This month I have the pleasure of speaking with Jay Arneja. Jay is the Vice President of Industry Strategy with Digital Mortgage Solutions, nCino.

Jay came to the US as a teenager. She completed her education in the U.S. and France and headed into the mortgage industry right out of school. She says her passion for learning, reading, history, economics and housing placed her in a career that allows her to spend her days doing many of the things she loves and that are meaningful to her.

Jay is married with two children and is also mom to an amazing golden retriever.

How did you get your start in the mortgage industry?

I started in the call center, making cold contact leads and scheduling closings. I moved up the ladder to requesting appraisals and credit and from there I moved to loan processing until I was doing closings and finally running closing departments. I stayed at that for over 15 years.

What does being a trailblazer mean to you?

For me, being a trailblazer means being comfortable with being first. Whatever the issue or situation, you are the first to ask tough questions about how the process is going to work and where the steps need to be placed for an optimal outcome.

Trailblazing is intuitive and requires courage and the willingness to make a mistake and carry on to the next question. It is being able to take constructive criticism, learn from it and carry that new information in to the next pursuit for the greater good for your company and your industry.

Where do you see yourself and women in general in the industry over the next five years?

In a short sentence, successful in their pursuits. I see women becoming successful in whatever path they choose to follow, professionally and personally. Whatever the challenge, be it marketing, brand creation, engineering, product management, customer success, implementations, authoring books on mortgage education, consulting, or leadership, women have pushed open the doors and are stepping through in greater numbers than ever before.

What is your professional superpower?

Thoroughness and detail. Nothing gets through the cracks with me. I keep my priorities at the top of my list and use several different methods to Decide, Do, Delegate, and Delete so my list is always up to date and reflects the items that need to be handled in the timeliest fashion. These are my four D’s and they help me organize and keep on top of my to do lists.

My passion is home ownership streamlined through use of the latest technology. That is the calling I see as most important to me professionally and personally and it is the guide by which I arrange my days. When you love what you do, it becomes your superpower. Today, this chapter is being fulfilled at nCino, via the nCino Mortgage Suite.

Tell us something about your career in the mortgage industry that was pivotal to your achievements today.

The most pivotal moment in my career to date was my shift from operations to automation back in the early 2000’s. I was witnessing a fundamental shift in our industry that was bringing new technology into our processes at a phenomenal pace.

I had been in the mortgage business for about 15 years by then and the change in technology brought with it a plethora of new roles that needed to be created and filled. I moved into a Product Manager position that allowed me to work with engineers and IT to develop and implement new technologies that made the mortgage process faster, easier, and more streamlined.

Working with the professionals in the development field inspired me to start seeking out new technology and partnerships with the people who were making these tools a reality.

What advice would you give to a woman entering or trying to move up in their mortgage career?

I have five specific pieces of advice to give:

Remain coachable — always willing to learn and take correction.

Be willing to take on a new role and learn while on the job.

Be willing to walk away if your strengths aren’t being given the opportunities. Even if you are the best peach, somebody making apple pie has no use for you.

Read, read, and read the mortgage documents. Then read them again. You will learn more from them than you realize.

Seek out collaborators. Relationships and partnerships drive success.

What is the most important thing for a woman in the mortgage industry to cultivate professionally and personally?

The answer for me is brand. She should work to establish herself as her own brand and make herself memorable.

Working hard is important but making sure what you bring to the table is in fact what is most needed at the moment within your organization is important. You can do that by building your brand of adaptability, passion for the work you do, passion for your team’s success, and passion for the end borrower.

A great way to develop your personal brand is to share. Share your knowledge and experiences with those around you and be open and willing to learn from them. The relationships forged through shared information leave a lasting impression on both parties.

What does success mean to you?

I believe success is a very individual and personal measure. Everyone is going to feel successful for different reasons. For me, the term success is mutable.

I have defined success differently through the seasons of my life and as I go along, I begin to liberally add items like balance, health, and family to my list.

Thirty years ago, my career was all encompassing. But marrying, having a family, and getting older have changed my perspective of success to include my personal life as well.

Trailblazing is intuitive and requires courage and the willingness to make a mistake and carry on to the next question.

What do you enjoy doing outside of our industry?

I enjoy watching cricket, baseball, softball and basketball. Any level from Little League to the pros.

I love the outdoors and walking out in the fresh air is a joy to me.

As far as vacation time, anywhere near the water is a must, summer or winter.

I love spending time with family and friends and enjoying the company of those most important to me.

How do you recommend navigating change in an industry that is always changing and growing?

