap. Get them engaged, get the women out there, get them participating."
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