May-June2020 Issue

Former FAR Rookie of the Year Sets New Goals With New Position A Chat With Jill Portilla, CRMP By Mark Olshaker CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table “I WAS THE GIRL who sat up front in class and always raised her hand,” says Jill Portilla, HomeSafe concierge manager and loan officer for Finance of America Reverse LLC in Lakeside, CA. From an early age, Portilla wanted to know all the answers and has been eager to put in the work to achieve that, which helps explain her success in the reverse mortgage industry. Portilla attained her CRMP designation in October 2019. At Finance of America Reverse (FAR), she has been entrusted to promote, sell and service its range of proprietary products. Portilla has been in sales since earning a master’s degree in business management from San Diego State University in 2005. Born and raised in San Diego, she worked at the Cheesecake Factory as a server and trained the staff on the front desk. “I was on track to become a manager when I realized that restaurant management was not what I wanted to do,” Portilla remembers. “I was able to get a good job at Goal Financial, helping students consolidate their educational loans and parents take out government-backed PLUS [Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students] loans. I really loved it and quickly hit the top ten in the company. But then the government changed the guidelines and Goal Financial and its competitors all went away.” Portilla followed co-workers from Goal Financial and started selling life insurance, which she did for five years. “It wasn’t my favorite job, but I was good at it and came in top 12 for the quarter multiple times.” After her daughter was born—18 months after her son—Portilla’s husband, Peter, who worked in two-way radio sales, encouraged her to take an extended maternity leave and stay home with the kids. “Once our son started kindergarten, though, I was anxious to get back to work and back on track with my career,” she says. “My brother-in-law Eric Alon worked at FAR and said, ‘Jill, this place is great. You have to come work here.’ So here I am.” In a sense, Alon was repaying a favor. Portilla had met him while selling life insurance and introduced him to her sister, his future wife. Portilla joined FAR in late 2016 and by the next year was excelling. “Like anything new, it took me some time to acclimate,” she recalls. “But after a few months, I got the swing of things. I ended up winning Rookie of the Year based on my performance and recently received FAR’s President’s Club Award, given by FAR President Kristen Sieffert to recognize team members who are top leaders.” Her current position allows her to lead FAR’s borrower engagement efforts. FAR has been investing in ways to elevate the client experience post-funding and to give Jill Portilla 18 REVERSE MORTGAGE / MAY-JUNE 2020