Name: Christina Brodeur
Title: Vice President, CRE Closing Manager
Company Name: Investors Bank Commercial Real Estate Lending Group
Follow my company on Twitter @MyInvestorsBank
What year did you start your career in commercial real estate: May 2001
Real Estate Associations/Organizations:
What recent project or transaction are you most proud of?
The project I am most proud of is the recent overhaul of our loan documents, commitment letter, insurance requirements and legal process. This has been a year-long project that involved working with multiple law firms and doing research to see what is new in the marketplace and how to best anticipate and position ourselves to be up to date and a model for best practices. As the market and various lending products evolve, it is a challenge to keep up with all of the changes but it is enlightening and invigorating to spearhead such a massive project.
What recent honor, achievement or recognition has meant the most to you and why?
I was recently presented with the Investors Bank Circle of Excellence Award. This was particularly meaningful to me because it is typically awarded to loan officers or members of the retail banking network with the highest loan production. It was a tremendous honor to have my contributions to the origination process recognized and to be included with the top loan officers who combined had over $1 billion of loan production.
What is the first thing you do when you arrive in the office in the morning?
Check emails! With over a dozen loan officers, four loan closers, 20 underwriters and five regional offices which originated almost $3 billion in 2014, the volume of deals and corresponding emails are tremendous. I sort through emails to prioritize issues and start responding as soon as possible.
What time management strategies do you find to be the most effective for you?
I live by lists, reports and color coding. It is the only way to effectively keep track of all the people involved and the various stages of deals. I also set aside time to check in with various team members to see if there are any issues that need to be addressed or any areas for improvement.
What is the best advice you have received and who was it from?
The best piece of advice I ever received was from my first boss: Always reach with one hand up and one hand behind. It is just as important to support others to achieve success as it is to have the ambition to seek it for yourself.
6. List 3 women that you would like to have drinks / dinner with and where would you go? (*50 words are impossible for this question!)

The venue would be almost irrelevant because a meeting with these women would be incredible, even if it were in a paper bag.

Mellody Hobson is a candidate because she is such a diverse, strong and young entrepreneur.

Barbara Corcoran would be fascinating to meet with because she has an incredible story of how she rose to success and used the resources available to her at the time to her advantage. She saw opportunities where no one else did and turned them into gold.

Victoria Beckham would be interesting because she has gone beyond her wild success as a pop star. She has transformed herself into a serious designer (both of cars and fashion) and has created an empire of a secondary career.

All of these women have achieved enormous success in different fields and in ways other than those in which they got their start, and I find that incredibly inspiring. Having heard both Mellody and Barbara speak in the past, I'm sure it would also be wildly entertaining.
7. What is your favorite quote?

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm - Sir Winston Churchill

8. What did you want to be when you grew up?

Become a U.S. Navy Seal, then a psychologist, and then a lawyer. I really fell into commercial real estate by accident and never looked back.
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