(Recorded when Kristy was President of mortgage at Flagstar bank)

Meet Kristy Fercho, the daughter of a track coach from Compton CA on a mission to help people achieve the American dream of homeownership and she’s rocking it! a leader with GRAVITAS exuding warmth, competency, and connection. Three words describe Kristy – Energy, Light, and Grace, you’ll know exactly what that means after you tune in to this podcast.

In this episode, you can expect to hear how her father’s coaching philosophy influenced her leadership style and drives her to focus on “personal best” for herself and others.

We explore what happened that day she displayed enormous courage and vulnerability on stage that resulted in an overwhelming outpour of social media attention and support.

We dive deep into an open and honest discussion about race, gender, industry stereotypes and fitting a corporate mold.

There are valuable insights to share as we pursue our quest to find GRAVITAS.

03:00 Kristy’s story

04:57 Being your best self

09:22 Staying true to yourself

12:09 Breaking the mold

16:41 Attracting Millennials

18:34 Embracing social media

22:48 Courage, leadership and vulnerability

33:01 Advice to your 25-year-old self

35:42 What’s your legacy?

36:49 Leadership influence – see people

41:21 Gravitas - Energy, Grace & Light

[Transcript]

[00:00:26] Join your podcast, host Jan Griffis, that passionate rebellious farmer's daughter from Wales entrepreneur leadership, coach keynote speaker, one of the top 100 leading women in the automotive industry. As she interviews some of the finest leadership minds in the quest for gravitas.

[00:01:28] My guest today is a woman. It has been described as the most influential woman in the mortgage industry and a vital force in shaping the state of sustainable home ownership in America. That's quite a mouthful. She is also the vice chair in 2020 of the mortgage bankers association, amongst many other titles and honors and awards that she has received.

[00:02:28] She is Christy executive VP and president of mortgage banking at Flagstar bank. Christie. Welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. It's great to have you here. So, Christie, I mean the most influential woman in the mortgage industry, that's quite something, but let's talk about.

[00:02:57] Kristy: [00:02:57] Yeah, it's a little overwhelming. All of it actually. Um, [00:03:00] I come from really humble beginnings. I mean, I was born in Compton, California, um, kind of the second of four children to attract coach and a stay at home mom. Uh, my father, um, actually received the.

[00:03:42] And so I traverse both of those worlds and that's such an important part of my upbringing because I think it really shaped, um, this adaptability of going back and forth between, uh, those two environments. Um, I also think being the daughter of a track coach, you know, I tell people my parents. [00:04:00] Um, didn't raise boys and girls, they just raise kids.

[00:04:26] So I've actually no memories of him. Parents ever telling me, no, I couldn't do something. It was always, everything had confident or everything had consequences and they really just encouraged us to kind of be our best self. So I grew up, um, really without limits, um, without any boundaries being placed on me, whatever I wanted to do, my parents encouraged me to do it.

[00:05:17] In track. It. All about your personal best, can you better your personal best? And so I also did grew up not thinking about kind of competition versus others. It was always about how do I be my best self and so that as I, as I grew and went into the corporate environment, That really shaped kind of who I was, because I didn't think about other people as kind of competition.

[00:06:00] Um, so I did that for a couple of years, then moved into sales management, moved into human resources, um, and then left Baxter after six years, uh, moved into Pepsi. So the Frito-Lay division initially if Pepsi, um, but eight and a half years there, um, all in human resources actually. Uh, and then that journey took me to.

[00:06:48] And I researched three companies, um, Disney, because that was in California. No, I need to get back home to family, the red cross, and then Fannie Mae. And on October [00:07:00] 11, 30 days later, a head Hunter called about a job at Fannie Mae. And I don't believe in coincidences. I believe my life is divinely orchestrated.

[00:07:32] Credible company. It was, and this, um, very mission oriented company and just, I'd never met someone who was so excited about who they worked with and it just stuck with me. And so fast forward, four years later, when I was contemplating, what I wanted to do, Fannie Mae came to mind from that experience with that young lady and just started researching and understanding what they did.

[00:08:18] And then I got the opportunity to move into a line business, which is a very rare transition from a lot of HR folks moving from HR into actually running the business. Um, had great mentors and support there that enabled me to do that. And so moved into running the business and, um, or having the line position there and did that for 10 years until 2017.

