Rising to the Top continued from page 21 Rising to the Top continued on page 24 Melissa Macerato Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, Longbridge Financial LLC Melissa Macerato Melissa Macerato has spent her entire career in the financial services arena, with the past 16 years dedicated to the reverse mortgage industry. “Before starting with Longbridge Financial 11 years ago, I held roles at large corporate organizations, including MetLife and GE Capital,” Macerato says. “I often travel for my job and enjoy it, but when I’m not on the road I work from my office at my home in the Philadelphia area, where I live with my husband and two teenage children.” She started in the reverse mortgage industry while working at MetLife Bank, where reverse mortgages were a product the parent company wanted to better understand and learn more about. “So, as a special project, I did a great deal of due diligence in understanding the product and the industry before we decided to jump into the reverse business at MetLife,” Macerato says. “After a yearlong test, we decided to purchase Everbank Reverse Mortgage and dive into the business.” She helped develop television spots, hired hundreds of loan officers and embarked on what she says was an amazing time for the industry. “And also, for my career,” she adds. “After MetLife exited the banking and mortgage businesses, I connected with Chris Mayer and a few others, and we started Longbridge Financial LLC.” Over the years, she says, the biggest opportunities came about because of managers and mentors who believed in her and gave her a chance. “This is something that I’ve strived to emulate as I lead people at this stage in my career,” she also says. “Those who have great skills, make sound decisions and have strong overall business acumen are often highly successful in expanding their roles with the right coaching and guidance. Promoting from within and giving proven hard workers an opportunity to step up and grow their careers is something I pride myself on—and I’m thrilled that we’ve built this into our culture at Longbridge.” “They work incredibly hard,” she says. “But I believe that being able to walk their children to the bus stop or pick them up at the bus stop is a big deal right now. They may balance it out by working at night. But those few moments that they can create during the day are a huge benefit. And I think that’s helped us in recruiting younger female leaders.” To ensure senior leaders continue to benefit from mentorship, McDougall has been finding ways to replicate the spontaneous, informal conversations that arise in a physical office. She uses Microsoft Teams, for example, to see who is free and calls them up, which is not so different from seeing an open door and popping in for a conversation. On those calls, McDougall might ask about a new initiative, a customer-service problem or another business-related item. “I truly find that more effective than anything else,” McDougall says. “And our women leaders love it when they hear directly from the CEO.” But while the conversations may start with challenges for the business, McDougall sees one of her ultimate goals as encouraging female leaders to embrace new career challenges. Women often hesitate, especially if a role is unfamiliar, she says. “We worry too much about whether we can do it,” she adds. McDougall understands the reticence firsthand. She was offered several CEO jobs before she took the top job 22 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
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