with Marcia Davies Chief Operating Officer at the Mortgage Bankers Association
How to create more space for women in mortgage Here are some things women can do to champion each other Marcia Davies not only serves as the chief operating officer at the Mortgage Bankers Association, but she also founded and leads the association’s networking platform for women in the real estate finance industry, mPower.
As a mentor and advocate for women in the industry, HousingWire interviewed Davies on its female financial empowerment podcast, Girlfunds, to learn more about leadership and what women can do to better support other women. HousingWire: What is one statistic around women in the workforce that has always stood out to you? Marcia Davies: Recently, a Harvard Business Review report caught my eye. Companies with the most ethnically diverse leadership teams are 33% more likely to outperform their peers on profitability, and specifically speaking to women, those with executive-level gender diversity worldwide had a 21% higher likelihood of outperforming their industry competitors. The data stands the test of time and highlights how diversity, and specifically gender diversity and leadership, is good business. So simply stated, the more diverse your leadership team is overall, the more profitable and successful your company will be.
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HW: What was it like starting out in our industry as a woman and what changes are you seeing in this? MD: I started in the industry 30 years ago, and you’re right, there weren’t many women in the industry. As I grew in my career, there became more and more frequent times when I was the only woman in the room. I didn’t have a network of other women that I could go to and bounce ideas off of, or to talk about challenges I was having. What would have been helpful is having a group like mPower, or more women around where we could talk about what we were facing, and problem solve together and make sure that our male counterparts were aware of some of the things that we were facing in the workplace. And I think about “imposter syndrome.” It’s that little voice in your head that makes you question, “Can I do
this? Should I really be here? I was ‘lucky’ to get here?” It would have been helpful as I was navigating my career to know that was a real thing. I just thought it was my own self-doubt. HW: How can we create more opportunities within our industry and even outside to help create more space for other women to succeed and lead? MD: I love being asked questions that are actionable. I think we need to mentor, sponsor and lift women up. It sounds simple, but as you know, when everybody’s busy at work, sometimes you forget that you need to make the time to sponsor and lift other women up. And if you’re fortunate enough to be in a leadership role, I do believe it’s your responsibility to send that elevator back down and lift other women up so that they can have opportunities. They can really have the advantage of someone investing in them to make sure that they are successful so they can thrive. The other thing is, we have to be able to sponsor and support women. You may have a colleague who, whether young or a seasoned professional, doesn’t often speak up for the great work that they’re doing. So, when you’re in a meeting, and it’s appropriate to mention that Sally did this amazing work where people can be made aware of it, we should leverage it. You need to be the person who can sponsor that woman when they’re not in the room and also help advocate for them. As women, we are not usually strong advocates for ourselves. We assume our good work is just going to be recognized. Well, ladies, we have to learn to toot our own horn. And I’m not saying do it to the point where we’re going to blow it, but we do need to make sure our good work is recognized. I always say to tell people what you’ve accomplished and I guarantee you, it’s more than they even realized.
APRIL 2021