[00:09:06] Well achieve the American dream of home ownership. And so it's incredibly fulfilling having a job in leading a team, uh, where we get to help people realize their dreams. And so it's, it's been an incredible kind of journey so far, but super excited about it. I love the fact that your father was a coach.

[00:09:52] Um, it's gotta be hard for you when you're faced with an environment where you see that culture playing out, what [00:10:00] people are concerned with the competition. How do you handle that? How do you stay true to yourself? And what you know is the right way to lead when. Perhaps you're surrounded by others who don't share the same philosophy.

[00:10:36] And as I go and feel open positions, I try to be intentional, not only about what do I need for that position, but what does the team need as a whole, to be able to really lead the organization in the way that we they do. And so I really believe in complimentary skills. I really believe in. Kind of bringing each individual's kind of best self to the work that we have to [00:11:00] do and really encouraging that.

[00:11:22] And the most successful people did, um, at black star, there was not a kind of that profile if you will, but it is about really understanding what each individual what's their role in, what, what are they required to bring? And then what's their uniqueness that they bring to the role. And then as a leader, trying to get that best out of them.

[00:12:09] Well, you talk about a mold. Yeah. And I have to tell you, you know, when I think about what the president of mortgage banking. For a large bank would look like I don't picture you. I honestly picture a stuffy, conservative white guy. I hate to see that, but it's true. And I, and let let's even take the, the gender and race out of it.

[00:13:05] Dale exactly what exactly you said. Right? And he can say that he's a white male. Um, but he was really good calling the organization to the need, to embrace diversity and inclusion and half people, you know, change the complexion literally of the organization. I mean, in mortgage banking, right. 56 per or the average age of the average loan officer is 56 years old.

[00:13:53] Uh, it is, uh, not unusual to be the only one of me in the room. Uh, we are desperately working to change [00:14:00] that, but I think some of it goes back to my upbringing and, you know, traversing, both, you know, kind of, uh, majority black and majority white environment, my whole career. Again, my parents encouraged us to just be who we were regardless of what environment that we were in.

[00:14:40] Uh, I'm one of two blacks and one of 12 women leading a mortgage banking company. And so there's definitely a lot of work that needs to be done to, you know, diversify this industry. And there's some great work that's being done by both the mortgage bankers association. Um, Tony Thompson at Namba, you know, is.

[00:15:25] Um, we certainly encourage college degrees, but, um, It provides just a wealth of opportunity. And as I said before, I mean, you're helping people realize their dreams. It's a noble industry in that regard. And so for me, breaking the mold is just about showing up, being my best self every day and working hard, you know, I always.

[00:16:06] Do more and take on more responsibility. And then with that responsibility comes the responsibility of bringing others, you know, kind of along with you. And so that's what I've been intentional about by doing, as I've grown my career, really bringing others along. The journey. So we could, again, change, change what people expect of the mortgage banker, right?

[00:16:52] What are you doing? Yes. So at Flexera we do internships. And so we're introducing people to the [00:17:00] business and being intentional about courting those individuals. So not only we can share, they have a great experience during the summer while they're there, but then. Following up with them, encouraging them to come back the next year.

[00:17:37] So at the mortgage bankers association conference, that was just in Austin. In October, he brought in a couple hundred kids. That listened to speakers. I was one of them that, you know, talked about a career in mortgage banking, what those opportunities were, and really gave them exposure to the industry and will continue to nurture that, offer those kids [00:18:00] internships so that again, they get comfortable with this is an industry that they can think of for their career.

[00:18:26] And so internships and exposure have been the two biggest ways. We've tried to do that with, with these young millennials, the NBA conference that you went to earlier in the year. I started following you on social media. And I think from our previous conversation, this is one of the first times that you've really put yourself out there on social media.

[00:19:27] You know, people genuinely care about you and they were thrilled to see you going out there on social media. I think w when you're in a high level position, It's often difficult to take that leap. Uh, certainly when I was growing up with my career, we were told that you keep a line between your professional life and your personal life.

[00:20:11] Yeah, so interests, she knew, and I was with Fannie Mae, um, as a senior leaders, SVPs and above. We couldn't be on social media at Fanny, uh, and coming through the housing crisis, there was a lot of scrutiny. Um, Uh, against Fannie Mae. And so we were told we couldn't be on social media and so I've never been on it.

