You are Your Own Advocate

While some might find the financial industry less than thrilling, our Chief Financial Officer enjoys the everyday changes in the mortgage industry. This small-town Illinois girl found that accounting was a career perfect for her.

Meet Morgan, mother of three, wife, financial strategist, and our very own CFO – this ODU graduate is no stranger to numbers.  After pursuing her business degree with a concentration in accounting she found herself interning at a public accounting firm. Post-graduation she then took a full-time job with that very same firm.

On finding her happy medium

Fast forward 10 years to becoming senior manager with the same firm and realizing that working 70 hours a week during tax season while gaining her newest title, “Mom,” wasn’t the work-family-life balance she’d hoped for.

She found herself typically working with banks full of men and sitting around a board room table where she was the only female. “I was always working with older men on the board or male partners at the firm and I was on my way to partnership, but the balance just wasn’t there.”

Queue Atlantic Bay, the place where she feels like everyone is truly family. Morgan made the biggest (and best) career transition by moving into the mortgage industry with no regrets and better yet, no gender gaps.

Through her experience working for Atlantic Bay, she has taken advantage of any opportunity she was given. She’s attributed saying "Yes" to new tasks and staying nimble to being the main factors that have carved the way to becoming CFO.

"It’s important to always be willing to learn, adapt, and take on new initiatives. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you think you deserve and what you want, don’t be afraid to ask for that salary increase or promotion. It’s hard, but you need to do it because you’re your own advocate.”

On the importance of great leaders

Empowering women sets the tone for her leadership style.

"A great leader is someone who helps the people reporting to them meet their best potential, great leaders have great people behind them. And I tell my managers that all the time – I wouldn’t be here focusing on the things I need to if it weren’t for them,” Morgan says.

She makes it a point to meet with the managers on her team weekly and discuss their hopes and desires to ensure that they are happy.

“My advice to other women (and everyone) is to not let that hold you back and think you can’t make it to the top because the top is dominated by men. Here at Atlantic Bay, the owners are men, but they surround themselves with the best person for the job, it doesn’t matter who that is - man or woman. It’s interesting that a lot of the leaders here at Atlantic Bay are women, it’s really refreshing to know that there are no bars or glass ceilings here.”

To Morgan, success means different things to different people in different seasons of their life.

"Being good at what you do and supporting the people that work for you…and right now I feel successful,” Morgan says.

Morgan reflects that one of the most empowering things on being a woman in business is that you can indeed have it all.

“You can have it all, you can be successful in work and also be a good mother, and a good wife, and you can be an inspiration for the people on your team, as well. All while making sure that we’re there for each other and helping each other is so important. At Atlantic Bay, we’re family and we treat one another like family.”