Business always runs in cycles. I have experienced at least five or six of these cycles in my career and there is always change during and after. Some changes are small, others monumental but they are always moving things forward and in a new, exciting direction.

There are always new opportunities arising from the challenges of business. I have found that the best way to navigate and make decisions is to focus on the work and allow the new to be a positive change, not something to be feared or avoided.

The cycles have allowed me to explore parts of our industry I didn’t know much about, and the learning opportunity has been fascinating and satisfying for me. I had a chance to take on two years of consulting and contract work and learned more than I could have imagined in that period.

Being open and willing to take on challenges and new experiences is both exhilarating and brings its own type of success.

Do you think it is important to have a mentor?

Absolutely, I do. A mentor can guide you and suggest options you might not have considered. They may have experience in areas you don’t, and their perspective can be very valuable when trying to make impactful decisions about your life or career.

I would also say that a mentor can be very different from a coach or sponsor. Finding those around you who can cover all three would be wise, especially for those just starting out in their working life.

What do you want to be remembered for in our industry?

Quite simply, I would like to be remembered for making the mortgage application process easier, faster, and more accessible for everyone using the latest digital technology.

How do you find your voice?

When you do what you love and are passionate about the tasks you take on each day, speaking out isn’t difficult.

I find joy, peace, and motivation in my profession and I am always eager to share my knowledge and experience with others. I follow people in the industry who are impactful on the way we do things, and this gives me more inspiration.

There are many of us who have been in the business for a long time, and we have vast quantities of experience and lessons learned to share. Speaking up and out is a wonderful way of giving back and ensuring that the mortgage business continues to grow and progress.

What is your biggest fear and why?

I have two fears for our industry.

First, that we would somehow be forced to go back to using paper applications and would lose vital data.

Second, that the process would become so onerous and getting a mortgage so difficult, that most people would simply give up on the dream of home ownership and continue to rent.

I find joy, peace and motivation in my profession and I am always eager to share my knowledge and experience with others. I follow people in the industry who are impactful on the way we do things, and this gives me more inspiration.

What’s your favorite book or podcast that you would recommend and why?

The Almighty by Irving Wallace is a favorite read. It’s an older book but still intriguing and entertaining.

I also enjoy the Chrisman series — Chrisman Commentary, Now, Next, Later, and Friday Roundup. I get a ton of the latest industry news from Chrisman.

How do we propel more women into leadership roles within our industry?

One of the things I believe most earnestly is that “if you can see it, you can be it.”

Learning to envision yourself in the position or role you want gives you a clear goal and healthy motivation to attain that career milestone. Seeing yourself in the place you want to be can boost your confidence and give your mind a reason to see the goal as a reality, even before you set foot on the path to get there.

I was once part of a discussion that dealt with this topic. Let me share with you what I learned.

When men want something in our industry or are making a deal, they generally ask for it up front. The ask is a starting point of conversation. You can call it being direct or being forthright, but it is a highly effective way of focussing the conversation on the place they want to get to without allowing extraneous issues to obscure the end goal.

They seem to be able to see the goalpost and head toward it without breaking stride to glance at the sidelines.

Women seem to engage in small talk first. They might ask about families or vacations or aging parents. They choose a more meandering path to the subject at hand, and it can distract or take away from the impact of the request in the long run. It might be that the person thinks the end goal is simply friendship, and it derails an otherwise important conversation.

The difference in approach between the genders is just something I have observed in my years in business. Not everyone follows this pattern, but I have noticed a difference when I am involved in a discussion with a man or a woman.

I think getting women into more leadership roles will be partly achieved by encouraging them to get straight to the ask. The direct approach has served men well and I think women who adopt this method of negotiation will see a difference in the way their request is received and given consideration by the person they are asking.

By envisioning the ask as being granted and the goal being achieved, there is a greater chance that will become the reality.

What are the next steps for you in your career?

I have been in the industry 32 years now. I have loved every minute and still find my career to be exciting, invigorating and I learn something new every day!

One of the things that has always been fascinating to me is housing policy. I think about how policy that affects our industry is shaped and implemented and I feel like being allowed to share my experience and the information I have absorbed over all those years would be an honor and I would hope that, at some point in the future, I could find a way to do that and give back to the industry and its clients who have given me so much.

I am a believer in the right of everyone to own a home and have something that is theirs. It is a milestone in life that everybody should have the opportunity to experience. That belief drives me every day.

Making the mortgage process easy is something that I strive for when I arrive in the office in the morning and think about when I lock the door and lock up for in the evening.

For those in the industry, keep trying. Even if you falter, get up and move forward. Learning from the failures means a greater chance of success in the long run.