[00:20:59] And so [00:21:00] Kristy devised an entire strategy for everyone who was going to the conference. We had 28 people going to the conference and she devised a strategy and gave each one of us a task. Every day on things that we were supposed to be doing. And so, um, I took that strategy and took it to heart. Like I do most things.

[00:21:44] Um, but I think it helped me appreciate. That people do want to hear from leaders and do want to know what they're up to. And there's an enormous responsibility around that, but it was quite easy to do. And so I was just speaking from the heart. It was [00:22:00] unscripted and I'm just talking about kind of what was going on at the conference and what was going on for me.

[00:22:30] People's thinking not only. For the industry. Um, but in leadership in general. And so, uh, there will be more to come. It was a, it was a fine experiment, but you know, really enjoyed kind of this initial foray into social media. And so I think we'll keep going. Well, it was a great, it was a great first time being out there.

[00:23:13] What happened? That would move somebody to write something like that. Yeah. So I was on a panel, um, empower, uh, it's a women's empowerment group, uh, part of the. Mortgage bankers association. So Mark Marsha Davies, who's the chief operating officer of the NBA. This is her brain child, and, uh, it's really created a movement of women in the mortgage bankers association.

[00:24:02] And one of the questions he asked was what was the low point of your career? And I shared the low point in my career, which interestingly was just in 2018. It was my first full year as president of banking at Flagstar. Um, I had, after 15 years of Fannie may come into this new organization where at Fannie Mae, I had proven leadership.

[00:24:48] And so I find myself now with this very challenging budget in a very challenging market. And we struggled all year long. We struggled being behind budget. Um, you know, [00:25:00] just struggling to find our identity and to survive in a market where it was very competitive. People were using price as a lever in driving down profitability.

[00:25:31] And I was describing what was happening during that time to this. This group of women on the panel and the emotion that I felt back in 2018 came back to me in that moment. And I got emotional on the stage and, um, that really resonated with people to see a senior leader, not be afraid to get emotional.

[00:26:14] Point. And I just shared that with the audience and I was blown away by how that resonated with people, because I don't think people experienced leaders, one being that vulnerable and certainly not in such a public way. And the outpouring of love that I received. And that, that comment is just one of them from women who I gave them permission to own their own vulnerability in that moment, but it really resonated with people.

[00:27:14] Vulnerability is the hallmark of authentic leadership. And that's a great example of showing others and giving others permission that it's okay to be vulnerable, but there's so much fear out there. We're afraid, particularly as women, we're afraid to show emotion, but men also, they don't want to show that vulnerability.

[00:28:00] Because authentic leadership is all about human connection. How would you help people that are perhaps struggling with that right now? Yeah. Well, you said it, I mean, authentic leadership is really about connection. It's about vulnerability. It's about being who you are. And I think there is this misconception that in order to ascend to the highest levels of whatever your chosen profession.

[00:28:55] And I say to my team all the time, I don't have all the answers. Like we're figuring this out [00:29:00] together. Like you show up and I show up and we bring a bunch of ideas together and we'll be better for it. And I think it's people want to know that people are real. People want to know that people are authentic and that's the hallmark.

[00:29:35] Team was really about motivating them to be their best selves and understanding the uniqueness of each individual and how to bring that forward. And what's unique about all of us is again, we're these broken and fractured humans. And to the extent that we bring that imperfection to work, and that's one of the greatest gifts I think a leader can give their team is that I don't have all the answers and I don't have all that.

[00:30:22] So we can then do our best work because I think when people are pretending you hear people say, you know, all I'm one way at work and I'm a different person at home. And that's so sad to me when I hear people say that because someone's getting gypped in that. Either the home life or the work life is getting gypped from really who they are.

[00:31:05] You'll be amazed at how that will be embraced and accepted. And if you have a good leader and you work for a good company, um, they will find out how to, how to embrace that and harness that to get better results for the company. Because when people show up as their true and authentic selves, that's when the organization wins.

[00:31:56] I mean, you know, you, you, I am exactly who [00:32:00] I was meant to be today. One thing I was looking at the other day, he was looking at my wardrobe and. They were there's two sides. They were, well, now there's one, but in my corporate life, there were two sides. There was the, the workloads and then the non workloads and the two never crossed.

