Her Story
About Evelyn
My career in the mortgage industry began in an unexpected way. After graduating from Georgia State University with a marketing degree, I sent out 100 resumes to 100 companies and received 100 rejections. At the time, I was working as a paralegal for a real estate law firm that closed loans. I looked around at the industry I knew and asked myself, who makes money in this industry? The answer was loan officers. So I started my search on how to become a loan officer, and I was hired by Bank Boston Mortgage Company for my first loan officer job. I spent over 30 years as a loan officer before deciding I didn't want to do that anymore. I then went to work for the builder D.R. Horton as a credit consultant, a role I've held for about 8 years now. In my current position, I work with about 30 loan officers who send me credit reports. I simulate what score their clients can achieve, in what time period, and how much debt the borrower needs to pay off. I manage about 250 people in my pipeline right now, each with different graduation dates, and I follow up with them to see how they're coming along with the action items I've requested. What makes this work so fulfilling is that I help people get credit scores where they can actually purchase their first home and guide them through how to get and keep good credit scores. I take responsibility for helping people get into homes that they otherwise would never have been able to do.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Evelyn
01What do you attribute your success to?
I have an amazing work ethic that I got from my dad. He instilled in me the values of hard work and dedication that have carried me throughout my career. I also learned early on to be what I call 'the party of yes.' A mentor of mine, Vicki Miller, who was a highly successful executive at First Atlanta Bank, told me that she attributed her success to simply being a yes person. When something needed to be done, she would automatically say yes, even if it wasn't fun or something she was particularly interested in. That advice transformed my career because instead of turning things down, I said yes to everything, which made me more successful because I learned so much from those experiences. Being the party of yes has been instrumental in my career growth.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was from a woman named Vicki Miller, who worked in the banking industry and was highly successful. I asked her what she attributed her success to, and she said, 'I'm just a yes person. If there's something that needs to be done, and they come to our group or whatever it is, I'll automatically say yes, I can do that.' That has been incredible career advice because normally people would say, 'Oh, but that's not fun, I don't want to do that' or 'It's not something that I'm interested in doing.' But she just said yes to everything, and it made her more successful because she learned so much from that. So I became the party of yes, and it transformed my career. I'm like, the party of yes.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say exactly what Vicki said, and just be the party of yes. Don't turn anything down. When opportunities come your way, even if they don't seem fun or interesting at first, say yes to them. You'll learn so much from those experiences, and it will make you more successful in the long run. That willingness to take on new challenges and responsibilities, even when they're outside your comfort zone, is what will help you grow and advance in your career.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me are trust, honesty, morals, values, and ethics. These principles guide everything I do, both in my professional work helping people achieve homeownership and in my personal life. They form the foundation of how I interact with clients, colleagues, and everyone I work with.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Georgia
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.