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Posted: June 21, 2016
2016 Women in Real Estate: Felice Shapiro
Felice Shapiro, AmTrust Title Insurance Co.Name: Felice Shapiro
Title: SVP and Chief Underwriter
Email: [email protected]
Years in real estate: 33 years
Company Name: AmTrust Title Insurance Company
Year Founded: 2012
URL: www.amtrusttitlegroup.com
Telephone: 646- 354-2472
How did you get your start in real estate?
I began my career in real estate in 1983 as a junior attorney at Title Guarantee Title Insurance Company. I have spent my entire real estate career in the title insurance industry in both a legal and management role.
What real estate associations or organizations are you a member of?
New York State Land Title Association and the Title Insurance Rate Service Association (New York rating bureau).
What recent honor, achievement or recognition has meant the most to you and why?
I was the first female president of the New York State Land Title Association in 1998 and that is an honor that I am particularly proud of; the legal side of the title insurance industry had been male dominated and my being President was the beginning of a changing of the guard.
What have been some of the benefits of being a mentor or having a mentor?
I didn’t have just one mentor over the course of my career, but believed it watching and learning from all the more experienced members of the title insurance legal and management community benefited me. As to being a mentor, I am a great believer that we need to bring the next generations into the title insurance industry and I take all opportunity to aid the industry in this way.
Who or what has been the strongest influence on your career and why?
Besides the many senior title counsel that I have worked for and alongside of, the strongest influence on my career has been my two daughters. I was a working mother, yet never felt that they got cheated in any way because of my career, but more importantly, they both saw that a woman in a mostly male industry could still achieve all that she wanted. Consequently, they have both chosen potential careers that are also male dominated; engineering and architecture.
What is the best advice you have received and who was it from?
The best advice that I received as a young title counsel was to always immediately respond to the clients call, even if just to say” I don’t presently have the answer to your question, but will research and get back to you.” This advice was from an extremely senior and distinguished counsel at my first place of employment. The title insurance industry in NYS competes on service and to him this was the highest level of service: promptly returning all calls. I have maintained this discipline with emails as well. Consequently, I have maintained a reputation for always being responsive.
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