Of Mortgages & Mommying
| September 14, 2016
FAMILY MEANS BUSINESS “I simply told the manager that our company is a family-friendly environment which works very well for us and if that isn’t what they are looking for we’re not going to be a good fit. She was actually very impressed; I had someone make her a coffee while I took five minutes to care for the baby then we got down to business.”
Name: Ann Zeilingold│Profession: Mortgage Broker│Location: Wesley Hills New York
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nn Zeilingold has been working in real estate and mortgages for her whole career. As producing manager of FM Home Loans in Monsey for the last 13 years Ann runs the office and also works directly with clients who need mortgages. “Families come to us before putting a down payment and signing on a new home. Once a family finds a home they have a limited amount of time to arrange a mortgage to cover the remaining cost. I’m constantly juggling deadlines and negotiating for large amounts of money under somewhat stressful conditions.”
A Balancing Act
Ann’s job offers her the opportunity to use a wide range of skills: communication management creativity professionalism — and juggling. As a mother of nine who works 45 to 70 hours a week Ann has found strategies to achieve balance in her work-home life. “I can arrange my own schedule without compromising my priorities ” she shares. “For instance when my kids were little I didn’t want to leave them all day with a babysitter so I converted one room of the office into a playroom.”
This room proved invaluable allowing her to take nursing breaks between clients and also provided child care for Ann’s employees which Ann observes made them happier and more productive. Occasionally a client who comes in with a baby or toddler will leave the child in the playroom while conducting business.
Ann recalls an incident that could have become quite awkward. “Once the babysitter brought me my baby to nurse just as I was about to begin a meeting with an investment manager who was considering referring clients to me.
“I simply told the manager that our company is a family-friendly environment which works very well for us and if that isn’t what they are looking for we’re not going to be a good fit. She was actually very impressed. I had someone make her a coffee while I took five minutes to care for the baby then we got down to business.”
Ann has experienced a number of challenges throughout the years. Balancing a demanding career with raising a large family hasn’t been easy and she credits her husband an accountant with his own firm for helping make it all work. “When the children were young we had a very tight schedule of tag-team parenting. Over the years we’ve traded off but mostly he would do mornings and I would do afternoons.”
She still gets up early to go to the gym by five prioritizing her self-care because she realizes it’s critical to hold everything else together. Now that their children are older Ann and her husband have a bit more flexibility but it still takes a good deal of planning to cover all the bases.
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