[00:32:39] I don't know. So I think it is so important to, to step into this authenticity, not only with who you are and how you behave, but how you dress and how you show up in the workplace. It's a, it's very important. Yeah, no, I heard agree. What advice would you give to your 25 year old self [00:33:00] in today's world? Yeah, I would tell my 25 year old self.

[00:33:35] Um, but I was encouraged to, you know, kind of seek answers to things. And so I've always been intellectually curious. At way, but I did think I had quite a bit figured out at 25 and as I grew and aged, it was, I didn't know, half as much as I did. And so, um, you know, part of that intellectual curiosity, I think, is learned as much as you [00:34:00] can from others.

[00:34:29] Yeah, doing the self study, but learning from other people, because the richness of experience can't be learned in a textbook or on the internet that comes by engaging with people and listening to the experiences and really figuring out then in all of that, what then works for you and then go forward and be your kind of best self with that information or craft kind of who you are and your best.

[00:35:35] And so it doesn't break you. It just really makes you stronger. Yeah. Well said, what's your legacy? What are you going to leave with? I'm still building it. I think I'm still building it, but, um, what I want it to be, and I want what I want people to remember me for. And I wake up every day trying to do this [00:36:00] is I'm trying to.

[00:36:49] You said you touched somebody's life. I think that's something that's often underestimated by leaders. When you're [00:37:00] somebody's boss, you have this awesome, awesome power. Over their lives, you influence their paycheck. You influence their lives in, in a very, very deep and significant way, not just from Montreal standpoint, but you, you influence how they behave every day.

[00:37:43] At all for others listening to the podcast right now that are perhaps, you know, have never really thought about leadership in that term before in that way before, uh, any advice for them as they started to deal with this concept of touching a [00:38:00] life. See people, it is about seeing pupil. Um, yesterday was Thanksgiving and I got a text message from a young lady that I worked with over 20 years ago.

[00:38:40] She has all grown kids now, but she was a young mother with twins. And was really struggling to balance work and life. And, uh, she was a great performer for us and I noticed how harried and distracted she was. Every time I saw her and I just sat her down one day and said, [00:39:00] What's going on with you. Like I notice I noticed you're different.

[00:39:23] And she was the best part-time employee that we had. Uh, I let her work for her mom. She, she worked part time. Uh, and I, I promise I got as many full-time hours out of her, but it gave her the space that she needed to figure out how to manage her young family and figure out how to do it all be the mom she wanted to do and still contribute at work.

[00:40:12] And as a leader, you have the on believable gift, but. And privilege, but also obligation to be able to see your team for who they are. And if you notice and let them know that they have worth and that you see them, um, then they will deliver results beyond measure. Not only for you personally, but for the company and what you're trying to get done.

[00:41:01] I, that people feel safe. People feel that the leader believes in them and wants to unlock their potential. Uh, it sounds like to me that there's a lot of gravitas to you, but if you had to summarize gravitas in one or two leadership traits, what would it be to you? Gravitas to me, um, I would say energy and light and, um, for my own leadership journey.

[00:41:55] Uh, I participated in a leadership training class and, um, they [00:42:00] had a survey 20 people, 10 in our personal life and 10 in our. Uh, business life and the question we had asked three questions, but one of the questions was what shows up in the room when I do and across all 20 of those people, 17 said some combination of energy and light and.

[00:42:48] I'm an optimist by nature. I'm a positive person by, by nature, but that energy was walking in a room and giving that to others. I mean, energy creates an [00:43:00] electrical current, um, and I gave that to other people and, and wasn't fully aware of it until that moment. And the light really was. This belief of seeing the best in people.

[00:43:44] And so being able to give that to other people, uh, is part of how I lead. And so gravitas for me is really about. Bringing energy into the room and, and making people believe that they could do things that they didn't [00:44:00] think that they could do. And then showing that, that light, that there's a better way that there's a, that there's hope for tomorrow.

[00:44:34] If you enjoyed listening to this podcast and you found something of value that will help you in your quest for your gravitas, then please share with your friends and colleagues and subscribe. Visit us@gravitasdetroit.com to find out. [00:45:00]